Little House of Pancakes

We arrived for brunch at Little House of Pancakes at around 10:20 a.m. on Saturday to find quite a crowd waiting to be seated, spilling out into the parking lot. After managing to park without flattening any potential restaurant-goers, we made our way inside, where we were given a playing card featuring characters from the anime Black Butler to serve as their manner of calling parties to be seated.

As I had come intending to have breakfast, this review was unplanned. But as I waited in the crowded space for the six of spades to be called, my eyes happened to land on a Reuben on the menu, and duty called.

After a wait of about 20 minutes, we were finally seated. The interior of the restaurant featured memorabilia of past decades adorning the walls, but there didn't seem to be any consistent theming. We were seated at a wooden booth next to the window, which had a shade specific to our table. We left it closed, but, presumably, diners could choose to open their own shades if they wished.

We waited for quite a while to order, unable to do so until 10:52, twelve minutes after being seated. While the restaurant was quite busy, I was surprised to have such a wait to order. I ordered the Reuben with water and an additional side order of one egg, over easy.

The restaurant was quite noisy due to the crowd while we waited, and likely to be that way often due to the tourist-heavy nature of the area. I also noted that the booth I was sitting on was loose, and would tilt heavily one direction or the other when the gentleman at the table behind me would stand up and sit down.

During our wait for our food, our waitress returned to the table and explained that we had been confused for part of another party of nine, the reason for our delayed order. While inconvenient, I had simply attributed the wait to the restaurant's large number of customers, and was surprised but pleased to be told our meal's cost would be covered. I have reviewed the Reuben with regard to its menu price, of course. This confusion with the other party may have also been the reason we were given one - almost two, until I corrected the mistake - drinks we had not ordered. Again, the restaurant was quite busy, and clearly some miscommunication had occurred.

Regardless of these factors, our food arrived 26 minutes after ordering. I'm never certain what to expect from a Reuben ordered from a breakfast-oriented establishment, but it looked rather normal aside from the bread choice, choosing a broader, lighter bread over the traditional rye. I noted that the sandwich was quite short. The width made up for this somewhat, but it still felt overall like a "smaller" Reuben.

The sauerkraut and Thousand Island were somewhat mixed together, though I couldn't tell for certain if this was by intent or by nature of being the top two ingredients. The sandwich was light on the corned beef side, having only three or four thin layers of meat. It tasted average, with perhaps a little more greasiness than I would have preferred, but nothing off-putting. It was hard to find, but there was one small slice of Swiss cheese on the bottom. If there was one thing I would have changed about the Reuben's composition, it would have been to add more cheese, as it was quite unnoticeable.

The flavor of the sandwich overall was good, with the different bread and lighter amount of corned beef giving it a less dense feel. While not normally what I would look for if I wanted a true Reuben, it presented itself favorably as an early morning alternative. And if that's what you're after, the Reuben at the Little House of Pancakes is definitely worth the consideration - though I would suggest an additional side item or two to make it a real meal.