PC’s Pancake Cafe

Not surprised that this place ended up closing. I’ve never owned a restaurant, but I just think you can’t run one successfully if you simply don’t want honest feedback. Like some of the other reviewers, I also received a response from the owner to my review. He said I should have been charged $ 13 something for what I said I ordered. I concluded that he thought I was lying, because he did not offer to reimburse me for the difference. I definitely was not impressed with his level of customer service.

We’ve been coming to PC’s Pancake Café for years. The coffee and bacon are fantastic and food pretty interesting. Stuffed cream cheese french toast great, omlette’s are baked and substantial. Not a typical breakfast place like Denny’s or IHop (thank goodness). Breakfast specials reasonably priced (come on, $ 5-​$ 7) and overall good bang for the buck. Front hostesses need to be a little more welcoming and connect with their customers, as opposed to just seating you.

It’s an even 20 miles round trip to Pancake Café but the food quality, great service and nice atmosphere make the trip worth it. Another excellent breakfast today. For me it was the freshly brewed Kona coffee and fresh strawberry crepes. Three perfectly made crepes with plenty of strawberries in and on the crepes. My wife had the eggs and bacon with hash browns. The thick cut bacon is the best anywhere. I always need to mooch some bacon and hash browns as if I didn’t have plenty to eat myself. Michelle as always kept our beverages constantly filled.

Overpriced bland common breakfast fare. Nothing special, much better options nearby.

My daughter in law and I had breakfast at PC’s last Monday. As always, the food and service were perfect. I have been going to PC’s since it opened as the Pancake Café several years ago. The food and service are outstanding. Warm, family friendly atmosphere with a professional wait staff.

Their baked apple pancake is unbelievable. You need 30 minutes to prepare but it is awesome. It is rich, baked with butter and fresh apples. Highly recommend this restaurant.

I’ve been going to the Pancake Café for years now and have been there at least a dozen times, and I always try to snatch up the Groupon when I can. It’s never been a terrible experience and I gladly come back as often as I can. It is a bit pricey if you’re used to places like Ihop or Denny’s, but it’s well worth it. The service is always quick and the staff are super nice. Some of these other reviews are absolutely shocking, I don’t know of anyone personally who has had a bad experience. It’s surprisingly good service and food for a small town and has been a staple breakfast café in Lemont for a while now. The crepes and pancakes are super decadent and always fresh. I’ve chatted with the owner, Paul, a few times before and he’s always wanted to make sure that it was a great dining experience. I find it hard to believe that this café is capable of anything less than phenomenal service.

This wasn’t my first time, and I’m not usually one to write about my visit, BUT…
The greeter was friendly and we had a nice server. HOWEVER, when I opened the menu I was reminded why I don’t go here! The prices are HIGH. Please stop with the comments, it’s not Deney’s, I KNOW portions are better AND the prices would be too! Go anywhere but here. All these reviews ring to this theme for a reason!
As I was ordering and had a question about something on the menu she couldn’t answer, I asked for the manager… and she wouldn’t come to the table!
If you want to pay for small portions at HIGH prices this is your place! and with a busy manager, ha!

Its unfortunate when a local restaurant isn’t flexible — I mean if your independently owned then shouldn’t you have flexibility in changing out 2 pancakes for 2 plain crepes — with my offer to pay extra for the swap out. I was told no — the system doesn’t allow it. So much for serving the customer.

We come here after church most Sundays, the food is great the service can be better though. The food comes fast an hot. But the drinks I get are usually served warm, I wouldnt suggest the orange juice if you come here. But overall, I love it! It’s a great place for family’s with young kids. They have a good kids menu with many activities and great looking food! Good job pancake café!

Went here today with my mom and stepdad because my mom had a Groupon for it. On the way there, I peeked at the Unilocal reviews on my phone and was expecting something horrible walking in, but we were greeted with a smile, led to our tables, were poured coffee and took other orders for drinks within the first few minutes of settling in. Our waitress kept refilling the coffee and checking in on us too.
I ordered a veggie omelet, my mom ordered the spinach crepes, and my stepdad had the German pancake. Our food arrived fairly promptly. The omelet was okay. Not the best I ever had, just a typical omelet. My mom said her crepes were okay too, but the spinach didn’t taste fresh, nor did they look fresh to me. And the German pancakes weren’t bad.
Overall it was kind of a lukewarm experience. The service was quick and the food wasn’t completely horrendous, but it wasn’t an out of this world experience either.

Stopped in for breakfast after golf last Friday. I remember it being good, but pricey years ago. Now it’s still pricey, but not as good. The menu is rather slim. If you like omlettes or dessert pancakes, this place is for you. If you like a broader selection I suggest you go to Blueberry Hill or a place like that.

This place is really great for Lemont. Fast service, AMAZINGLY good coffee, and very good food. A great diner and seems to always be packed!

I had the Living Social deal to this place, and after reading all the reviews of this place I was terrified to try it. I’m glad we went though– it was much better than I expected.
Short summary– service was polite, fast, and efficient. We were seated immediately, our waitress had coffee right out (it’s Kona blend and really good!), and had our orders taken quickly.
My kids both had pancakes and bacon, I opted for a greek omelette– feta cheese, portabello mushroom, and red pepper. I agree with some of the other reviews that the food is a tad bit on the bland side– they could use a little salt and pepper in that kitchen. My kids loved their food though, and we all had grapefruit juice that tasted like it was from concentrate. Overall food was decent, it wasn’t amazing or avant-​garde, but I think it was fair and reasonably priced.
Overall– I think this place is pretty good. Hopefully the owner read the horrible reviews and made some changes. I’d definitely come here again– it was $ 26 for 3 of us to eat, and that’s really not that expensive. The service was good, and the food adequate. Is this a breakfast destination? No. But if I were hungry for breakfast while in Lemont I’d definitely go back.

***UPDATE TO MY UPDATE***
I read that this place will be closing on June 23^rd after 12 years.
What a shame… I really loved to hate this place.
Enough said.
***UPDATE***
Sooooo…
Paul C reached out to me and apologized for the terrible experience and has promised to deliver a better product… or not.
He has decided to question my manhood and threaten me with the POLICE!
Here is his message and my response… ENJOY!
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David G or whomever,
As the owner of Pancake Café I was embarassed to read the childish and immature review written. It is something I would expect from a uneducated person. The harsh language used, are you trying to show your manhood or is it to overcompensate for it.
If we made that large of a mistake at our restaurant you should have been man enough to advise a manager or owner and not hide behind a poorly written review. I have reported it to Unilocal and to the local police agency.
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David G.
One hour ago
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Are you serious?
Who is being childish now. Maybe instead of wasting the time of the Police you should try to do a better job of being a restaurateur.
If anyone should have called the Police it is me. We all left your place feeling robbed that we actually paid for such a terrible meal and experience.
I am man enough to advise a manager but to be quite honest I doubt it would make a difference. It was that bad. And your manager didn’t have a fucking clue…
If you cannot handle an honest look at your business from the eyes of a paying customer then maybe you should consider a new line of work. Or you can keep on keepin on and just go out of business the old fashioned way.
Yes, I am a highly educated person, & yes, I am smart enough to never eat at your establishment ever again as well.
I love the fact that you accuse me of hiding behind a poorly written review, yet you send me a message challenging my manhood, by implying that I am not man enough to speak my mind?
If I didn’t know better I would think you were trying to threaten me.
Well I accept your challenge!
I would gladly say any and ALL these comments to your face. I will literally print them out, come to your «restaurant» if you can call it that and read this to you — face to face.
You see, the freedom of speech is a great thing. I have the right to speak my mind and you have the right to serve very bad food and get mad when you called out on it.
Get a life. Loser

Since moving to Lemont 2 months ago my husband and I have had breakfast here twice, today possibly being the last. As one reviewer said so succinctly said, you want breakfast to be better than you can make yourself at home. The first time we went it was mid-​morning and the place was fairly empty. Granted this place is in a strip mall tucked in the corner, but if the were any good it wouldn’t matter. Today being a Sunday it was more crowded, but still plenty of empty booths and tables
I am not much of a pancake person so I have gotten egg dishes both times we were there. Most noticeable is the overall lack of any kind of seasonings and the fact that they have some of the worst hash browns ever. Soggy and not crisp, and like their omelets, devoid of any seasonings. Maybe they are playing to the lowest common denominator and putting out bland food so nothing gets sent back. Either way, would be hard presses to go back. For the record, my husband was not impressed either.
We were left with the question «Is there anywhere in Lemont to get a good breakfast»?

I’m shocked that people find this place expensive. It’s not Denny’s, it’s a local diner. Get over it. Many breakfast items are under $ 10 so I’m confused as to why the price is being thrown around as a complaint in reviews. Moving on…
I’ll sum up my breakfast here in one sentence; it smells better than it tastes. Nothing was terrible but nothing was great either. I love cooking at home and breakfast is the easiest thing to make. Give me 30 minutes and I’ll whip up great tasting pancakes from scratch and have cleaned up afterwards. Done. So I need a restaurant’s breakfast to be better than at home for me to appreciate dining out. The problem with this restaurant was execution.
A delicious smelling item was walked past us smelling of cinnamon and sugar. Apple pie being my weakness, I had to ask what that was. I settled on the apple pancake. What I received was a crusty mess of something that appeared to have been baked in the oven to caramalize the sugar on top. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste like a pancake and didn’t taste of apples. It was simply a crunchy grease bomb that tasted like not much at all. I was disappointed. I was hoping for one or two light but beautifully risen pancakes with an apple filling cooked separately that was poured over the top. I know, I’m picky.
The service was friendly and I really have no complaints other than taste. PC’s seemed to have a nice little crowd for a Saturday morning but a few changes would help the lines form out the door.

Had breakfast with a friend at PC’s Pancake Café for the first time and it was OK. The service was good with just a few lags here and there. The food was average, though portions were generous. I ordered a ham and cheddar cheese omelet and received a ham and American cheese one instead. I didn’t send it back (don’t want to waste food) but I wasn’t surprised by the error because it seemed to fit with the overall OK-​ness of the place.
I agree with a number of the reviewers who say the prices are high for the quality. I’ve had much better food and service elsewhere for the same prices or less.
I won’t return unless my friend wants to go back there; he seemed to enjoy it and it’s a central location for us.

I was looking for a change and changed direction and turned south on Lemont Road after looking up places for breakfast. So on Saturday 10−30−10 at 10AM, I decided to give PCs Pancake Café in Lemont a try.
It was my first & last trip.
Carlos was quick with the coffee, but slow with the cream. By the time I added cream the coffee was merely warm. It was the last time I saw the coffee pot, even though I asked for a second cup, twice.
Okay, now, instead of coffee, which seems to be MIA, I asked for water, twice. Though, I finally did get a glass of water about half way into my meal.
After looking over a promising menu, I ordered the Homemade Corned Beef Hash & Eggs with Pancakes.
The egg pan was maybe too hot. The over-​easy eggs arrived browned on the edges with the whites still quite runny.
But I eat raw eggs anyway (I know…). So no big turn off for me. Maybe you might not care for it, though.
The Hash appeared to have been processed through a mixer/​grinder of some sort, having a texture closer to a pâté or paste/​spread. The taste of the Hash, I couldn’t quite pin down seasoning wise. IMHO, it was not what I’d hoped for (shrugs).
The seasoned hash brown potatoes could have been ‘browned’ a bit more, but were fairly tasty, onions (yum) and all.
The pancakes were good, after picking off a fleck of onion obviously carried over from the grill and the potatoes.
But take if from a guy, or not, who is from out of town and has had breakfast out in the Darien/​Lemont area every weekend since March, I know I won’t be going back to PCs Pancake Café any time soon.
All in all, for $ 11.61 plus tip (yep, Carlos probably could have used the generous 25%, regardless), I’ve had better breakfasts.

The first time I ate here, it was during a huge fight with my then-​boyfriend. We were both a little hungover from a wedding the night before (me a bit more of the two of us) and we went, not speaking, for breakfast. Food was good – great pancakes, huge portions – but it was a little pricey. Happily, I dumped the boyfriend, landed myself an amazing husband, 2.5 kids, the whole bag – and ate there again. Same review: food was good – great pancakes, huge portions, but it was a little pricey. Definitely higher caliber than, say, an IHOP or anything along those lines – I mean, you *really* taste the difference. But if you’re on an IHOP budget, you might want to pass this one by and settle for food of slightly less quality but more wallet friendly. If you hungry, anticipate at least a three pound weight gain. But it will be goooooood. :)