The Pantry Restaurant — Restaurant in Sterling Heights

I'll preface by saying I know many people love this place and I can partially see why, but my last experience may likely be my last. I have eaten here on three separate occasions over the course about 1.5 years. I like the menu and the offerings. A large variety for breakfast and lunch. You can order a completely gluttonous meal, or stick to an overall well-balanced, healthy meal. They are always busy, especially on the weekends. I would recommend coming here later in the early afternoon to avoid having to wait too long. This place is cramped. If you have to wait in line you will likely get trapped in "lobby" entrance until the line inside moves. I have always ordered breakfast here. I love brunch and breakfast and finding places that really know what they are doing. The first couple times I was here, I thought the american fries/hash browns were pretty meh and overcooked, but the rest of the meal was good. The last time I was here, I left extremely disappointed.

We were greeted by our server promptly after being seated and ordered some drinks. Once she came back we ordered our meals. My meal consisted of two eggs, american fries, and a side of meat (ham, bacon or sausage). I asked if I could substitute the 3 pieces of sausage for turkey sausage, which is what I prefer. The server stated that I would only get one piece of turkey sausage if I swap. I found this funny because it made absolutely no sense and the sever could not even explain why this is a thing- so I just kept the regular sausage. I ordered my eggs over easy and no toast. I typically like over medium, but too many times, places will over cook the eggs. The other entrees ordered were the biscuits and gravy and a corned beef hash dish which included a side of pancakes.

Our food came out fairly quickly- which is where my confusion lies. ALL of my food was ice cold. I have never ever been served a cold breakfast at any place ever. The american fries- cold. sausage- cold. eggs- cold and UNDERCOOKED. This was a new one. Typically when I order over easy it is usually spot on or slightly cooked closer to over medium. This time I would say these eggs should have been cooked for another minute at least. I am wondering if there are heat lamps on in the back to keep this food warm as they go out to guests. I am thinking no? The corned beef has was also cold. We pretty much did not eat this at all because of the issue with the temperature as well as, its sub-par taste. It was very much too salty. The biscuits and gravy came out a little after the rest of the food. It sounded like the kitchen couldn't keep up with this item since the servers in the back kept yelling for it. This was the only item we ordered which was piping hot and tasted great. The pancakes also tasted good with no issue.

The server did not come back until the end of our meal, so my plate was already taken away by a busser. The server noticed we did not touch the corned beef hash and we told her why and she left to take it off the bill, which we did not ask or agree for her to do. I wish she would have asked me about my meal, but she failed to do so. Once we were given back our bill, we went up to pay. I spoke up to the cashier to let her now how cold everything was and our disappointment. She was very apologetic and mentioned the troubles the kitchen has been having. I am sorry to say, but I probably won't come back at the risk of receiving...

Not sure why this place has all of the praise it does.

We went on a Saturday and it had a normal line for a smaller place. The wait was fine and not a big deal. There were a bunch of open tables so not sure why there was a wait to begin with, but maybe it's just how they operate to keep the servers less stressed.

Anyway, I don't really have too much of a right to complain as my meal was comped even though I told them not to worry about it. So I technically didn't pay for this but still felt I should leave a review.

Our server took our order, put it in immediately and disappeared for maybe 30 minutes or so. We watched other tables get their food before us when they were sat after us. She never came back for refills and it was a chore to get the bill so we could leave.

I ordered the Corned Beef Hash Combo which included 2 eggs, potatoes and a pancake as well as a side order of biscuits and gravy.

I will start by saying EVERYTHING in the combo was at a refrigerated temperature, no exaggeration. It was effectively inedible at the time, but I figured I would just take it to-go and warm it back up at home.

The corned beef hash had a funky smell/taste to it. The eggs were scrambled soft (not per my request), the potatoes would have been fine if they were warm at all. The pancake was hard on the outside and took some effort with a knife to cut into bite sized pieces.

The only thing that was decent was the biscuits and gravy. That came out piping hot, only because our server forgot it and kept screaming to the cooks she needed it ASAP. The gravy was very flavorful and the biscuits were blissfully delicious. But unfortunately, 2 biscuits was not enough to fill me up so I left hungry.

I really don't think I will...

We've been there a few times, and each time we're disappointed. While the pancakes were very good, it's honestly not that hard to make a good pancake, in my opinion. I've gotten something different each time, and two of those times I wasn't able to eat it. During this latest visit I ordered the Polish sausage, potato, and egg scramble. When I've had scrambles in the past at other places, the potato is cubed and browned and the cheese is on top. This was all mixed together. Melted cheese mixed in with the scrambled eggs mixed in with scallop style potato slices which weren't browned at all. This basically equalled cheesy eggs and Polish sausage mixed with mashed potatoes. It was just as gross as it sounds. Also, a side of bacon was over $4. What?!? We paid over $50 for four people with two sides and two orange juices. That's crazy prices for breakfast. My wife got the potato pancakes, and they were under done and not cooked all the way through. I'm pretty sure this will end up being the last time we go there. Original House of Pancakes serves similar fare and is consistently excellent, so I would recommend that...