Truly, this was an unexpectedly poor experience. And it's really unfortunate, things could've been just fine if things were handled well. Pro tip: Do not go here with high expectations. Walking in, the vibe was more than fine... I'd even say a bit more elevated than a diner, with some charm. The server was welcoming and did get us started quite promptly, with our order taken within 5-10 minutes and coffee on the table 5-10 min later. Everything was downhill from there. An hour passed and we still didn't have our food. The server told us "you're next, it's coming". While something seemed off, we remained patient. Another 15 min go by, nothing. Mind you, unbenownst to the staff, we actually knew another table who arrived and sat down 15 min after us and, while they also waited a while, they finished their meal and left and we still didn't have anything. It's at least an hour and a half later, and we finally said something. Once again, "you're next, it's coming", but this time an added, "he sold your food to someone else". Aka the server either told the truth, and the restaurant made an error, or the server pawned their error on the chef. Food finally started to drop, but the order was certainly not fully accurate. Tolerable, but noticeably not accurate. Missing sides, incorrect orders, and one guest missing their whole order. At this point, we're looking to speak to a manager. The missing omelette meal finally hit the table, looking like it was whipped up in a couple minutes, on a dirty pan (think full yellow with a layer of black and oily grease). Upon cutting it up it was clear that it wasn't fully cooked. I wish I took a photo, but the "owner" took it to examine it herself and was both rude and defensive. Not one apology for any of the above. Forget about any suggestive comps or resolution. The server didn't make any eye contact once it was obvious an error was made. Genuinely, I can understand that mistakes can be made, especially during busy times. But, no excuse for the demeaned of this "owner". I put this in quotes because her behavior and response to the situation is certainly not acceptable. Maybe we had a "miss" experience. Maybe the food and service would be better next time. But due to the response of the "owner" we will not be returning and I would not recommend to anyone. read more

Nice breakfast spot in South Bend. Staff were very kind and service was prompt. The food was typical of a diner and did not disappoint. The menu is large and has the stable breakfast items. read more

The Original Pancake house - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

We stopped by this place before heading to the commencement at Notre Dame. We were able to walk in and were seated immediately which was nice for a Sunday morning. Our server was bright and bubbly, and this place has the feel of a small town hang where the staff knows their regulars. It has an extensive menu with lots of diner type options, and is super affordable. However, it took us 35 minutes to get our food, which was disappointing. We had to eat really quickly. It would have been understandable if they were really busy, but they weren't. Luckily, the food was yummy. We just couldn't really enjoy it since we had to rush. read more

The Original Pancake house - Pecan pancakes - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

First time here. Party of 3. Fast service and extensive menu. Coffee cup was never empty. Great pancakes and sausages. read more

The Original Pancake house - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

This place would be a California 2 but it's a South Bend 4.5 There was cobwebs on the light above the booth and the booth was busted so there was a metal bar that my booty couldn't avoid. The coffee tastes like crap but there was a lot of it Typically scrambles are well ingredients scrambled together and that was not the case. That said where it was too heavy on the potato it was dang tasty. Also rad is that it came with pancakes. You get a lot of food for the price The staff was super nice and also a bit sassy which I appreciate I have to say it was also pretty full late on a Tuesday morning during summer break so they must be doing something right. I would eat here again read more

The Original Pancake house - Scramble - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

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Great service. Great food. A staple for sure! The menu had some items I had never tried before and man were they good!

Been giving this place my business for years when I'm in town. Showed up today an hour before their published closing time of 2pm (at 1pm) and was sent away because they close at 1 now apparently. Truth is they only had about two table working and didn't want to stick around for one more. Went to Nick's down the street which was 3/4 full and much better vibe and service. read more

I went for the first time this morning. Great atmosphere- server, Beth, was very attentive and fun! I got the traditional Benedict, and it was yummy! Definitely will be back. Oh- I'm not much of a hot coffee person but I had 3 cups of theirs- it was so tasty. read more

The Original Pancake house - Traditional Benedict - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

My wife and I came in from out of town for a wedding, and saw what appeared to be a cute, well established breakfast spot. The interior is very quaint and decorated well. It felt like they were going for a vintage look and accomplished it well! Points for ambiance for sure. Service was a little wishy-washy. At first, the server approached after about 4 minutes of sitting, saying that she remembered asking if we wanted coffee, and wanted to double check. This was strange as it was her first time seeing us, and she hadn't asked us. That being said, she was fairly nice and welcoming. Would've preferred some more recommendation and conversation, but they were busy so I'll look past that. Food was where this experience fell short. I got their country fried steak, and my wife got their cinnamon swirl French toast. My steak was average at best. Nothing was terrible about it, but it had very few redeeming qualities. The hashbrowns weren't very crispy and had little flavor. The gravy was fairly flavorless as well. Just overall bland. The eggs, ordered over easy, came sadly undercooked, and the egg whites (not just the yolks) ran all over the plate when cut into. I had to move all my food onto another plate to avoid the mess. My wife's French toast was, in her words, "fine, nothing special". The food was all warm, but sadly, not hot. It felt like it had been sitting in the window for a minute before it was served. Overall, it was an okay experience, but disappointing due to the reputation the restaurant has. read more

We really enjoyed our food over at the original pancake house. It does get really packed during Sundays though. The wait was not too bad but you're standing mostly and the area isn't too big for waiting but if you're really interested in eating here, you'll wait. I ordered the Cinna swirl French toast, which came with two pieces of bacon or two pieces of sausage links. I also got a large glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and the large is very small so do not get a small cause that will be a size of a shot glass, but it was very tasty and fresh. He got the dry cured bacon with eggs and hashbrowns, which can also came with three pieces of pancake or you can opt for toast instead. His dish was so tasty. The hash brown was perfect and the bacon is the best ever. We will definitely come back, but we're definitely gonna come earlier so we can order the black forest pancake, which does take 25 minutes to make. read more

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Breakfast-- if you're going to do it, then let's do it right. Pancake selection is great. Food is tasty. Last few times not disappointed. This time trying the Dutch baby. More like the Dutch papa! Thing was Service is lacking. But ... the waitress was awesome.. friendly and sweet. For some reason it just takes some time here. So be prepared. So when I say lacking I would expect a little faster... butt hey it was worth the wait. Ambiance is chill and old town diner feel. Good pancake menu and food is tasty. read more

The Original Pancake house - Pecan pancakes. Yeah had to get to go. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

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Stopped here one Saturday morning bcuz the hubs and I were our early running errands. It happened to be a Notre dame game day but we beat the crowd. Food was delicious the local and Notre Dame crowd and vibe of the restaurant is so fun! If you're in the area definitely stop here for breakfast! read more

We waited in line for about 30 minutes, but expected a wait, as it was 11:15 am on a Sunday and crowded. We were finally seated around noon. Our waitress was very nice but couldn't remember to bring what we asked for. A cup of coffee went cold waiting for cream to arrive. It was almost 12::20 pm before the waitress took our order. She was very nice, but after taking our order, we did not see her again. We finally threw some cash on the table and left. It was 1:00 pm. When I'm seated in. Restaurant for more than an hour and a half, I don't expect to leave hungry. We might have been more understanding if we hadn't seen people who had been waiting in line behind us ,finishing their meals. I can't speak according to food quality, and I doubt I will return. read more

The pumpkin creme filled pancake was AMAZING! The owner worked the floor and treated us to a to go Apple Pancake... it was out of this world! Her kindness Made our day!!! read more

We were here on December 16, 2023. I have always loved their breakfast. Everyone is friendly and helpful. It is a cozy setting. Love the decor. Good coffee. read more

The Original Pancake house - Farmer's Omelet with hashbrowns. We also added gravy to this. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

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Food is excellent! It's exactly what you want from a "pancake house." Not many if any healthy options, but that's not why you come here. Service was fast, and even when a side was forgotten, it was quickly rectified! They made accommodation for dietary restrictions and it was excellent! Great family-friendly environment! read more

The Original Pancake house - Inside - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

Building is in serious desrepair. It was so cold in there, my feet were freezing. Food quality was mediocre and over priced.

My boyfriend and I love this place. Such a good environment to be in with your family or solo. The food is outstanding and came to our table very quick even during a Sunday morning rush. Our server was very friendly and the overall staff were all so positive and fun to be around. read more

1-12-24 I had a Spinach Omelette with tomatoes. Dylan was the cook that made it. There was hardly any tomatoes and the same goes for spinach. I'm really sorry I didn't take a picture of my crappy looking omelette. The omelette was much smaller than what I usually get plus it was hardly cooked. The Owner (Nancy) said she would cook it more by putting it in the oven but would not make me another one. Why would Nancy take my eaten food and put it in the oven with my germs. Beth would of made it right for me but unfortunately she wasn't her today as I found out she doesn't work Thursday or Friday. I've had omelette's before at this restaurant which were made by another cook and they were wonderful. This omelette was absolutely horrible. I should of had Nancy take it back and order something else. You would think the Nancy the owner would want to have her food going out to the customer perfect since it represents here restaurant. Just about any other waitress would of made this right but unfortunately Nancy won't do that for me. Maybe if I was a regular customer of her's she would of fixed it. She called me a rude person today at the restaurant but I wanted to tell her that respect is earned. Last year she poured coffee on me but never apologized. read more

Service is very friendly and they stay on top your needs ...not very long if a wait for the food ...love the antique decorations and the cozy atmosphere...food was good ...very fun experience between the food and the lively waitresses...would eat here again read more

Great place for everything comfort food. Staff were friendly, but you can tell there move a lot of hungry regulars through every day. If you're looking for a diner-like place for breakfast and lunch, this is it. Great food every time. read more

#fatjared say...I wish, I really really wish I could give this place 5 stars, but I can't It was not perfect. That being said, HIGHLY suggest giving this place a try. Local staple, great people, good food, and amazing people. When I review, you have to be spot on perfect to get 5 stars. OPH was very close, but unfortunately there are a couple complaints I can't look past. To start with the small things that make this 4 stars, my order was initially wrong, and the spot we sat was a bit dirty when we got there. I know short staffed is not there fault and it's tough right now, but still a small complaint. NOW...the GREAT STUFF!! This place is family owned, we were served by Beth who said she was part of the fam and she was AMAZING!! My wife ordered a special of the day, banana bread french toast. I went super hard, and ordered an omelet, with english muffin, and pancakes come with it. LET ME TELL YOU...Beth went above and beyond and gave us 3 different kinds of pancakes to go with the order. We had a pecan, blueberry, and regular. 1 thing I will say about the pancakes, they were not as fluffy as I have had, most likely due to the batter being over mixed. But the taste was amazing! You will not leave this place hungry or short on sugar. The omelet I ordered came with all the veggies, cooked perfectly, and the muffin was amazing. Star of the meal was the french toast though. Pray it is on the menu when you go. Too good for me describe all the feelings I had when eating it. Overall, I would absolutely come back simply for the friendly staff, but when you add that it is a local staple, been there for years, and great food with it, you can't really go wrong. Highly suggest going here. Not perfect, but way above average. read more

The Original Pancake house - Original pancake - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

Service was the best part The food wasn't their best effort Corned beef hash was well over cook as well as the eggs Pancake are their best item as well as the fresh squeezed orange read more

Super friendly service, but we waited 40 minutes for our order to arrive and then our food was cold. The food itself was fine - pretty standard fare - and the restaurant was very loud so it was hard to talk to each other. I think we'll try a different local breakfast place next time. read more

It wasn't bad but I didn't love the pancakes it may have been because I asked for chocolate chip and the chocolate chip wasn't my favorite (just a guess?) the service was great, the eggs were soft scrambled (the way I ordered them) and the hash-browns were crispy! Coffee is delicious too. read more

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Our meal here was good as always. The portion size for everything is large so you will definitely leave filled up. I've added some photos to demonstrate the nice portion sizes. One thing to note if you are sitting in a booth next to a window is that there is a fair amount of air leakage coming through around the windows which can feel very drafty on a cold day. read more

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I had one of the breakfast specials for $14.99. The filling was not made properly and even the waitress agreed that the chef did not make it correctly (but still was charged full price). Service was average -- had to wait a while to get coffee when I first sat down. I won't be going back. read more

The pancakes were terrible and tasted like cardboard The syrup was thin and tasteless. Had an omelet with so overdone cheese I almost choked on it. My daughters steak had a lot of fat and no meat. To pay over $65 for and entire bad meal for three, we will not be back. read more

Good local breakfast place. Standard American fare. Service was very good, and food was excellent. Good value, definitely worth it. I would strongly recommend! read more

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Stopped by before a Notre Dame football game! Had the cherry crepes! It was A1! This is a must stop if you are in South Bend! read more

The Original Pancake house - Cherry Crepes for the win! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

Warning! The black "seed" in the freshly squeezed orange juice is not a seed. When our waitress handed my mom her orange juice she forewarned her saying customers ask all the time about the black dot in the OJ but not to worry because it was the "seed" from the orange. My mom felt uncomfortable drinking her OJ because who ever saw a black seed from an orange? So using Google search photos.. she took a picture of the "seed" after placing it on a napkin and Google determined it to be a roach. When we looked closely at the "seed" we saw it had legs. I believe this place needs a serious deep clean and pest control because obviously whatever machine they use to squeeze the oranges are roach infested. read more

At some point, once you've been to one "pancake house" you've been to them all. The food is more or less identical across breakfast establishments and breakfast food is hard to mess up. This means something else has to shine through to really make it worth your patronage. Our waitress Cynthia made this visit stand out. She was hilarious. I'm pretty sure she was just starting out, but she's a great addition to Original Pancake House. read more

They work hard and are nice. WE put pressure on them with a 12 person group. They accommodated all. Food was almost perfect. Not the top of class but good read more

I came in to eat breakfast and I was a little bit on the depressed side but after talking with the server "Destiny" making me laugh and feed me the senior pancakes with sausage links and a hot cup coffee I was in a much much better mood thanks a lot Original pancake house. read more

The Original Pancake house - Total cost with coffee $6.79. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

food so good i opened a yelp account to post this review. Food was absolutely amazing. Some of the best pancakes ive had anywhere, Delicious sausage patties, a near flawless french toast. While staff is on the shorthand they make up for it in quality. Even if you wait a bit longer than usual you wont be disappointed by your meal. Everything is also spot clean and very nice. 10/10 experience!!!! read more

South Bend Indiana should be known for more than just the fighting Irish... I think it shall proclaim South Bend the King of Breakfast after visiting the Original Pancake house. The mark of a great place has always been the lentgh of the line out the door, and the Pancake house definately fit my assumptions. After a heartbreaking 20 minute wait (I was starving and it was torture watching plates of mouthwatering breakfast pass by me). Once we got our table we dove right into ordering since we didn't want to waste another hungry minute. I ordered potato pancakes with sour cream & apple sauce (my personal favorite). My brother ordered pancakes and we also got a side of Biscuits & gravy for the table (to share). I couldn't even wrap my mind around our order the minute the 3 huge plates hit the table. All reasoning and reality were suspended as we dove into the mountain of food before us. To say the portions were large would be an understatement. I had at least 8 large potato pancakes on my plate (no complaints here). My brother only had 4 pancakes on his plate but each one was the size of a hubcap (yes I'm that old). Our "side" of Biscuits & gravy was a large plate of 4 cathead biscuits (they call them that because that's how big they are) absolutely covered in the world's best sausage gravy. The food was absolutely perfect, everything cooked fresh and homemade. The service was fantastic and quick, and the prices were really good, especially for all that you got. Next time I'm in South Bend you can bet I'll be stopping for breakfast at the Original Pancake house then maybe I'll catch the fighting Irish game too, Aloha read more

The only reason it's four stars is I got peppers on my omelette after asking for no peppers. Came early Sunday morning right at 8 o'clock not too busy very attentive and good service. Both had a specialty pancake with our omelettes. My wife had the Swedish pancake with lingonberry she really liked it. I had the chocolate chip pancakes they were also pretty awesome. I decided not to get the blueberry pancakes I didn't think they could compete with my wife. We will definitely come back it's been quite a few years since we've been there read more

The Original Pancake house - Swedish pancake very flat - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - South Bend, Indiana

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Recently a customer here. I was surprised immediately how our waitress was rude and unfriendly. We had come all the way from WI and from past experience had picked this restaurant for our breakfast. Their apple pancake had been wonderful- with a taste just like that of Walker Brothers of the Chicago suburbs. That pancake is one of the 20th best things I have ever eaten. The pancake I ate on this visit was a shadow of its former self, not nearly as good or wonderful. A suggestion- get a booth or make sure the blond friendly waitress with pigtails serves you- because that older lady is as rude as hell. read more

Came here with my inlaws for a late breakfast early lunch on a week day. Seating was not an issue. Some issues with service. Waters were never refilled, took a long time to track down server to get the check. We ordered the pigs in a blanket-I did not try these but from what I saw it was sausages wrapped in a crepe, my husband and I split the western omelette-it was a good amount of eggs, tons of ham, seemed light on vegetables but I suppose those are not meant to be the highlight. The bacon was crisp and of a decent thickness, slightly salty (but it is bacon so this is to be expected imo), spinach omelette which I did not try but looked good and I got the pumpkin spice waffle. It had whipped cream and a very melted icing? Not sure what it was but it was good. Everyone had a bite and thought it was good. I got to try a few bites of hash browns and found them to be crisp. Breakfast is not my favorite meal and this place was just average. Food seems bland. That combined with slow/poor service make this place a pass for me. read more

Went there today Veterans Day for breakfast. Big mistake! No acknowledgement of the holiday in the whole place! No signs, no American flags, no nothing! Sad! When I asked the waitress about it she said "I don't do that!" Whatever that means! Don't know what kind of pale yellow cheese was in my omelet. And my wife's bacon was all fat! $2.39 for a cup of coffee and the smallest water glasses I have ever seen! If your American stay away from this unpatriotic establishment! The prices aren't worth it! Copper Creek Cafe in Granger is much better! read more