The Original Pancake House's Traditions of Good Service and Good Food

“I knew this was going to be a great dining experience from the moment I entered the restaurant. A friendly hostess greeted me with a big, beautiful, welcoming smile. Happy employees are what turn a good dining experience into a great one,” said Fred Suber, a customer at The Original Pancake House. 

Ken Whitby, the general manager of The Pancake House in Grosse Pointe for seven, going on eight years, said that the company “treats everybody right, treats everybody fairly,” regarding the employees, staff, and customers.

Customers generally agree. Krysenda Slayton wrote in an online review, “Excellent as always. The food was delicious, and the service was great.” 

Anthony Abraham, a junior at Liggett, said, “I like how the food is always very good and the service is pretty nice there.” This review shows that their staff and food are just like their ongoing tradition of quality staff. 

April Felton, a server at The Pancake House who has been there for 33 years, said, “It seemed warm and homey, you know, and it had a good atmosphere when I came to see,” before she started working there. 

Now that she has been there for a while, she said, “I would say a very consistent company as far as the customers, as far as the way it's run. It's not a whole lot of change, because I know the original owners. He's not big on a whole lot of change, you know, which a lot of other places do that.” 

She said it can be good not to change that much because it keeps people coming back: “They see the same faces, they see the same decor. So that's one of the things that they make people feel comfortable to keep coming back.” 

Felton also said that not a lot of change can hurt a company because you always want to evolve with the times. That goes for the options on the menu and even what the workers used to wear. Felton said, “When I first started here, there wasn't a server allowed to have a tattoo. As a hostess, I could only wear a dress, couldn't wear pants.” She said, “They had to change just to keep employees coming through the door.” 

The Pancake House also contributes to multiple donations around the city throughout the year. Whitby said, “Companies reach out to us, and we give out gift cards or just donations just around the city.”  

Felton says, “The owner loves animals. So that's always been his thing. We always had the Humane Society collection for the little dog that sat there forever. I know he does gift baskets for different occasions. If you need for charity to raffle off, they'll do that for sure.”