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| - "We be flipping styles like pancake batter"
- Beastie Boys "Say It"
I've lived in Madison for eight years and never gave this institution a shot. Why not follow with this...
"You Can't, You Won't And You Don't Stop
Ad Rock Come And Rock The Sure Shot"
Beastie Boys "Sure Shot"
Enough with song lyrics... it's time to wax on/off about the joint.
The place was packed yesterday an hour before close. For a table of two, we needed to wait a good 10 minutes. The decor is somewhere between family style and diner. There were also plenty of interesting matted and framed photos for sale in the lobby.
After checking out the menu, we settled on omelettes with three buttermilk pancakes. We love omelettes. My partner went for a sausage omelette with cheddar and I grabbed the Western (green/red peppers, onion, ham & cheddar). After about 15 minutes our orders came.
I was a little freaked out about the omelette monstrosity that belonged at a freak show (check out the picture). Look at that thing?!?!? It does not look appetizing at all.
I went for it 1st. It was not greasy and it exploded with steam (likely nuked). The effing thing was dangerous. Worse yet, it was not very tasty. The cheddar formed oddly. I still have no clue how (combo insanely hot oil frying and microwaving?) or why they cooked an omelette in this fashion. It was basically a derpy & ginormous Hot Pocket made with an egg shell. Totally senseless.
Why three stars? The pancakes were amazing. Between the delicious warm maple syrup, the intense white butter and the perfectly textured and flavor pancakes, the confusing and mediocre pancakes were almost forgotten. These were the best buttermilk pancakes I have ever had.
To go, I grabbed there corned beef hash (with pancakes). Although the hash tasted pretty good, it's no Mickies Dairy Bar -- the potatoes were undercooked and bits were raw-ish, the recipe was unspectacular and the corned beef was minced so small there was none of its unique texture.
The service was solid. Our waitress checked up on us plenty and was very friendly.
On days that I have some patience, I would return ONLY for their pancakes. In all likelihood, I'll just continue going to IHOP since the prices are about the same, omelettes are a major upgrade and pancakes are only a minor downgrade.
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