The Pantry

Solid breakfast. Cute place. Prices reasonable. Will go back.

The slow service here is a management issue, pure and simple. 2 ladies staffing the whole place on a Monday morning and trying their hardest, but I still had to wait an extra 15 minutes with nobody in front of me just to get seated… And this happens every time I go. Would it kill the manager to add a server or two?

One of my favorite casual brunch spots in New Haven (or ever.?)! I love coming here because the menu offers a variety of brunch items whether you want eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, toast, or coffee. The dishes here are simple, but portions here are so generous and at such a good price.
My favorite dish is the Eggs Benedict ($ 12.50). The melon and home fries that come with the dish are amazing! Most savory dishes come with plenty of sides (fruit, toast, and/​or potatoes). Food is always plentiful, comforting, and delicious. I always leave The Pantry happy and full.
There is almost always a line outside during brunch time as they don’t take reservations, but I’ve never had to wait more than 30 minutes. The place is small (not ideal for large groups), but the restaurant is cozy, resembling more of a diner-​like atmosphere with no frills.
Sometimes the service can be slow. They only have one or two servers handling the whole restaurant at a time. On multiple occasions, I kept asking for a re-​fill of my coffee or water, but the server kept forgetting. I had to ask about 6 times before I can get only one refill at the very end of my meal.
Food is excellent here and at a good value. I almost always make a stop here every time I am in New Haven.
Note: Cash Only

Small but cozy ! One of my favorite places to go for breakfast/​brunch. I highly recommend the cinnamon pancake ! Deelicious. Staff is nice and courteous. There can be a wait on the weekends so be prepared but well worth it.

I think all the employees hate their job because they are completely miserable and not eager to help the customers. It’s like this every time I go. I watch them ignore customers. I worked in this industry and its not that hard to be pleasant and give customers a decent experience. The only reason I come here is for the food, definitely not for the customer service.

This place is amazing! From their service to their food to the location – spot on! I’m a breakfast food junkie. I live for the eggs, spuds, and off the wall pancakes. That’s why The Pantry is my jam!
For starters they always have some sort of special pancake (this time was an Oreo pancake) and a special Benedict (this time was pesto and prosciutto). All of their Benedicts are perfection. There are key things you must master for a good Benedict… Soft, yet crunchy muffin is key! They nailed it. Runny poached egg that FITS the diameter of the muffin, nailed it. Then a creamy yet rich sauce, nailed it. Then there spuds on the side are very crispy but not burnt! Plus you get an obscene portion (obscene as in good).
Moving on to the flapjacks. We ordered the cinnamon roll pancakes– because, how dare you wait in line at a breakfast joint and not get what they are known for?! So we did! If you’re going to come here, you’re going to order cinnamon roll pancakes, even if you order just one and you all share! Don’t be silly, THATS WHY YOURE HERE. that’s why you froze your buns off waiting outside! Don’t skimp on it, trust me! It’s not overtly sweet, it’s fluffy and airy and oh so cinnamony.
Definitely the place to be! As with most breakfast joints, early is key! Oh and they have this way of NEVER letting your coffee cup even reach halfway, even with a full house. Wish I could give them 10 starts!

What a delight to find this neighborhood spot for breakfast. My husband and I were in New Haven for a wedding and Unilocal once again saved the day. We met his brother and his 8 year old daughter who wanted waffles. We ordered California eggs Benedict, salmon Benedict, a make your own omelet, sliced grapefruit, fresh strawberries and a chocolate chip waffles. I am gluten free but the cinnamon roll pancakes looked awesome!!! Fresh maple syrup is available by request for an up-​charge. Service is first come first served but the line moves quickly. Service is fast!
The Pantry is cash only.

Let’s talk about what a gem this little place is! It’s located in such a cute neighborhood, parking was pretty easy, regardless of the lot or street parking. It’s cash only so be sure to keep that in mind.
The place itself is very small, so I would avoid going in a group larger than 4 people. They also won’t seat you unless everyone in your party is present. I went during Yale spring break, hoping it would make the wait a little quicker. The wait was quicker, but it was by no means quick.
Now on to the food. DELICIOUS, thus making everything wrong with this place worth it. It’s not an expansive menu by any means. But what they do have, they do it well. I love eggs Benedict, so their options were right up my alley. The cinnamon roll pancake seems to be their specialty, and they are delicious beyond belief! The prices are also very reasonable, making everything even better!

I got cinnamon roll pancakes, which was great! Being a diner, the price is also pretty great. They only accepted cash though, which was inconvenient. I heard the line could get quite long, but I visited for lunch on a week day, so the place was pretty empty.

The cinnamon bun pancake is huge, and the best pancake I’ve ever had. The consistency is light but crumpet like. The rest of the menu is light on options so just go straight for the pancake, you won’t be disappointed.

Wow! Found this place on Unilocal and decided to give it a try.
Let’s say, you definitely can’t go wrong with the cinnamon roll pancakes! You have to order it to try! It was fluffy and it comes with a little bit of the cinnamon roll frosting — it is sweet enough that you don’t need to put additional syrup — just a little of the salty butter to give you the perfect balance of sweet and salty.
We also ordered:
— 2 eggs, sausage, toast and home fries
— Blackstone eggs (Benedict) with avocado
For the two eggs, you can’t really go wrong here, it is very simple, typical fare. The benedict was really good as well! Portion was huge!
We got here by 8:30 am so we beat the crowd :) as some of the other reviews say, definitely come here before 10am to avoid waiting.

Get the cinnamon roll pancakes.
Get the cinnamon roll pancakes.
Get the cinnamon roll pancakes.
This is what I tell my friends every time I take them to this place but nooo, they always want to try the other types of pancakes. I am a good friend so I get an extra order of them anyways and they are always blown away. I like these so much that after I moved to Boston, my roommate visited New Haven and brought me a short stack (they’re honestly pretty gross when they are cold, but I appreciated the gesture).
Prices are very reasonable and portions are generous (from the perspective of a guy who is commonly referred to as the human garbage disposal). Also try the omelette and home fries.
Tips: You can load the omelettes with various meats, veggies, and cheeses for no additional charge (i mean it… i get every meat, veggie, and cheese.). Also, get there before 10am if you’re going on a weekend. There is limited seating and the line starts going out the door if you arrive any later. Finally, IT’S CASH ONLY so don’t embarrass yourself on your date by only bringing a credit card.

Learning that New Haven only has two breakfast places (unconfirmed claim made by our New Haven friends), we quickly rushed out to the Pantry at 8AM sharp and snagged a nice table for four. 10 minutes later, the line snaked down the street — so the crowds do tell!
We were quickly served four hot coffees in small mugs that were refilled several times throughout the meal. For the meal, I settled on the cinnamon swirl pancakes (1 large) with a side of bacon and a short stack of buttermilk pancakes. I appreciated the several sizes of pancakes (large stack, short stack, single large) available as I was having difficulty deciding. In the end, I brought half of the short stack home, but was satisfied by my choice. The cinnamon swirl pancakes were excellent — not too sweet, though they didn’t require syrup given a sugar glaze. The bacon on the size was served nice and crispy as I like it. As for the short stack of buttermilk, they were solid, but nothing special. I’m glad I ordered cinnamon swirl to offset the average-​ness of the regular pancakes.
Menu was cheap and had everything you’d expect in the local diner. Grease factor was low, which I appreciated. My partner’s omelets looked well-​prepared and served alongside home fries and buttered toast. While we were floating out the door with coffee from the Pantry, we wandered across the street to the Coffee Pedaler for a cup of joe for the road.

Amazing brunch spot for a good price!!!
Highly recommend the salmon eggs benedict and the cinnamon roll pancakes! The house coffee is even really good! Be prepared to walk out with a major food coma. The portions are generous and everything tasted soooo good that I wanted to keep eating.

This is our go-​to breakfast spot in New Haven. It is a popular place on the weekends, so best to come early for breakfast because after 9am you may have a wait, and by 10am you’ll be waiting in line around the building.
There is a very small foyer that people wait in just inside the front doors when seating isn’t available so don’t be surprised if when you open the doors people are standing there! This begins the line that forms outside. There are no reservations, just show up, and get in line.
We have tried most everything they have to offer. They are well known for their cinnamon roll pancakes which we order, at least one, without fail, every time we come here.
They also do several kinds of eggs benedict that are all tasty.
The servers are very busy, and can be hit or miss with tone of service; somedays are friendly if brief, and other days seem to not care so much.

Stopped in with my girlfriend and her parents on a Sunday afternoon around 2pm for a late lunch and I felt really unwelcome. I know they close at 3pm, but they made us feel like they were bothering them with our patronage.
The food is the reason I’m giving this place 3 stars, because if it was based on the service alone it would be much lower.
I had an egg sandwich, which was pretty standard. My girlfriend and her father had omelettes and they both really enjoyed them. And finally, my girlfriend’s mother had the cinnamon bun pancakes and raved about them. I tried a few bites and they were really good. All of us enjoyed their hash browns.
Also, for a place that seems to be music themed, the music here was a downer. It was putting me to sleep while eating my meal. That combined with the less-​than-​welcoming waitstaff made this experience kind of strange for me.
Overall, not bad, but not too good either.

CASH Only!
We like to walk to this restaurant on Sunday mornings, the atmosphere is casual, the staff members are always kind. It’s a small restaurant with limited seating and tight quarters and there’s usually a line formed out the door. Check the weather forecast before you take an adventure there… you may just get caught in the rain. We hear that the cinnamon swirl pancakes are superb but we’ve been sticking with more savory meals like eggs florentine and the three egg omelette. Overall, this is a nice little brunch spot with great food and service.

This place is great. Located in a cute neighborhood, this quaint restaurant. We went for breakfast and were seated pretty quickly, though there was a line when we were on our way out.
The menu is small and focuses on pancakes and Benedicts. I opted for a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes, which were a great deal for about $ 4.25. I asked for a mix of two chocolate chips and one banana, but wasn’t allowed. I saw the table next to me get the banana ones and the looked amazing. The chocolate chip pancakes were some of the best I’ve had — great pancake flavor to go along with the sweetness of the chocolate chips.
The bacon was crispy, as were the hash browns.
This place was awesome and I do look forward to trying the rest of the menu from here.

Came back in 2 weeks and tried the California Benedict and HOLY COW DELICIOUS. Normally I’m not a big fan of runny eggs but they were just so rich and flavorful I couldn’t get enough. The homefries were very crispy too.
I’m noticing that this place isn’t ideal for large groups. Your large group will be waiting a lot longer than a smaller group too. My boyfriend and I waited outside for about 10 minutes but were able to get seated before 3 large groups who were waiting ahead of us (and one was still waiting when we left!).

We had a party of four and waited for about 40 minutes outside in the cold. We almost died, but I am still giving this place 4 stars… So that little tidbit alone says something.
Because I waited 40 minutes, I wanted to make my order worthwhile. I ordered both a banana pancake and the Eggs Benedict. The pancakes were amazing – so fluffy! The eggs and hollandaise sauce were awesome too. The hash browns were flavorful and had a crispy exterior. They were probably spectacular, but I was too stuffed to thoroughly enjoy them.
I would probably go back to this place even with the wait in the cold… I would probably prepare myself and dress appropriately next time.