Carmen's Pancake House — Restaurant in Waukegan

Good breakfast at an affordable price. Sometimes the food can be bland. It's a hit or miss but the prices are good.

Edit: This place has gone downhill. I went there with my mom for breakfast. Twice now, the food has been terrible. The last time we went, my omelette was burnt on the outside and had a strong sour taste. The "ham" was nothing but pieces of cold fat. The cheese tasted off az well. Toast was burnt and swimming in butter. Needless to say, I didn't finish it. My mom got some crepes. The crepes were also dissappointment. Nothing like they used to be. Just a year ago, they were soft and delicious. Not they had a plastic consistency and were burnt, thrown on the plate and served.

For the omellete, the crepes, and two coffees the bill was 39 dollars. What irked me was the suggested tip starting at 18% and going to 22%. I get that servers need to make a living, but at this point I felt ridicouspy overcharged for an unenjoyable meal. Not only are restaurants raising their prices but also their tip suggestions. Whatever happened to 15%. It's not like the service was great. I had to keep raising my hand to get someone to come over.

Also, why are the bathroom doors open? Not the stall, but the door leading to the bathrooms was opened and held in place by a door thing.

Anyways, my mother and I agreed to just head further down to mcdonalds and get more food for...

Not that special. Pretty much the same as most pancake houses just with a weird "Denny's" feel to it. The food was okay and the drinks (hot chocolate and strawberry orange juice) were good. Although the menu said fresh squeezed strawberry orange juice it tasted like it came from a carton. The hit chocolate was much better in comparison, nice thick whipped cream on top. Food was well cooked and was hot. Didnt take too long to come out either. But I gotta say this food definitely was not worth the price in my opinion. The server was doing her job by being polite but she had a bit of an attitude. Like most places I go to she looked mad that she had to do her job in the first place. When taking our order she seemed eager to get the hell away from us. I didnt even tell her I was done ordering and we didnt indicate to it either but she started walking away mid order. Obviously we told her we weren't done and she resumed. The bathrooms were clean but the ladies bathroom is literally a wall away from a table. That's gross. Unsanitary. Unhealthy. But whatever...not like they can move those tables by the bathrooms or anything hm. It also seemed someone left their make up palette in there. They must have been getting ready at work. Anyway..........that's all I have to say about Emily's. I do recommend going here if you dont care how much money you spend...

I ordered breakfast through a food delivery app. We ordered fresh squeezed orange juice, Emily's sunrise, hot tea, half biscuits & gravy, eggs & biscuits, side of sausage links, and a side order of mini waffles.

The juices were refreshing. Emily's sunrise was half oj and half grapefruit juice. It was really good and one of the only ways I can actually drink grapefruit juice. The hot tea came with honey on the side.

The half biscuits & gravy were a nice portion. The gravy was smooth but it could have had a bit more flavor.

The eggs & biscuits was biscuits, gravy, an egg, and choice of either potatoes and fruit. Everything was cooked fine but the gravy & potatoes could have used more flavor. It was still good, but I feel like it could have been better.

The sausage links were bigger than I expected and really tasty. It comes with 2.

The mini waffles were the perfect size to share with someone. I wanted waffles but I can never finish a whole one. It comes with 2. They were more dense than I am used to, but the texture was still nice. Crispy on the outside and moist inside. It came with butter and syrup on the side.

I would order...