Polly's Pancake Parlor - Sugar Hill, NH

Posted by Michael Stern on September 19, 2007

Polly's is like fancy-grade maple syrup: sweet and rare, rustic and deliciously old-fashioned. It began in 1938 when "Sugar Bill" Dexter and his wife Polly converted the carriage shed of their farm into a tea room in order to showcase all the good things that could be made from the sap gathered from Dexter's sugarbush. They served pancakes, waffles, and French toast as well as white bread laced with maple syrup and even something called "Hurricane Sauce," which was created by boiling syrup with the apple windfall on the ground after the hurricane of '38.

Today, a third generation of Sugar Bill's family continue serving good, simple food with an array of maple products to pour, spread, and sprinkle on it. Pancakes are the specialty of the house; they are made from stoneground flours or cornmeal, either plain or upgraded with shreds of coconut, walnuts, or blueberries. One order consists of a half a dozen three-inchers; and it is possible to get a sampler of several different kinds. There is a remarkable range from, say, blueberry-cornmeal to buckwheat-walnut to plain; but they all share the wondrous delicacy that only expertly-made pancakes offer. They come with the clearest and most elegant maple syrup, as well as maple sugar and a luxuriously unctuous maple spread. You can also get maple muffins, sandwiches made with maple white bread, an ambrosial gelatinized dessert called maple Bavarian cream, and all sorts of maple candies to take home.

What a visual feast it is to come eat at Polly's! It opens after mud season in the spring, when many of the surrounding maple trees are hung with taps and buckets; the spectacular time to visit is autumn, during the sugarbush's chromatic climax. (Polly’s closes for winter after October.) The dining room has a glass-walled porch that overlooks fields where horses graze; and its inside walls are decorated with antiques and tools that have been in the family since the late 18th century when Sugar Bill's ancestors began farming this land.

Overall: Worth driving from anyplace

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Reviewers "Must Eats" List

Maple Toast ($5.00)

Waffle ($6.00)

Apple Maple Crisp ($5.00)

Pancakes ($10.00)

Maple Spread (N/A)

"Polly's offers its waffles made with one of several batters, including cornmeal and whole wheat. This is buckwheat, with walnuts added. Atop the waffle is a stupendous alternative to syrup or maple cream: maple hurricane sauce. That's apples stewed in maple syrup until tender. It was invented after the hurricane of 1938 when Polly's proprietor, Sugar Bill Dexter, found himself with a surplus of windfall apples."
Michael Stern

"A delightful gloss on cinnamon toast, made with maple sugar instead of cinnamon. You can have it made from Polly's white, whole wheat, dark rye, or oatmeal bread."
Michael Stern

"Roadfooders who were on the Nashville tour will recognize Eric May, producer of the Roadfood documentary, at the far left. To his left are the crew: Lothar the sound man, Christian the cinematographer overseen by the waitress, then Karen the editor, and Friedrich the director. While some of them knew of maple as a fairly exotic import back home, they were wowed by what they tasted at Polly's."
Michael Stern

"You cannot eat at Polly's in the winter; it closes in October and reopens when the sap starts running in the spring."
Michael Stern

"Elixir of the gods of tree sap: maple cream. Its consistency is like that of peanut butter, making it eminintely spreadable on toast, waffles, or pancakes."
Michael Stern

"Each order of pancakes at Polly's is six. But they come to the table three at a time, so the last few are never cold. These three are cornmeal, gingerbread, and blueberry."
Michael Stern

"Built around an early 19th-century barn, Polly's has expanded many times over the years. It still retains its rustic charm."
Michael Stern

"A trio of blueberry pancakes, hot off the grill and glistening with butter ... waiting for a spill of maple syrup. (Beth Molaskey photo)"
Michael Stern