All pancakes are not equal. The possible cake combinations are endless, ranging from wheat to cornmeal to buttermilk and topped with anything from syrup to fruits to Oreo cookies and beyond.
Really, finding the perfect pancake boils down to personal taste. Like pizza crust, there are thick-cake people and thin-cake people. Some like 'em light and fluffy, and some eaters want them thin and crispy-edged.
Regardless of your propensity for pancakes, there are plenty of eateries flipping some fine flapjacks. Here is a list of some of the best ones.
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Blue's Egg
317 N. 76th St., (414) 299-3180
bluesegg.com
Blue's Egg offers fresh blueberry or mixed grain pancakes for $7.95. The blueberry stack comes with a lemon creme anglaise (a cream, egg and vanilla sauce), and the grain are topped with bananas and candy walnuts. Blues Egg offers a thick-ish, fluffy cake that's about 8 inches in diameter. "It's all about having a big, full plate," says sous chef Erick Fisher. "We want people to have a great stack of pancakes that's also a great value."
Cafe At The Plaza
1007 N. Cass, (414) 276-2101
cafeattheplaza.com
Cafe at the Plaza, located inside the Plaza Hotel, features three buttermilk pancakes with butter and syrup for $7.50 (a short stack is $5). The menu also boasts fancy buckwheat ricotta pancakes served with honey and orange blossom butter for $8.25 (a short stack is $5.25). The Cafe's cakes will appeal to most pancake fans because they are in the middle when it comes to thickness: not super fluffy and yet not exactly thin-as-a-crepe either.
Cafe Benelux
346 N. Broadway, (414) 501-2500
cafebenelux.com
Cafe Benelux features the pancake-esque "pannenkoeken" that's a thicker-than-usual crepe topped with a variety of items. They range in price from the $6.95 New Amsterdam that comes with powdered sugar and maple syrup to the $11.95 Haarlem that comes topped with bacon, hash browns, fried eggs, tomatoes and hollandaise sauce. A single pannenkoeken is huge – larger than a breakfast plate – and can usually fill up two diners.
Maxfield's Pancake House
2727 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 453-6000
maxfieldspancakehouse.com
Maxfield's has a daring selection of 22 "pancakes you won't forget" (according to the copy on their website), including fresh strawberry pancakes, raisin walnut pancakes, peanut butter pancakes, granola, raisin and walnut "Heath Nut" pancakes along with the decadent Oreo cookie pancakes and the "Addictive Delight" featuring peanut butter and chocolate chips. They are medium thickness and range in price from $5.29 to $7.69.
Miss Katie's Diner
1900 W. Clybourn St., (414) 344-0044
miss-katies.com
Customers can order pancakes at any time, thanks to Miss Katie's all-day breakfast menu that features pancakes made with a "house batter" for $6.25 or $7.25 topped with blueberries. What's in the house batter? According to head cook, Irene Cawthon, the secret is using both butter and buttermilk in the batter, along with other unsharable ingredients. "The key is a nice hot griddle," says Cawthon.
Original Pancake House
2625 N. Downer Ave., (414) 431-5055
originalpancakehouse.com
The original Pancake House is an Oregon-based chain and, not surprising considering its name, has one of the largest selections of pancakes in the city. The menu features 14 pancake options, including potato pancakes, bacon pancakes (yes, bits of bacon folded right into the cake), Swedish pancakes ("lacy" pancakes served with lingonberries from Sweden), Hawaiian pancakes (topped with crushed pineapple, powdered sugar and tropical syrup) and dollar pancakes (mini pancakes which come 10 to a plate). Prices range from $6.45 to $9.45 and smaller kids' portions are available.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
