Portage House of Pancakes — Restaurant in Portage

I went there for breakfast with my son and daughter and my son asked for an application because they were hiring for dishwasher. My daughter ended up filling out an application for a hostess. She worked there for one day, was told she didnt have to worry about learning the cash register by Vera, but then Maria the owner said she would train her herself. Was not properly trained or anything and didnt fill out W9 paperwork at all. (paid her by cash for the hours she put in) Had her show up at 6am shift when the other hostesses werent there until 8a. She then told me that they fired her and it wouldnt work out , after Vera, the other hostess was rude condescending and not friendly towards my daughter. I asked to speak to Maria, the owner, and she just stated sorry it isnt working out, she needs to learn how to do the cash register. Total lack of communication there and Im so glad my daughter wont have to deal with that. Her first job experience and they treated my daughter like garbage. I wont go there to eat ever again and I will make sure to make it known that the new management is horrible. Thank you! Edited: and first off, you all lie like crazy over there. Great way to save face, but you dont do a good job of it. You told me you would HELP my daughter learn the cash register and you would train her, which NEVER happened. You said her FIRST day was a TRAINING day and she would work from 8-2pm, thats why she was in shorts.!!!! Now you are going back saying all these lies. Learn to communicate! And Vera WAS not professional at ALL and was rude to me and to my daughter, she should be fired. My daughter did her best to try to learn the job, and your other hostesses were on their phones all the time too. Sounds like discrimination. Please dont make it sound like my daughter did something wrong when it was her first job and she tried her best. And my son refused to work there because of the pay amount and the insanely amount of hours you wanted him to work and Im glad that he chose not to work there. You need a brand new management team! Bring the old owner back please! I feel sorry for your staff. And if your environment is so professional why was the health department was called and people are complaining about the food there now. Karma will bite you and is already. Thank you for saving my daughter from a nightmare. You dont interview for your positions, you dont have people fill out paperwork like W2s or anything, pay them cash under the table you dont train properly or give an orientation of any sort and this is...

SERVICE & FOOD: It was my first time there and also the first time there for my friend. She arrived first and was greeted immediately, got a table, two menus and some water. It was a Saturday afternoon but we each had a taste for breakfast. She ordered the Denver omelet and I vaccilated because there was a sign on the door saying "We now have pumpkin 🎃 pancakes. MY FAVORITE!!

When our vivacious server said I could get the pancakes as my side, instead of boring toast, I had no issue ordering the spinach and feta omelet and coffee!

COFFEE: It was truly a bottomless cup, with several waitresses checking on my need for a warm-up!! 😁 The coffee was good, not great, but it didn't stop me from drinking several cups! They were bigger than diner cups, but not as big as a typical mug.

WAIT TIME: Even though the place looked packed, our order came so quickly we both commented on how fast our order was delivered! Both of the omelets were HUGE!! My friend enjoyed her omelet and finished it almost completely! But because I wanted my pancakes hot and fresh, I filled up on them and I could only eat less than half of my omelet! There wasn't much extra room on our plates, but we did receive a good size serving of hash browns.

OUR SERVER: Joanne, our restaurant server, was friendly, funny and chatty, but not too chatty!

COST: The cost was reasonable, but I had to pay $2.25 for the upgrade to pancakes, which seemed normal to me, but I wished it was less.

We had a booth next to a window on a sunny day!

MY ONLY COMPLAINT: the location of our booth, which was right behind the cashier's station!!! A constant flow of people speaking loudly and bumping my half of the booth was annoying!! And oddly, strangers kept walking up to our table and just stand there -- looking out the window! I later figured out that we must be invisible! LOL! Some were waiting for the hostess/cashier/NEW OWNER, but not all of them!!

We said we'd return, but you can believe that I will NOT sit at that same booth, even if I have to wait...

Last time I was here for a busy day, was Father's Day 2021. It was a five star experience, good food, great service from friendly staff. I came again early this year, February I think, and it was still pretty good.

I understand that now restaurant is under new ownership...and unfortunately...it shows. The experience I had today wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the same level I've experienced from this establishment over the years.

In the past, even during busy periods...the staff has been friendly, talkative, and prompt with coffee, refills, etc...growing up in Chicago, the hallmark of a "Mom and Pop" style breakfast joint is the quality of the coffee, and the prompt nature of the refills...

Today: the coffee was really meh and mediocre, so I'm not so upset that I got one half cup refill during the entire time I was there. The wait staff took our order, refilled my coffee once from half to full then disappeared, and then came back to drop off our food. Then one more appearance for the check. This tends to indicate under staffing and overworked staff.

Now I know a lot of folks might think, well..maybe you got a bad server. To which I say: all of them looked like they were being overworked, and they all looked sort of browbeaten a bit. In the past, the atmosphere of this place has been jovial, even while busy...and today I felt none of that. Like the magic had gone.

The food portions were the same as before, and the food was fine. But it's very clear the new management has had some effect on the overall service/staffing. I feel like there were not nearly enough staff on hand.

There are better establishments of this nature that do it better in town. While I'll probably come back to House of Pancakes to eat again...I hope House of Pancakes gets it together. I'd like to keep going here. However I've seen so many restaurants like this slide into oblivion from an owner change...and today, it felt like this is what's...