PJ's Pancake House - West Windsor — Restaurant in West Windsor

I really wanted to like this place. My husband had been to another location this company has and spoke great things of it. To give you some background on our review. My husband and I both have/had over 20+ years of restaurant experience combined (this includes management experience).

We arrived to this location around 10am. We waited 30 minutes which was standard for a Sunday morning. We were completely ok with waiting. We sit at a table and look around to see two servers making several trips in and out of the restaurant doors (we were sitting on the patio) for the next 20 minutes. No one came out to greet us, ask us for a drink order, or ask us to wait a moment which they got themselves organized, all things we would’ve been more than happy to take. My husband finally went inside to ask the hostess if our server knew we were seated. She apologized (not her fault at all). About 5 minutes later a young guy came out, did not introduce himself, or offer a sincere apology. His “introduction” included him asking “it’s crazy busy, did you want to put in food?”. Of course, we’d been sitting there so long we gave him our complete order. At one point he came over to ask if we wanted more coffee, my husband said no, but before I could answer the server (who still hadn’t told us his name) cuts me off and says “ok great”, and walks away. When the food finally came it did not come all at once, even though it took 50 minutes for the food to come out. We had to wait for it to be brought out in pieces. The server was incredibly, short with us, rude, and very insincere in his attitude towards us. Finally, while we sat there the entire patio area cleared out and he still didn’t bother to check on us. Then, they began to resit the patio and our server got seated with another table. We’re close enough to over him, and his COMPLETE 180 degree attitude change. He was beyond polite, amicable, and nice enough to actually introduce himself to them, where I was able to overhear his name, Mike. I also overheard that this isn’t is usual location to work. Mike came to drop off the check and ran our card with lightning speed. He never bothered to ask if we needed a box, which we had to go inside and ask for ourselves. We are incredibly understanding people, all he had to say was “I’m sorry”, “just a moment”, “I apologize for how long everything is taking”. None of these were said.

We also overheard that there was no manager in the building... not sure what kind of a joke of an establishment can’t make sure they have a responsible manager show up to work for breakfast shift on a Sunday.

Needless to say, we will never return and we will gladly discourage anyone and everyone we know from...

The ONLY reason I'm giving 3 stars is because the food was decent (aside from the plain pancakes which was lacking in flavor and consistency). When entering, we were surprised to hear they weren't taking names when so many people were trying to be seated. We were told to just wait ouside by the line (no line, people were confused and scattered) that it would only be 10-15 minutes... I didn't know that the host Jose was completely incompetent by this time. After 20 minutes of noticing so many people in/out- I asked again about the wait time to be rushed and told "one second, one second". He later comes out asking if we're ok with a table of 4.... when we were a party of 5!? Ugh... no. Then mentions he has 2 booths apart from another... again... head scratcher there... we came together with the intention of EATING TOGETHER! At this point, 30 minutes in and after his ridiculous suggestions- we ask if he's at all organizing a table for us... considering all of the people he let in... we are thinking he has a plan of some sort to get a table together for us... he answers no!! That he suggested the separate booths or table of 4 but we turned it down... well duh!!!! He later suggested a table outside but with bugs everywhere we wanted indoor. It wasn't until we lost all patience... again watching more people being let inside, that my partner argued about his lack of competence as a host and how upsetting it was that he was doing absolutely NOTHING to find a suitable table for us.... 30+ minutes waiting and his response was again about his stupid suggestions that made no sense!!! To avoid waiting any longer we just unfortunately sat at the different booths- not being able to celebrate together! Extremely upsetting- no apology- nothing! He's LUCKY our waiter and omelets were good - because then we really would have been pissed!!! Please put someone with intelligence and strategy to seat the guests--- José was a complete lost cause - make him serve tables or something... he can't possibly mess that up (I hope). Won't be coming...

The menu options was impressive and really excited us to our core. The prices per plate ran from $18+!!!

The “Indian Ramen Skillet” sounded amazing in theory — I imagined a dry, seasoned, baked ramen dish with some crispy edges and spice. What I got was the complete opposite: a cold skillet pan used as a plate, filled with bland, soupy cup-o-noodles topped with raw peppers, onions, and an overdone fried egg… that’s it… not even a spoon. For $21, you’re better off buying a skillet, a 20-pack of ramen, and some veggies from the grocery store a couple shops down — or better yet, go next door for an actual bowl of authentic ramen at half the price.

The “Pancake Sampler” was the only highlight. Those were delicious — stick to pancakes if you go… for $20!!!

The “Avocado Toast with Bacon and Egg” was another letdown: the egg was overcooked, the chopped bacon was flavorless (not sure how that’s even possible), and the rye bread was fine, but not worth the calories or price.

Prices overall are outrageous — $71 for three meals, two cups of joe… the meals weren’t even worth asking for a to-go container.

Service: the host and servers were polite, but with the restaurant only half full, they still ran out of coffee (we had to flag down the staff for refills) and we waited for the rebrew. The server apologized for the delay on both and said “the kitchen was backed up.”

Bottom line: I won’t be back unless it’s just for pancakes — and even then, $20 for a plate feels like a stretch. Again, very disappointed with almost everything besides...