Pancake Café Stoughton | Breakfast, Brunch, & Lunch — Restaurant in Stoughton

Stopped in for breakfast yesterday. Took about 10 minutes to be seated despite many open tables (some of which, admittedly, needed cleaning). The hostess took several minutes to acknowledge our presence; the other couple who were waiting for a table said they'd been there for almost 15 minutes and had not been greeted or acknowledged.

Once seated, it took 15 minutes from the time we placed our order until the food was delivered, during which time our server stopped by a couple of times to refill drinks but did not acknowledge the delay until we asked about it. The food, when it arrived, was fine -- freshly and correctly prepared, adequately warm, reasonably tasty, etc. -- but after an hour's wait it wasn't very satisfying.

I've seen several similar one-star reviews, most of them seemingly posted in the last month or so, in which the owner replies, apologizing for the experience and blaming the issues on COVID-related staffing issues, etc. The thing is, that excuse is valid the first time a bunch of employees unexpectedly quit or call in sick. Beyond that point, you should be planning for it. The most conspicuous thing we noticed yesterday was that there wasn't anyone in the restaurant who appeared to be in charge while we were there -- no one setting priorities, no one making decisions, no one speaking on behalf of the restaurant. If a manager, an owner or a sufficiently authoritative employee had directly addressed the situation from the moment we entered the restaurant, explained the situation, apologized, set expectations, perhaps offered free coffee or something to make up for the inconvenience, etc., the experience could have been salvaged. Instead, every employee in the restaurant seemed uncertain of how to proceed. They avoided the customers' gazes and, unless it came up in conversation, pretended nothing was wrong. I actually feel bad for them, because they presumably had limited ability to take action. This failure came from above. So, Mr or Ms Owner, rather than apologizing after the fact for your problems, perhaps you should consider being at your restaurant to manage your Sunday morning...

I had gone here a few times previously and had no real reason to complain (other than what seemed to be a more expensive than usual bill). I felt that my service was well met by the waitresses, the food was not worth criticizing but also not worth complementing. I'm sure the cooks worked hard considering the portions were supersized. Larger portions mean longer cook time which ultimately means longer wait time. However, I cannot blame the cooks for this as it's usually the responsibility of higher level staff to train the cooks to meet specific instructions.

It had been a while before I decided to go back and deciding against it would have dodged me a bullet. There had been a clear change of management and it was certainly a turn for the worst. First off, I hadn't noticed this because one usually wouldn't think pancakes would be very expensive. Well we you get down to it, an individual pancake is set at $1.50. Too bad you can only buy six of them for $9.00 or 3 (half plate) for $7.60! Ridiculous! They're pancakes! A box of mix at the store wouldn't cost half their half plate price! The regular orange juice is a kids size, they actually used the same cup as the kids cup. It may be freshly squeezed but at $3 for a "Regular" (small) its not worth it. The majority of the items on the menu were talked a bit game but I'm sure could not deliver. It took much longer for my food to come out now than it did at previous times and was even cold to the touch. The food I recently had was mediocre, bland, and left me unenthusiastic. Just a couple tables over I had heard another couple complaining about the same things. The "manager" of the establishment could not have been a day over 19. I wouldn't doubt that they were fresh out of high school which tells me they had absolutely no experience running a restaurant or very little to speak of.

Any way you have it, over medium, sunny side up or scrambled. It'll take forever to get to you, you will pay too much for it and odds are it won't even taste good.

This new management...

Pancake Cafe stands as a unsightly beacon of disservice to Stoughton's strong tradition of high quality cafes. I went here a number of times after they first opened and found edible fare at least and acceptable service. Recently though, I don't know if management changed or something, Pancake Cafe has seemed to make every conceivable misstep a restaurant could muster.

First the food. I can only imagine the cooks are trying their best with whatever unholy abominations of recipes and ingredients are provided. The only comparable experience to the "pancakes", the restaurant's very namesake, could literally be dehydrating one's own waste into some perverse excuse for fruit leather and somehow manipulating the result to resemble a pancake. This is then served to whatever poor sap was unlucky enough to stumble into this backwater and, for some reason, was willing spend a considerable portion their net worth on Pancake cafe's re-congealed horse vomit they've so disrespectfully called "food".

Next the management. Only once have I had the misfortune to interact with the pre-pubescent peon they've decided to employ as manager, although such a title seems undeserved by someone so blatantly incapable of running a restaurant, let alone brushing his own teeth. I know for certain he does not engage in proper dental hygiene as what pours from his mouth is so pungently disingenuous that I'd sooner use the term "verbal sewage" to describe it rather than "speech". But I digress. Long story short, the individual in question imparted unto me more potent rudeness than I have ever felt in my years on this earth, so much so that I am only left to conclude that...