The Original Pancake House is a chain of specialty breakfast restaurants with a focus on pancakes, naturally. I went to the one in Aliso Viejo with two friends on Sunday Morning. There are other location in Orange County in Yorba Linda and Anaheim.
There is always a line and a wait. We waited about 25 minutes outside until they called our name. Once inside and seated, the decor is very plain, simply a breakfast/coffee house with no real decoration. But we're not here to stare at the walls, we're here for the breakfast.
We were served our coffee and juice quickly. My friends ordered the strawberry pancakes with a side of bacon, and the eggs benedict. I ordered the eggs and links. As we waited and chatted, we saw The Original Pancake House specialties come out of the kitchen, the Dutch Baby and the Apple Pancake. The Dutch Baby appears to be a sweet souffle that deflates when you put a fork into it. The Apple Pancake looks like a huge apple fritter donut.
Our orders finally came out. The strawberry pancakes were a collection of 8 smaller pancakes, arranged in a circular overlapping pattern with plenty of strawberries and whipped cream on top. My friend said they were totally delicious. The eggs benedict came out with four potato pancakes, and were pretty good. My friend said the only thing she would have liked were gooier egg yolks, but that's her personal preference. My eggs and sausage came out over easy and I gobbled them up rather quickly.
Our bill came out to about $41 for two coffees, one large orange juice, eggs benedict, side of bacon, strawberry pancakes, eggs and links, including tax and tip. The food is pricier than at most other breakfast restaurants, but it's worth the difference.