Brownstone Pancake Factory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ) — Restaurant in Englewood Cliffs

This place is a Hit or Hit spot!!!! I recently heard of this restaurant and decided to come for Sunday Brunch. It sure wasn't the greatest idea because of course, Sundays are for Brunch, everyone knows that but me apparently.

Well, after trying to decide whether to put my name on the waitlist or leave and go eat at a simple mortal restaurant, I decided to fulfill my desire and took a number. Me and the other 100 people were waiting outside to be called, it had been like 20 minutes already and suddenly the host comes out and yells: "there are six chairs opening in the bar area, if someone is willing to seat at the bar come to me and you'll be seated right away". It was like I was in the olympics and I started running to her like an athlete, in order to win this race. She seated us right away, it was the BEST decision ever.

We started our order with my boyfriend's Fried Oreo Cookie Shake and my Nutella Wafer Cupcake Cappuccino, both were sooo DELICIOUS and very filling. Then we ordered Carnitas Breakfast Fries and Oreo Cookie Pancakes. Since we started with sweet drinks, we decided to share the fries first. First of all, they were INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS, all the components were perfectly combined to create a plate that exploded in your mouth and every bite was even better than the previous one. By the time the plate was down to half we were already done with food for the rest of our day. My boyfriend ate the ice cream that tops the pancakes and I had like 4 bites of those delicious, fluffy, sweet, exquisite pancakes but couldn't eat more although I really wanted to finish them.

Since we didn't know when we would be able to come back and everything was so delicious and all the food coming out of the kitchen smelled soooooo good, our gluttonous selves decided to order more food to take out. We ordered the Turkey Press Panini with Sweet Potato Fries and the Carnitas Especial Burger with Curly Fries and they were also mouthwatering and cooked to perfection.

I 100% recommend this place. I also recommend if you decide to come on a Sunday, or any other busy day like I did, be very patient. The wait is really worth it and the food is incredible. Their staff works under a lot of stress and pressure because this place is HORRENDOUSLY PACKED all day long, (on busy days!), and they are really running back and forth to make your experience as best as they can. So be nice to them and enjoy this awesome experience to...

Our numerous positive experiences at Brownstone over the years have consistently exceeded our expectations. However, our recent visit was incredibly disappointing. We arrived a bit before 8PM and shortly thereafter placed orders for a turkey burger and a western hamburger. After 25 minutes we had not yet received our order. Despite a couple of inquiries about our order, the waitress could only offer excuses about kitchen delays.

It was now over 30 minutes since our order was placed and our food finally arrived. Unfortunately, the turkey burger was paper thin (not the usual thick, juicy turkey burger we have had in the past) rock hard, burnt and cracked into three pieces, with ice-cold cheese tossed on top. To make matters worse, despite informing the waitress of my wife's not eating pork and to please not put bacon on her burger, her burger still arrived with bacon on it and the burger was also overdone and not cooked medium how it was ordered.

After finally requesting to speak to a manager, a friendly manager came over and agreed that this was NOT okay. She apologized and promised to remake our order. We waited again and it was now nearly 9pm (meanwhile, guests who arrived 15/20 minutes AFTER us and were happily eating their meals) and we had not yet received our remade order. To add to the frustration, we had to personally stand up from our table and request water from the kitchen being that we had made multiple unsuccessful attempts of requesting water from other staff. By this time we had lost our appetite and decided to leave. As we were letting the manager know that we had decided to leave, the situation escalated when someone claiming to be the "real manager" came out from the kitchen, confronted us by the front door, causing confusion about the chain of command. They offered to pack up our food to go, but again, the frustration was too much and we declined.

Despite requesting to speak to the owner Bobby (who we were told wasn't present,) we were assured that our concerns would be relayed to him promptly. Disappointingly, despite leaving our contact information with the manager, we haven’t received a follow-up.

Regrettably, this experience has left us with no desire to return to Brownstone and no dinner for...

During my recent visit to Brownstone this morning I was confronted with a deeply concerning and potentially life-threatening situation. My 13-year-old daughter who had explicitly informed the staff about their severe nut allergies while placing an order, suffered a distressing allergic reaction. This incident raises serious questions about the restaurant's commitment to food safety and customer well-being.

The negligent handling of the child's allergies is unacceptable and reflects a lack of awareness and training among the staff. Allergy protocols should be diligently followed in any reputable establishment, especially when it comes to protecting the health of vulnerable customers. The fact that such a critical aspect was disregarded casts a shadow of doubt on the restaurant's competence and professionalism.

Equally alarming was the staff's indifferent and rude demeanor during this critical situation. Customer service should prioritize empathy and understanding, especially when dealing with health-related matters. The child's well-being should have been the utmost concern, and the staff's failure to show genuine care only compounds the severity of this incident.

As a parent, I cannot overlook these distressing events. It is essential for the restaurant to take immediate action by thoroughly reviewing and reinforcing their allergy handling procedures. Proper training for the staff is paramount to prevent such dangerous occurrences from happening in the future.

I must express my deep disappointment and concern with management for allowing such a serious lapse in their operations. I implore them to treat this incident with the gravity it deserves, and use it as an opportunity to improve their practices and ensure the safety and satisfaction of all their customers.

Until there is concrete evidence of significant changes and a renewed commitment to food safety and customer service, I must caution potential diners about the risks associated with dining at Brownstone The well-being of customers, particularly those with allergies, should never be compromised, and it is my hope that this review serves as a wake-up call for the restaurant to take swift and decisive...