We had breakfast for dinner at The Original Pancake House in Tacoma on Thursday, January 1, 2015. They're located on the east side of Pine Street just south of 6th Avenue. They're part of a chain that was founded in Portland, Oregon in the 1950's. The Tacoma location opened very recently, possibly within the past couple of months. They are in the former location of the Italian restaurant Primo Grill that moved just a few blocks away to 6th Avenue and Oakes Street. We usually have difficulty finding parking on 6th Avenue such as when we went to Masa in 2012 and Marrow in 2013. Just east of Pine Street on 6th Avenue we were about to turn into a drive that looked like it led to parking. However, a sign said "Valet Parking Only." We just turned at Pine Street and parked in an angled spot on the street right in front of the restaurant. It looked like there was a lot just south of it with more parking.
After learning of The Original Pancake House, we had wanted to try them but didn't want to go in the morning or at lunch on a weekend because breakfast restaurants tend to get very busy at those times. We knew that they only served breakfast and thought they might be less crowded at dinner time. On January 1, we figured correctly. When we arrived at 5:45 pm, they seated us right away. We didn't have to use the waiting area that looked like it had ample bench space. The restaurant was less than half full. They seated us in a slightly elevated booth to the left. The restaurant was small to medium-sized with booths in the middle and tables on the sides. They had a separate room of tables in the back that could be closed off with a sliding door. Screens on the walls advertised menu items and other restaurant locations. There are two other locations in the area: Puyallup and Maple Valley. On the wall just north of our booth was a large old photo of the Murray Morgan Bridge among industrial buildings. I believe that very few if any of those buildings are still standing.
The server brought us menus that had four pages of exclusively breakfast items. The first page listed all the pancakes including Buckwheat, Hawaiian filled with crushed pineapple, Coconut, Swedish, and Georgia pecan. Unfortunately for me the pancakes contained buttermilk. Their prices ranged from $7.79 for plain buttermilk to $8.79 for most choices to $9.29 for a couple of specialty pancakes. The next page had sections for Signature Full Breakfasts, Omelettes, and Meat & Eggs. Prices ranged from $10.79 to $12.59. Every item came with either pancakes, potatoes, or toast. The next page had sections for Specialties of the House, Waffles & French Toast, and Crepes. Prices ranged from $7.79 to $12.59. The Specialties (Dutch Baby and Apple Pancake) took extra time. The next page had sections for Breakfast Cereals, Meats, Fruits & Juices, Beverages, and Side Dishes. For sodas they served Coke products.
The server first took our drink orders. I got grapefruit juice and my wife got freshly-squeezed orange juice. The server then took our food orders and after several minutes brought them out. My wife got the green chili omelette, an omelet filled with pepper jack cheese and topped with rich green chili and pulled pork sauce. For her included side she upgraded to a waffle and got a side of lingonberries for it. I got the corned beef hash. OPH was the fourth place I'd had corned beef hash in the past 2-3 years. The other places were The Hob Nob, Alfred's Café, and Corner Café. OPH makes very good corned beef hash. It comes in a long thin bowl and they cut up the corned beef very finely. It wasn't chewy at all. They put the two eggs cooked over easy on top. For my side I chose the potatoes. They came as square hash browns. The server asked if I wanted ketchup or hot sauce. After I chose the latter he brought out four kinds: regular Tabasco, green chili Tabasco, chipotle Tabasco, and Chohula. I tried them all.
We left OPH well sated and with plenty of reasons to return.
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