Skip to main contentNot to be confused with the smarmy-awesome Original Hotcake House, this Southwest Portland breakfast institution (the original location of the nationwide chain) stuffs locals with the same giant, airy Dutch babies ($10.50), tall stacks of pancakes ($8.75) and thick sausages that it did back in the 1950s and '60s. The waitresses still wear those oddly kinky, starched pink skirt-and-apron combos, and you can mark off the decades by the march of commemorative china plates displayed along the wood-paneled walls. Sure, the wait for a table is endless and some of the prices are iffy ($4.25 for a lone egg—even a creamy, perfectly scrambled one—is ridiculous), but one bite of the Original's platter-sized apple pancake ($11.25), topped with sautéed Granny Smiths and a thick bubbly crust of cinnamon-sugar like some monstrously happy hybrid of elephant ear and fruit pie, and all gripes are forgotten.
WWeek 2015