Pancake Cottage

We should’ve recognized the sign when we saw full plates of food, barely touched at empty tables. My SO and I came here for brunch and as we were seated, we thought it was weird that customers had paid their check but did not eat their food. The menu for Pancake Cottage seemed pretty solid, so we decided to stick it out.
For the food, I ordered the Country Squire Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, sausage, & hashbrowns) and The SO ordered the so-​called «extra-​large giant» egg burrito. I never thought it was possible to have a poor experience at a breakfast/​brunch place, but we definitely did. My hashbrowns were burnt on the top and raw on the bottom. They tasted bland and it the texture felt like mush. The sausage was flavorful but wayyy too greasy. My SO’s egg burrito was far from «extra-​large» and the chips that came along with it were undercooked. The burrito itself only had egg, onions, and bell peppers. It lacked so much flavor that he used the entire container of salsa.
Service was average, considering that they were pretty busy at the time. We didn’t mind the waiting at all.
Price-​wise, the «$$» is normal for Avalon. It’s an island, so prices definitely inflate.

Upon arrival, this place seemed quite popular. Had to wait about 15 minutes – not bad. When it was our turn to be seated, the hostess handed us a couple menus and pointed to a table. Alrighty.
Ordered the Belgian waffles with strawberries, boyfriend had the California burger. I thought the waffles were delicious with a good hint of vanilla. Strawberries were fresh. Boyfriend semi-​enjoyed his burger, kinda ‘meh.’ Not amazing, not horrible. Half of the fries were nice and crispy, half were soggy. Kind of a hit or miss there.
Service was SLOW. Waitress didn’t check on us. It was very busy at the time, but I imagine it’s like that every morning so I’m not sure it’s a valid excuse.
Overall, another typical breakfast place. The waffles were yummy though!

I still like this place a lot and the service is always homey and attentive.
Now, while I love fresh corned beef hash, I also happen to like the stuff that comes out of a can. Honestly, I think their stuff comes out of a can. So, deduct one star.
The hash browns and sausage links (a MUST order) are both delicious. The biscuit was basic.
You get a ton of food and most of it is very good. It’s a very solid breakfast pick on the island.

Rip off– check your bill! Although the location is great, the service was terrible. We had a party of 7 and the server handed us a bill that was illegible but seemed high. After we asked him what each charge was for and stood next to him as he calculated, he had to admit that he charged us almost $ 50 extra.

Tourist trap.
Expensive.
Our boat is moored just steps away and we’re very familiar with the Pancake Cottage.
Choritzo and eggs won’t have any Choritzo. It’s just seasoned scrambled eggs and beans for $ 14!
Locals never eat here, and the people that we know that do always regret it.
Take the walk to the Sand Trap at the Golf Course or go to Jack’s near the Green Pier. Much less money, much better quality.
People write about their good experiences here, we never met any in person.
Plusses are the full bar. Only place in town you can get a Bloody Mary before 11 AM other than the Sand Trap.
Go elsewhere.

WOW we have never had such a bad experience at a restaurant for breakfast. There were 4 of us in the party each ordering something different (egg white omelette, French toast, oatmeal/​toast, lox, chicken fried steak and corn beef hash) the only thing that was okay was the oatmeal. The scrambled eggs with the steak were runny (along with the gravy on the steak) the toast was cold, even the soda tasted like soap. To make it worst I have never spent $ 99 on such a bad breakfast. Don’t get me wrong $ 99 in Catalina for breakfast for 4 not surprising but to spend it on such a HORRIBLE meal for everyone was painful to say the least.

Was very unhappy, not cooked pancakes, eggs were served incorrectly (twice) and 2^nd time not as ordered left them in the table. For being the pancake place on the island just wasn’t happy.

Came here on our last day for breakfast. We had a short wait and got seated where we had a great ocean view and breeze. We both ordered the special with waffles. The eggs and sausage/​bacon were good, but the waffles rocked. Served with heated syrup they were the perfect blend of crispy and slightly sweet.
Definitely worth a visit but make sure you get here early enough, they are not open all day!

This place is for sure one of the more popular places here in Catalina/​Avalon for breakfast.
An awesome and well known place for the locals and visitors all around, Pancake Cottage was awesome for breakfast. I ordered their Pigs in a Blanket and was happy with all that I had. There was so much food that I was happy and excited when my food had arrived.
I must say for our large group that we had, I was surprised that there were no mess ups and we all got our food on time in and it was still hot.
The reason why I gave my experience a 3 star review was because the lady at the front cashier was nasty and super rude. When she had found out that our group was paying separately, she tossed down a pen at my friend and I and told us to figure out the total of what everyone ate and then to let her know when we were done so than she could ring us up.
I had a great expereince here at this restaurant until it came to pay and we met her.

I don’t know if it was a race thing or a «busy» place thing, but, my mother and I felt highly disrespected as Black women. Don’t get me wrong, the food was really good however we’ll not be coming back because of the service.
First, we waited half an hour for our refill on our coffee and we had to ask a different waitress because our original waitress ignored us not once but twice. Secondly, they never asked what toast my mother wanted that came with her breakfast. When she asked about her said toast, she asked for white but was given sourdough. They did not offer any apology about the coffee nor the toast and we just felt that maybe this place wasn’t really for Black people.
So basically good food but bad service.

Food was ok. My son and I shared a breakfast combo with waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. Service was ok. Their outside area led me to expect home style food, but it was more like IHOP. They gave me an entire coffee thermos. Didn’t give me a cup. I asked for a cup and the youngster grabbed it off a nearby table where a woman sat with her kids and gave it to me. Weird. Later the woman’s family arrived and had to request a cup! Classy said no one ever!

This restaurant is in a good location but the food is below average. If you’re desperate for a place to eat (like us), then it’s not too bad. But there are other places that are much better. They’re super old school and add the order by hand (no calculator, no electronic cash register). I didn’t really mind that. My bigger issue was the price and quality.

The food was decent, although the French toast lacked flavor like they cut corners with the nutmeg and cinnamon, but all in all not bad and I’d probably go again based on food quality. The service however, was horrible. Rushed, never came back to check on our table, and $ 7 for 2 waters!!! I know there is a drought, but when other establishments are charging $.50 to $ 1.25 for a bottle of water…
Again, the food quality would have earned it 4 stars, the service dropped it to 2 stars.

Strawberry waffles are great! Waiters are super nice. Mimosas are bomb. Bathrooms are shitty.

The food experience here gets a thumbs down. First, I ordered iced tea to drink. The «iced tea» was carbonated, and it tasted very strange. I think it was mixed with Pepsi or seltzer water. I sent it back. It took quite a awhile to get our food, but they were busy so I would let that slide. The Spanish jack cheese omelet was terrible. It had salsa inside, but it was watery which made the omelet a nasty consistency. Also, some of the cheese inside was unmelted in the water. To top it off, the breakfast potatoes had chunks of green pepper that were raw! I don’t know of anyone who likes raw green peppers.
The one item that was enjoyable were the pancakes. They were fluffy and delicious. If you have to eat here, get those.

Love this spot!!! Breakfast for lunch is always a good idea & the service was super excetional! We had FIDEL & whenever I come back i’m looking for him :)) Cant wait to come back!
p. s. I had the everyday special & my friend had the cheese blinzes BOTH yummy!!!

It was our very first trip to Catalina/​Avalon and I cannot believe I went almost 30 years without going!
got off the Catalina express and we were starving so we naturally gravitated towards the first place we saw– this one. the sign said full bar so that was good enough for us. we were a party of 4 and they seated us pretty quick– only about a 5 minute wait.
this is where things turn sour.
our server, bless her heart, was an elderly woman who got seated 5 tables at once. that’s tough for anyone, but it’s especially tough when you’re as elderly as she was. she acknowledged us and said she would «be right with us» about 3 times. we flagged a guy down for some water because we were thirsty. slowly, she took everyone’s order around us– including people that had come in after us (honest mistake), but going 20+ minutes without so much as taking my drink order is an issue for me.
there were 5 people walking around just filling up peoples coffee— why can’t you make them into servers so you can speed this process along?
the food was okay. i ordered a BLT and they informed me halfway through cook time they «ran out of tomatoes». alright then. the place was filthy. the cups had stains and lip marks, the walls had food and grime on them, the floors clearly were not swept and cleaned every day. on top of that, my bread with bacon was $ 15.
I simply cannot recommend this place to anyone. we went to at least 10 other places after this that we wish we had eaten at instead of here. you live and learn i guess.

I’m glad I tried this spot out. At first, it seemed kind of chaotic just to see the hostess running around trying to get seats cleared and guests accommodated. But she was sweet and attentive.
Good portions, they were generous! I’m glad because we were SO hungry, kids ate everything. My plate was veggie omelette with bacon, and they were generous with the crispy bacon, to my delight! It just needed a little more salt seasoning, which I took care of. I would have given it 5 stars, but our potatoes were burnt. This was my only disappointment. If we weren’t so hungry I would have brought this to their attention to request another serving of un-​burnt potatoes, but we didn’t want to wait LOL. Overall, good eats here, I’d come back to eat here.

I originally wanted to give three start just based on the food and service. But then I went to the ladies bathroom and rethought my rating. Bathroom was a complete disaster. Totally unacceptable! I’ll be posting a pic in just a sec here… Wait for it.
Also the prices were steep. Three breakfast plates, 2 coffees & one milk for my kid. This was $ 75! Not including tip. So we dropped $ 15. Tip cause the food was good in the end but and I only saw the bathroom after we had paid anyway. So they get 2 not 3 stars.

Me and the family recently took a trip to Avalon for a friends wedding, and decided to have breakfast at the Pancake Cottage… BIG mistake. Everything from the food, to the service, to the pricing was absolutely attrocious. On top of all that, they automatically added a 20% tip/​gratuity to the bill without even telling us. I can’t see how any human can like this food… delusional taste buds maybe? Bland, mushy and plain disgusting… yuck!!!
PS– Check out their business card for a good laugh