Eat More Pancakes

In 1961 Robert Baldwin founded a Nashville institution when he first opened the doors to the Pancake Pantry. Robert wanted to create a family friendly atmosphere and he succeeded beyond his  wild imagination I suspect. Not only has the Pantry become one of Nashville’s “Go to” places for breakfast or lunch and a favourite of local celebrities (not the least of which is Taylor Swift). In 1988 it become a second generation family run joint and if all goes well, someday a third generation will be at the controls. If all that isn’t enough it’s now on the national radar. If it wasn’t already that is. In June of 2011 Adam Richman and the Man v. Food Nation crew paid the Pantry a visit. Adam was shown how to make the Sweet Potato pancakes which he then sampled. To say he loved them is an understatement. You can see more of his visit and reaction here.

From the outside the 150 year old building sits prominently on a corner. It's not overly dressy looking but has that beautiful old brick look to it. Another feature of the exterior is the long line up. This is common at Pancake Pantry and at first, I was a little disheartened. Experience has shown me thought that this line up moves pretty quickly. About 15 - 20 minutes was all it took to get seated. It seems the smaller your party the better chance you have to jump the cue as well. 

Inside is quite nice with it's high ceiling and large open dining room. This gives the busy restaurant plenty of room for noise to dissipate. So it's often crowded the additional volume means the din of peoples conversation does not intrude. On this particular day the nice summer sun was shining through the windows. The seats are jammed in as tight as they feel they can get them while still allowing for room to maneuver. For both patron and staff alike.

In the kitchen secret recipes foods are prepared fresh daily. The grains are from a mill in east Tennessee so you know they're fresh. So let's have a look at them shall we??

 There are two syrups waiting on the table for you. The obvious one is maple of course. The second is a Cinnamon Cream Syrup. Slightly caramelly with a proud but not over powering cinnamon taste it's absolutely fabulous. The cream pulls it all together to a smooth rich sauce. My only complaint about it is they should serve it warm. Perhaps keep some in a slow cooker and then ladle into a teapot for service. Other than that, I can't say enough great things about it. As you can tell, I love cinnamon. Especially counterbalancing sweet.

The Sweet Potato Pancakes are quite nice. Not overly tasting of sweet potatoes however not void of any notes. They were nice and fluffy yet still dense enough to have some heft. They recommend you use the Cinnamon Cream Syrup on them and it's a perfect fit. Cinnamon is a great match with sweet taters as most people know so they go together perfectly.

Their regular pancakes as just as good as any I've had. Perhaps the ones I make at home are better but as with most things, I prefer mine. These are a great, solid, straight up pancake just itching for the whipped butter and sweet stuff. I started with Maple Syrup on the first one but the cinnamon was drawing me. It was just perfect with these as well. They have some different fruit compotes. We tried Strawberry and Blueberry. The later being far and away superior.


The Cook's Grill Medley is a pile of food. Good thing I was starving. As described, "Mounds of hash browns with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and ham, all grilled up crisp. Add to that: melted American and Swiss cheeses with two fried eggs on top." Just a nice blend of flavours and textures. The toast on the side was pretty nice too. Nothing special, just good.

They do offer lunch fare but lets face it, this place is built on breakfast.

So there you have it folks. A great start to your day at the favourite haunt  of one of the brightest young stars in pop music.

You can find The Pancake Pantry in the heart of Hillsboro Village at 1796 21st Avenue S. Nashville, Tn.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.



Well that's all folks, see y'all next time in the food court.

Davwud