Pancakes might just be one of the oldest foods on the planet, dating back thousands of years. These days, you can grab a stack at pretty much any breakfast spot without much effort. But here’s the thing – not all pancakes are created equal. Some chains serve up fluffy, golden-brown stacks that make your morning, while others deliver disappointments that belong in the trash. If you’re heading out for breakfast and want to make sure your pancakes don’t ruin your day, you need to know which places to avoid and which ones deserve your money.
Black Bear Diner serves crumbly pancakes that customers avoid
Black Bear Diner opened back in 1995 with a rustic theme and comfort food menu, but their pancakes have become infamous for all the wrong reasons. The restaurant offers sweet cream pancakes in various styles, including a red, white, and blue version topped with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. Despite the patriotic presentation, customers have nothing good to say about these flapjacks. Multiple diners on online forums complained that the pancakes tasted stale and crumbly, with some saying they arrived cold or dry at their table.
What makes this even worse is that one customer claimed they chipped a tooth while eating the pancakes, possibly on a piece of glass or some other hard object. That’s not just bad pancakes – that’s potentially dangerous food. For a restaurant that tries to sell itself on comfort food and nostalgic atmosphere, serving pancakes that customers describe as poorly cooked and crumbly is a major problem. When people take the time to warn others online about how bad the pancakes are, that should tell you everything you need to know about skipping this spot for breakfast.
Huddle House pancakes come out too thick and burnt
This Georgia-based chain has been around since 1964, serving classic breakfast items, including buttermilk and strawberry, and cream pancakes. Unfortunately, Huddle House pancakes have developed a reputation for being underwhelming at best and terrible at worst. One customer posted a picture online showing pancakes with a sad whipped cream face, and commenters agreed that going to Huddle House was the person’s first mistake. Reviews consistently mention that the pancakes lack any real taste and come out way too thick, making them hard to eat and enjoy.
Even more concerning are the reports of burnt pancakes showing up at tables. One customer in Texas posted a photo of their order with pancakes that had charred, blackened edges all around. When you’re paying restaurant prices for breakfast, getting burnt food is completely unacceptable. The thickness issue, combined with the lack of proper cooking technique, means these pancakes end up being dense, heavy, and flavorless. There are too many better options out there to waste your time and money on pancakes that consistently disappoint customers across multiple locations.
IHOP pancakes need too much syrup for taste
You’d think a place called International House of Pancakes would nail their main menu item, right? With over 1,600 locations worldwide and a history going back to the late 1950s, IHOP should be the pancake expert. They offer around 10 different pancake options, including seasonal varieties like pumpkin spice. But customer experiences tell a different story. While some people enjoy their IHOP pancakes, many others leave feeling disappointed. A food writer who tried all the pancake tacos found most of them remarkably boring, with only the strawberry cheesecake version offering anything interesting.
One reviewer noted that the pancakes require excessive amounts of syrup just to taste like anything. When pancakes need to be drowned in syrup to be edible, that’s a sign the base recipe isn’t working. Photos posted online show some pretty unappetizing-looking stacks, especially the cinnamon variety. For a chain that literally has “pancakes” in its name, delivering mediocre flapjacks that only taste acceptable with tons of syrup seems like a major failure. You’re better off finding a local spot where the pancakes actually have some built-in taste.
Denny’s reheats pancakes that taste a week old
Denny’s operates nearly 1,300 locations as a 24-hour breakfast spot, offering various pancake options like cinnamon roll, nine-grain, and chocolate banana varieties. While some customers find the pancakes acceptable, enough negative reviews exist to raise serious concerns. One reviewer described their pancakes as tasting like they were made a week earlier and just reheated before serving. That’s not what anyone wants to hear about food they’re paying for, especially at a sit-down restaurant where you expect fresh cooking.
Multiple customers have reported receiving undercooked pancakes or ones that were burnt to a crisp. One review noted that while the texture was okay, the sweetness level was off. The inconsistency across locations seems to be a major issue – you never quite know what you’re going to get. When one reviewer ranked Denny’s pancakes against other chains, they landed right in the middle, which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for a place that serves breakfast all day. With so many breakfast chains competing for your business, middle-of-the-road pancakes that might taste reheated just don’t cut it.
Another Broken Egg serves frozen and reheated pancakes
This southern-style breakfast chain offers three pancake varieties: Bourbon Street, buttermilk, and lemon blueberry goat cheese. The menu sounds fancy, and the prices reflect that upscale positioning. However, customers have complained that the quality doesn’t match what they’re paying for. One diner who ordered the Bourbon Street pancakes said everything tasted frozen and then reheated, which is pretty disappointing when you’re spending more money than you would at a regular breakfast chain.
Other customers mentioned problems with excessive nutmeg flavoring that overpowers everything else. One review specifically called out the pancakes for being too dense and dry, noting that light and fluffy pancakes are what people actually want. When you’re charging premium prices, customers expect premium quality. Serving what tastes like frozen pancakes that were microwaved doesn’t justify the higher menu prices. If you’re going to spend extra money on breakfast, you should at least get food that tastes freshly made, not something that could have come from the freezer aisle.
McDonald’s hotcakes taste like microwaved rubber
McDonald’s breakfast menu includes hotcakes alongside their famous McMuffin and McGriddle sandwiches. These pancakes get extremely mixed reactions from customers. While one person claimed they were the best pancakes ever in terms of quality and fluffiness, commenters quickly jumped in to mock that opinion. Multiple people pointed out that McDonald’s hotcakes are literally microwaved, which explains the rubbery texture that so many customers complain about. When you’re heating pancakes in a microwave instead of cooking them fresh, you can’t expect great results.
A reviewer who compared McDonald’s breakfast items noted the egg McMuffin’s perfectly circular egg shape and appreciated the speed of service, but the hotcakes received less enthusiasm. The texture issue keeps coming up in reviews – pancakes shouldn’t feel like rubber when you bite into them. Sure, McDonald’s offers convenience and low prices, but when it comes to pancakes specifically, you’re better off going somewhere that actually cooks them on a griddle. Fast food has its place, but some items just don’t translate well to the quick-service model.
Bob Evans’ pancakes turn out doughy and bland
Bob Evans started in Ohio and now operates almost 500 locations serving comfort food, including four different hotcake varieties. While some customers enjoy the pancakes enough to search for copycat recipes online, others have been very disappointed. One person who used to love Bob Evans pancakes said they haven’t liked them in quite a while, describing them as doughy, heavy, and completely bland. That’s a pretty harsh review from someone who was once a fan, suggesting the quality has gone downhill over time.
Multiple diners have complained that their pancakes arrived lukewarm, not hot and fresh. Another customer said the pancakes tasted like they came straight from a box mix with too much water added. When a family went to Bob Evans and tried various menu items, the pancakes were noted as exceptionally large but only described as something they might return for – not exactly glowing praise. For a restaurant chain that focuses on breakfast and comfort food, having inconsistent pancake quality is a significant problem. If the pancakes are showing up cold, doughy, or bland, that points to either preparation issues or recipe problems that need fixing.
Snooze pancakes arrive cold and flavorless
Snooze A.M. Eatery markets itself as a fresh, sustainable breakfast spot with creative pancake options, including a pancake flight where you can try multiple varieties. Despite the trendy positioning and variety of choices, customer experiences have been hit or miss. Some people complain that the chain has become too expensive for what you get, and that the quality has dropped as they’ve expanded. Several customers mentioned receiving pancakes that arrived at the table cold, which ruins the whole experience, no matter how good the recipe might be.
One particularly harsh review described the pancakes as thick, dry, flavorless, and not even warm enough to melt the butter that came on top. That’s pretty much everything you don’t want in a pancake. While Snooze offers creative options like pineapple upside-down and sweet potato varieties, creativity doesn’t matter if the execution falls short. Some customers also raised concerns about cross-contamination with gluten-free options, with one person claiming they got sick after ordering a gluten-free pancake. When you’re paying premium prices at a trendy breakfast spot, getting cold, dry pancakes feels like a total ripoff.
Perkins makes pancakes days ahead of time
Perkins started as a pancake house back in 1958 and now serves various American breakfast classics. The restaurant offers blueberry buttermilk, regular buttermilk, and potato pancake options. Customer opinions vary widely, with some people loving the pancakes while others have serious complaints. What’s particularly interesting is that people who claimed to be former employees gave conflicting information about how the pancakes are made. One said they’re made fresh by hand every morning, while another insisted they come from a bagged mix and are often prepared several days in advance.
If that second employee is telling the truth, that would explain why some customers have had bad experiences. One reviewer specifically complained that the blueberries in their pancakes tasted bitter and looked old. Making pancakes days ahead of time and then reheating them would definitely result in a worse product than fresh pancakes cooked to order. While many customers on review sites praised Perkins’ pancakes, enough negative reviews exist to suggest inconsistency between locations or shifts. For a restaurant that started as a pancake house, having questionable pancake preparation methods seems like a betrayal of their original concept.
Finding good pancakes at breakfast chains shouldn’t be this complicated, but clearly, some restaurants do a much better job than others. The worst offenders serve pancakes that are crumbly, burnt, rubbery, cold, or taste reheated from frozen. When you’re spending money to eat out instead of making breakfast at home, you deserve pancakes that are actually good – fluffy, warm, and tasty without needing half a bottle of syrup. Next time you’re deciding where to go for breakfast, skip the chains with consistent complaints and find a spot where the pancakes actually deliver on their promise.
