We passed by the Original Pancake House many times in Rockville and Bethesda, so we finally decided to give it a try. The menu is entirely à la carte. Pancakes do not come with sides, so it could add up for people with bigger appetites. I don't eat much so it worked out okay for us. The blueberry pancake portion was enormous. We couldn't finish it. Service was exceptional. The hostesses were warm and welcoming, and the server was very friendly and efficient. The hospitality really made for a great dining experience. read more

The Original Pancake House - Waffle - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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I have fond memories of The Original Pancake House when I lived in Buffalo. So when I was in Maryland and stumbled upon this place, I definitely wanted to go here. The food is still very good, and huge portions. The omelettes in particular are so light it looks like they're made of four eggs, but I think it's three but whipped a lot. I got a small Dutch pancake, very thin and light and very tasty. The service was solid. Server came by as needed and provided refills of coffee. As for ambiance, it doesn't have the homey feeling that the Buffalo location did (the storefront is a bit hidden from the main road so I actually missed the entrance the first time) but it's more like a typical diner setup. Overall a great experience for a huge breakfast. read more

The Original Pancake House - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Great hot omelette and pancakes. Coffee is very strong, too strong. Each female worker was friendly, each male worker was rude or just ignored us. This is good food tho. read more

The Original Pancake House - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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We were in the area so we decided to have a late breakfast here. They have a huge menu and it seemed like everything came with pancakes which I loved! I had an egg platter. It was very good! So good that I didn't take any pictures of our food! Coffee keeps coming if you want it and our server was on top of everything! read more

Party of 6 while visiting Relatively convenient location for surrounding hotels. Friendly but frazzled service. Things took a while and we had to flag people down a few times. Gigantic menu can be both good for options and bad for indecision. Mistakes on a few of the orders, another mistake with the "correction" but we just took it at that point. All the food was fine but nothing noteworthy. read more

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The food and service is great! Even with a line, the wait is short. It's nice to be served by waiters who enjoy their job.

Pretty decent food, the pancakes were obviously a hit, and I would definitely go back for a stack. The chai tea was a bit on the sweet side, and the bacon was extra crispy. Overall, the service was good and there were tons of patrons, which they handled well. read more

They are always so nice there!!! Strawberry crepes are the best of the best!! Extensive menu so everyone can find something they like. Great small town feel when u walk in ... read more

The Original Pancake House - Love this place ! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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I absolutely love the original pancake house because their omelette are the best. So it was only for Mother's Day. I came and had my favorite western omelette. Paired with bacon, potatoes with onions, chocolate chip, pancake, corn beef hash and of course the fresh squeeze orange juice. Since it was Mother's Day, it was extremely packed so I use Yelp and added myself to the waitlist. I called the restaurant to let them know that I was parking and Chris answered the call and assured me that my space was saved while I cross the street. Chris was also the one to greet me at the restaurant and he was extremely nice and pleasant. We were seated within seconds if entering so the waitlist option is PHENOMENAL! I'm glad that they offer it though Yelp, Our waitress Ariana was really nice and she handled her section with ease, although it was extremely busy. She even got a party of 8 while still holding down her busy section, hats off to her! The restaurant is a pretty decent size and can accommodate large parties. They also offer outdoor seating which is nice for when it's warm outside. Our food came out much quicker than I expected with it being Mother's Day the restaurant was told to cap capacity there was not an empty seat in the house, and our food came out within 10 minutes. Always delicious. I'm never disappointed when I come to eat! There's a parking garage next-door, it is a county parking garage so the rates are a lot cheaper and you can pay via your cell phone for pocket space so you don't have to worry about getting a ticket if you park the street side. There are a couple hotels right next to restaurant which is also nice if you're visiting that you can just walk down stairs and get some pancakes. Love it! Will be back! read more

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Absolutely awful breakfast experience. I was brought a waffle instead of the pancakes I ordered and was too hungry to wait for the proper order. My husband's eggs Benedict had the worst sauce I've every had. And they have the nerve to charge $5 for a cup of stale coffee. How in the world does this place stay open? The place itself was run down which could be charming if the food was out of this world. Instead it's a gross hole in the wall with terrible food. read more

This was our second time visiting The OPH in over 20 years. We were not disappointed at all. We went on a Saturday morning and even though it was extremely crowed, we only waited 10 minutes to be seated. Our food was delivered in a pretty timely manner and it was still pretty tasty the same way I remembered. The eggs were cooked just right, not under/overcooked. The bacon was crispy and the pancakes were fluffy. We will be making a return there soon. read more

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We ate for breakfast when I dropped my daughter off back to school at Howard University. The food was delicious the service was excellent! read more

This is my second time visiting the Original Pancake House. The first time the service wasn't the greatest, and we were outside. The weather is a bit more chilly now, so when trying it this time we made sure we stayed inside. Walking in, my friends and I were greeted immediately and were seated. The inside was much like a laid-back diner. Our server, Alem came and was the sweetest. My friends started with tea and I got orange juice. I just want to say this orange juice is freshly squeezed and it was sooooo good. I also want to pre-warn you all that there isn't any champagne here for mimosas. Onto the food, I ordered the special Apple oven-baked pancakes in the regular portion. Now, before I ordered them, Alem did warn me that they weren't typical pancakes. I was willing to try something new. When they came I was like wow. It was a big portion, and I mean BIG. It was very warm and the dish looked like a dessert. The apples were very good and as warm as they looked (maybe even warmer). You have to dig to get to the pancake portion, and my first time, It did taste different, a bit softer than I'm used to, but then I felt like I was going to like it. I was wrong. It has an acquired taste and it's very sweet. The portion is definitely made for two people. My side of bacon helped balance out the sweetness. Alem asked for my feedback and was very apologetic when I told her I didn't like it. Overall the original pancake house is good for a non-brunch-like party environment. It's good for children as well. If you go, ask for Alem her service was great! It did help since the service last time wasn't that great. The pricing was pretty cheap as well, as for the 4 of us, it was about $22 Per person, in which there was an inflation few there. Thank you for having us! read more

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This is a very popular place. Like a old school diner. Huge menu of every kind of pancake or waffle that you want. Huge portions. Service was pretty quick. They were almost full. Ambiance is good. Gave me diner energy. read more

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Good day. Hail to the Commanders. In town for the afternoon game. Staying in Besteda MD at the Hyatt a five minute walk away. The Review about it being hit or miss. It WAS A BIG MISS TODAY! Training opportunity for Bri at our expense. I ordered soft scrambled eggs and my wife order her eggs over medium not over runny.No syrup for the pancakes we both ordered and we asked for strawberry sauce to add to the pancakes. While we eventually got syrup we were done by the time the side of strawberries showed up. While it's not uncommon to see an owner roll up his selves to assist it should not be the required norm. Things happens but this was disappointing and I am being generous. Occasionally, you have go on a thirty minute wait to allow the kitchen and your wait staff to regroup. I am speaking from experience. What's even more troubling is that we're supposed to accept what's been served to us after an hour wait while sitting at the table. So much room for improvement. read more

The Original Pancake House - Total - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

When we first went in and got seated there was a dirty knife on the seat so that was redflag #1. The server didn't speak very clearly and didn't seem like they wanted to be there. They didn't help explain the menu to us or anything. When we got out food we weren't even half way through being finished eating and the server came to give us the check which was really weird and kind of rude to be honest. The food itself was good but the serving size was really really small. I wouldn't go again mainly because of the service. read more

The Original Pancake House - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Service was great and server Pancakes and eggs were very delicious. The ham was okay not as fresh. The potatoes were horrible. Tasted very bitter. read more

Good food, great service, parking garage validation. Many kinds of pancakes to choose from. read more

Exactly what you want in a breakfast spot/pancake house and friendly service. Great for young kids.

Today's a holiday and because I'm desperate for a breakfast at work I tried the original Pancake House once again. Unfortunately much hasn't changed. They got my order wrong and now I'm back at work picking through food I didn't order. read more

The Original Pancake House - Burnt eggs, cold fries and bacon - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

We have been coming here for years. The food is always solid and the staff is friendly. When it was closed for a maintenance issue, my wife and I tried a couple other options in Bethesda... they weren't great. They were either too expensive and trying too hard to be 'Brunchy' or the atmosphere was too niche to be comfortable. Pancakes hits the sweet spot of all our breakfast desires. And I don't even order pancakes. read more

My husband and I have dined at this location because we dislike the service in Rockville. We drive out of our way to go to this location. Well today something was really off in this place. Our server started off super friendly and attentive. No complaints about her service at all. Food was fine too no issues. We pay the bill and the server returns and grabs the completed receipt and her mood instantly changes? We left 18% tip on a $55 meal. She behaved as if we left her nothing. She grabbed the receipt and said she is going to scan it and we were confused because we already ran our card?? She immediately was visibly upset and we were absolutely confused as to what happened or what the issue was? We are not bad tippers so this was absolutely unnecessary and very unprofessional. Looking through all the comments at this establishment I'm seeing that it wasn't the first time this is an ongoing issue in management needs to speak to their staff about talking to customers disrespectfully about the tip. They are leaving as 18% is a good tip not sure what her problem was and now not sure we will be back if this is how the vibe is going to be let's get it together people! Pay your people a living wage so customers don't have to deal with unprofessionalism! read more

A great place for breakfast or brunch if you are in downtown Bethesda. The staff is friendly and welcoming, especially the servers from the Horn of Africa. Seldom will you find more gracious and refined women anywhere on earth. Kudos to the restaurant's manager for hiring such professional and attentive staff. I ordered an omelet for breakfast Saturday morning. The omelet came with three pancakes. The pancakes were light, fluffy, and tasty. They reminded me of the pancakes my mom sometimes made on Saturday mornings when I was a child. The bacon and cheddar cheese omelet was huge and tasty. I cut it up into quarters, eating one quarter while enjoying breakfast, saving two quarters for dinner, and eating the last quarter along with my meds on Sunday morning. I had a glass of cranberry juice and some water to go with the delicious breakfast. I got a container and a takeout bag for my leftovers. I spent about three hours Saturday afternoon walking through museums along the DC Mall, so I was able to walk off the pancakes and the omelet! I capped off my evening by eating two quarters of the omelet for dinner. Definitely a nice place for breakfast or brunch if you are in Bethesda or nearby. There is plenty of parking if you drive and the Bethesda station on the Red Line Metro is about three short blocks away. A WMATA bus (the J2) stops along Wisconsin Avenue, while other buses stop in the bus alcove at the Metro station. read more

What a terrible experience. We ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and home fries and somehow it came to $60. The waitress insisted that because we ordered home fries it wasn't part of the typical all breakfast and they charged us à la carte. The manager kept telling us you have to look at the menu to see the different options. They have to be 100 different options for breakfast. They were so unhelpful and so unfriendly I will never go back. Can you believe $60 for two of us for breakfast. What a scam and an awful experience. read more

I finally found this location. It takes some effort as it's not easily seen from the street? I chose to eat outside. No way to know if the service is better inside but outside SUCKS! I was never shown a table but instructed to simply choose a table. Waiter shows up to serve coffee with No Cream? Says they don't have Brown/Raw sugar. No spoon offered. I asked for a full waffle but received a half of one? Sent it back got a full waffle with no syrup? Sent that back. Sat it the heat and watched the staff fall all over serving the party beside me. Walked past me for close to an hour, never offered me more water or to refresh my coffee until I was ready to leave? I was expecting service like that at the Rockville location. Staff there is slow but they tend to the order right. I won't be back. read more

Low quality food tightly packed restaurant. i am an adult who loves the kids menu for its serving size but this restaurant is very against adults eating a kids meal read more

Loved the breakfast from here! I ordered pumpkin pancakes and a veggie omelette. The omelette came with more pancakes which I was surprised to see. Everything was delicious and the food lasted me for a week. Luckily it was easy to take a slice of omelette out and put the rest away. My pup was able to enjoy some of the pumpkin pancakes. I had no idea there would be so much food and would love to order from here again. read more

The Original Pancake House - Vegetarian Omelette** - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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We were seated promptly on a Sunday morning but then waited a loooooong time (15 min?) for our waitress to take our order. Took even longer to get coffee and tea. We ordered ice water and after asking 3 times finally got a single very small glass. Lol. The food when it finally got to us was meh. Never had an eggs Benedict where they didn't toast the English muffin! The pancakes were tasty although they dissolved in the syrup. Maybe the service situation comes partly from all the ICE raids -- thanks Trump! Anyway, we really wanted to like it but no. read more

My initial experience was fine and food was okay aside from the time it took to get out to us. By the end of the morning and our meal I paid the check only to rushed by a waitress demanding a larger tip, never in my life have I had someone have the audacity to request I tip a larger amount. There is already a 20 percent gratuity included and to come to me request I rewrite my tip had me in awe, this tip culture and not letting your customers know about an automatic gratuity fee is already a red flag in a business in addition to feeling entitled to a larger tip, pressuring your customer as they are leaving. If your service was good I will leave a tip if you excel I will leave a larger one if you do the bare minimum and ask for handouts why don't I just pay your wage while I'm at it. Our meal was about 55 dollars and our total ended up being nearly 90 with the gratuity and demanded tip. If I knew about the poor customer service I would have taken myself to a better establishment and probably could have saved myself enough for another meal. read more

I used to be a regular at this restaurant but it's many years since I've been there. We stayed at the Marriott next to the restaurant so of course we took advantage! Quality unfortunately is nowhere near what it once was. The apple pancake was smaller than before and and was thick and heavy instead of fluffy the way it used to be. The omelette was fine as well. I won't be going back. read more

The manager a ginger with glasses was very disrespectful and forced us to pay extra for stuff we didn't order he added extra to the tip. The service was nice and the food was ok but the manger ruined the experience wouldn't come here again read more

I took my three young daughters and they loved it. Amazing food, great dinner style service and an overall fun breakfast!

They have the BEST blueberry pancakes! Unfortunately, one side I tried was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Good eggs and bacon (can't go too wrong there) but the "hash browns" were just plain awful....I'm talking NO seasoning, salt pepper, nothing! Just plain ol' big potato chunks. They do have other options for hash brown like shredded or hash browns with jalapeño and cheese although the added jalapeño and cheese wasn't available with the combo I had. I've had the blueberry pancakes two ways...with The Works that comes with 3 pancakes (I had to add the blueberries), 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and those nasty hash browns, and an order of the blueberry pancakes that comes with 6 pancakes and no sides. The blueberry pancakes are smaller than the average pancake (think silver dollar pancake size) so I was disappointed when I ordered The Works that only comes with 3 vs. the a la carte' option that comes with 6. I now know because the blueberry pancakes are the star of the show, I have to order the blueberry pancakes separate from my sides to make sure I get enough so be mindful of that when ordering. read more

Friendly staff, but the plusses ended there. The bacon was so burnt it had to be sent back. We just cut around the burnt parts of the ham. The faint but noticeable taste of baking powder in the pancakes. Little bugs (drain flies?) where flying all around the seats. A cold draft hit each time the front door opened. Our server, again was friendly, but never checked in. We had to catch her as she was walking by with no intention of checking on us. (Though she still felt it important to circle the tip choices on the bill?) To top it all off, the food was over priced. I usually don't leave bad reviews, but there were too many things wrong here to let it slide. read more

People hold out the 5 star for some sort of rom-com perfect life.... over it. This place is walking distance, reasonable price, ENORMOUS omelette, great breakfast options, and great service. They serve their eggs Benedict in special bowls so it doesn't bleed into your other food, I love that. Sat there a requisite 10 minutes for food - which is super sonic - and saw beautifully steaming and Texas sized portions served quickly. Sorry it doesn't have cage-free arugula. But it does have two hot sauces, maple syrup and fast service on the table. read more

The Original Pancake House - Californian omelette - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

I've come to this location numerous times and the food is is always good, plus the portion sizes are always large enough for 2 meals. I've come here with different people and the all seem to enjoy what TOPH has to offer. There are a few knocks that I have though: The creamer is sitting on the table for community usage. Now I can deal with room temperature cream, but to have it out in the open for each table to use...Nope. And the waffles are shaped in a long form and not the normal round shape and was slightly "cakey" which would need a lot of syrup. Other than those small hits, I enjoy coming here when I'm in the area. They actually honor the yelp check-ins with a free cup of coffee! I like that right there because there are few who offer anything free when you check into their establishments. Overall, I'd recommend this place to eat. Just ask for new creamer for your coffee. read more

The Original Pancake House - Simple breakfast that was decent, but that waffle...#softpass - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Bad service. Just awful. Every time. The last time I'll ever visit was when I was added to the waitlist on this website and still waited 30 minutes for a table. The food is good though! Be careful of a "temporary inflation fee". Yes there is a warning all over the menu and on the check, but it doesn't say for how much. So if your waiter or management doesn't like what you look like, what you ordered, or your breakfast conversation (did table 4 say they voted for XXX?!), they can charge you more than the table next to you. David Dennisson of OPH Restaurants says the inflation fee fluctuates based on Consumer Price Index, but without total transparency or a consistent figure, it's sketchy behavior that I'll avoid and I suggest others do too. read more

The Original Pancake House - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

For the cost, the food was mediocre. The pancakes are very small and the wait time to get your food is slow.

Food was OK. Requested clarification on a dish and got a good answer. Saw blueberry compote on the menu and asked if they also had blueberry syrup. Server's answer was yes. Syrup is presented and is looks like maple syrup so I ask and am told that the blueberry syrup will come soon. Pancakes arrive with compote. I asked about the syrup and am bluntly told that it's in that little cup in front of me (compote). Then the server proceeded to argue that that's what THEY call syrup. Compote was overly sweet. Bacon was the best part of the meal. read more

My husband and I went to the Pancake House for breakfast and were seated very quickly. We waited 30 mins and no one took our order. We noticed people who came in after us were seated and served. My husband had to call someone over and ask for service. We received our food about an hour later. The food was ok. The coffee lukewarm. I didn't like the eggs. We asked for more coffee and no one brought it. We found out who our server was supposed to be and asked her why she never came to our table. She started complaining about being stressed and overwhelmed. She should have been courteous enough to stop by our table to say "sorry for the wait, I'll be right with you." The ambiance is that of a very crowded restaurant on a Saturday morning. We should've left once we realized we weren't getting service. Oh well, we won't be returning. read more