Breakfast at The Original Pancake House

Whenever I go to Virginia to visit my 2 cousins they know my usual request is to eat at The Original Pancake House.

I first tried The Original Pancake House in Chicago and Dallas. I’m so glad that Virginia has 1 branch and it’s near my cousin Sharon’s place.

We usually go on weekend mornings since that’s when they don’t have work. I’ve never gone there without waiting for at least 15-30 minutes. There’s usually an overflow of people waiting who have no choice but to sit outside.

This is the big and always full waiting area.

cousin La in yellow and cousin Sha in white

Whenever we eat here we always order their signature items – the apple pancake and Dutch baby. All their portions are HUGE and are definitely for sharing.

The apple pancake is a baked pancake topped with sautéed apples and Sinkiang cinnamon sugar glaze. It’s so rich and delicious and overwhelming. With 4 adults and 2 kids we barely finished half.

apple pancake $9.95

My other favorite is the lighter Dutch baby. It reminded me of an airy souffle and thicker crepe in one. To eat it you squeeze fresh lemon on it then sprinkle powdered sugar and slather with whipped butter. It was a welcome contrast to the sweet and heavy apple pancake.

Dutch baby $9.25

To balance things out we also ordered a couple of savory dishes. It was the first time for all of us to try the chicken crepe. The crepe was smothered with sherry sauce and filled with chicken, green pepper and mushroom. It was just satisfactory for me. I liked the potato pancakes that came with it more. Specially when topped with applesauce and sour cream. Delish!!

chicken crepe

It’s not in the pictures but this giant omelette came with 3 buttermilk pancakes which the kids ate. I wonder how many eggs they used for this monstrosity. They didn’t bother with rolling it into a classic omelette. This big omelette was baked right in the pan. It was soft, fluffy and filled with veggies and cheese.

vegetarian omelette $9.25

sides of corned beef hash and shredded hash browns

Everything was American sized! We took home so much left-overs it was enough for lunch and dinner at home (on different days of course).

There were many things in the menu I wanted to try but I always end up ordering the apple pancake and Dutch baby. I’ve tried the bacon waffle before and it was out of this world. Next time I promise to order something different. See you in a couple of years Original Pancake House!

menu

The Original Pancake House
370 West Broad St.
Falls Church, Virginia 22046-3319
telephone: (703) 891-0148