Family House of Pancakes — Restaurant in Lemon Grove

We came on a Sunday around brunch time. There was a big wait to eat inside, so we opted for an outside table which is just set up in the causeway of the building, it's not really a "patio" feel like you might find at the Janet's Cafe out in Santee. I did look inside, and it's very basic....kind of like a high school cafeteria. Our servers seemed rushed and impatient. There were no visible prices in the menu which was a little awkward. Do we ask the price of each item? I've never seen that before. I ordered coffee but couldn't drink it as it tasted funky. I will venture to say they use cheap coffee which is super lame in my book. Richard Walkers pancake house is phenomenal, so I guess I hold that as the standard. My husband ordered an omelet. I liked that the ingredients were well mixed so you weren't getting just bites of egg or specific fillings. The pulled beef in the omelet was really tender and tasty. I ordered Irish benedict. The hollandaise sauce had too much lemon in it, and there was a really small portion of corned beef on the English muffin. I'm a big fan of eggs benedict and their variations, but this one was disappointing. The potatoes were very good though. My friends ordered tropical pancakes and the german crepe. The pancakes were very good, and the crepe was good as well, just different from any crepe I've ever had. They were thicker and appeared to have additional egg yolks to make them a different texture. We enjoyed it. Overall, it was about 20 - 25 bucks per person. This is within walking distance of where we live, so we might give it another shot. But it was just a 3 star experience...

So we used to go to their National City location regularly, and prior to their permanent closing, we fell in love with their Jalapeño Chicken dish. Unfortunately, this dish isn't available at their Chula Vista location. We have been anxiously awaiting their Lemon Grove opening to finally enjoy this delicious dish again. So our party of 3 came in from lunch, and were seated against the wall to the left. So who comes up to greet us? Brenda! Our server who used to serve us regularly at the National City location TWO years ago!!! Not only that, she remembered us because we used to order rice pilaf with our Jalapeño Chicken. All three of us ordered the same dish (one regular, one w/ light sauce, one w/ sauce on the side. All three of us ordered a salad (three different dressings: blue cheese, ranch, and 1000 island). Garlic toast accompanied the meals. Same great food, same outstanding service from Brenda! We're happy FHOP had continued to offer this highly desired dish of ours. We can't wait to come back next month! If you haven't had their Jalapeño Chicken, I've attached photos to my review. It's pretty delish! Note: if you can pay cash, you'll save the 4% credit card fee added to your bill. Other than that, if you don't like long waits to be seated, come...

Good breakfast if you want huge portions (like me 😁), but it did leave something to be desired. To their defense, it was graduation day, and they were very busy, but here is what I liked and disliked:

Cons: My sister ordered poached eggs, and they came over done, and in her words "chalky" along with the eglish muffin, the eggs were sitting on burnt. I don't think it is entirely their fault because I can see them trying to get food out fast and mistakes being made. Try not to make substitutions. My other sister was asking for substitutions, and things got a little wonky, and I think they ended up forgetting and left the onion in the omlet and ground beef onto.

PROS: HUGE PORTIONS! I love a place that can actually fill me up because I love to eat, and I definitely was not disappointed!

GREAT PRICES! I for everything that you get the prices are amazing!

HOMEMADE FOOD! You can definitely tell they make their food here. It tastes home made you have to try the pancakes! (It's called house of pancakes, duh)

All in all try it for yourself we probably just went...