Pancake Pantry

1796 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN - (615) 383-9333

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Posted By Michael Stern on 12/5/2006 9:11:00 AM

Breakfast in Nashville means country ham. And you can have a wonderful slab of country ham at the Pancake Pantry, but it is not ham that puts this breakfast house on the roadfood map. It is fantastic pancakes, all kinds of them, the best being sweet potato pancakes that are fluffy and soft, just begging for a drizzle of the silky cinnamon cream that is provided in a pitcher on the table. And who can resist Caribbean buttermilk cakes strewn with pecans, bananas, coconut and powdered sugar? Or wild blueberry cakes, devilishly seasoned sugar and spice cakes, Swiss chocolate cakes, even creamy potato pancakes made with minced onion.

In addition to cinnamon cream, every table is provided a cruet of warm maple-flavored syrup. All the usual breakfast meats are available on the side, including that outstanding country ham, which is sizzled to a nice crunch around its edges on the griddle. Orange juice is freshly squeezed, sweet and pulpy.

Nearly always crowded (but with a fast turnover that usually precludes long a long wait), the Pancake Pantry is a big restaurant with plenty of space among the tables and a high-spirited ambience throughout the dining room. It is impossible to imagine being in a bad mood when eating here. After all, what’s not to be happy about when you are eating excellent pancakes with plenty of butter and syrup and good coffee on the side?

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

sweet potato pancakes	Swedish Pancakes
Hash Browns	Smoky Mountain Buckwheat Cakes
country ham

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"These ultra-tender sweet potato pancakes are served with whipped butter and ginger cream."
Michael Stern

" Smoky Mountain Buckwheat Cakes look somber, but they are in fact featherlight. The gentle cakes come in a stack of five with plenty of butter and a pitcher of very warm syrup to pour on top."
Michael Stern

" Swedish pancakes are thin and eggy, wrapped around lingonberry preserves. No syrup is necessary."
Michael Stern

"Rugged-textured and succulent, Tennessee ham is a great companion for tender pancakes."
Michael Stern

"What a dandy breakfast: luxurious hash browns in the foreground, stalwart country ham in back. Who needs eggs or pancakes?"
Michael Stern

"The maple syrup in the taller bottle is served warm. The pitcher contains ginger cream."
Michael Stern

"What a comfortable dining room: big, airy, and full of people having fun as they plow through plates of pancakes."
Michael Stern

"To most foodies, Nashville is (rightfully) known as a city of biscuits, ham, and grits for breakfast. Once you've eaten here, you'll definitely add pancakes to the list of assets."
Michael Stern