Egg Harbor, Geneva

Egg Harbor
477 South 3rd Street
Geneva, IL 60134

June 25, 2009



When we went to Egg Harbor in St. Charles, Swedish Days was in full swing, meaning there were rides and craft fairs all over the place and the streets were packed with people who seemed to believe that "having the right of way" means "having a magical, invisible force-field that protects you from all harm." As such, we had to navigate around roving packs of fair-goers, all blissfully unaware of my car's presence.

Once we got there, however, there was plenty of free parking in the vicinity. The restaurant entrance is kind of tucked away in a little alcove, easy to miss, but once you get inside, the atmosphere is friendly and cheerful. It was pretty busy, but we were seated right away and our waitress came within a few minutes. She was quite competent, even if she did mistakenly address us as "ladies"...a simple slip of the tongue for which she apologized profusely. But it does bring up an interesting point. Servers will often address a mixed-gender group as "guys," as in, "What can I get for you guys?" But the reverse doesn't seem to be true.



I got the blueberry pancakes with eggs and bacon. Good stuff, though nothing mind-blowing. The eggs and bacon were pretty standard fare, the pancakes were a notch above standard. And they came with a little side of blueberry compote. I love compote, even if it's probably one of the least appetizing words in the English language.

Joe here. I've been to Egg Harbor at least a half dozen times in the past two years thanks to my parents, who've slowly but surely drifted away from their regular residency at Colonial Cafe (where they were monthly, sometimes weekly regulars throughout the late 90s and into the first half of this decade) to new digs at the Geneva EH location. Nothing against Colonial, I'm sure. I think they just needed a new scene. This happens to all of us and it's nothing to be afraid of.

Nestled away in a classy, upscale shopping centre (the lavishly-named Dodson Place) on Third Street near the Geneva Metra station, Egg Harbor brings you closer to Geneva's haut monde where you can shop for anything from fine wines and silk undergarments to $500 baby strollers. In this setting you might expect the dishes at Egg Harbor to be just as fittingly costly but the prices aren't unreasonable, which is to say that breakfast at Egg Harbor is going to be just as expensive as it is anywhere else these days.

The dining room is spacious and sunny, with lots of windows and a high ceiling. There's a patio outside, though I've never seen anyone using it. The atmosphere is inviting, a modern twist on the "country kitchen" vibe that lots of restaurants stick to. A warning to all alektorophobes: there are paintings, figurines, and various effigies of chickens all over the walls and shelves, so you may to steer clear. There are colored pencils at each table, but I don't think you'll get any paper unless you come with a few kids in town. I suppose you could ask for some, or just bring your own if you prefer. Better still, bring along some paints and a small canvas if you really want to pass the time until your food arrives. I never leave home without my watercolors and a telescopic easel. Should you go this route, the spaces between the tables are just wide enough for to set up everything you need. Just don't wash your brushes in the restroom sinks. You wouldn't want to take advantage of their hospitality, after all.

One thing I've always appreciated about Egg Harbor is the friendly service. This starts as soon as you walk in the door, though on busier mornings the lobby can get very crowded (and loud), so don't take offense if you're not greeted right away. The staff is always eager to please and willing to get you whatever you need. My family usually makes a few requests for extra water and/or coffee whenever we visit, and they're almost always quick to grant them with a smile. The servers are cheerful and polite. I don't even mind being mistaken for a woman by any of them; two years and counting at my current receptionist job and there's nothing anyone can say to further emasculate me. Five days a week, I'm just one of the girls! Why not go ahead and make it all seven?

I ordered the basic pancake combo, complete with three delicious cakes, sausage links, and poached eggs, which I almost never order even though they're probably my favorite kind of eggs. Altogether, a satisfying but not overfilling breakfast. If you want to stuff yourself until you burst, you've come to the wrong place. "Chew your food!" my grandmother would have yelled at you. "Taste it!" We rolled our eyes at her old-fashioned ways but as time passed I've grown to understand the true meaning of her words. Had she already discovered the truth?



There are fifteen different Egg Harbor locations. Which one is right for you? Try them all and find out!

Randall's Pancake House & Restaurant, South Elgin

Randall's Pancake House & Restaurant
305 Randall Road
South Elgin, IL 60177

June 9, 2009



Longtime readers of this blog might note a sorry lack of coverage devoted to pancake houses of the northern and northwest suburbs of Chicago. This isn't a deliberate shunning on our part, but an unfortunate sacrifice we've had to make due to rising gas prices over the past two years. At four dollars a gallon, it's a little hard to justify making an hour's drive just to get breakfast. I don't know about anyone else, but spending $40 on a tank of gas is enough to make me lose my appetite, anyway. With summer now upon us, it's even less likely that we'll venture much further north past route 64/North Avenue (let alone into the uncharted wilds of anything as far up as Lake County) just to try a new restaurant. There are a few that have been highly recommended to us several times, but that lie just out of our reach for the time being. We'll get to them someday, probably in much colder months than these.

For now, we were able to check out Randall's Pancake House in South Elgin, which might not qualify as a northern suburb but is a little off the beaten path for us. True to its name, Randall's is on Randall Road and on a stretch of it that's been pretty well developed over the past 5 years. I remember when it was all fields as far as the eye could see! Now there's a Super Target, an Outback Steakhouse and houses as far as the eye can see (on the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the Culver's has been there since pioneer times). Randall's blends into the strip mall on the east side of the road pretty inconspicuously, so look for Gyorr Avenue just south of the train tracks. "Strip mall" has become such a pejorative and loaded term, but I don't know any better way to describe a bunch of stores connected to each other in front of a big parking lot. Sorry!



I indulged in the berry blast pancakes. That's blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, plus whipped cream. All topping some seriously thick and fluffy cakes. Fruity pancakes? Whipped cream? That's kids stuff, right? Not anymore. This is real breakfast for adults, and anyone who underestimates what they're getting into is in for a big surprise. These were good, maybe not the best I've ever had but that's fine. There's a lot to choose from on their menu, the back page of which answers all all the questions you were too embarassed to ask. Breakfast looks like it's available anytime, but you'll need to take your late-night cravings elsewhere. They close at 3:00 on weekdays.



Ayinsan here. Randall's is a pretty nice place, overall. One of the drawbacks of going to a good pancake restaurant is that afterward, there isn't a whole lot to say about it except "it was good." The most interesting entries I've written are probably the ones where I've had something to complain about, but in this case, I really can't think of a single negative. Well, okay, the bathroom had a fake plant in the corner and I find fake plants kind of tacky in general, but overall it was still a good bathroom--cranberry-painted walls, nice mirror with a frame of bronze leaves, plenty of toilet paper, and a clean floor (very important). Anyway...

I got the banana chocolate chip pancakes, which come with warm, gooey chocolate chips both on top and baked into the pancake itself, along with fluffy tufts of whipped cream. Mmm-mmm. The banana slices were fresh and chewy, which is important. Nothing ruins a good pancake experience like mushy overripe bananas, but these were perfect. They give you quite a generous helping of pancakes, too. I usually have no trouble finishing a meal at a restaurant, but this time I had to take about a third of my pancakes home as leftovers.



I also got a side-order of sausages, which were delightfully plump and flavorful. I just reread that sentence and the phrase "plump and flavorful" sounds ridiculous to me, but really, it's the most apt description I can think of.

Silver Dollars, Yorkville

Silver Dollars Restaurant
102 E. Stagecoach Trail
Yorkville, IL 60560

April 2, 2009



Since the place is called Silver Dollars, we sort of assumed it was a pancake restaurant. Luckily, we were not disappointed.

Silver Dollars looks rather unassuming, with its sober dark green awnings and simple exterior. So I was kind of surprised when we stepped inside. Not that the interior is incredibly lavish or anything, but it's a few notches above what I expected. Clean, with nice decor. There's a TV above the brick fireplace at one end of the dining room, which I could have done without, really--while I'm trying to have a nice breakfast, I don't need to be watching a basketball game or hearing yet another news report about the impending financial meltdown of our country. There seems to be a growing trend of putting TVs in these kind of family restaurants, which seems to be part of a larger trend in our society of having TVs everywhere, from grocery stores to gyms. Apparently, we as a society have been conditioned to the point where we can no longer just talk to each other or sit in contemplative silence, we need a high-def screen with colorful moving images to hypnotize us into a glazed-eyed stupor.



Okay, that's not entirely fair. I learned something from the TV in Silver Dollars--that Guiding Light, a long-running soap opera, is going off the air in September after more than 70 years of radio and television broadcasts. Actually, I could have happily gone the rest of my life without knowing that. But I digress.

Aside from the aforementioned TV, I really have nothing to complain about. I ordered the Winter in Italy French toast, which came heaped with roasted apples, raisins and walnuts and drizzled with caramel sauce. Mmm. Not really sure what it has to do with winter or Italy, but it was sure tasty. The menu boasted several other unique creations, like cheesecake French toast. I'm not even a big fan of cheesecake, but if I ever come back here I'll probably try that just to see what it's like. No blintzes or crepes, which I usually expect to find in restaurants like these, but the wide variety of pancake and french toast offerings made up for it. And yes, they serve breakfast all day, though their breakfast menu is kind of tacked onto the end of their "lunch and dinner" menu.



One further note--this place has fantastic bread. That we even got a bread basket before our meal is a point in their favor, since some breakfast places won't do that, but their breadsticks are really above-par: warm, soft and chewy, with a light buttery garlic flavoring. Almost like the sort of thing you'd get in an Italian restaurant.

Good breakfast place, overall.



Joe here. I've passed Silver Dollars a handful of times in the past on countless different ventures through southern Yorkville, a trip I don't have much reason to make anymore these days. I never gave it much notice before; it's become as much a part of the local landscape as any of the surrounding woods or fields that dot the still-quiet areas of fast-growing Kendall County, so perhaps it's easy to miss. But for locals, it's probably a well-known landmark and a kind of public square that people visit as much to dine at as they do to simply to meet up and shoot the breeze. Upon our visit, I think we were the only customers who weren't stopping in simply to "have a meal." The clientele was decidedly on the older side and seemed engaged in a variety of friendly banter and gossip, but unlike other restaurants where this is prevalent, they all seemed like friendly and pleasant folks that I'd love to share a dining room with again someday.

Perhaps my expectations of Silver Dollars were colored by reading this article, which cites an unknown source suggesting that Silver Dollars has been open for more than 40 years. It's easy to buy into the idyllic, Rockwellian scene that the article paints, but I have to wonder how much of it is true. The business cards available at the front counter, along with the restaurant's website, proudly proclaim that it was established in 1996. I'm tempted to investigate this matter further, but some small-town mysteries are better left unsolved.

Considering the name of the restaurant, it's easy to assume that breakfast would naturally be Silver Dollars' exclusive niche. However, our initial visit provided several impressions to the contrary. The breakfast selections only take up a single page of their complete menu, otherwise packed with the usual lunch and dinner offerings. As featured on their website, there's a lot of traditional Polish dishes available as well. A large salad bar is prominently set up near the entrance, probably not offered during morning hours but well-stocked during our afternoon visit.



I ordered the silver dollar pancakes. This is about as basic of a dish as you can possibly get anywhere but I always like to order items that resemble the name of the restaurant, if possible. If the namesake dish of a restaurant isn't excellent, it's probably a good sign that it's not worth revisiting. Thankfully, these tiny pancakes were extra tasty. Check out these bubbles on the b-side; most cooks would find these undesirable, if only for appearance's sake, but these nooks and crannies added a pleasant texture to an otherwise predictable dish. The "winter in Italy" French toast was a succulent treat. Our bacon was crispy and lean. Altogether, an excellent meal.

With one coffee, our total came to $18.17, certainly a good value for what we were served. I imagine things get a little more hectic in the morning, but our afternoon visit was relaxed and laid back, probably the best time for anyone to try Silver Dollars for the first time. Recommended.

Kiwanis Club of Aurora, 59th Annual Pancake Day

Kiwanis Club of Aurora
Aurora Central Catholic High School
1255 N. Edgelawn Dr.
Aurora, IL 60506

March 21, 2008



Closing in on its sexagennial anniversary, the annual Kiwanis Club of Aurora's pancake breakfast looks as lively and vibrant as ever! And by that, I mean it was just as good as it was last year. That's really all I can personally compare it to. Prominently advertised throughout the city, you really had no excuse to miss out this time around! Thousands upon thousands of steaming-hot jacks were flapped (as seen in these photos from last year) and all the money went to a good cause. Or at least I'm assuming it did. Contact these people if you want to find out for sure.

We were two of the last patrons through the door before the last call at 12:30, so we bought our golden tickets and quickly made our way to the serving area. We were lucky enough to receive (what we were told were) the final sausage links of the day. We would have been issued a grand total of four to split between us instead were given of a mere three. Our protests were preemptively silenced by an extra plate of pancakes swiftly handed our way. Of course, you can always go back for seconds (which we later did anyway) but it was nice to have a few more to chew on before begging for yet another helping. Very good pancakes, certainly not cooked to a gourmet standard, but the mess hall turntable griddle infused them with a friendly flavor that brought back memories of eating in church camp canteens as a young boy and a sense of community and "connectedness" with my fellow campers/neighbors/man that I didn't know existed outside of testimonials on Erowid.org.

As we were finishing our meal, staff began collecting all the empty Styrofoam plates and cups left behind by previous diners and folding up the unoccupied tables and chairs. They went to work on our area, clearing away all the seating around us until we nearly had the front half of the room to ourselves, and hovered over us as we ate, eagerly plucking each individual napkin or butter packet away from us the moment it appeared we were finished with it. This was a surreal experience, to say the least, the stuff of high-concept music videos. Aside from this, it was a satisfying meal and we soon left the gymnasium feeling quite content.

There was a raffle for a gift basket but I turned down the offer to purchase a ticket for it. I'm kind of regretting it and wondering what could have been if I'd tried my luck. I guess there's always next year.

Coco Berry Cafe, Aurora

Coco Berry Cafe
4250 Fox Valley Center Drive
Aurora, IL 60504

January 27, 2008



We spotted this place the last time we went out to the Fox Valley Mall and decided to give it a try. We had some difficulty finding it again, because all we remembered was that it was near the entrance to one of the large department stores, but it was worth the trouble. Coco Berry is much classier than it looks on the outside. Really spacious, clean and bright. There was a host waiting to seat us when we walked in the door, and we didn't have to wait more than a minute or two for the waitress. Of course, it was early afternoon on a Tuesday and there were only a couple other customers in the restaurant. I imagine it's a little busier on a weekend.

I got the cinnamon roll french toast and a side order of sausages. Very tasty. Not quite as good as Mother's cinnamon roll french toast, but I have yet to find anything to compete with that. There were lots of other interesting things on the menu too, so I'll probably come back here to try some of their other entrees.



Joe here. I'm not sure just how long the Coco Berry Cafe has been open for business. I noticed it for the first time just before Christmas, and an encouraging profile appeared in the Beacon News a few weeks later. The name alone promises a sweet refuge from the frigid winter cold, a cozy and decadent oasis of hot and steamy treats. Look closer and you'll find more than just comfort food. Coco Berry Cafe offers much more.

To get the most out of our experience, we probably should have ordered some of their cocoa. Our server suggested some, or a latte, but we passed for common coffee. I'd venture to guess that their signature beverages are worth trying; there's a big coffee bar with tall in the front of the restaurant made just for their consumption. The picture I have of it is the only one I was able to take of the interior of the restaurant. The seating areas are large and spacious but not very photogenic and would require a wide angle lens to properly capture.



I ordered the wildberry pancakes. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and sliced strawberries top off five (count 'em, five) satisfying and fluffy pancakes. There's a lot here, so much that I shouldn't complain that there wasn't any fruit baked into the pancakes themselves. You'll find lots of variations on this dish from pancake house to pancake house. At Coco Berry Cafe, the emphasis seems to be on freshness and subtlety, not on drowning their cakes in fruit sauce to win over the taste buds of sugar-addicted customers. But perhaps there are plenty of examples to the contrary that I haven't sampled yet.



Though the prices are a little on the high end and the ambiance felt a little on sterile side (probably less so depending on where you're seated/how busy the restaurant is), I enjoyed our visit to the Coco Berry Cafe. In the sea of chain restaurants that orbit the Fox Valley Mall (sorry "Westfield Shoppingtown"), Coco Berry brings a welcome personal touch.

Jam n Jelly Cafe, Darien

Jam n Jelly Cafe
7511 Lemont Rd
Darien, IL 60561

January 6 and 13, 2009



It's been nearly a year since Shea Cafe closed its doors, leaving the location at 7511 Lemont Road waiting for a new tenant. We anticipated something dull and useless like a loan office or a mattress showroom. What we got was... another restaurant, the third there in almost three years. It's a mystery why Lemont Street Cafe and Shea Cafe closed. As regular connoisseurs of their breakfast and lunches, we're pretty confident that it wasn't because of the quality of their food. But this sets the bar pretty high for Jam n Jelly. Just to stay in business, it reasons to assume, they'll have to somehow top their predecessors' efforts in almost every way. Will they succeed? Only time will tell.

Our first visits to JnJ gave us reasons to be optimistic. The restaurant has been renovated yet again, with a new pallate of gentle colors on the walls and pleasant decor hanging here and there. All the windows make sure that your meal is spent in pleasant (but never overwhelming) sunlight. Some of the servers (and possibly other staff) from Shea Cafe are back, bringing the same friendly service that we enjoyed before. Altogether, this is a comfortable and inviting place to spend a meal's time. Really don't know how I feel about the all-80's radio station that was playing on the overhead speakers during both of our visits, but at least it wasn't the horrible Jack-FM.

On the menu you'll find everything from traditional favorites to decadent breakfast treats that within less than a fortnight, surely ruined scores of healthy New Year's resolutions. One of the tamest of these are the PB&J cakes, covered in grape jelly and peanut butter chips. If you love peanut butter and jelly, you'll love these. Personally, after a few bites I'd really had enough, but this has more to do with unpleasant elementary school-age associations I still hold between brown bag lunches and chronic childhood headaches, not because of any failures on the part of the fine cooks.



On my second visit a week later I ordered a plate of blueberry pancakes. Certainly not as adventurous of an entree but pretty good by my own standards. Plenty of blueberries cooked into the pancakes, along with a blueberry topping and a cup of warm, whipped butter. No surprises here, but that's just fine.

Overall, dining a Jam n Jelly Cafe is a wholly pleasant experience, with a great atmosphere and creative entrees that will leave you satisfied. I've yet to sample any of their more traditional breakfasts, but it's safe to say that we'll be going back to do so sometime in the near future. If Jam n Jelly shares the same unfortunate fate as its predecessors, then it's probably safe to blame the building itself on a continued lack of success, not the businesses inside it.



Ayinsan here. I was rather excited to see a new pancake house opening in the location of the now-extinct Shea Cafe...which was formerly Lemont Street Cafe, which was formerly another breakfast place whose name I can't remember (The Egg and I, or something quirky like that). Here's hoping this one lasts. Fourth time's the charm. Right?

This restaurant has a very good, breakfasty-sounding name, which is usually a good sign. Makes it seem more like a true pancake house as opposed to a family restaurant that just happens to serve pancakes round the clock...and real pancake houses tend to offer a better selection of breakfast foods. Sure enough, Jam and Jelly's menu has a lot to choose from, offering such creative options as PB&J pancakes, S'mores pancakes, turtle pancakes (Peanuts and caramel on a pancake? You bet!), banana bread french toast, and many more.

True to their name, they also have a selection of jams and jellies for sale, including some unusual options. Jalapeno jam? Worth a try, I suppose.



On my first visit here I ordered the banana bread french toast, which was quite decadent. I had a few bites of Joe's PB&J pancakes as well. The first two bites were absolutely delicious. After the third or fourth bite, it was almost too much sweetness. For me, that's really saying something. I'm a terrible sugar junkie. I'd probably chug maple syrup straight from the bottle and eat bowls of buttercream frosting with a spoon if not for the knowledge that such habits would soon turn me into an orb-shaped jelly creature with the arteries of a ninety-year-old. Even so, I'm not sure I could finish a plate of PB&J pancakes on my own. The sudden spike in my blood sugar would probably cause all my neurons to spontaneously combust or something. It's very sweet--a stack of pancakes slathered with warm grape jelly and peanut butter chips.



On my next visit, I tried the Have Somore Cakes (S'mores pancakes) along with some eggs, sausage links and bacon. The eggs and sausage were both above average, but the bacon was rather dry. As for the S'mores pancakes? Well, if you've ever had chocolate chip pancakes, they're rather like that, but garnished with mini-marshmallows and crumbled graham crackers. Pretty good, but not the mind-blowing experience I was expecting. Personally, if I were making S'mores pancakes, I'd cook the marshmallows right into the pancakes so they melted and mixed with the chocolate into a gooey sludge of delight.

In any case, this is a good place to visit if you're feeling adventurous and want something a little different than the ol' pancakes, bacon and eggs combo...though they have the old favorites, too, along with a variety of lunch and dinner options. I'll definitely be coming back here.

Golden House Restaurant & Pancake House, Chicago

Golden House
4744 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640

November 25, 2008



The Golden House Pancake House & Restaurant has probably never been graced the elite heights of any critics' lists of best breakfast restaurants in Chicago, usually reserved for such prominent names as Ann Sather or Lou Mitchell. By comparison, there's nothing fancy or assuming about Golden House. It's a restaurant from another era, real names no gimmicks. But does it live up to its name?



Definitely not. Or at least that's the first impression you'll get, as you walk in and find yourself surrounded with shiny booths padded with... ruby red-colored vinyl. No solid gold tables anywhere! The deception continues as you're given your menu, featuring this misleading illustration on its cover. Perhaps the breakfast at Golden House reminded the artist of pancakes at their grandparents' summer home in what would appear to be the Wisconsin Dells, or perhaps Eau Claire or Rice Lake.



I ordered a plate of silver dollar pancakes, offered in servings of ten or fifteen, though I'm sure you could ask for different quantities if you really wanted to. These were definitely satisfying, better than many other restaurants' take on the classic dish, but perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing too special. My coffee was hot and fresh, which they probably deserve credit for given that there were almost no other customers sitting down when we arrived; not much of an incentive for them to keep brewing fresh pots, but brew on they did.

The Golden House is located next door to the Riviera Theater, which I've only been to twice. First, to see Wilco in 2000, which was a pretty great show. Mercury Rev opened, Wilco played most of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and, while being surrounded by young hipsters and greying WXRT listeners, I still enjoyed myself without any sense of self-consciousness. About a year later I saw Paul Oakenfold on the horrid Bunkka tour and was so bored and utterly depressed by the whole show that I left long before it had ended. I probably went straight for the red line to begin my journey home but could have salvaged something out of the evening if I'd only looked to see what was next door.

Ayinsan here. No real complaints about Golden House restaurant and pancake house (not to be confused with Golden Nugget, another Chicago pancake house). There's nothing about it that really stands out at first glance, but it delivers the goods--the pancakes, that is. You won't find crepes or blintzes or anything too hoity-toity here. Just the old stand-bys: pancakes, waffles, french toast, all with optional fruit. The fruit specials have peculiar alliterative names like "adorable apple pancakes" and "beautiful blueberry waffles." Putting fruit on your breakfast does not merely add another flavor, see, it turns your breakfast into a work of art so lovely that you won't want to eat it: instead, you will cover it with a coat of varnish to preserve its beauty and put it on a marble stand in your foyer for all the world to admire. Anyway...

I ordered the country breakfast. I'm pretty sure that's what it was called, anyway. It's a standard breakfast combo with three pancakes, eggs and sausage.

The pancakes were quite tasty, chewy and dense the way I like them. Some people probably prefer the lighter, fluffier pancakes, and those certainly have their appeal, but in my opinion, nothing tops that chewy consistency. The eggs were passable (shown below with some non-Tobasco-brand hot sauce on them) and the sausage was a few notches above passable. They may look a bit scrawny, but they were quite tender and flavorful. No gristle. Always a good thing.

Unlike many such places, the waitress/waiter doesn't deliver the check to your table, you pay at the front counter. I didn't expect this, so I spent several minutes trying awkwardly to catch our waitress's eye and give her some indication that we were ready. At first I couldn't figure out why she was just standing behind the counter staring back at us expectantly. Really, this set-up makes more sense. It's just less common.

Overall, not a whole lot to say, except that if you're in the area and looking for a good, dependable breakfast place that will deliver the old favorites, stop into Golden House restaurant.

tragedy strikes, pt. 2

It's been more than a year since we visited Gigi's in Naperville, a nice enough little restaurant that we probably would have returned to if it wasn't located in the bowels of southern Naperville, accessible only through a tortuously stoplight-ridden drive that we'd rather not experience again. For rather unfortunate reasons, however, it's a choice we may no longer have the opportunity to make.



On the evening of October 30, an explosion ripped through Gigi's Pancake House & Restaurant, critically burning two employees and causing extensive damage to the building. Read all about it here:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/10/2-burned-in-naperville-restaurant-explosion.html
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1250973,naperville-explosion-fire-102908.article
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=246722

The authors of this blog would never claim to be the foremost experts on pancakes in Illinois, or the inside source on all restaurant gossip in the Chicago suburbs. Nevertheless, there's no excuse for us to take three whole weeks to cover a story like this. That said, the past three weeks have given investigators ample time to survey the damage and their findings, just released this week, have shed new light on what first appeared to be a freak accident.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6519248
http://mobile.chicagotribune.com/news.jsp?key=187991&rc=top2

This isn't a detailed or final report, and it might be some time before we know just what happened that night. This isn't the first time that local pancake house has exploded. Will there be more to come?

Colonial Cafe, Aurora

Colonial Cafe
1961 West Galena
Aurora, IL 60506

September 18, 2008



No, that sign isn't fake. One-cent pancakes? Believe it! Colonial has run this promotion before to celebrate some of their locations' anniversaries in 2007. It was a little unclear what the cause was this time around at their Aurora location, but I didn't pause to ask our server. We were too hungry and they were too busy.

Of course, there's always a catch. You can't take advantage of the one-cent pancake offer unless you buy a beverage, so don't expect to walk out with a bill under ten cents. We bought some coffee and juice, and what the heck, some bacon too! It's easy to agree to such suggestions when your main course is free, even though it helps bring an almost-free breakfast up in price to a mere great deal instead. I'm sure that's part of their plan, and probably why they're doing it at more locations in the coming months.



Ayinsan here.

Not much to say about the pancakes themselves. They're good, but not mind-blowing, comparable to pancakes you might get at IHOP or the like. But hey, they were a penny, so I'm not complaining. They even came with their own little cup of syrup, though our waitress also brought us a traditional glass syrup container, so we weren't limited to the cup.

Colonial's always good for some reliable comfort food. Hopefully in the future we'll get a chance to try some of their more adventurous breakfast items, but you can't go wrong with buttermilk pancakes.

Southern Belle's, Oswego

Southern Belle's
1158 Douglas Rd
Oswego, IL 60543

September 9, 2008



Do you find the stylish and postmodern motifs of today's pancake houses a little too cold and impersonal? Do you ever wish you could go back to a simpler time, when men and women would start their day with a hearty breakfast before working in the fields? When giant chickens, taller than a fence, roamed our farms and laid a half-dozen eggs a day? When Weiner-mobiles towed covered wagons full of fresh vegetables down to the farmer's market at Venice Beach? If so, Southern Belle's might be the restaurant for you.

It may not have a fireplace or a porch full of rocking chairs like Cracker Barrel, but Southern Belle's adds their own touches to evoke the charm its namesake implies. If the waitresses working during our visit were any indication, all the servers wear overalls as part of their uniform. Whether this is done to enhance the restaurant's working class ethic, or to evoke pleasant nostalgia of the Depression-era Dust Bowl, I'm not sure. I couldn't find the men's or the women's restrooms, just ones meant for "dudes" and "belles," so if you fall in either one of those categories, you're in luck.

You'll find a good selection of pancakes on their menu. I ordered the strawberry pancakes, which looked like an ordinarily-sized serving but proved extremely filling. I couldn't even clean my plate! Not sure how I felt about the strawberry topping they generously applied, though. I'd have been just fine with plain strawberries and nothing more.



Halfway through our meal I finally gave in and ordered some coffee. This was getting close to 1:00 in the afternoon, long past the breakfast hours and any kind of lunchtime rush they may have had. In fact, there were only two or three other tables with customers at the time, besides the two of us. I know this situation really isn't condusive to a busy and fresh coffeepot, so I'm not going to hold it against them or anything. That said, my coffee wasn't very good. Bitter, maybe a little burned? I should have trusted my instincts before ordering any. Aside from our recent trip to Mapleberry, lately I haven't been able to find a good cup of coffee almost anywhere.



Ayinsan here. Southern Belle's won fifth place in "best breakfast overall" in a newspaper-run contest and first place for "best new breakfast," but the sign in the window simply says, "Thank you for voting us best restaurant." Kind of misleading, but nonetheless, Southern Belle's is worth visiting.

Probably the first thing you'll notice upon entering is the decor. Lots of objects hanging from the ceiling, including a Radio Flyer wagon, an Oscar-Meyer Weiner-mobile, and a giant box of Frosted Flakes. Why these particular items? One can only wonder.



I got the banana crepes, which are always a bit of a gamble. Sometimes they're great, sometimes there's just not much to them, depending on where you go. I asked the waitress what else was in the crepes, aside from bananas. She went in the kitchen to inquire and told me they were filled with a "sweet mixture." That didn't clarify it much, but I went ahead and ordered the crepes. They were pretty good, though if there really was a "sweet mixture" inside them, I couldn't detect it. It seemed to be just bananas...but despite that, they were quite filling. The bananas were fresh (not overripe or yucky and bruised) and the crepe shells were chewy and sweet.

Mapleberry Pancake House, Carol Stream

Mapleberry Pancake House
1276 Kuhn Road
Carol Stream, IL 60188

August 26, 2008



I often idealize the common features of so many American pancake houses -- the dim lighting, brass fixtures, and faded upholstery of booths and chairs, worn out from decades of diners dragging their behinds across them every day -- as being a common and comforting motif that's as natural as the forces of nature. That said, sometimes you want a change of pace, something a little newer, a little brighter, a little bit less like your favorite old sweatshirt, so to speak.

If this feels familiar and you're in the western suburbs, the Mapleberry Pancake House might be just what you're looking for. It's just two years old but deserves a niche of its own in the busy, Pancake-House-Royal-Rumble that is Dupage County.

With a name like Mapleberry, I figured I had to get some kind of fruit pancake during my visit. I ordered the blueberry pancake with whipped cream, very satisfying but not oppressively filling, either. They're not breaking any new ground here but they definitely deliver the goods. The coffee I had was pretty good, too. Like IHOP, you get your own pot delivered to the table. No more waiting for refills, which was probably a blessing since our area's waitress seemed to disappear from the room completely during the last 10 minutes of our stay. But we had no pressing needs so I can't really complain.



Ayinsan here. I ordered the cinnamon swirl french toast with scrambled eggs and sausage. The french toast was pretty good...not as good as Mother's, but then, I have yet to see anyone top Mother's in the cinnamon french toast department. They were generous with the eggs, which were fluffy and quite tasty. The sausage was a bit bland, but passable.



Overall, no complaints, really. The ambiance was nice, the bathrooms were clean, the place was quiet and peaceful and we were served very quickly. I don't even have any sardonic comments to make. Well, one small thing. When I asked for water, we were given a pitcher but no water glasses so I had to drink ice water out of my coffee cup. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but it felt a bit strange. I could have taken one of the water glasses from the empty table to our immediate right, I suppose. Oh well.

We went on a Tuesday. Judging by other reviews of this restaurant, it tends to become packed on the weekends and service suffers, but I can't verify that personally.

Harner's Bakery and Restaurant, Aurora

Harner's Bakery and Restaurant
10 W. State Street
North Aurora, IL 60542

August 1, 2008



Earlier this year, The Kane County Chronicle polled its readers to find the best breakfast restaurants in the area. The results are no longer posted on the paper's website, but we have them saved right here. They're at the bottom of the page after a nice profile on the Blueberry Hill restaurant in Aurora.

Deservedly, Mother's took the top spot for best breakfast, beating out multi-location votes for Colonial, Egg Harbour, and some place in Oswego called Southern Belle's. The award for best pancakes also went to Mother's, who topped Colonial, IHOP, and Nikarry's. It's affirming to our sense of taste that our fondness for Mother's is shared by so many, and not just rooted in the convenient fact that it's just a few minutes' walk from here.

Also on the list for best breakfast and best pancakes was a restaurant we'd never heard of before. Harner's in North Aurora (not Aurora, as its residents probably love to remind everyone) is nestled next to the Fox River, pretty well cut off from us by road construction on I-88 and Oak Street, but it was still worth the detour to check out.



You'll be tempted by the treats in the bakery as you walk through the door, and you'll probably make plans to pick some up after you finish eating. We would have done this ourselves if we didn't have errands to run, and if it wasn't one of the hottest days of the year. Leaving a box of cinnamon rolls or cupcakes in the car on a 90 degree day just wouldn't have been the best idea. Still, we browsed in the bakery for a while before being seated. Harner's has two distinct dining rooms, the first having a bar to sit at and some ceiling fans, the second having an added-on feel of a room addition but with a nice view of the Fox River and the Fox River Trail. We were seated in this second room, which was adorned with a brick fireplace and decorated with taxidermy. Can you find the jackalope?



You'll find a limited selection of pancakes on their breakfast menu, but the prices are reasonable. I went with the standard order of three pancakes and came away satisfied but unamazed. Pretty good, but the fourth-best pancakes in all of Kane County? I just don't know. I imagine that most of Harner's loyal customers keep coming back for the atmosphere and the camaraderie, or at least that's the impression I got from the photo collages that line the walls next to the doors to the (spacious) restrooms.



Ayinsan here. Harner's is not just a breakfast place. It's a bakery, too. You walk in and are greeted with a huge glass display case filled with cookies, donuts, cakes and cinnamon rolls. Some of the cookies have cute animals faces, which I imagine would be fun to bite in half. There was a plate of free samples atop the display case. I tried one--some sort of shortbread nut cookie, I think. Pretty good. I wish I lived close to a place like this, so I could just walk in every morning and buy a nice, hot cinnamon roll. Of course, it's a good bet that I wouldn't be able to restrain myself. I wouldn't stop at one cinnamon roll. I'd stuff my face with frosting-laden confections until I lay helpless, bloated and groaning on the floor.

We were seated in a room with wood-paneled walls and lots of windows, providing a nice view of the surrounding scenery. Harner's is tucked next to a little wooded area near the river, so you actually see trees and water through the windows, rather than looking out at a gas station parking lot or a convenience store.



The waitress brought us a bread basket almost as soon as we sat down. Along with the standard rolls, there were some little pieces of nut-bread, very dense and sweet, almost like cake. We didn't have to wait long for our food. Really, the whole experience would have been quite pleasant, except we were sitting next to a table filled with really loud people. I immediately felt a twinge of dread when I looked at the table next to ours and saw a baby in a high-chair, but really, the baby wasn't too bad. Aside from one or two shrieks, it mostly stayed quiet. The woman sitting across from it, however, had a terribly annoying, high-pitched, nasally laugh, like a duck choking on a kazoo. And she laughed a lot. And of course the adults at the table kept poking the baby and egging it on, trying to get some kind of oh-so-precious reaction out of it. The few times the baby did laugh or shriek was mainly because Choking-Duck-Laugh-Woman and her giggling friend wouldn't leave it alone.

Eventually, the group left, leaving us to enjoy our meal in peace. For a change of pace, I got the biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs. The menu gives you the option of ordering either a full or half order. I really could have gotten the half order, but my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. I couldn't finish them.



I tried some of Joe's pancakes. They were delicious, chewy, dense and sweet. If I come back here at some point (which I probably will) I'm definitely ordering the pancakes.