Fine Dining - Shrekfast! The Original Pancake House Review feat. Chad Opitz (Stand-Up Comedian) [Part Two]

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

"I've got the celebrity!" Comedian and world-class cuddler Chad Opitz is here once again to talk about dining with Shrek (me, having lost a bet) at The Original Pancake House Michael gets a looooot of attention as Shrek and makes some kids' day What's Going On Over There with OPH cooking a baby? The service staff embraced me with open arms Chad orders an entree that isn't in the name of the restaurant Their bacon was incredible The Apple Pancake may be WAY TOO MUCH, but the food offerings here are delicious What we ate: Biscuits & Gravy Joe's Special Hot Chocolate Eggs & Bacon Corn Pancake Apple Pancake Hash Browns "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to our YouTube to watch this episode!   Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Kyle Schieffer (@JazzyJellyfish) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (May's exclusive Patreon episode just dropped and cover's Septemburger 2024's No. 7 seed, Rally's Drive-In), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Sean Spademan, Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your Original Pancake House stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast Follow Chad on Instagram & X @chadopitz   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next week on "Fine" Dining: Cracker Barrel History [Part One]! Comedian Jen Liv is in the house to revisit a spot that was near and dear to her in her 20s. Now that she's worked at top-tier restaurants, how will Cracker Barrel look by comparison?  Find out as we cover the history of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store! Ever work at Cracker Barrel? Send your stories to [e-mail].

On this unprecedented episode of the Fine Dining Podcast, boy did I feel like a zoo exhibit. I'd like to see some of the action, dude. I'd like to get in on the action in the kitchen. Yeah, once the 70s rolled around, people weren't too keen on cooking up babies for food. From this point forward, the word cheese will be bleeped because Michael finds it offensive. Hello and welcome back to the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America.

I am your host Michael Ornelas. I look like Shrek. Still. I mean, that's the world that we're living in. I lost a bet in the P.F. Chang's episode that I, you know, I just had so much pride that I knew where every score stood on my tchotchke of mediocrity. My guest Andres was like listing places

and I was telling him the number. He was like, do you think you could do this for all of them? And I was like, yeah. And then I made a wager that if I didn't, I'd go to the next restaurant and shrek. It was stupid, it was silly. I did it and this is where we're at. I like it. I'm fully Shrek'd up.

This week I am with Chad Opitz once again. Welcome back. Thank you so much. And I kind of look like George Lucas a little bit. Not like Shrek. A little bit like a young George Lucas. Or a Coppola. A young Coppola, a young FFC if you will.

Yeah, yeah. And because you like. Yeah, yeah. And because you like diners, I thought you would be the perfect guest to go to the original Pancake House, the place that I had not been to before. Neither had I. You had not either, right?

This is a whole new experience. I think I was expecting Waffle House in my head. Yeah, yeah. Waffle House, I've already done very close to mediocrity. Waffle House is like a 5.06? Wow. Oh man, it's like almost as, right? Almost as. Was that 5.06?

It is 5.06. See, this is why I had the hubris last time to make this bet. But yeah, if you're watching, I am on YouTube now. Come see me look like Shrek. It's cursed, it's silly, but if you see my face, you'll be a believer. Ah!

All right, dumb. This is the show where I'm looking for the most mediocre restaurant in America. Why am I doing that? Because people say things are good, things are bad. I wanna know that threshold right in the middle where things become bad or good. Currently the most mediocre restaurant, Applebee's.

Makes sense, right? Gamerometer. Name a time you've been to Applebee's where you remembered it the next day. You don't, it just doesn't register as an experience. I don't need a counterpoint. All right. Um.

Also, if you're new to checking out the podcast, I do have a Patreon. There's an exclusive episode every single month, a new restaurant that you can only hear there. And I do the extended versions of the Yelp from Strangers segment. So head on over to my Patreon if you feel like. You can get a one week free trial.

In this show, the criteria I'm using to review these restaurants, it's based on three things. It's based on their atmosphere, based on their service, and based on their food. Yum. Tasty.

Delicious. Fine dining party of two. Finally, our table is ready. We've been talking a long time, so we're just going to jump on in. Sit down. Let's have a bite. Your table is ready. Follow me. Have you tried our chicken breast? Serving pancakes and ribs. I recommend the spaghetti. We're here to satisfy, not to impress Your table is ready Complementary butter and bread These walls have growth signs

Knit-knack cowboy hat Good luck at autographed guitar Some grab from your city Behold the tchotchke of mediocrity Fine dining It's just fine dining, fine dining Two letters on the sign are shining Neon flickering, irregular timing Identify the perfect fine-eating palatine

Fine dining, fine dining Atmosphere. I guess the first thing about the vibe of this place is driving up outside. I already knew I was going to like it before I stepped foot inside. I was like, this has like it's got the body type of a diner. Yes, like it's got the bones of a diner. You know what I mean by that. Absolutely.

Like, it's hard to put into words, but like. You know you're going to be in safe hands. Yeah. Yep. Lots of windows, very transparent. And that's a two-way street, you know? Yes. People are seeing me approach just as much as I'm seeing the restaurant as I come up.

And boy, did I feel like a zoo exhibit. Yes. I'm glad you brought up the windows factory because people can look in and be, oh, they're enjoying themselves. If there's not a lot of windows in an establishment, they're trying to hide something. There's secrets.

Yeah, they're like, hey, we don't want people to see the frowns and looks on people's faces when they're eating our garbage. Yeah. So that's not gonna happen here. Not here. So there were four of us. Yep.

I sent them in to be like, hey, see if there's a wait because if you look online, this place is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day and the wait times are notorious. Well, there's that one review that's like, we haven't even got to eat here yet. Yeah. One of the Yelp reviews literally like,

three stars, we never got to eat there. Yeah. We didn't have that experience though, we got right in. Well, so I sent Matea in and was basically like, hey, can you check and just see if there is a wait for four? Yeah. And there wasn't, and then they were like,

ready to take us, I was like, whoa, whoa, but Chad's not here yet. So we're like, hold your horses. They're fine, you're a couple minutes late. So we're like, hold your horses. You're fine, you're fine. I was a couple minutes late. So I'm just sitting on a bench outside alone, shreked up, and there's just a dude sitting there on his phone, and I feel him looking up at me

every time I'm not looking in his direction. And I just turn to him and I go, lost a bet. And he was like, is that really what that's for? And I was like, hell yeah, dude. People love you outside that restaurant. I felt so popular. And then there was literally a family with like six kids or five kids.

Just like a clan of kids. And they were like, you kids want a picture with him? And they were like, yeah. Of course. And then she looked at me and I was like, yeah, I guess. I didn't think we were gonna get into the restaurant. Yeah. Damn. And then another group of people and I was like, yeah, I guess. I didn't think we were going to get into the restaurant. Yeah. Damn.

And then another group of people are walking out of the restaurant and they're noticing Shrek and they're asking about it. And I'm like, lost a bet. And they're like, is that what this is? And then I tell them what the show is. They wanted to know the story. But then we got good food tips from them. Which I feel bad because I didn't do the sourdough pancakes that they so heavily...

My heart was set on what I ended up getting, but there were a couple other things she could have said that may have pushed me in a different direction, but it wasn't one of the things that I had been like, yeah, hyping myself up for. I felt so warmly embraced by the clientele. Then we go inside and like, oh, immediately I'm like, this is home. Yep. I love a place that like treats itself to indulging in a big sign of its own logo and puts it on the wall. There was plenty of that. There was plenty of that.

And then with a guy flipping the O, we yep. And then it's like they rated a home goods. Yes. A lot of like bacon is where the heart is. A lot of unoriginal artwork. Breakfast is for always, stuff like that. Chocolate is not just for breakfast anymore. Was that a sign? No.

I made up most of mine. The ones I did catch was breakfast anytime and like the, you know, life is better with bacon or whatever. And I'm a sucker for stuff like that. I like it. I like that dumb stuff. I like tchotchkes.

Yes. It's on my wall. Don't make that sound. It makes me think it's hereditary. Oh my God, you're right. You're gonna be headless by the end of this. Ay, ay, ay. Yeah.

We got a good seat too in the corner. A lot of big view of the place. They did it up for us. And I think I got, we'll talk about it more in service, but I think I got like referential treatment. But like right in front, there's a big open kitchen. Yeah, big old, you know, where they put the food, ding, ding, and then there wasn't a bell down.

But there's like tons, tons of space there. So, you know, they're serving a lot of food. Yeah. A lot of cooks back there, a lot of lots of things getting flipped and man. It's gotta be wild back there. Yeah, I love it when you can kinda, the only thing that was missing was like a case with pies.

Or like a, I don't think there was like a bar counter. I love a bar counter. There was not a bar counter. I love a bar counter. It looked like it was a- I'll usually sit there if I'm solo. It looked like a service station was kind of what they used it for. True.

Yeah. Because I like to, if you can look back there, I'm like, ooh, okay. I like to see some of the action, dude. I like to get in on the action in the kitchen. There's a good place in Burbank, and I'm forgetting the name of it, but it's over by where the Vaughn's is, that has really good good breakfast food and you can sit at the bar and kind of get that. I love sitting at those spots. Yeah. There were black and white photos from like the early days of- I love that stuff too. I do too and I've with an increasing awareness I have seen

it in so many of the restaurants I go to where it's just like we get it black and white it's where you come from. But I am a sucker for that. One of my favorite, my March Patreon restaurants I go to where it's just like, we get it, black and white, it's where you come from. But I am a sucker for that. My March Patreon episode, I went to Steak and Shake and there was just a picture of a guy handing a kid a balloon and the balloons had the Steak and Shake logo and then their slogan was just, it's a meal. They're not lying.

That's great. I love a tagline like that. They make no promises that it's good. It's just like, you're gonna eat. One of my favorites was, it's not breakfast. It's Burger King breakfast. There's no lies there. It's like, it's not breakfast.

It's Burger King. That's not breakfast. You're right. It's Burger King breakfast. It doesn't even say it's good. It's like, it's a meal. What else do you need? Yeah, come on You can eat it. Does the original pancake house have a tagline like that? Do they I didn't notice one either I don't think they needed to rely on

Tagline she gimmicks or things like that. They got pancakes. They got good stuff there. They got good stuff One of the black and white photos that I thought was really silly was just a big pot cooking a baby. There was just, there was like an actual baby next to like some oats. Yeah. And Chad, it was a bold choice and it made me wonder a question. It made me wonder, what's going on over there? What's going on over there? What's going on over there? What's going on over there?

Should I wear it? Should I dance? What is going on over there? Hey Chad, what is going on over there? Why are they cooking a baby here? Well, one of their specialty meals was called a Dutch baby. They literally had a menu item called a Dutch baby. Dutch baby, which made me ponder if that was like, you know how like Coke used to have

cocaine in it? The Dutch baby. Dutch baby had pieces of baby. Which is supposed to be a baby. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. called a Dutch baby. Which made me ponder if that was like, you know how like Coke used to have cocaine in it? The Dutch baby. Dutch baby had pieces of limmy.

Which is supposed to be just like a thin pancake with lemon and powdered sugar. Yeah. It's made with a real baby. It's powdered baby. Powdered baby. Natural powdered baby. Why are you saying baby?

Powdered baby. Like your lips are forgetting how to make a bee sound. I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm saying it. Powdered lip-weep. Like, your lips are forgetting how to make a bee sound. I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying. Powdered lip-weep. Powdered lip-weep. I can't imagine that that was a practice they were allowed to do for very long, which would explain why it's black and white.

They're like, we used to be able to do this, but we did not get away with it for too long. You can do that in the 50s. Yeah, once 70s rolled around, people weren't too keen on on cooking up babies for food. Babies in their pancakes. Yeah. They're like, what's this?

It's not as accepted anymore. Is this a diaper fragment in my blitz? What the hell? It used to be like a sign of like, this is gonna be fresh. But you know. It was the veal of humans. Yeah.

It's gonna be some good Dutch baby. Yeah. I say a diaper fragment. Yum. You know, not anymore. Chad, I think you figured it out. I think you cracked the code I think that is in fact what's going on over there? I Also thought it was kind of funny that like so this was in Whittier, California, which isn't like a glamorous, but it's not Hollywood It's not flashy. It's just Whittier.

But outside the bathroom, there was just a big framed completed jigsaw puzzle of Whittier. Yeah. It was like the city of Whittier and all. It looked like it had way too many things on it to actually be in Whittier. Like they had to be borrowing from neighboring cities. A lot of those were like Taekwondo studios, though. I noticed like eight of those.

There's a lot of people kicking. One of them was called victory. A lot of Taekwondo. You're trying to proclaim that you've beaten the other ones. I mean, Karate Kid's at All Valley. So I was getting a lot of like Miyagi-Do versus, there's a lot of warring Taekwondo studios in Whittier. And we're talking about Paul Walter Ha Hauser who is in Cobra Kai.

Yeah. Damn. OK. Hey, Paul Walter Hauser, come on my podcast. Yes. I'm just going to throw that out there. Phenomenal actor, funny man, seems very nice. Super funny guy.

If I had to choose a restaurant to do with him, I would do Dog House. And I would just call it Paul Dogger Hauser. Paul Dogger Hauser. Yeah. Have you been to Dog House? No. Do you know of doghouse? I've heard of it.

They are a national chain. They have more locations than I expected. I thought they were just a SoCal thing, but they have like beer garden locations, but they do like different sausages. You can get like bratwurst sausage, hot dog, burgers. They've got some good food. That sounds good as hell. Have you, have you, we haven't done it.

I haven't done it for the show. Okay. I'm saving it. You're saving for Paul dogger house. I have tune it in when you. OK, I'm saving it. You're saving for Paul Doggerhausen. I have big dreams. I'll tune in when you get them. When you get them. I can. I believe you can get them.

I trust in you. Anyways, we've gotten very off track. We're manifesting. Whittier. Yeah. As a puzzle. Taekwondo. Taekwondo.

Capital of the world. How were the bathrooms? Oh, the bathrooms were good. There was again, there was nothing like nothing about them, though. Yeah., I was standing about them though. Nothing that would set them really apart. They didn't have one of those urinals that go all the way to your feet.

No, I like those though. I hate those. Really? Oh, I think they're fun. Because they're only in beach areas. Oh, really? I only encounter those near beaches and if I'm doing that, I'm wearing sandals

so the splash back is insulting. What is the connection between like, the beach factor and like, they gotta be a long urinal. Like bubblegum shrimp on the Santa Monica pier has that kind of urinal. Gonna have that kind of urinal? Wow, that's fat.

Or like, well no, at like baseball parks, it's usually like a trough. Trough with ice cubes. Yeah. Damn, I didn't wonder what, you gotta look that up. Why do beach places have the long urinal? Yeah, the one that goes all the way. They did not have that though. Why the beach places don't have the long urinal. Yeah, the one that goes all the way.

They did not have that though. Whittier ain't no beach town. No, it's a Taekwondo town. Yeah. So it was actually the urinal was up. Yeah, it was like you have to kick. You had to do a crane kick. Yeah, in order to land in there.

Love it. So there was a guy who passed by my table, I guess on his way back from the bathroom and was like, Hey bro, before you leave, can you take a picture? And I was like, yeah. He was like, we're over there. And he points to a full table of just like bros on a Thursday morning getting you were beloved 11 o'clock.

And I loved, I loved the attention. Normally when I do wild stuff for the show, I don't always love the attention. But it was also positive. People were just like, ah. And they were approaching me in a brighter day. Yeah. This, this brightened people's day.

It really did. Haunting. Well, again, the way you're talking is like, you didn't learn the lesson of the film. You're like, I'm ugly as shit. And I'm like, but no, it's not you're you're you're the way you're talking like you didn't learn the lesson of the film You're like I'm ugly as shit and like but no, it's not ugly Come on, dude. I mean it is kind of about it. It's it's more about the Look, let's not call this an accurate Shrek It's close enough didn't have a beard true Like I could have put more effort into looking more identical to Shrek, but I went with the,

I want to keep my beard. I want to get a cowl on Etsy that like genuinely, it does look good. I think it's good. But like my first try on of it, it was like scrunching. Like this is cut. I had an awesome makeup person, Matea, who's sitting right over there. Hello. Um, who did my cowl fitting and my makeup and the painting and all that.

But like, I didn't meet her half way. Capturing the essence though. Yeah. You know, it doesn't have to be like a hundred percent accurate. You're, we know you're Shrek. No, I know people loved it. 100% accurate. You're we know you're Shrek. No, I know people loved it.

I think if I'm putting a thumb score from two thumbs up to two thumbs down to the atmosphere that we experienced here today, I'm going to go one thumb up. Me too. You know, I've been in I've been to nicer places. I've been to two thumb up atmospheres. This is a firm one thumb up. Yeah, I really enjoyed the original pancake houses vibe. It's offering. Oh, I did take one picture on the wall

that I just, I did find to be a little silly. In this home, we love like crazy, share our stories, serve others, listen and learn, support each other, forgive and forget, love and conditionally. This is straight up just home goods. Like, that's nothing to do with a restaurant, that's nothing to do with food.

No. I respect the message, but it's kind of like- What is the point of this? It's like one of those homes with like, you know, in this home we believe in science and all couples are equal. You know, but if, yes, and if I had seen more of that sort of thing, I would have been off put by it. Because when it had seen more of that sort of thing, I would have been off put by it Mm-hmm, cuz I when it's too much of that sort of thing. I'm like, what's your what are you hiding?

You know when it's too much like a positive affirmation stuff when I can when I someone's like Facebook page of all their posting It's like stuff like that. I'm like they need they're in reverse is and are trouble like they're not happy Yeah, yeah, like they're they're doing that for themselves like things aren't good They're trying to trying Yeah. Like they're, they're doing that for themselves. Like things aren't good. They're trying to, trying to regulate the dials. If I'd seen a bunch of those on the wall, I'd be like, we got to get the hell out of here. And I'd be like, not so, but then you spotted the baby and I was like, we're getting good hang. They're cooking babies in the back. We're going to be okay.

They're airing their dirty laundry for all to see. Yep. Yep. Nothing to hide. Nope. Yeah. So one thumb up. Let's move on. for all to see. Yep. Yep. Nothing to hide. Nope. Yeah.

So one thumb up. Let's move on. Service. I felt so good about our service from the very first words out of her mouth. Her name was Alexandra. I don't always name drop, but when they're really good, you got a name drop. She comes up to her table, she's dishing out menus, and just looks directly at me and she goes,

I got the celebrity. Yeah. And I was just like. And she seemed happy about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It wasn't like a. It wasn't like a. I got the celebrity.

Yeah, yeah. It felt like they were drawing straws, but like in like the, we want to. Yep, yep. They raffled off and I was the prize. Yes. That's what it felt like. It felt like I was a prize to be won.

Mm-hmm. So. That's good for felt like. It felt like I was a prize to be won. So. That's good for the self-esteem right there. It really was. And they were very attentive. And I did tell them, I lost a bet, this is for a podcast. I didn't necessarily until later in the meal

mention that I was reviewing them, because usually when you do that, you get preferential treatment. And I usually like to review the experience we already got, like naturally. Yeah. But they established a two thumbs up service so early that I was just like, you know what, I'll tip the tip, the scales, so to speak, because it's going to be the same regardless.

But yeah, they gave us the nice booth. They give us the celebrity treatment. They checked in often. The check drop went smooth. And the food came out fast too. It came out in waves though, which usually I'm not a fan of. I like that. Do you like that?

You know what, sometimes, it didn't bother me today. Maybe because most of the stuff we're getting was like we're sharing. I've been that odd man out because I'm actually a pretty picky eater. I don't typically like family style eating. I like to be like, I'm the same, me too. This is the dish I like.

Let me order the dish I want. And then you enjoy the dish you want. Like, yeah, we can taste it, but I don't wanna commit to a 50-50 portion. Totally, I wanna eat most of what I'm ordering. Yeah, yeah. Totally. I've been that odd person out where it's like, my dish is the last one.

Takes forever. Yeah, I mean, you're like, cool. Yeah, I didn't mind it here, and they were transparent about it. Yeah. Which, genuinely, any server watching this, if any issue happens like that, don't hide it from the customer,

just tell them what's going on, and you get so much more goodwill. Like I am not. It's taking a bit more time on the yeah, you know Scramble or whatever. Tell me if there's even a mistake like yeah, I'm so sorry. We dropped it on the way. Like yeah, tell me Yeah, yeah, don't cover for anything. Just be honest and like, you know, I feel like I don't wanna generalize, but I feel like our generation is way more understanding of like, oh, you admitted a mistake, that's fine. That reminds me, when Matea was ordering, Matea asked about something, like a potato pancake,

and the server was like, honestly, I'm not a big fan. They were honest about that. And a lot of places, they always just say like, it's great, it's great, it's great. They don't give you real opinions. I love it when they do that. So I guess I'll tell them. So the fact that the waitress was honest about it

and said, I'm not into that. I was like, that's great. What's funny is, I used to be a tour guide at Paramount Studios, and if people would ask questions, I would be too honest and get in trouble for it. We didn't want you to really answer. It's a pretty boring tour. Okay.

But did people appreciate that? Yeah. But like the tour you get is almost 100% dependent on how charismatic your tour guide is. Gotcha, okay. So if you get a bad tour guide, especially on like busy days, cause like they close off areas that you can't get.

There's a New York City back lot. And if something's shooting back there, you can't even go by the edge to show people. The only thing you have is that and the giant water tank where they filmed some scenes for Titanic. And they still do tours that day, though? That's wild. They should just cancel it.

I agree. We ain't got nothing to show you and like none of the sound stages You know, they're only like four or five sound stages that might let you in and some days none of them are available that's like that's like the original pancake house only being open like if they had like Just one food item. Yeah, like you know what we only we only got hash browns today Yeah, but you want to come in anyway, but you wanna come in anyway? Like, no? No. Buddy, call me back when you got all the cakes ready.

That's a weird move, Paramount. Anyways, service was truly impeccable. I'm gonna go two thumbs up on the service here. And it seemed like even when you were paying, like it seemed like the person there was super nice. Also wanted a picture with me, the cashier. Very cool. Very, just had a good attitude about everything. Well, I also brought attention to like that.

I was like, this is a normal interaction for you, right? She was like, yeah, can I get a picture? And I was like, hell yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's very nice there. Where are you going on thumbs for service? I'm doing two thumbs for the service.

After the service? Yes. Yeah, awesome. Food. Yum, Yummy. So anytime you go to a restaurant that has a food item in the name, that's what I got to get. You were like, I'm a fool.

I'm a biscuit and gravy guy. I was like, I'm sorry, did we go to the original biscuit and gravy house? We didn't. Oh, man. So these are the choices that we have to live with, but you know, you live your life. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. I've made dumber decisions. Like coming on this podcast.

No, this has been good. So you got the biscuits and gravy. As a side. Oh, that's right, you did order, and your entree is what came out last. Yes, it was the last. So go ahead, let's talk about the biscuits and gravy while we're here.

The biscuits and gravy were very mediocre, to be honest. My least favorite thing probably. It was, it was my least favorite thing because it was just so run-of-the-mill, clearly not homemade gravy. I had a bite of it and I was just like, this is a good item of food

not done in any exceptional manner. But it was also, it was like 10 bucks too. Yeah. Which I was like, too much. Because biscuits and gravy should also be like one of the cheapest items on a menu. Yeah. I've seen biscuits and gravy listed

for like three bucks before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, should have been 10 bucks. It depends on the type of biscuit you're serving. Cause like a Popeyes biscuit, like a real small, clearly cheap thing. Yeah. Which I like Popeyes biscuits. I serving. Cause like a Popeyes biscuit, like a real small, clearly cheap thing, which I like Popeyes biscuits. I'm not shitting on Popeyes biscuits, but objectively I understand why they're cheap.

Yeah, I went five and a half out of 10 on the biscuits and gravy. Like on the scale of all foods, like a biscuit and gravy isn't above average food, but this was about an average. I'd probably do almost the exact same. Yeah. I'm gonna go a little five.

You're gonna go five out of 10. Right in the middle. And then your entree, which I didn't taste. It was the ground beef skillet. The ground beef skillet. I thought ground beef as a breakfast thing. I don't know if I've seen. Really?

Yeah. Oh man, it's basically- I mean, I know like steak and eggs, but like ground beef specifically is a form of beef. It was very similar to, if it's basically. I mean, I know like steak and eggs, but like ground beef specifically is a form of beef. It was very similar to, if it's on a menu somewhere, it's almost always gonna be called the Joe's Special. And it's on a lot of menus as the breakfast.

It's ground beef with, you know, in eggs, scrambled eggs. Onion. Onion, a lot of times there's spinach in there. This did not have spinach. This had chives, I guess, I don't know. But it was, and plentiful meat, good meat. The eggs were good. It was definitely better.

I'd say that was seven and a half. Seven and a half? Overall, yeah. And I put some salsa on top because I love adding a little bit of like extra flavor to it. Yeah. Are you a spice guy? I am, yeah.

And then I started off before any food. I got a hot chocolate and this came piled with whipped cream. A lot of whipped cream. Which with this prosthetic nose on, I was very concerned. Like, I don't think I can get this hot chocolate into my mouth. Yeah.

So I took a fork because they don't have spoons as was established. And I was just eating forkfuls of cream off the top I took a fork because they don't have spoons as was established. And I was just eating forkfuls of cream off the top of this. And you still, you still got schmutz on my face and my beard, but I didn't get it on the nose, which is what the concern was. And I managed to get whipped cream down enough that I could then sip it. This was a very rich, very fresh, delicious hot chocolate. I went eight out of 10.

Wow. Eight out of 10. That's a good hot chocolate. Up against all foods. This is up there in the hot chocolate game. I really liked it. And then again, it's in that mug, which, you know, it's just my opinion, but it traps heat better than.

Yes, because of the shape. Because of the shape. Great mug. Great mug. I'm going to go back and get one. I'm going to say 10 for the mug. 10 for the mug? If we can review the mug.

It's a 10 out of 10 mug. 10 out of 10 mug, for sure. So, yeah, great hot chocolate. And then I got a side of eggs and bacon. The eggs, eggs are eggs. Five out of 10. It is what it is. I got to it a little bit after it had been sitting out.

So it was, it wasn't cold, but you know, it wasn't like fresh. Yeah. But five out of 10. It was just a flavor I wanted, but no one's reinventing the egg. You know what taste you're getting. I agree, yeah.

And then bacon. What are they doing to their bacon? Bacon's great. I cannot explain why their bacon is that good. Really good. It was like- Perfect cannot explain why their bacon is that good. Really good. It was like- Perfect texture too, of a crunch and chew. Yeah, and it like, it had the crispy skin, basically.

But also chewy. It wasn't just like, yeah. And it wasn't even a tough chewy. No. It was amazing flavor. It also wasn't overly salty. No. Definitely salty, but not overly.

I think my only critique on this was it maybe was a little more charred than I wanted, but everything about the texture, everything about the taste, minus a little charred. I went nine out of 10 on this bacon. I'm the same. Nine out of 10 bacon. That's what I was gonna say.

That's high praise. Really, really good. And they also have, we didn't get them, but they have the bacon pancakes. I think next time. In fact, you know what? They said in the biscuits and gravy that there was pieces of bacon,

there was not nearly enough pieces of bacon in there. Not nearly enough, but there were? There were. Okay. There was a little bit. That would have made it a lot better. Yeah, that would have added greatly. So maybe put a little extra bacon in there next time.

I would have maybe bumped it up a score. And then, did you try the corn pancake? Yes, and it was fine. I wasn't like, I wouldn't order it myself. It was so unique. I didn't expect, because I read a review that said there were pieces of corn on this pancake and there were none on it.

But then when I cut into it, there were kernels of corn in it, and I was like, oh, that's weird. I like corn, though. I have no problem with corn. I like the texture, I like the taste. I went seven out of 10. It's good.

It's not, you know. See, I was less than you. I mean, it was fine. I didn't dislike it. I'm just going five with that. You're just going five. I wasn't bad, you. I mean, it was fine. Yeah. I didn't dislike it. I'm just going five with that. Just going five. I wasn't bad, but it wasn't, I'm, I don't think it was particularly memorable.

I think your mileage on corn is going to be like, or corn in a different package than what you're used to. Well, I mean, it might, I might've bumped it up if there was some delicious topping on it or something. It was plain. It was just plain corn pancake. But just like as a concoction, I was like, this is interesting. And I do like the flavor. Yeah All I have left is my insane

Mm-hmm concoction. Yeah the apple pancake It was a lot it was thick very know what, filibuster a bit. I'm gonna go into the fridge and pull out, I have the leftovers. Okay, yeah, he's gonna show you. Cause like, and they kind of warned us. Like when we're asking like about the apple pancake, we're like, what's the size of this thing?

Cause you even mentioned the calorie count is very high. It's like 1800 calories. 1800,30 calories. So we're like, this was, this was going to be, and the waitress said that it's more like a pie than a pancake. And she was not kidding. Cause this was, it was definitely the thickest pancake

I've ever seen in my life. I had like a couple of bites and I was like, I'm good. So my, it was delicious. But my de facto donut that I like to order is an apple fritter. Ooh, that's a good one. And I like to order is an apple fritter. Oh, that's a good one. And the comparisons between this and an apple fritter to me felt that there are a lot of similarities.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm going to open this up. Hopefully my camera will be able to see it. Oh, man, it was turned upside down. It's upside down. Oh, we're going to flip it. You can smell it, right? Yes. It's upside down. Is there a way to flip it? You can smell it, right? Yes.

It's overwhelmingly apple. Man, yeah, the sweetness was delicious. Very tasty. Oh, you're opening it on the upside down side. There we go. Oh yeah. Look at all that sloss, that like caramelized sloss. That is so intense.

I don't I still don't know if it's showing. Yeah, this thing is like two inches thick. It's huge. Yeah, so that's a whole definitely at least two, three people meal. Yeah, I don't know how much more of this I'm going to eat, but I felt bad if I didn't take it home. I mean, that's one you can nibble on for a while. It was so overwhelming. Have it with a cup of coffee. Oh wait, you don't drink coffee.

I don't drink coffee. Oh well. But it was tasty. This was a very good treat. But it's just like, now what? Yeah. I tasted it. It should have been way smaller, honestly.

There's no need for it to be this thick. There's no need. It's huge. Yeah. This is, it's just, it's no need for it to be this thick. There's no need. It's huge. Yeah, this is, it's just, it's a problem. It's wasteful. Thank God. Any individual that orders this and they're like there alone. And, and this is Shrek saying this.

This is Shrek. You'd think he would be able to pound through this thing. Nope, not going to happen. That's a powerful meal. I would want like, you need to sign a waiver. They have someone come in, like a counselor comes in, like tries to talk you out of it. Are you sure you want this?

Yeah. It's big. There needs to be some deterrent if you attempt to order this and you're there alone. And there's none of that. In fact, the waitress was like, you should get this. I get this all the time. Okay.

No, you don't. That's is... I get this all the time. Okay. No, you don't. Yeah. That's huge. You see it all the time. You and your entire family get this all the time? You could feed a van's worth of people. Yes. That's the amount of...

A van's worth of food. Yeah. Or like a soccer team. When they crash that airplane in a society of snow, they find this and... If you can tell from the abrupt visual change to my presentation and makeup, Chad already left, but I forgot to give out an award that this is way too much award.

And I'm going to deliver it this week to the portion size of my apple pancake. size of my apple pancake. This thing truly obscene. I mean, I have the to-go container right here and I'm not lying when I tell you that if I were to weigh this, it is in pounds, not ounces, not grams. This thing is like, this is what's left. Meaning I ate a Mealsworth out of this and this is what's left.

And other people pitched in and were like, I want some of that. It's insane. It's too big of a portion. It should not be for one person. It should require an intervention. And it is in fact way too much. Way too much.

But yeah, like, look, this thing shouldn't exist, but I'm going eight out of 10 on it is very tasty. I'm going the same. That's really good. I just keep almost giving the same answer as you, but that's about it. Felt like a thing from the L.A. County Fair, though, like This did not feel like it exists in the confines of a normal restaurant. True, that's very true. See, almost like a freak show sort of situation.

Like, what the hell? What a monstrosity. This is on a pedestal right next to a dude who's just bending steel bars. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just like with his shirt off. We didn't even mention, I had the hash browns. Oh, that's right, you did try that.

I would legit, again, nine out of 10 on those. Really, were they that good? I didn't taste them. Really good hash browns. Really good hash browns, yes. That or Waffle House? I've never been to Waffle House. They're like the master of the hash browns. Really? Damn it.

I gotta try them now, because I love hash browns. Yeah. And these were excellent hash browns. I regret not tasting them. They were really good. They were too away that on the table for me and also they didn't look they just looked fine Yeah, but then if they were really good. I'm also gonna be honest. I read a ton of Yelp reviews to pick out those Yelp reviews for Yelp from strangers and More than one of them mentioned that the hash browns tasted like they had cheddar in them and I don't like What? All right, I don't think they did. I looked at the ingredients list and it didn't list them

But just out of paranoia that they had that taste it turned me off of them I sure but yeah two thumbs up on the food at an original pancake house as well for sure one two Two two. Well, that's the food Final rating. All right, Chad, we're at the end of this journey. We've seen the atmosphere, we've experienced the service, we've inhaled the food, we are more pancake than we are human right now. How are you feeling when you add it all up together, put it into a number to define it?

It's gonna be pretty high. In fact, I don't have a ton of complaints about the place. The atmosphere can maybe be a little better. The service was phenomenal. The food is really good. When you say better, what could the atmosphere do? I mean, some of it just felt sort of basic, but it didn't really have a...

Again, it had wine, mom, at home goods, decor, energy. Yes, that's a really good way of putting it. And it didn't have anything that was particularly, really unique about it that made it stand out just environment-wise. Not a huge complaint, again, but I think it definitely drops it a little bit. Because if you're like, man, that really does add stuff to me.

But it's like, wow, this is a one in a million place or whatever. I don't know, they're boiling a baby in a picture. Yeah, that's true, that's true. But you didn't see it. I didn't see it, he saw it. But you should show me the picture. Yeah, that's true, that's true. But you didn't see it. I didn't see it, he saw it. But you should show me the picture.

So it was there. But overall total 7.8, I'm gonna give it almost an eight. Which is still, that's really good. That's a very excellent score overall. It's a very good restaurant, 7.8. I'm not quite as high on it as you are. So I was flipping through ratings that I've given it before.

I had the melting pot at a 7.23, which, uh, you know, fondue meats and chocolate, which, you know, I don't like, but like the rest of the stuff there and the atmosphere, like you talk about a place that is like the atmosphere, their atmosphere forward melting pot. Yeah. Just like dark kind of like romantic. I like that. Yeah. I like that. So a pancake breakfast diner

is almost approaching like a romantic date night spot in terms of quality to me. I think it's way overreaching. If you look at my other breakfast places, IHOP, Denny's, they're not soaring too high. Denny's is at a four and a half out of 10. About right. You know, IHOP is down at what, 4.2 something? Whoa, oh, IHOP was less than Denny's.

4.26, wow. Yeah. Holy shit. Which, surprising to me. Yeah, that's really surprising actually. My individual IHOP score was higher than my individual Denny's score, but those are the averages of me and whoever my host was in each episode. I'm gonna go for the original Pancake House 7.16. That's good though. 7.16 with your 7.8. When you put those together,

the original pancake house goes up on the Chachki of mediocrity at. Pretty high. You ready? Yes. 7.48. Wow. That's right. That's hell.

That's Outback Steakhouse numbers. Damn, look at it. It's beautiful. Right above Outback. So that's way, that's way above a lot of them. Yeah. You joined me for a good one. It was a really good place. I would recommend it for sure. And that means that the original Pancake House is decisively

better than Mediocre. Better than Mediocre. Better than Mediocre. It's better than mediocre. It's better than Outback Steakhouse. Wow. That pains me to say, because I am an Outback stan. But this place was really good. It was. yeah, it was delicious. Yeah, very good better than the romantic melting pot, but You know what this all means? Hmm. This place is not the perfect five point double zero out of ten

It's not and you know what that means Do you know what that means? It means this has got to go on it means this has got to go on got to continue the search is Continuing I'm gonna reach into the you must bowl Do you know what that means? It means this has gotta go on. It means this has gotta go on. We gotta continue. The search is continuing. I'm gonna reach into the You Must bowl. What the hell? And pick out the next restaurant that I'm gonna go to. There's a lot of papers in there. There's so many papers in here.

That's crazy. None of them blank. That's amazing. Chad, are you ready to find out where I'm going next? Yes. Oh, this is dope. All right, next time, I am going to... Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.

Oh, wow, I've heard of that. Well, I'm excited to go. Cracker Barrel is quite a bit of a drive. Where's the closest one to here? I think Thousand Oaks, which is out where the melting pot is. Oh really? Okay.

Damn, that's a haul. Yeah. So I'm very excited for that. I think that'll be, I've not been. Oh really? You've been to Cracker Barrel? I have.

When I was in Ohio, I went to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. My mom speaks very ill of it. Okay. I don't remember being- Not a fan. Great, but I also don't was in Ohio. I went to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. My mom speaks very ill of it Okay, I don't remember being not a fan great, but I also don't remember being horrible. Yeah There's like a store when you walk in. Yeah, there's like a country store country store, which yeah, I don't know So we'll see how that goes. Yeah, I'm excited to try out Cracker Barrel. Uh-huh. I feel perfect for this podcast It's a big blind spot that like in almost 60 episodes I haven't been yet.

Yeah, yeah. So. That could be the 5.00. It could. We'll find out. Chad, thanks so much once again for coming on the podcast. I really appreciated having you here. This has been a delight.

Thank you so much. I enjoyed my Shrekfest. Shrekfest. Shrekfest. Yeah. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh. Do you have another round of,

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. We have to play the thing again. Play the whole game again. Play. Yeah, is there oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Follow me up, there's goofs aplenty on there, and I'm a fun follow. See me do stand-up comedy. I'm performin' it in a lot of places. If you're in California and gonna be in the Bay Area, you can catch Chad doing comedy at the Alameda Comedy Club with Caitlin Palufo on June 21st and 22nd, and that's in Alameda, just east of San Francisco. Go check him out.

Well, thanks for comin' on. Thank you for watching the show. FindDiningPodcast at gmail.com if you have anything you wanna say or just comment below on the YouTube version of this episode. You can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at FindDiningPodcast.

You can do all the things. You can check out my Patreon and check out the extra offerings that I've got. And that'll do it until next week. We didn't find the most mediocre restaurant in America. The search does in fact continue. We'll see you next time. Have a fine day. The search continues Like and subscribe

The search continues Our journey did not conclude The mother-eating search continues Rattus and I-2's review And hey, while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and make it five stars, huh? Come on. Follow us on TikTok. The same on Instagram. All the socials. At Find Dining Podcast.

We have a website. FindDiningpodcast.com Buy our t-shirts, then put them on And don't forget, you can always suggest where we go next Okay! We're going to find it! Mediocrity! The search continues! See you next week!

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