Sammy’s Pancake House

We LOVE Sammy’s. They have the best skillets and pancakes in town. We came here the first time because Original Pancake house had a long wait and have been going to Sammy’s since. The wait on Sunday morning has never exceeded 10 minutes.
My go to is the Mexican skillet. Highly recommend Sammy’s.

It’s hard to screw up breakfast but these guys managed to do it. I start with coffee and it had to have been the cheapest brand they were able to get it was awful. I mention this to the waitress and she didn’t charge me for it. Then my breakfast came I ordered two eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and wheat toast. The potatoes must’ve been a week old they were also terrible. Instead of two eggs I got four eggs. The eggs are cooked correctly. The manager was to my right and complained about his weekend the whole time I was there. Customers don’t want to hear this. My friend told me this place was mediocre. I think he was being a little generous. The only reason I gave them two stars because the waitress there did a nice job. There’s too many other places that do breakfast better for you to waste your money here. Go to one of those places.

Excellent service. Busy place especially on the weekends but definitely worth it! Bit pricey but again worth it.

A great place to get breakfast as evidenced by how busy this place gets on the weekends.
Portions are large; I typically get an omelette and end up taking half of it home. Its true you’ll pay about $ 12 – 15 per person, but for me, you end up getting breakfast and lunch out of it.
I am almost exclusively an egg/​meat/​potato/​toast breakfast eater, but the pancakes are so good that I order them from time to time. My friends LOVE the french toast as well.
Get there before 9:30 for a short wait.

Even though this is a «pancake house» I’ve never had their pancakes so can’t review on those. However, they have really awesome omelet breakfasts. I love that you can choose from several on the menu or pick from a list of ingredients to build your own. They serve them with potatoes and toast and it is always a ton of food.
The service has always been exceptional, especially Rosie. She is friendly and fast without seeming overwhelmed. She is probably the best server I’ve ever had anywhere.

I’ve been here twice. The first time was so good I couldn’t wait to go back. The second time the service was awful the waiter couldn’t answer questions about the menu and when we got our food it was completely bland. It was a horrible experience and I unfortunately won’t be back. For their prices I would expect great every time.

Sammy’s is pretty good. There’s nothing wrong with it here, but it would probably be the third or fourth place I’d choose to go in town. I haven’t had anything that I’d consider above-​average when compared to other local breakfast places, but I also haven’t had anything that I’d consider below-​average.

I wanted to «eat local» during my weekend in U/​C and my friend happened to live nearby and liked this place. There aren’t a lot of seats so the wait appeared to be longer than quoted to us; we were sat within ~10 minutes. Surprising since this was the Sunday post-​church/​brunch crowd. The coffee was poured immediately as we sat down, and it was hot, tasty and strong. She gave us as much time as we needed to order — both of us got skillets with pancakes [I got the Denver, sub sausage for ham]. Definitely a lot of good food for a good price. I wish I had more space in my stomach for more of my pancakes — I couldn’t stop eating the skillet [even though it didn’t have a lot of cheese on it]. Definitely worth a stop if I return to the area!

Great portions
The food is excellent, and they keep your drinks filled!
I have been here several times now and everything has been consistently great.
This is one of the best breakfast spots in town.

My fav breakfast place. Amazing pancakes. Great staff. Consistent food. Little pricy. Also homemade soups are great here. The staff is always very welcoming and is consistent. Usually very crowded after 10;30am on weekend FYI.

Good quick service and reasonably priced. I had a Denver skillet with cheddar cheese and over-​easy eggs and it was delicious!

Excellent place for good coffee, eggs done exactly right, crisp bacon, and mouth watering French toast and pancakes. Fast service from the kitchen and the service staff.
Marie is the best server/​waitress in the business. She is quick, efficient, organized, and accurate. But, when she smiles, she lights up the room. She is quiet, not trying to be your firend or part of your conversation, but she sees what is happening on your table top. Nothing misses her eagle-​eyed assessment of your needs or your preferences.
I was incredibly impressed with the efficiency she displayed this morning as she served her customers, yet had us in her peripheral vision. She finished her current task, then turned her full attention to our needs, settled us and was on to her next detail.
Try Sammy’s Pancake House and be amazed by Marie, the consummate waitress.

Food was great! Coffee delishes! Lemon water mmmmm… french toast yum yum and best biscuits in town!

food was good but when the owner started yelling at the waitress that’s when I said i’m not coming back. NEVER NEVER NEVER do that in front of your guests. Actually, yelling rarely gets you anywhere with people. She wasn’t at fault. sad sad place. I’ve put this on here before but for some reason, my review was taken off. wonder why or how???

I love coffee. I love Sammie’s coffee. It’s always really fresh. They also have all different flavors of non-​dairy creamer.
The service was just alright. My breakfast was virtually grease-​free:)
Two things really bothered me about my meal… the cheese on my eggs (a partially melted slab of cheddar placed on top of scrambled). I prefer my cheese melted and mixed in. My oatmeal came out luke warm.
I love the interior. It reminds me of a trolley diner.

I just wanted to update my review to give some more information about the food at Sammie’s. Some other reviewers have mentioned high prices. Sammie’s is not a cheap breakfast, but the portions are big, the quality of ingredients is high, and the preparation is excellent. The quality of food is consistently delicious.
Although the owner is a Mexican American and the menu includes a fair number of foods that are Mexican, the owner worked for his earlier career in Greek-​American food in Chicago, so those items are there, as well as more basic Midwestern cuisine. All are equally good. One of the best menu items is the banana bread french toast. To die for. The haystack and sausage gravy is also super. I have not had a bad meal at Sammie’s, and we’ve been going for many years, from an earlier location to the present.
Can’t recommend this place enough.

Food out in less than 10 minutes
Pancakes and French toast rock
Really good breakfast food.
Not too sweet, using quality ingredients.
May be a tad expensive, but quality is superb.

Maybe it’s because I’m from the Chicagoland area and I was expecting more, but this place was average at best.
My standards are pretty high for breakfast (See Red apple Pancake House in Carol Stream). I went here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and there was about 5 other people in the restaurant, including the staff.
First off, why can’t you sub fruit for hash browns? I understand an upcharge, but saying you «can’t» do it? Come on. So, I ended up paying 3 extra dollars for fruit, and I didn’t get hash browns, because there’s nothing good about them unless their doused in ketchup.
My egg beater omelet with broc, mushroom, tomato, and avocado was very good. The salsa on the side was an excellent compliment. If I was rating on just the omelete (sans price), I would give a 5. But charging different amounts for different ingredients really grinded my gears.
I also ordered a short stack of multigrain cakes with banana. Those were decent, but kind of small.
Two meals, with all the upcharges, plus coffee, for 28 bucks. MERCY! I will probably not return because I’m not in the area that often. I will go elsewhere in Champaign for some bfast

What a great local joint right off of I-​57. I live in Paxton, Illinois where the breakfast is limited to bars, Arcade Pancake House, and Country Garden Restaurant. So Champaign is the breakfast location. Tried Original Pancake House last week, so it was Sammie’s Pancake this week!
A lot of Mexican items (due to the Mexican owners) so that was unique. Build your omelet was the option that I would decide on this trip. I wish I could have subbed fruit for potatoes/​Greek Toast. I also took an up charge on multi grain pancakes. I don’t get the penalty for being «healthier» in this country, but then again I understand it comes down to the bottom line… hell ya capitalism.
Pancakes were good… asked for fresh blueberries but got glaze instead. I even mentioned when I ordered «fresh blueberries please». The waitress didn’t seem to have a lot of intelligence (that’s mean of me) but why not tell me you don’t have fresh blueberries… before I get my pancakes, not when you bring them out.
A little pricey, especially since the whole blueberry fiasco. I didn’t mind much because I was hungry.
I will go back for sure. This waitress was very nice and prompt, but please don’t keep secrets from me. I promise if you want this relationship to work out that we have to be upfront with each other. I am not asking you how many sexual partners you had. Fresh or glaze babe. That’s all.

This is my first visit to Sammie’s. Very very pleasant place. Very nice hostess/​server greeted me inside the door and promptly took me to my table.
The table set (see picture) is just lovely. Everything seems to be done with taste at Sammie’s. I’m hoping the food here is just as tasty.
The food arrived piping hot within 5 minutes of the order being placed. I surprised how quickly as a matter of fact.
my standard breakfast food is a ham and cheese omelette. this one did not disappoint in the least. Light and fluffy egg with my choice of american, swiss, or cheddar cheese. I elected cheddar. I think this is the only time I’ve been given a choice for the cheese in an omelette. ever. Omelettes I make at home most always have cheddar in them too!
The steamy potatoes were excellent. The pancakes followed suit.
I took a picture of my breakfast before I devoured it.
This was a totally delightful experience. Will definitely be back.
5 stars.