Original Pancake House: The Aroma Alone is Worth the Wait

Remember when your grandmother would whip up those butter milk pancakes and juicy eggs on a cold winter morning?

Walk into the Original Pancake House in the new Colonial MarketPlace in Ladue and it’s Deja vu all over again.

Entering the pancake house is like entering one of those rustic backwood cabins so well known in Michigan or Wisconsin. The aroma of breakfast food is is in the air. The pine walls and stone fireplace and wooden floor are like a trip back in time.

There are so many things to know about the new Original Pancake House in Ladue?

• They close at 2:30 p.m. No dinner is served. “We want all of our workers to be home with their families and get quality time with them,” said Heather Rounds, manager of the Chesterfield location who has worked with owner Gordon Manus for seven years

• The restaurant has a slider door so a side room can be closed off for private dining (accommodating about 40 guests)

• The location in Ladue has tables and booths and counter seating for upwards of 125 diners.

• The back-of-the-house has a ZuMEX orange squeeze machine, purchased for $10,000 from Denmark to produce fresh beverages daily.

The Original Pancake House, now in its second location (the other at 17000 Chesterfield Airport Rd.) is the talk of the town. (or at least Ladue).

Though you can get breakfast orders at Deer Creek Coffee in Ladue and a full menu at Schneithorst’s, for years and years, there’s been no other location devoted almost strictly for breakfast dining.

“We open at 7 a.m. daily, if you come in at 6:45 a.m., we’ll be ready with a cup of hot coffee,” said Rounds.

The breakfast menu is available until closing at 2:30 p.m. The lunch menu is available starting at 10:30 a.m.

The new restaurant has an expansive granite counter for those who want to sit down for quick service.

Everything is new, open, bright and inviting. The stone fireplace in the center of the dining room is open on two sides. The servers (many from the Chesterfield location) are eager to please.

Quaint photographs adorn the walls on shelves on the perimeter of the room.

The kitchen is well organized, stocked and very neat and clean. The kitchen has bins just for recycling. All products like egg shells and orange peels are separated and taken away for composting. Other items are recycled.

The Original Pancake House is a welcome addition to Ladue. Patch.com predicts this will become Ladue’s “Restaurant of the Year.” See for yourself.

Check out the menu at their website.