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View the Flappy Jack's Pancake House Restaurant menu
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Restaurant:
Flappy Jack’s Pancake House
Where: 640 W. Route 66, Glendora
Phone: (626) 852-9444
Reservations:
Weekdays only
Cocktails: No
Service:
Tableside wait service
Atmosphere: Casual
Outdoor Dining: No
Credit Cards: MC, Visa, Debit w/logo
Kid’s Menu: Yes
Senior Discount: Yes
Food to Go: Yes
Catering Menu: No
Price Range: $4.45 - $10.99, Avg. $6.49 - $8.99
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Flappy Jack's is on Route 66, just west of Grand |
Route
66 mural catches your eye as you walk in. |
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Another Route 66 mural, themed closer to home |
French onion soup |
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Ace
of Clubs sandwich |
California Burger |
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1/2
of a shortstack |
Country breakfast |
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Flappy Jack's French Toast |
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DOT COM DINING A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
Flappy Jack’s Pancake House Not Just a Great Breakfast Spot, Lunch is
Good, Too!
By Bill Coburn
When I first started
trying to sign Flappy Jack’s Pancake House for the SGVMenus.com website, I was
amazed at how busy the place always was. I thought this place must really have
something going, to be this busy all the time. Well I’ve eaten there a couple
of times now, and I understand why they are so busy. The food is really, really
good, and the atmosphere is extremely pleasant.
The two owners,
brothers Perry and Ted, both live in the Glendora area, and when they noticed
that the former Carrow’s on Route 66 had been sitting empty for a while, they
decided to open a place of their own. Ted wanted a pancake/breakfast house, and
Perry wanted a roadhouse, with a 50s and 60s feel. Where better than Route 66?
The atmosphere celebrates the Route 66 heyday, with vast colorful murals
covering the walls, and 50s and 60s memorabilia all over the place. The music
is from the 50s, 60s and some from the 70s as well. So Perry got his
roadhouse. And Ted did a great job getting his pancake/breakfast house, too.
But they didn’t stop there. Flappy Jack’s has a really good lunch business, as
well.
The first time we ate there,
neither Katie nor I was in the mood for breakfast, so we decided we’d try lunch
that day and come back for breakfast another day. After all, you can’t really
write about a pancake house without trying the breakfasts, or at the least, the
pancakes, right? I ordered an “Ace of Clubs” sandwich, which is sliced
lean turkey breast, sliced roast beef, American & Swiss cheese, tomatoes,
lettuce & mayo on a French roll. The sandwich was quite large, and tasty, too.
I remember noticing how good the French roll was, and there was enough meat on
this sandwich that when I took half of it home, I had plenty to transfer to
sandwich bread for lunch the next day (day old mayonnaise on a roll is something
I usually try to avoid, hence the transfer to fresh bread). The sandwich came
with a choice of French fries, gourmet orzo wild rice medley and a complimentary
cup of soup. You can substitute beer battered onion
rings or zucchini for French fries, for just $1.49. I opted for the fries and
some French onion soup (I don’t recall if I paid extra to upgrade to the French
onion or not). I love a good cup of French onion soup, and Flappy Jack’s has
one. Katie had a California burger, which comes on parmesan grilled
bread with avocado, selecting the optional fried zucchini. She enjoyed both,
noting that the ample portion of zucchini was nice and crispy, and that the
burger was, in her words, really yummy.
Today, we went back to try
the breakfast. It’s hard to narrow things down when you have so many choices,
all of which sound really good. There are a dozen different four-egg omelets,
the usual Denver, cheese, etc, plus a few not so common, such as the fresh
asparagus and Swiss cheese omelet and spinach and imported feta cheese omelet.
There are eight skillet
entrees, where they start with a skillet, layer it with potatoes then add two
eggs, any style. Each of the geographically named skillets adds ingredients
traditional to that area. The Denver skillet has ham, bell peppers and onions
plus two types of cheese, the Texas skillet has steak, onions, bell pepper &
mushrooms, topped with Monterey Jack cheese, and so on.
There are 16 All-American
breakfasts which include traditional items such as steak and eggs, ham, bacon or
sausage and eggs, corn beef hash and eggs, a French toast combo, a 2+2+2 (2
eggs, 2 pancakes, and 2 bacon or sausage, served with butter and syrup and lots
more. FYI, on several of the meals, you can get pancakes instead of toast.
There’re half a dozen kinds
of fruity crepes, and another seven kinds of Belgian waffles plain, 5 fruit
waffles, (some with the fruit on top, some with the fruit mixed in the batter),
pecan waffles and even bacon waffles.
But the specialty is, of
course, the pancakes. Naturally, we both decided on something else, but got a
short stack of buttermilk pancakes to split, so we could at least say we tried
the pancakes. We both agreed, the pancakes were the best we’d ever had. They
were huge, covering most of a good-sized plate, and Katie thought that one
pancake was the short stack, it was so tall. But it was the taste that got us.
Both of us thought they were delicious, and we were both surprised at how light
they were. Perry told us the secret is that they make it from scratch. Well, a
good pancake house would, and Flappy Jack’s is a good pancake house. Next time
we go, I’m sure we’ll both be having pancakes as the main attraction, instead of
as a side.
Katie ordered the Country
Breakfast, three biscuits & three sausage patties topped with country gravy,
served with two eggs. She said the gravy was delicious and creamy, the biscuits
were good, and I tried the sausage, so I can tell you that was good, too. She
requested her eggs over medium, which is an item that is frequently cooked other
than how it’s requested, and these eggs were exactly over medium.
I ordered Flappy’s French
Toast. Tell me this doesn’t sound great: cinnamon swirl French toast, topped
with apples, raisins and pecans, complimented with their special cinnamon glaze,
dusted with powdered sugar and whipped butter. It was one of the better
breakfasts I’ve had in my life, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to
anyone.
One thing, too, that I
noticed was that they didn’t scrimp on the whipped butter or the syrup. The
portions that came with the meal were enough for the food you received, and
that’s not usually the case for me. I almost always want more butter than I get
with pancakes or French toast, but both items had plenty for me.
Flappy Jack’s also offers a
selection of a dozen or so breakfast item specials and a dozen or so lunch
specials. And for the diet conscious, you can substitute egg beaters (or egg
whites) for a slight extra charge on most items.
You’ll find the Flappy
Jack’s menu online at
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/flappyjacks. And when you stop by for what
I’m sure will be a really good meal, breakfast or lunch, be sure and tell Perry
and Ted you read about them in Dot Com Dining and saw them on the internet.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a restaurant website
featuring more than 160 restaurant’s menus, as well as downloadable coupons. He has
nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant business, and has been eating for
much longer than that. |
