The Original Pancake House

What a charming spot this is on busy Bluemound Road. This nifty old farmhouse that has housed all sorts of businesses (furniture store, bagel shop, even the chamber of commerce office, I think) has found its true calling. Open only from 7 AM until 2 PM on weekdays and until 3 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, it has become THE place to go for breakfast or brunch in Brookfield.

We arrived at about 9 AM on Sunday and put our names on the list. There were kids playing ball outside, there were grandparents on benches outside and people standing in the small area inside the door. The customers were in jeans and sweatshirts, as well as some in their Sunday-go-to-meetings clothes. The parking lot was full all the way past the furniture store to the north. We were told our wait would be 25 minutes. Sometimes The Man has more patience than I do. Often, actually. I’d have gone home right then and eaten Raisin Bran out of a styrofoam bowl. The Man said he was okay with waiting. So we did.

At exactly 9:25 our name was called. And even I think it was worth it. The inside is as charming as the outside, the wait staff is charming, and the food was super. Let’s start with the ambiance: The Original Pancake House is decorated in old-farmhouse light green walls, with big pastel artworks on the walls, an exposed old plank ceiling, green checked lampshades and window shades. Even the artificial daisies and paper-white narcissus in ceramic pots add to the charm. On this busy morning, it hummed with activity, but was not really noisy.

The menu looks like one of those from which you’d like to order one of each thing -- it all sounds so good. Following the recommendation of a friend who had eaten here, I ordered the blueberry pancakes ($6.45). This was six nice-sized pancakes served with whipped butter and a deliciously sweet blueberry syrup. The Man Who Was Starving By Now ordered a Western Omelet with bacon ($9.45), which comes with a side of Buttermilk Pancakes. He also had a large orange juice ($3.25) and we both had coffee ($2.00 each). The coffee is very good too, by the way. And I'm a bit picky about coffee. But the omelet... Wow! It was amazing. Really light, with lots and lots of cheese and bacon and sweet peppers. I asked our waitress how many eggs it was made with. Would you believe 5 eggs! The Man With The Appetite ate about 1/3 of it. We will split the remainder for two very adequate portions for dinner tomorrow night.

Though our total bill was $24.22 plus tip, and it blew an hour of our Sunday morning newspaper reading time, it was a great meal. We’ll be back. The waitress told us that if you get there before 8:30 AM or after 2 PM there usually is no waiting. Or anytime on a weekday.

I’d like to bring our kids here when they come at Christmas. Our son-in-law would love it. I just found out that his mother has accepted our invitation to spend Christmas in Brookfield, to share the 5-year-old grandson we both adore. She lives north of Boston, runs an art gallery, and is a lovely lady. My kitchen will, thank goodness, be glorious, even if the rest of our house is still "a dinky little ranch house" in the ‘burbs. That is a quote from one of our daughters when she was a teenager going to high school with the rich kids from neighboring Elm Grove. That dinky little ranch house is sure suckin' the bucks these days!

Kitchenless in Brookfield