The Original Pancake House — Restaurant in Westerville

TL;DR, Customer Service Nightmare interaction with the Manager on duty. Excruciating details below. I will no longer be giving this location any business and recommend others do the same.

This was originally a 5 star review from last year. After going through several recent reviews that were posted to Google, I can see that the location is suffering from some severe customer service/quality issues. That being said, below is my experience:

This was a normal visit, relatively rushed atmosphere, but we have been here quite a few times and are used to the speed of the interactions. Our food came out, my wife's eggs were not cooked correctly - but she didn't want me to say anything. I ate my omelette which was a little overdone but overall very good - and then started on my pancakes. I noticed the texture was off and finally noticed egg shells in the pancake itself. So stopped eating and waited for our server. She was super kind, and offered to speak to her manager and boy... when he came over is when things got interesting.

The interaction started awkwardly without him introducing himself and stuttering through his apology before quickly moving onto "What can I do to make this right?" I wasn't upset at this point, so I just whatever makes sense to you. The response was a gift card, I told him I wasn't interested and just to comp something. THEN he explained to me why that wasn't possible. "Well sir, you see the pancakes are attached to the omelette, and I can't comp that because well, you ate it." I was so stunned, I turned to him and asked why he asked for my opinion if something as simple as a comp for my meal wasn't possible. I tried explaining to him that customer service interactions shouldn't be negotiations and he laughed at me. He doubled down on not comping anything, so I said simply - thanks I'll post this interaction online I'm sorry to have bothered. At this point he tried to come back and offer more gift cards (the only amount I remember was 10$).

Bottom line, he resolved this by walking away and thanking me loudly from another table. My daughter (who typically is embarrassed of me constantly) complimented my demeanor and told me I was overly nice. So here we are, with the worst customer service interaction I have had in recent memory.

It may be worth noting, that I am completely aware that I am overreacting. But when you charge these prices for omelettes and pancakes and they come out with defects, I think it is reasonable for guests to expect to be made whole. And this manager (or maybe even Pancake House itself) needs to understand the value of customer service. If I was treated like this, with how calmly and politely I navigated the interaction, I can only imagine how some guests...

I had an issue with my order today that was the last straw. I’ve been a big fan of The Original Pancake House since my first visit to one in Upper Arlington, so it was awesome to get one nearby in Westerville. However, after today, I will no longer patronize this location.

I’ve had issues in the past with ordering carryout or delivery with this location, so this is not necessarily a new development. There were times when they wouldn’t answer the phone or take orders due to how busy their dine-in business was, and I was always understanding of that. Today, though, was different.

I called after receiving an incomplete order that was missing an item. Rather than work with me on correcting that (by minimally getting it remade; I would have paid for it regardless), I was instead met by someone who gave me an attitude about it. They claimed that they always ensure that all the food is together and that nothing is missing, that any refund would have to be done through the app, and that I’d have to place another order if I wanted that item. They also suggested the item may have been taken out of the bag by the driver, despite being tied in a double knot (not impossible to undo on a plastic bag, but not easy, either). I was a bit shocked with how defensive they were when I had politely asked about the missing food and about replacing it. The problem with reordering was that it was too late (this was now 20 minutes before closing, which is the cutoff for ordering on any delivery app). I had contemplated running in to get it in person, but the call went so poorly that I decided against it. I requested a refund for the missing item and placed an order elsewhere.

As a result, I don’t want to continue supporting a location that’s going to be so negative to its customers. I usually extend grace to most places most of the time because I understand that they have staffing shortages and mistakes are bound to happen. Today would have been no different and figured some mistake happened. But to treat a customer that way? I worked in retail for a decade of my life, and I would have been fired from every place I worked if it had talked to people like that.

It’s unfortunate because I really like the food at The Original Pancake House. I’ll still attempt to go to other locations, but I’ve grown leery of them. This Westerville location, though, will not see my business again until they make some...

Location and interior decor is very nice. Warm, inviting, reasonably clean, and an overall nice place to be. Staff is pleasant and works hard.

Food is good as well. Oddly enough, the pancakes are the least-quality of everything. They are very simple with no presentation to speak of. The omelets are pretty special though, and other accompaniments (like the bacon) are very good. And, although the pancakes are bad, they are not as good as most other "pancake" places.

During my visit, there was a 15 minute wait (even though half the seating was not being used...assuming a staffing issue here). After being seated, it was 10 minutes before meeting a waitress and having any type of order-process started. Already knowing what we wanted, we placed the order right away. It took over 30 minutes to get food. The waitress stopped every 10 minutes, telling us it would be any time now. At the 30 minute mark, that comment had become laughable. After finally getting the food, the pancake order was incorrect...which we had to wait another 10 minutes before being "checked-on" to get this error corrected. what was quickly returned was simply the original pancake order (now cool) that was modified to be what was ordered to begin with. Not the best process, I'd say. Secondly, I ordered a limeade (as recommended by the server). It was indeed good. Like most places, the glass was totally filled with ice and very little drink. But...you get more, right? After being refilled once, I requested another refill. I was told that you have to pay for the drink again. This is what got me. After waiting 30 minutes for food (that wasn't right), and bringing back cold food, you're now going to tell me that I have to pay AGAIN for my drink (which is 90% ice)? I probably wouldn't be drinking so much if I wasn't sitting here so long.

All-in-all, the place COULD be good, and probably is from time-to-time. My visit was not good, and it was enough that I wouldn't return. BUT...other will have better luck, and I'd say to at least give it a shot...