The Pantry

I was happy with my meal, however my friend wasn’t with his. This is the first time eating at this location, I have been often to the van dyke one.

This is our 2^nd time here. (we enjoyed out first time on a slow midday).
Their seating process when busy is annoying @ best.
My son’s fork had a birdshot pellet wedged between two tines-​no joke. Matt, our waiter, although polite and professional, was slow to get to us-​17 minutes from hostess seating us, to waiter greeting. Another 52 minutes for basic breakfast food to arrive — we did not order any of their specialty items. Matt apparently didn’t hear my order properly because it came out incorrect — compound by the person refilling our water inadvertently pouring water onto my food without offering to replace it. My father stated their turkey sausage has no seasoning in it. Matt explained they don’t use much seasoning due to their primary clientele. My son enjoyed his Paul Bunyon breakfast. The women @ the register was clearly having a bad day; and there’s a sign looking for a cook with experience. I started this review with 2 stars but upon reading my own words, realize it unfortunately deserves 1 star for this total experience.

So, I had a really early start to the day and had to get something to eat before I showed up to my friends house. I had a full day ahead of me, and unfortunately, my usual spots were not open yet. On the way out to her house, I spotted this place from the road and decided to drop in.
Boy, and I glad I did. What an awesome experience. This place is really one of a kind. Considering it was rather busy, I was seated immediately and my waitress brought me a menu and some water. The place is a good size, which is awesome because I like to not feel cramped.
Secondly, the menu here is pretty big and vast. Very hearty breakfast options that are made to order. You might think, hey, who doesn’t make stuff to order? Well, this place does it better and different. They put their omelets in an oven! Yea, you heard me, an OVEN. That’s the extra care that I’m talking about!
Also, my server was really cool. She went over a few different options with me. I told her I didn’t want a ton of food but something to hold me since I was starving. She suggested the french toast, and it was AWESOME. I couldn’t even finish it!
The only reason I docked a star is upon entering I noticed that there was a religious tone to the place. I’m not offended by religion, but I don’t associate it was a breakfast place I pick at random. They have a picture of Jesus in the front of the restaurant, and on the menu they have prayers for before meals for Jewish, Christian and two others. It was a nice touch to include us Jewish people, but dang it, I wasn’t expecting that!
Overall, it’s one of the better breakfast experiences I’ve had in a while, in regards to awesome service, a solid menu and great food. Please come check this place out if your in the area!

Amazing, fast, very well prepared breakfast, and lunch every time! Friendly staff. Quick and yummy!

Its good and friendly staff. Would like to go back and try some other choices.

almost as good as the original, but not quite

Stopped in on a Saturday morning, around 8:00am. I was surprised at all the people already seated. Ordered breakfast and the service was good, food arrived in a timely manner. Mentioned the amount of people and our waitress said we would be standing in line had we come much later.
Sure enough, around 9:00am when it was time to go, there were about 15 people lined up waiting to be seated. This is a pretty good sized place, and it can probably seat 85 to 100 people. So it does get busy.
They offer a full breakfast and lunch menu.

The Pantry would normally get 4 or 5 stars but this visit it really deserves 1 star. The waitress was great. The kitchen was slow.
When the kitchen is on their game, the food is fresh, well cooked and the food comes out in a timely manner. This time the kitchen was not on their game. Food was coming out in spurts. Some meals out on the table, while others in the party waits up to 5 minutes longer. Talking about the speed of the food, we waited 35 minutes for the food to arrive. When the crepes did come out, they were raw. So we sent them back, and they came back fresh in 5 minutes or less, not the 35 minutes it took in the first place.
We did complain to the food manager, and an adjustment was made to the bill. The adjustment was OK

Loved this place from the first visit through numerous visits afterwards. I’m a fan of the baked pancakes, and, my all-​time favorite, Eggs Benedict.
Unfortunately, on our last visit my wife tasted something «off» with the sausage and couldn’t eat it. This is a woman who rarely complains.
I told our server, she spoke with the kitchen, then manager, and proceeded to tell me «sorry but there’s nothing wrong, it was a newly opened package». They offered indifference only and didn’t even take it off the bill.
Over the past year we’d visited them once to twice per month for breakfast on weekends. As a result of this service debacle which is intolerable and unacceptable, I refuse to go back and that was about three months ago. I don’t care to fork over my hard-​earned money to people who don’t care about — or understand — the concept of proper customer service.

So after being told NUMEROUS times, that this place is just like the Original Pancake House, I had to try it… So I went there roughly a year ago, and again today… Let me tell you… This is NO OPH… This place is kinda terrible… Now, I compared 2 of the same dishes from both. Peach Crepes, and the Flapjacks. Both with coffee and a side of bacon… I’ll review each…
Crepes
Too thick, and it seemed as if they just dumped canned peaches in it, with can whipped cream. Compared to the pan warmed peaches, and home made whip at OPH… Pantry can’t touch it…
Flapjacks
They even say «3 ooey gooey flapjacks» just like on the OPH menu (lame). These are uneven in shape, and have crusty hard edges (think overcooked microwaved nachos). They were in no way in a class of OPH… Also it had a big scoop of margarine on top, not nice freshly whipped butter (like OPH)
Bacon
Holy crap there’s nothing good about the Panrty bacon, unless you like it hard and the Kroger Brand. OPH of course has thick cut meaty bacon.
Coffee
It was coffee… not great, but still not as good as the special roasted OPH coffee…
All in all this place is a let down. My wife got the pancakes, and hated them… Really, how can you screw up pancakes!?!
Also the syrup is not warmed, had barely any syrupy taste, and just sucked… Wish I woke up early enough for McDonalds Breakfast…
So I’m sure you get the theme here… This place as good as OPH??? NO! And I don’t care if the owner used to work at OPH and stole the recipes like the legend says, they can’t make them right if that’s the case… I don’t even wanna touch the Big Apple Pancake cuz that’s just sacrilegious!
Oh, speaking of religion… I’m not so big on it. Not to say I don’t think you should have religious beliefs, but your restaurant shouldn’t be a place that shows off your undying devotion to the lord. Even to go as far as hanging multiple paintings of Jesus on the walls, having prayer cards on the counter, and even a bottle of HOLY WATER next to the cash register… This is a place of business, not your living room. Keep your ideals to yourself, and made better F-​ing food!!!
I want my money back!

This location is no where near as good as the original. I am not sure why, but they don’t seem like they put in the effort to care for the product they put out as much as the Van Dyke location.
My wife ordered a side of Turkey Sausage Patties to go with her breakfast and when she got them they were both completely raw in the middle. Like so raw it was still cold and there was raw blood/​juice from it left on the plate. That’s unsanitary and unsafe. We told our waitress and she apologized and said she’d be back in a few with some new ones.
Can you guess what happened next kids? No? Okay I will tell you. My wife got the new ones, cut in to them with her fork and these were just as raw as the first ones. This is unacceptable to say the least so we sent them back and just asked for them to be taken off the bill.
The waffle she ordered was just okay. I could have made one just as good at home with our waffle iron and at half the price. I ordered the Michael’s Creation and the meat was a bit on the salty side. Still eatable though and I wasn’t about to send it back and have to wait for a new one to be made from what would more than likely be the same salty meat. Also the coleslaw was dry and had little to no dressing on it whatsoever.
It seems like the Pantry has become a one trick pony as of late. If you are going for their German Pancakes then you are in for a treat, but if you are going for anything else you are better off going to a Denny’s or Rams Horn.

I used to go to this place because they have great chicken wings and ranch, you know the thin and delicious ranch! To my dismay they no longer have chicken wings:(
But they do have these awesome, i think they call them, egg baskets. They are half potatoes that are scooped out and deep fried. Then they put fluffy eggs in them with your choice of two toppings. THEN you get a side of pancakes and a little fruit. I recommend getting the raspberry topping on your pancakes! Also, make sure you get a side of ranch to dip your potatoes in!

Decided to give this location a second chance Sunday. The food was cold & service was horrible! Eggs had a hair in it. I ordered crepes with fruit/​whip cream on the side. The waitress brought two orders with fruit/​whip cream on top because she didn’t understand what I meant. It’s not an uncommon request for pancakes, waffles, or crepes to have toppings on the side. Beverages weren’t even offered a refill. There was another family being served by the same waitress having a similar experience. Their order was taken two tables ahead of ours. However we had our food, ate, paid and left and this family still didn’t have their order.
When we said something honestly about the food/​servce to Lori (the owner) as to how this location compares to the Sterling Heights location she replied «that’s the difference between 20 – 25 years experience with cooks & staff» and that they took the crepes off our bill. Thanks, because I didn’t eat crepes so I wouldn’t expect to be charged for them. If you don’t care about offering the same level food & service as your first location don’t bother expanding! When someone waits 20 – 30 minutes for a table the least one would expect is hot food. I guess your suppose to smile and say everything was good and pay-​get out the door.
Will NEVER return to this location and possibly the others because of Lori’s attitude and repeat poor food/​service.

This place is pretty great. I’ve only had breakfast stuff but it has all been excellent. The coffee has been hit or miss (more miss on the weak/​watery side) but your cup will always be full! Omelettes are always HUGE and packed full of whatever you want. I’m a sucker for a breakfast sandwich and the one on the menu here is a tower of eggs, cheese, and bacon and you just know it was made with honest to goodness butter and that’s the way it should be.
My grandmother LOVES this place. I find it particularly entertaining to go to the Pantry with her since she always orders the apple pancake. She always pretends like there is no way she’ll ever be able to finish it, even going so far as to ask for a box when it is delivered to the table in all of its living, breathing, ooey-​gooey cinnamon deliciousness. But then she just polishes Mt. Pancake off because it is just that good and she is almost 80 and can do whatever she wants. And she’s right.

Place was full of the «Red Hat» ladies so it was loud and very full. But food was good and plenty of items to choose from.

I was craving a good breakfast and this place definitely satisfies that for me! I ordered a spinach and cheese omelet which was perfectly baked, cheesy, flavorful and packed with spinach! I have only tried the baked omelet’s from here but they are so hearty and tasty that I can’t seem to move on. I think the omelet here is distinctive and the baked cooking style makes it so fluffy and flavorful that you can taste the difference from a plain ol’ cooked omelet. This was also my first visit to this new location since they closed the one in Mt. Clemens! The seating area is decent with a private dining room in the back ideal for large groups. The service here was friendly and I got my omelet pretty fast! The Pantry is closed by late afternoon. If I can get over the baked omelet choices on the menu I’ll probably try their Crepes next time!

Pricey pancakes, service was kind of ok, but the waitstaff kept trying to top both my parents’ tea with coffee, and the waitress kept taking off after getting one request from our group, even though others needed things too. The food itself was pretty tasty, but for as much as it cost, it should be spectacular…

While I haven’t had any of the pancakes or other breakfast items the Pantry is known for, I have had several lunch options. The quality of food and selection is above par for a casual restaurant. Additionally my office has ordered take out a few times and they seem to go through great care to make sure the order is accurate and well packaged for carryout. The wait staff always seems friendly, however there has been the occasional curveball. When my friend ordered a turkey burger she was asked how she wanted it cooked !!!

It’s a sin… Heaven on a plate… Anything this good just has to be a sin?
I’m talking about the Apple Pancake you can only get at The Pantry. A heavenly concoction of pancake mix, fresh sliced apples and cinnamon glaze. It’s served piping hot from the oven. Delivered to your table all bubbly and steamy with an incredible smell you pick up from half way across the room.
Then, half way through, you’re full. But the devil on your shoulder whispers in your ear «Just one more bite». So you do… then another… then another…
Oh, they have other things too at The Pantry. Various fruit covered pancakes, waffles, crepes and oven-​baked omelets. A house of breakfast delights all look delish, but I’ll likely never find out.
See… once you go Apple Pancake, you’ll never go back.
Forgive me, for this morning I have sinned… And likely will do again… and again… and again…
Hmmm… I hope this addiction doesn’t make me go blind too…