Original Pancake House — Restaurant in Madison

After hearing a lot of "good" things about OPH, I finally gave it a shot. I arrived about 10:30 on a Wednesday and it was very busy with a wait. Mine wasn't too long for a counter spot and they are very organized with the wait list process. Unfortunately, I sat next to a customer with all of the dining etiquette of a starved hog in a mashed potato factory, and that got my experience off on a difficult start. (I certainly do not blame the business.) But I digress....

As I watched several people who had arrived well after me receive their orders, I began to wonder what was up with mine. The waiter eventually came over and said that he thought someone lost my order and asked what it was. About a minute later, he set a plate before me and added "I guess they found it." The food was lukewarm, but by this point I was in a hurry to finish and get to work. I ordered the Eggs Michael (Benedict with a mushroom gravy instead of hollandaise). Ugh....that's how I sum it up. The gravy was horrible and the mushrooms were from a can. At least the eggs were poached to my preference. Potato pancakes really aren't my thing, but I hadn't had them in years so I thought I'd give them a try. They were potato pancakes, that's about all I have to say. I'll avoid them in the future.

IF I go back, I won't be having the Eggs Michael again. Freshly cut and sauteed mushrooms would surely improve it. I suppose I should give the pancakes a shot, as that appears to be the specialty. Other customers had heaping hash browns, and I'd like to give those a try.

Overall, not the best experience, but I'm willing to try again. They must be doing something right as the place...

This place has really gone downhill. The best waitresses who understood how to give a customer great customer service left. The owner and most of the staff are not friendly. He doesn't care and seems annoyed at anyone who asks a question or makes a simple request. I don't think I saw any of them smile at a customer. Not once. As if they hate their job. No interaction with those waiting for a long time to be seated. They are treated like numbers instead of people. The food is not as good as it use to be. My "scrambled eggs" were runny (redish pink) raw inside with no taste as raw things usually are. I stopped eating it to not get food poisoning. When I showed them the "scrambled eggs" were raw, they brought me something that looked like a round flat burnt omelet? The worst taste! The pancakes were disappointing. Mine seemed old, and cold, had no taste, like store box pancakes. They brought the pancakes. But did not bring me sryup. Skimpy on the butter. And never came by to fill my coffee cup. The waitresses screwed up the orders at the tables on both sides of my table (which was so tiny, could not fit everything on it decent and the water tipped over and spilled on everything including me.) This place use to be the best. Sad. Not any more! The owner is running his "restaurant" horribly. He doesn't care about the customers, so his staff doesn't care either. The best ones have left in...

I have been coming here my entire life and absolutely never leave disappointed. Have tried a variety of things from their menu and all have been delicious. They do tend to be packed but that speaks to the quality of their food. Servers have always been very friendly. Word of warning - do remember to bring cash. I cannot do their pancakes justice by describing them but they are honest to goodness the best I have ever eaten (outranking even Mickey's and my own mothers'). Highly highly recommend the strawberry pancakes even when the berries aren't in season. Another fun thing to do is their chocolate chip pancakes with a side of strawberries and cream. Their whipped cream is homemade and will have you swooning. As I said, have come here my whole life and have always ordered the same few things with some variety and am still not bored. Everyone I know who has been here raves about it as well. It may not look like much but definitely take some time out of your day to enjoy one of the most comforting meals in Madison. (And it is called Original PANCAKE house so if you never try the pancakes you are truly...