best pancakes in boston?

[maciu20e]

i want to grab some pancakes while im in the boston area and need to know where the best are. My boyfriend is a pancake lover. The area is non-specific as long as its in boston.

[Blumie]

I am resurrecting this thread to report on some excellent pancakes I've had lately:

Johnny's Luncheonette, Newton Centre: I really want to not like this place. Perhaps it's because I dislike faux diner kitsch; or perhaps it's because I really miss the old Langley Deli (those a little older than I will remember Bernie's warm greetings from behind the counter and great corned beef sandwiches far better than I); or perhaps it's because on the few occasions I've eaten there, I haven't really cared for the food. But when my daughter requested that I take her there for her post-third-grade-graduation lunch, I agreed, and for the first time that I can recall, I ordered breakfast food: the combo plate that includes both pancakes and eggs. The pancakes were really good. A slight crunch on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside. Served with real maple syrup.

Brasserie Jo: After my daughter and I took our dog to the dog run in the park that runs parallel to St. Botolph Street (Southwest Corridor park, or something like that), we decided to find a place for breakfast with a patio so we could bring the dog with us. We considered Thornton's, but decided to go to Brasserie Jo instead, and were quite pleased with our choice. Yes, there is a hotel premium to their prices, but the premium is not outrageous, especially when one considers that the food is pretty darn good and it's rarely a problem to get a table on their lovely patio out front. Here the pancakes were wonderfully soft, fluffy and sweet, also served with real maple syrup. Brasserie Jo also is one of the few places in Boston that consistently serves a great omlet (which, in my book, means one that they haven't cooked the daylights out of, like most places do).

[teezeetoo]

Spot on Main Street coming out of Watertown Square and going toward Waltham. Excellent breakfast altogether and really good pancakes which don't taste to me "boxed." Deluxe Town Diner for the sour cream ones. Yum

[Torolover]

Best pancakes by far are Craigie on Main. Expensive, but these pancakes are heavenly!

[teezeetoo]

Is Craigie open for breakfast?

[BostonZest]

Brunch- I just checked open table and they do have slots available today.

My husband loved the pancakes. The corned beef hash is also amazing.

Penny

http://www.bostonzest.com/

[lycheefloat]

Harry's All American Breakfast in West Roxbury makes the best pancakes I've ever had They're crisp and buttery on the outside and very flavorful and tender on the inside. IHOP pancakes are slabs of floppy cardboard in comparison.

[glenn mcdonald]

If you want a more-central option, the Paramount on Charles Street in Beacon Hill does great pancakes. But I second/third/fourth/whatever the Deluxe Town Diner, too.

[SaraASR]

i had an apple cinnamon pancake from paramount today. it was very good... not the BEST, but certainly a great location and will satisfy most peoples pancake craving.

random, but OB's, a grungy townie eatery in quincy, has good pancakes.

[NiKoLe1625]

If you go to POPS for brunch and they have the butterscotch pancakes on the menu... order them!! They are amazingly good. I really don't love pops for brunch as everything tends to be very heavy and/or fried, but they have really good pancakes, especially butterscotch!

[BackBayGirl]

I've got to agree that Soundbites pancakes rock! I also like Mike's City Diner.

[CocoDan]

As long as we're leaving city central, get in your car and drive to McKay's in Quincy, across from the origingal Adams Homestead. His pancakes are delicious. He'll give you a breakfast that's hard to beat.
Enjoy,
CocoDan

[soxchik]

Highland Kitchen in Somerville has fantastic pancakes. Unfortunately they only have brunch on weekends (maybe only Sunday, I'm not entirely sure).

[MaineRed]

Hm. Unlike the most memorable pancakes I've ever had (Moab, UT Jailhouse Cafe: gingerbread), I can't think of many places that don't have standard, sweet, institutional batter pancakes.

Cranberry & pecan pancakes at Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in the Back Bay: awesome combo even if it's your basic pancake mix. Ambiance = priceless.

Banana and walnut pancakes at Ball Square Cafe, Somerville: so tasty, loaded pancakes, basic batter. Also a good choice, the fresh fruit topped version.

Soundbites has a wide variety (Ball Sqr. Somerville) too.

Center St., in general, is awesome.

Post back what you find :)

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Oh, I've eaten at the Jailhouse Cafe in Moab! Those are indeed good pancakes.

[Boston_Otter]

The pancakes at Sound Bites are pretty fantastic, especially the chocolate-chip-coconut.

[hungryi]

A lot of people go bananas for Sorella's on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, because they will put just about anything into pancake batter. Personally, I think it's gross, and I prefer to head up the street to Centre Street Cafe, which has tasty, fresh-fruit topped pancakes AND the best crispy corn and oat waffles ever. Really, ever.

[C. Hamster]

Centre St. Cafe does indeed make excellent pancakes.

[twentyoystahs]

Third Centre St. Forgot about them. And this coming from someone who isn't necessarily a huge pancake fan.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

The waffles are great at Centre Street, but I've never much liked their pancakes. They can be dry.

[Allstonian]

Hm. I do far prefer the waffles at Centre Street, and it's worth noting that the pancakes, while very good, do fall into the "substantial" category rather than the "light and fluffy" category, but I haven't found them dry.

[pastrytroll]

Went to Centre Street witih the family for Easter Brunch. Not a long wait at all, very nice staff, three of our breakfasts were terrific..... the huevos, breakfast burrito and Eggs bennie Easter specials, but the three Easter special fruit pancakes were flat out awful. Very dense, heavy and gummy, no visible fruit on or in. My husband has been complaining all day. He's never sent anything back, regrets that he didn't this time. It must have been an off - way off - day!

[powella]

In defense of Sorella's, the *plain* multigrain pancakes are really excellent, IMO. I don't even put butter on them, just a bit of real maple syrup. They are buttery enough on their own, crispy on the edges, just delicious. I steer clear of the kitchen-sink pancakes, myself.

[hiddenboston]

I like the pancakes at Martin's Coffee Shop in Brookline. Mul's Diner in South Boston also has some good ones.

[MC Slim JB]

I really like the ployes and the jonnycakes at Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jkv]

Second the Deluxe Town Diner, but I'd add that their regular sour cream flapjacks are the very best pancakes I've ever had. And I don't even really LIKE pancakes.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Third. I like the sweet potato pancakes too.

[twentyoystahs]

Those sweet potato pancakes ARE awesome. Definitely not a traditional pancake, but delicious.
If you are looking for something a bit more traditional, try Doyle's in JP. I haven't been in a while, but their fruit pancakes are great. Crispy on the edges and filled with strawberries, bananas or blueberries (or all three.) Plus you can order real maple syrup.. Doyle's isn't especially known for their food but these are some good 'cakes....

[pamlet]

Personally, I'm fond ot the blue corn pancakes w/blueberries. I keep meaning to order something different, but I love these so much I end up getting them almost every time. I also mean to order the Rhode Island Johnnycakes for comparison, but never quite manage it...

[MC Slim JB]

To be fair, the Deluxe Town Diner doesn't do my favorite style of jonnycakes: theirs are the thicker mainland style, whereas I prefer the thin, lacy-edged, east-of-Narragansett-Bay style. The only remaining exponent of that version I know of is Commons Lunch in Little Compton, RI, and I haven't been back there since it was rebuilt after a major fire a few years back. But the Deluxe Town does excellent thick-style jonnycakes: they taste like they use the proper white flint corn meal (probably from Kenyon's).

If anyone knows of other places that do real jonnycakes (not wheat flour pancakes with a bit of cornmeal mixed in), I'd love to hear about them.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/