We recently enjoyed brunch at The Pancake House Family Diner on Polaris Parkway in Lewis Center. John and Jackie had treated us to a showing of Ghostbusters Frozen Empire (3 out of 5 stars) so we treated them to brunch after the movie. We picked The Pancake House because we didn’t want a big meal and we have been trying out brunch options.
The Pancake House Family Diner is a two-location family owned restaurant. They specialize in Venezuelan food but had a large variety of breakfast foods and sandwiches. I don’t know that I have ever eaten anyplace that specializes in Venezuelan food before. Jackie explained some of the items on the menu that I didn’t know, but they also had helpful pictures.
Aside from the Venezuelan specialties, the restaurant looked like any strip mall diner. There were booths, tables, and the requisite stools at the kitchen counter. The Pancake House location in Lewis Center opened in 2019 and includes Gelatolicious, which has artisan Gelato made onsite in their Gelato Lab. If you choose, you can watch them cooking the food at the kitchen counter or making Gelato in the lab.
Jackie ordered the Venezuelan brunch which had arepas, housemade shredded beef, slow cooked black beans, and shredded cheese. Arepas are ground maize dough that is grilled like a pancake. Usually people eat them with a meat and vegetable filling, like a thick taco. I tried some of the beef and arepas. I really liked the arepa, but what’s not to like about grilled bread? The rest of us were boring. Tom got scrambled eggs with sausage, I got a Belgian waffle with bacon, and John got a veggie omelet.
We had a really fun waiter who confessed it was only his second day. It took him a while to get our orders into his Toast pad, but he got all our special orders just right. The food came quickly and was hot and fresh. The food was also reasonably priced. Although we didn’t have to wait to be seated when we arrived, all the tables and booths were filled the whole time we were there.
The Pancake House Family Diner is located in the Oak Creek Center which has a variety of fun shops to check out. There is a game shop, The Dragon’s Lair, a Lego shop called Bedlam Bricks, and a sports store called Fleet Feet. Tom and I had checked out the Dragon’s Lair and Bedlam Bricks before Christmas. We recently shopped at another store in Oak Creek Center, The Urban Baggerie, to pick up a few items we needed for our trip. There are also two other restaurants in the Center, CJ’s Soul Food and Panda House. Future restaurants to try!
The Pancake House Family Diner was a very good place to eat. We enjoyed our waiter, the food, and the company. We learned a little more about world cuisine and didn’t go broke in the process.