Johnny Pamcakes

Had the Buttermilk Connection. Pancakes were incredible, sausage had good flavor, and the bacon was cooked just right. Seated quickly, and the waitress was pleasant. Not from the area but I would definitely come back!

Absolutely amazing food and service. Just walking through the door the sweet smell of pancakes brings you back to childhood, before all this processed fast food crap! Jam packed full of people, but the wait was only 7min for the two of us. It was rainy and sleet outside, but inside cozy warm and the many circulating waitresses and table bus would never let their coffees get down to half! Continuous refills, never had to ask for anything. Ordered the Swedish crepes with lingonberry, HUGE and delicious! The hashbrowns were perfectly crispy on all areas and buttered with flavor. There was always someone checking in on us every few minutes to be sure everything fine. Left completely stuffed and happy! This is my new favorite in town, will definitely be back here over IHOP or Denny’s any day!
*as a side note, they serve a HUGE variety of foods from breakfast to dinner. Not strictly an eggs and waffles place. Big menu for salads, steak, pasta, sand which, etc.

I have heard from many people that this place was a must try for breakfast. I finally had the chance to go and it was amazing. The waitress was very friendly and quick. We got are drink order immediately and only waited about 5 minutes and are food was at the table! I ordered the eggs Benedict and it was awesome. We will go there from now on when are family goes out for breakfast.

Solid breakfast choice in Rockford. Standard breakfast menu highlighted by their Swedish Pancakes. Always receive a great breakfast for a reasonable price. This is our go to breakfast place.
The only negative would be that the place is too good. Almost always a wait to get a table and they do squeeze the tables together. Besides that, it is great.

This spot is a good family restaurant. The booths and most of the décor seem to have been recently updated. We were put off by so many recent reviews about the ripped booths, etc. and almost didn’t go, but I’m glad we did. Booths look brand new so if this was a turn off it looks like the owners listened and addressed it. It was busy with a short wait at noon on a Sunday. When cleaning our table for us some crumbs fell on the table and instead of just leaving it the hostess noticed and brushed them off into her hand discretely which I appreciated. We waited a bit to place our order but it was super busy and our waitress appeared to hussle. The coffee guy was a bit slow and it was hard to get his attention for refills. The owner was working the line in the kitchen window and everything came out correct. The food was good and we had no complaints. They have sugar shakers on the tables which my husband appreciates and warm butter and syrup. Overall it was a good experience.

Food was just ok. Pancakes were what you could expect from any coffee shop.

Get 5 French connections if you try this place, you will love it so much you will want more and more and leave with no regrets.
Also don’t try to finish a order of hash browns yourself, they don’t skip out.

Not so great food. i order it to go whenever i’ve gotten it, and they have always forgotten something on my order! they are expensive for a small diner with food that isn’t as good as they obviously think it is. Sorry guys, you are not that great. won’t be coming here in the future.

awesome food. better get there early or you will have to wait for a seat.

I came here for breakfast with a friend. I’ve driven past it a hundred times but it never grabbed me. The interior is dated, and while the atrium looked like a lovely place to sit, we were seated in a booth. Our waitress was grumpy and sullen, borderline rude. We both ordered Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and sausage. They were tasty, albeit a little bland, but we only received a tiny cup of lingonberries each, less than two tablespoons, hardly worth the additional $ 1.25 we had to pay for them! My sausage was clearly microwaved and overdone. We only saw our waitress when we were seated, when we received our food, and when we finally flagged her down for the check. No refills on drinks were given.
Not impressed. I’ll probably give it one more try, but if there isn’t an improvement, I won’t be a repeat customer.

Excellent service, my girlfriends coffe cup was never less than half and it took about 10 minutes from when we ordered our for to when it was at the table.
Food was good, not the most amazing but far far from bad!

We walked in at 8:30 and we where told there would be a wait. A couple came in right after us. They where immediately while I was left to wait for a table. Then another party came in after us and was seated before us again. We left and I’ll never come back.

You all know that scenario where someone asks you: «If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?»…yeah, my answer a million times over is the Swedish pancakes from Johnny Pamcakes. Yeah, yeah I know that I would become bigger than an Oompa Loompa but these pancakes are worth every extra pound added (okay, not really but you get what I mean, right?) I’ve never had better pancakes than I have had here and to be quite honest I’m pretty sure I won’t find better Swedish pancakes. You think I’m joking when I give such high praise to these idolized pancakes, but this is no joking matter. Those pancakes are seriously glorious. Seriously.
Now if you’re not a Swedish pancake lover (which if that’s the case, we cannot be friends — kidding!!!) then definitely go for an omelet. Their omelets are fluffy and huge. I once made a mistake of ordering four Swedish pancakes (which are thick) and an omelet. Don’t do that. You could always go twice and have pancakes once and eggs the next time. The omelets really are good though, especially if you get an egg white omelet! Can you say yummy? I can! «Yummmmmyyyy!!!»
Also I would recommend getting coffee because it’s pretty good coffee and they refill it free of charge, like many other diners. Like many other diners, as well, Johnny Pamcakes is a bit old-​fashioned with its interior décor, but to be honest that’s kind of it’s charm. Admittedly, some of the cushions would do well to be replaced and fixed, but I sort of like walking into this way old-​fashioned diner. It makes me feel like I’m not living in a completely modernized-​technology-​driven society.
To go on about the food just a little longer — the regular and Swedish pancakes are thick and hardly dry. This is the go-​to spot for anything and everything pancakes and breakfast. The prices are also super reasonable — two people can dine here for around $ 10 – 15 at breakfast!
Aside from the food and atmosphere I should mention that the owners, John and Pam as the restaurant’s name conveys, are super sweet and always helping out at the restaurant. If you want to support your local community then you should definitely do so here at Johnny Pamcakes. They deserve your business and you, my little jedi, will come to understand the power of Johnny Pamcakes for yourself once you wander in.
This is definitely one of my favorite places in all of Rockford and I do hope you try it! It’s legendary… at least in my books!

This place beats the prices and quality of any other breakfast place in town. The service and food is top notch.

I have to agree with other reviewers… this place seriously needs to be updated… John and Pam have the most amazing breakfast business in Rockford when you are looking for a stick to your ribs type of place. The food is brilliant… hot, fresh and delicious. Service is often hit or miss. The dining room is bad… as other posters have stated… duct taped seats, filthy carpeting, dirty fixtures.
The food is great!
This place is a goldmine… they seem to always be very busy and on a wait. The food is great… but it is very hard to get past the disgusting dining room. So one would ask themselves… if the dining room is that run down and unclean, what does your kitchen look like?
Close down for a week or so and do some general cleaning and updating. Your staff is very loyal and will work hard for you.

Thought I’d give it another try to see if any improvements in the décor and carpets.
Nothing has changed at all.
Dirty filthy carpets.
Banged up and scratched tables.
Almost every single chair or cushion has some kind of duct tape repair.
Johnny Pamcakes have the ability to be a decent clean restaurant, but for whatever reason, they feel their customers do not deserve better.
Ashame they do not take pride in their restaurant.

First time there, nice place, nice staff, ordered omelette, this was the mother load. never seen one that big, plenty of hash browns im a big eater, barley finished it. good prices, ill be back.

Good food, great service, excellent prices! Best breakfast place in Rockford! Very nice décor and atomosphere! Defintely worth going to! If I ever go back to Rockford I will go again!

Beyond our expectations! We were so happy to find this place. We will def. come back and try other breakfast menu. But I know my favorite will be always swedish pancakes.

I have been to this establishment several times and each time I am very happy with the meal I get.
I usually get the Swedish connection because the Swedish pancakes here are truly top notch and the sausage links are the exact type I like.
The breakfast is cheap and the service is always friendly and attentive. If you are looking for a good breakfast — go here.