Syrup, butter, and fruit: 15 of the best pancake spots in NJ

🍽 Pancakes are a staple breakfast item in New Jersey

🍽 They are light, fluffy, and served with a variety of fillings and toppings

🍽 These are 15 of the best pancake spots in NJ

Pancakes are a classic breakfast dish that go by different names like hot cakes, griddle cakes, and flapjacks.

Some like it with fresh fruit on top, powdered sugar, butter, a drizzle of Nutella, drowned in syrup, dolloped with whipped cream, or plain. Others like it filled with blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, and other cool creations.

For some, a pancake breakfast is a Sunday morning tradition at home with the family. For others, it’s ordering them every time they go to a restaurant.

If you don’t like to make pancakes at home, or if they just don’t come out as fluffy and light as you’d hoped, don’t fret.

These are 15 places to get the most delicious pancakes in New Jersey

Brownstone Pancake Factory

860 River Road, Edgewater
717 E. Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs
979 Cedar Bridge Avenue, Brick
3445 Route 9, Freehold

With four locations in New Jersey, there is a Brownstone Pancake Factory near you.
Owners Pete and Irene bought a tiny subway car diner in downtown Jersey City years ago. Being born in Greece, they didn’t even know what a pancake was, but they had an idea to come up with unique pancake variations. Enjoy them all.

Pancakes are served all day. The old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes are made with the same family recipe that’s been used for over 50 years.

There are about 30 different flavors of pancakes to sample. Some interesting ones include the Show Stopper (chocolate chip and peanut butter pancakes topped with bananas, whipped cream, and drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauces), and Honky Tonk (buttermilk pancakes baked with peanut butter chips and topped with fresh slices of fresh bananas, drizzled with peanut butter sauce.).

There is also Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pancakes (chocolate chip pancakes topped with fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream) and Pistachio Pancakes (pistachio buttermilk batter pancakes topped with Sicilian pistachio syrup and crushed pistachios), to name a few.

Sandy’s Cozy Corner

414 NJ-70, Lakehurst

Longtime waitress, Sandy Dreyer is the brains behind Sandy’s Cozy Corner, nestled in the close-knit community of Lakehurst since 1999.

The menu offers seven varieties of pancakes, including golden brown, short stack, sweet potato, silver dollar, Nutella, and chunky monkey.

The Stack

205 River Rd, North Arlington

The Stack in North Arlington has a ton of griddle specialties on the menu including 20 pancake dishes.

Their legendary blueberry pancakes are served blueberries throughout their own special buttermilk batter topped with a blueberry glaze and whipped cream.

Also choose from strawberry, apple, peach, pecan, and cherry-flavored pancakes. The Pancake Adventure features 10 mini-sized pancakes stuffed with blueberry, cherry, apple, and strawberry compote, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Gilchrist

804 N Rhode Island Ave, Atlantic City
734 W White Horse Pike, Egg Harbor City
3050 Pacific Ave, Atlantic City
9400 Atlantic Ave, Margate City

Gilchrist is a great place to grab some tasty pancakes. Choose from three hot buttermilk or blueberry pancakes or a short stack of regular or blueberry.

The Mug Rack

70 W Veterans Hwy, Jackson

Many New Jersey residents rave about the pancakes at The Mug Rack. Choose one, two, or three pancakes in buttermilk, blueberry, or chocolate chip. Want smaller-sized pancakes? The silver dollar pancake platter comes with either three, six, or nine pancakes.

John and Elaine’s Restaurant

At John and Elaines, choose from caramel-apple cinnamon pancakes made fresh on the premises, seasonal pumpkin pancakes with brown sugar and pecans, blueberry pancakes, two pancakes and two French toast platters with a choice of bacon, sausage, ham, or pork roll, or the ultimate pancake platter.

Connie’s Restaurant

63 Main St, Farmingdale

If you���re looking for the best blueberry pancakes, residents swear by Connie’s, a little family-owned American diner with a cozy atmosphere serving up homestyle breakfast dishes for the past almost 53 years.

Connie’s blueberry pancakes are the most popular item on the menu. But you can also choose strawberry, banana, chocolate chip, pecan, apple-cinnamon, banana-pecan or strawberry-chocolate.

Fruits, nuts, and chocolate are cooked in the cakes at Connie’s.

Lucille’s Country Cooking

1496 Main St, Barnegat

If you grew up in the Pines of South Jersey, you may have heard about a local gal named Lucille Bates.

In 1975, she and her husband, Jim, opened Lucille’s Luncheonette in Warren Grove. The little roadside café on Route 539 quickly became the place to stop on the way to the Shore for visitors to LBI. It’s still a great place to get home-cooked breakfast, too, especially pancakes.

Choose from one, two, or three pancakes. Choose from strawberry, blueberry, banana, raisin, cranberry, walnut, or chocolate chip. Add fresh fruit for a hearty breakfast.

PJ’s Pancake House – Princeton

154 Nassau St, Princeton

This busy spot in the heart of Princeton is known for its signature pancakes. In fact, PJ’s has been serving up pancakes and other home-style food since 1962. With a rich family-owned heritage, PJ’s Pancake House is one of the oldest pancake establishments in the country.

Their signature pancakes come in buttermilk, nutty multi-grain, silver dollars, pecan, chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, Oreo, chai/pistachio/whipped cream, mixed berry, blueberry, banana coconut rum, banana, caramel apple cinnamon, strawberry, cinnamon swirl, Nutella/banana/strawberry, banana pecan, banana caramel foster, Smores, and tiramisu.

Toast

45 Monmouth St, Red Bank

There are four other locations in Manalapan, Asbury Park, Montclair, and Cranford too.
When Toast first opened its doors in Montclair in 2007, the mantra was simple, “Peace, Love and Pancakes.” While Toast has expanded to other locations, the restaurant’s foundation remains the same.

Choose from buttermilk pancakes, red velvet (served with homemade sweet cream cheese), lemon poppyseed (served with fresh blueberries), Will’s gluten-free cakes, or carrot cake pancakes (shredded carrots, coconut, raisins, honey, and brown sugar folded into a spiced pancake batter).

Have you ever heard of a restaurant that offers a pancake flight? It exists at Toast. The signature pancake flight features one each of red velvet, lemon poppyseed, and carrot cake.

Gronsky’s Milk House

125 W Main St, High Bridge

Gronsky’s is a family-owned business in Hunterdon County, founded in 1978 by Jackie and Steve Gronsky. Originally a small convenience and ice cream store, Gronsky’s added a restaurant in 1988 to serve breakfast and lunch.

The pancakes served at Gronsky’s are huge, housemade and fluffy, so bring your appetite.

Try Gronsky’s Signature Pancake of the Month. For January, the signature pancake is Chai pancakes with honey butter. Check the menu each month as the pancake flavor will change.

The BaconCake is crispy bacon cooked inside a pancake. The Loaded BaconCake is topped with cheese and eggs, any style.

The Original Pancake House

61 US-1, Metuchen

Another great pancake spot in New Jersey is Original Pancake House.
A proud recipient of the James Beard Classics Award, Original Pancake House has been crafting pancakes since 1953. They are paired with house-made syrups and whipped butter.

Choose from classic, oven baked and flapjack pancakes. The baked blueberry pancakes are a fan favorite, baked in and served with real blueberry syrup. The toasted coconut cream pancakes are baked in and topped with freshly toasted coconut, and topped with whipped cream. Also, try the banana-infused pancakes. They are baked in and topped with banana-infused syrup.

Add toppings to your pancakes like mini chocolate chips, Hershey syrup, bacon bits, Nutella, roasted pecans, sliced almonds, maple syrup, and more.

Rutherford Pancake House

40 Park Ave, Rutherford

It’s all about a healthy lifestyle at Rutherford Pancake House. The menu is designed with today’s health conscious consumers in mind. That means only the freshest ingredients are used to make the meals. The pancakes, for example, are accompanied by fresh fruit.

Choose from buttermilk pancakes, vegan pancakes, or gluten-free pancakes. You can even make your own pancakes with toppings such as chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas, coconut flakes, pecans, fresh strawberries, or fresh blueberries.

The Nutella pancakes have fresh strawberries, bananas, and chocolate hazelnut. The Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes have fresh strawberries, whipped cream, raspberry and chocolate drizzle.

The Choco Coco Pancakes feature chocolate chips, sweetened coconut flakes, chocolate drizzle, and whipped cream. The Berry Merry Pancakes have fresh strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.

Rutherford Pancake House has gone green, too. All take-out containers, bags, coffee cup lids, and utensils that are used, are biodegradable and compostable.

Granny’s Pancake House and Grill

181 NJ-23, Hamburg

Granny’s has been serving up pancakes for decades. Try their multi-grain blueberry walnut pancakes, multi-grain or whole-wheat pancakes, buttermilk, blueberry, strawberry, banana, banana nut, raisin walnut, chocolate chip, or banana chocolate chip pancakes.

Le Pancake Café

140 E Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood

All pancakes are served with complimentary corn bread and butter.

Choose from Pancake Around the Clock platter (four medium-sized, moist buttermilk pancakes), Banana Euphoria, Do It Again (a combination of blueberries and bananas), Hawaiian Delight (tropically delicious coconut pancakes), Yankee Peddler (pancakes oozing with blueberries), Nut Pancakes (whole grain with nuts, pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts).

There’s also a Peanut Butter pancake platter, Strawberry Consciousness (luscious, fresh strawberries mixed in the batter or on top), strawberry/banana and chocolate chip pancakes, The Milky Way (loads of chocolate chips), Red, White and Blue (strawberry, banana, and blueberry), apple cinnamon, and Oreo pancakes.

Bon Appetit!

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