Business & Tech

Flipside: Who Flips the Best Flapjack

Patch went on the hunt for the best hotcake in the Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and Palos area in this week's edition of "Chowdown Showdown."

Welcome to “Chowdown Showdown,” a weekly feature where we take one type of food and ask readers to nominate their favorite restaurants in Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and Palos.   We tallied the votes on each respective Patch site and Facebook page.

The selected restaurants recommended by loyal Patch readers all flipped a great flapjack. We sampled each and selected a winner.

Royalberry Waffle House and Restaurant - Palos Heights

Oak Lawn Patch:  A cakey pancake that an army can march on. The regular pancakes were buttery and thick. They filled my stomach right away. I loved the apple and walnut flapjacks, which were piled high with cinnamon sprinkled apple slices and generous amounts of walnuts that added a surprising and delightful texture. 4.5 stars

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Palos Patch: The apple and walnut pancakes packed a great flavor punch. Normally restaurants tend to skimp on the nuts, but there were plenty mixed in the batter. The apples had a nice soft texture and the cinnamon flavor was not at all overpowering. 4.5 Stars

Evergreen Park Patch: This pancake first caught me with the tangy but sweet cinnamon apple slices. I bit into it and was pleasantly surprised at the huge walnut chuncks. The smooth texture of the pancake made everything come together just right. 4.5 stars

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- Evergreen Park

Evergreen Park Patch: There's always room for a classic, and these strawberry pancakes hit the spot. The pancake was the best of the three with a very fluffy and milky texture that went down smoothly. It reminded me of the fluffy flapjacks that I used to make for quarterly midnight breakfasts as a resident advisor at DePaul University years ago. Readers recommended and , but Golden Griddle is unique. Co-owner Gloria Arestis says it's the only pancake house between Western Avenue and Roberts Road. Other restaurants sell breakfast food, but the Griddle is an actual pancake house. 4.5 stars

Palos Patch: I actually think these pancakes might have been my favorite texture of the three. I tend to like my flapjacks light and airy. They were not shy with the strawberry topping either. 4 Stars

Oak Lawn Patch: Golden Griddle's strawberry pancakes really greased my griddle. The strawberries were fresh and sweet. Pancakes were light enough to fly away. I loved how the strawberry soaked into the cake. 4 Stars

- Oak Lawn

Oak Lawn Patch: Readers recommended and as village favorites. Both make pancakes worthy of a song, Oak Lawn’s newest and most popular breakfast spot. including the multigrain berry, red velvet pancakes with a side of honey cream cheese and the crème de le crème—Stacked’s strawberry cheesecake pancake.  First I tried the plain stack, which was pretty good. The strawberry cheesecake pancakes, sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs and buried under a heap of strawberries was the most decadent thing I’ve ever eaten. The cream cheese filling was amazing. 5 stars.

Evergreen Park Patch: Cheesecake. Need I say more? Sampling my favorite dessert combined with my favorite breakfast food was simply amazing. The pancakes were fluffy, but the strawberry cheesecake pancakes sprinkled with sweet graham cracker crumbs were truly delectable. 5 stars.

Palos Patch: Stacked seems to pride itself on creative pancakes and they sure didn't disappoint. The strawberry cheesecake pancakes were everything you would imagine them to be. The thing that really stuck out was how balanced everything was. No sloppy oozing cream cheese or overly piled strawberries here. Just a neat stack of breakfast goodness. 5 Stars  

And the winner is … Stacked in Oak Lawn. After eating so many pancakes we had to change into our fat jeans. All of the pancakes in this showdown were excellent, but Stacked took something as simple as a pancake and turned it into a gourmet experience.

READ past "Chowdown Showdown" columns:


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