Avoid. Food sucks, service sucks. We were seated at the stools, then another family comes in 10 minutes later and they relocate my elderly mother and I closer to the door, where it was freezing. In between blasts of arctic cold every time someone came or left, my mom tried to pick a thick carpet of sugar off mediocre French toast, and I had the "tamale" pancakes, which were just undercooked cornmeal pancakes with corn in them, choked underneath gobs of cheddar. The bacon was right out of Oscar Meyer. I will never come here again. read more

My wife and I love Hotcakes. We walk there for breakfast a few times each month. We love the cozy atmosphere, friendly staff, and neighborhood feel/clientele. The prices aren't cheap for breakfast food, but the food is amazing, fresh and of great quality. I love their corned beef hash and cornmeal pancakes. Their eggs are fantastic. Kid and baby-friendly and a great spot for a friends and family breakfast, brunch or lunch, on the north shore. read more

I recently was in the Wilmette area and my family and I were looking for a place to eat breakfast. We came across Hotcakes and decided to try it. We ordered eggs benedict and it was one of the worst meals I have ever had. The eggs were mushy, the English muffin was burnt, and the potatoes were inedible. On top of the disgusting food the bill was tremendously high. I say save your time and money and DON'T dine at Hotcakes. read more

Great little breakfast/lunch place in downtown Wilmette. Fantastic omelette with the best breakfast potatoes around. Great pancakes too!

We decide to try this place to avoid the wait at Walker Brothers. We were so happy we did. The food was great and fast. Out server was so friendly. The fresh oj was delicious. We are so happy to have another option for a great breakfast in the area. read more

Super small but quaint little diner in Wilmette and my go to breakfast place. Truly the best hotcakes and omelets. Not good for large groups. read more

My wife and I decided to give this place a go despite some pretty bad reviews. We were pleasantly surprised considering what some others said they had experienced. While we have certainly had more exciting menus at good Chicago restaurants, this is a great little place if you can accept what it is...a cozy diner with good diner food and tons of charm. Best thing about this place was the small town old school diner ambience. It is a cross between a 70's diner and your grandma's kitchen. Unlike most Chicago restaurants, it has tons of light, which is a lovely change. The service was excellent. We were well taken care of throughout the whole meal. Prices were normal in my opinion...$7.00 for a huge stack of pancakes and the traditional over-the-top $3.50 for a glass of OJ. Coffee was bottomless. Menu was limited, but fine. My whole wheat cakes and my wife's Swedish cakes were both delicious. Coffee was good too (not lousy diner coffee). We will definitely go again :) read more

We discovered this place after moving up from the city and we've been back several times. The portions are huge, and the service has been great. The coffee is excellent and the corn muffin hotcakes are so delish that we crave them! read more

MMMM. This is a Sunday morning treat with my in-laws on occasion, located in downtown Wilmette. Very cozy (read: small) diner with seating for maybe 40 people. Sometimes you can squeeze in at the counter. Great daily specials to spice up your breakfast. read more

Good tasting food, tiny but cozy place. Quaint downtown wilmette cafe. Very friendly staff. CASH only!!

We love an early morning breakfast at Hotcakes. The new location is very comfortable (although not as intimate as the original location down the block). The Wilmette Scrambler is a delicious and filling mix of eggs, veggies and cheese. The whole wheat hotcakes are the best I've had. The specials menu is always filled with creative seasonal offerings. The cheesy potatoes are a real treat. The coffee is served fresh, hot and as much as you want. But the best part of breakfast at Hotcakes is the warm friendly service from the staff. They always make us feel right at home. read more

Disappointed in the food here. Service was poor, we waited a long time to get our check and then to find out they lost it and had to go over our whole meal. I didn't think the food was as good as it was priced. read more

Overpriced, bacon over cooked, coffee weak, and hard benches to sit on! Everything I don't want for a breakfast experience ... won't be back!! read more

This is my favorite breakfast place! Amazing food, great staff, never too busy. I legit love it here!!!!

Cute little breakfast place in the heart of downtown Wilmette that I've gone to since I was a kid. The corned beef hash is a favorite, as is their eggs benedict, and their colorful homemade cupcakes with yummy cream cheese frosting were basically a part of my childhood. read more

My wife and I have breakfast here a couple times a month. Great food, Service is nice and the new location has lots more space!! Waiting for a table is still common but only during the Peak Hours. We usually come during the week to avoid the crowds. They also have freshly made cakes and cupcakes for dessert!! CASH ONLY! Chase Bank 1 block away read more

I went here at 1230 on a Sunday - mostly because I was a party of ONE & was told Id have to wait in the line outside of Walker bros BEFORE I was even allowed a number to be called or however they do it. Anyways I am SO glad I came here instead! Small & cozy & was seated Instantly even though it was already quite busy. My food came FAST but it was hot & fresh. I got the Spinach & feta omlette which was AMAZING!! Not dry at all which feta can do to eggs!! Potatoes on the side were great as well. Staff was friendly & tentative on the refills!! I will come back to try the pancakes! ONLY CON: coffee could be a LITTLE STRONGER! Thank you though my service & food was Great!! read more

Annoying that they will not accept credit cards. Food fine. Service fine. But won't come back because of cash only requirement. Who carries cash these days? read more

These guys took forever! Busy day because Sunday morning but even so they blatantly ignored us in favor of some others, and visibly so. The pancakes were super sweet, so depending on your preferences that is a good or bad thing. Otherwise, not a bad place at all. read more

We recently moved to the neighborhood and came to Hotcakes with out of town guests (11 of us total). Though we had a large group we didn't need to wait long. Everyone was very happy with their food. My kids especially loved the M&M pancakes. This place is small, but the decor is perfect for kids and families. read more

Really not sure why this place is getting such bad reviews. I've lived in Wilmette since first grade and have always had good food and good service. The place isn't the nicest, in that you might end up quite cramped at your table, and things can get really busy, but that's the price you pay when you have a small, locally-run, high-quality business sometimes. A lot of people love it, a lot of people come routinely, and it makes the smaller space even more cramped. Amazing pancakes, decent coffee, tasty omelettes, nice hot coacoa... If you want a low-key and delicious breakfast, that should do it for you. Did I mention amazing pancakes? I get the worst cravings for them sometimes. read more

First time here, found ourselves in Wilmette at breakfast time & liked the Yelp reviews. Outstanding! The huevos rancheros were excellent, coffee great & service terrific. Small & cozy. Nothing generic about this place, even the potatoes were hand-cut & delicious. Skip the big joints with long lines & head on over! read more

I was visiting from Baltimore. My Sister and Brother in law brought us here on July 4th for Breakfast. I had the best breakfast I've ever had and returned on July 5th for the second best. read more

Big fan of the buttermilk pancakes. I also shared the cottage fries with my dining companion, and give those a thumbs up. Cute and comforting decor, and very friendly and attentive servers. The place was busy but not overcrowded. A little pricey, but that's breakfast/brunch on the North Shore. Also a con was the fact that they only take cash, so we had to run to the ATM. read more

I'm in town visiting family on the North Shore and was craving a great breakfast this morning with my dad. So many places around here are such a letdown: Bad service with worn-out staff; over-priced and over-rated food; bad atmosphere; forgettable experiences. But not Hotcakes - this place was absolutely fantastic start to finish (and SO REASONABLY PRICED!). A great wait and bus staff; kind and accommodating owners; well made and fresh tasting food; and signature potatoes that absolutely surprised me with their great and unique taste and perfectly cooked little pieces. This has become among my few favorite places along Chicago's North Shore, and one I will absolutely be visiting whenever I am in town and hungry for a good and hearty Midwest meal! They're cash only, which was the only strike against this place for me (who carries cash anymore?!). Can't recommend Hotcakes enough - and I have yet to try their signature pancakes, but I'll be back soon... :-) read more

The waitress was very rude and never came to check on us. I ordered a water and she came back with a large lemonade, which was tasteless and watered down. I then ordered the special of cinnamon raisin french toast and my friend ordered pancakes, shouldn't be too hard to do for a place that does breakfast. The food took forever, but when our food finally came out, I was served raisin toast. Just plain toast with butter and raisins. Literally just toast. I tried to tell the woman who brought it out that I had ordered french toast, but she never came back to check on us. The waitress was also wearing a trendy taco shirt, which was odd because trendy taco is down the street, not the same restaurant. Our waters were never refilled and at the end, I had to stand up to get my check. The silverware was sticky before I ever used it. Overall horrible experience, only came here because walker brothers was busy and won't be coming back again. read more

READ THIS BEFORE EATING!!! I have eaten at Hotcakes several times in the past year and thought it was an average breakfast place (I also like to support local businesses). Today I went there for lunch and my meal was average but for the first time, I noticed that the waitress, who was also cleaning tables and dishes and running the register, never washed her hands! I watched her take money from customers (its cash only) and dig through the cash register only to turn around and grab some prepared dishes from the counter and serve them to customers. Then she was removing old food from dirty dishes in a dish tub while also eating her lunch in plain view of my table. Without washing her hands, she refilled my ice tea and threw a lemon in it for me. I could go on about the numerous health code violations that I observed today but I think whomever reads this has gotten the point. As I previously mentioned, I like to support local businesses but this place is a few swipes of a dirty table rag away from seriously infecting someone. read more

I just read through all the bad reviews, but I really don't understand them... I checked the dates and for the most part, they were all written a very long time ago so they must have made a lot of great changes!! (I know they moved to a much bigger location down the street for one.) I've been coming here for a few months now and all my experiences have been delightful. The staff is hard-working and attentive. The omelets and breakfast scrambles are fluffy and never greasy. The salads and sandwiches are high-quality and aesthetically pleasing . But it's the pancakes that really take the cake (pun intended). They are flavorful and filling and come in a lot of different ways. Kids gobble 'em up. You can get crepes, chocolate chip hotcakes, fresh fruit, cornmeal hotcakes, tamale hotcakes, etc, etc, Is your mouth watering yet?? read more

Wow! I'm actually surprised that Hotcakes had gotten a few good reviews, considering what a total dump it really is. Well I guess I'll be the one to break it to you all who want to really know how horrible it is. Let's start with the small, cramped seating area with it's WW2 post-war, 1940's tattered decor. Some idiot or hobo may call it "cozy" or "it's great for kids". Um, no it's not either of those things. The place is a s**t hole plain and simple. But I guess when the cougars who live in that area are blinded by their daily tanning, one can't make out chipped and pealing linoleum flooring from floors that are actually modern and clean. This place seems packed all the time too, not because it's good but because there's just not enough places to sit. Still though, looks can be deceiving so maybe an egg over medium, toast, breakfast potatoes, and bacon won't be as hard to make as some omelet that's premade. Yes, premade. So you can't say, "please no red onions." Cus damn it! you'll get those in there! As far as my breakfast... Bacon? super hard. Egg? runny. Potatoes? gross. Toast? mediocre. I don't even know how these few items ended up costing more than $12.00 bucks either. I'll have to mention too that my food was ready in seriously, like two minutes. Which leaves me to believe that my bacon and potatoes were already done and drying out somewhere in the back. Probably in their tiny bathroom that was 1/2 toilet and 1/2 mop and bucket set. I was also sitting at a table by the thermostat. The um...ahem...cook kept on coming over and adjusting it above my boyfriend's head. WTF? The worst part was that Hotcakes does not have signs or anything that says it ONLY accepts cash. So when we got our $25.00 dollar breakfast bill. Yep, for a couple of eggs and burnt bacon, the waitress/only person working there other than the cook, tells us, "sorry, dear I don't have a card machine." and just walks away when we wanted to use our debit card. She didn't even direct us to an ATM or anything! Did I ditch out on the tab? Almost. I really did. I haven't done that since high school but this place was really asking for it. Instead my manners got the best of me and we did go get cash and paid, but did not leave a tip. The only one who did work at that place was my boyfriend for having to walk a block 1/2 until he found an ATM. But no tip was left for anyone. So now it comes down to all of the airheads who go there and think it's great. If you're a tasteless rich bitch mommy, who loves hanging out with other tasteless rich bitch mommies and all of their little sailor monogram clothed squirts, than you'll LOVE this F- breakfast hole. If you're like me, who likes a great breakfast, no matter what it costs, as long as you can pay with plastic (21st century cash) then go somewhere else. Anywhere else! Heck, even the Dunkin' Donuts breakfast will be better than these "New Deal WPA" rations. read more

Yep it's small, and sometimes the service is tested but the best Swedish Pancakes in the Chicago area.

Hot cakes had a wonderful staff, great breakfast hit cakes, and fast service. I had a wonderful experience!

Sister to the Greenbay Cafe in Winnetka. Similar menu. Everything I've ordered has been well prepared and tasty. Service is friendly and usually excellent. I could stand less salt on the potatoes and salsa but I'm on a low sodium diet and have lost my taste for it. read more

Very mediocre. Cool "old timey" ambiance. We had the oddest experience, we were settled and trying to look at the menu - we'd been there under 4 minutes and they were pressuring us to order, when another group came in and the wait staff told us we had to move to a smaller table - they'd seated us to begin with! It's also ONLY cash, so don't go in with checks or debit cards. Odd place, even stranger people. read more

Delectable corn meal pancakes and corned beef hash. Good ol fashioned cooking like your mama made. Worth every penny. Service attentive. Clean as a whistle. read more

Much has changed since the renovation. The food is better but much more expensive. The service host though has really ticked us off, so we are done with this place. We asked for a table near the window, and we were seated in the middle section, BUT we were asked to move again about 10 minutes later in order to acccomodate a group that just came in. Unprofessional. And it all shows that they are more interested in $$ than people. We are back to Walker Bros. read more

Liked the atmosphere and food. Hash was good and so was the chorizo. Good service too for a Sunday morning.

Went in at noon on a busy Sunday. 45 minutes later and still didn't have our food. Asked the server, who said, "Two minutes." And two minutes later, food did arrive...at the table next us, which had been seated 5 minutes after us. We walked. No idea how the food is here, but with service this awful, don't waste your time. read more

I arrived at this establishment and waited around half an hour before the waiter even took my order. This place is also overpriced, I lost more than $30, I lost my sweet time. I was not even able to eat half of my meal because I had to leave for an important business meeting. To say the least it ruined my day. I was running on a half full stomach. read more

Blueberry pancakes and ham were good. Service was very slow. It took quite a long time for two of our three meals to be served. The third took even longer. The place was not busy at all. Syrup tasted like Kayo. Plus, it was quite expensive. read more

Food was just ok...2 adults... $25 for breakfast...too expensive...eggs r $1.50 each a la carte...side of 2 hotcakes r misleading on menu...read fine print...maple syrup is not good quality...we won't be back...! read more