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| The gift shop at the Lincoln City Pig’N Pancake sells all sorts of curly-tailed merchandise, including the stuffed pig with his breakfast shown above in the dining room. Below, the busy Lincoln City Pig’N Pancake from the southeast. |
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Bacon at the Beach
The newest Pig offers the same friendly flapjacks as the Seaside original
By Niki Price
OREGON COAST TODAY
For some families, a trip to the coast isn’t complete without a stop at the Pig’N Pancake, the now-legendary Seaside restaurant founded by Bob and Marianne Poole in 1961. The Pig’N Pancake has made its reputation on signature pancakes — buttermilk, sourdough, blueberry, even Swedish, all made from scratch — and friendly, attentive service.
In time, the Pooles expanded their operation, opening restaurants in Astoria (1966), Cannon Beach (1997) and Portland. Since 2006, the southernmost outpost of the Pig’N Pancake operation has been the north end of Lincoln City, where a brand-new building welcomes the hungry throughout the day.
Like the original, the Lincoln City Pig’N Pancake offers the Pooles’ original recipes for pancakes plus crepes, omelettes, skillets, sandwiches, burgers, salads, soups, desserts and seafood specialties. Nearly everything is made from scratch on site, said Zach Poole, manager of the Lincoln City restaurant.
“You can buy everything pre-done now, and a lot of places do. But we don’t. All our pancake batter is made fresh, with real recipes,” he said. “Our chefs make the crepes, the blintzes, the potato pancakes — everything is homemade. It takes six months to fully train a chef in our kitchen, because we do a lot of prep work back there.”
Poole, who is the grandson of the founders, said his staff in Lincoln City works hard to uphold the chain’s good name.
“You can come here and you’re going to get good food and quality service, in a nice atmosphere. It’s our hope that whole family can order and have their food arrive on time, and consistently good,” said Poole.
A restaurant born on the beach, Pig’N Pancake knows its seafood breakfast. Among Poole’s favorites are the Eggs Benedict — two poached eggs on an English muffin with Hollandaise sauce, served with country ham ($7.95) or Dungeness crab ($9.95) — and the Razor Clams and Eggs ($12.95).
If it’s flapjacks you’re after, the choices are dizzying. In addition to the homemade buttermilk, sourdough and buckwheat batters, they offer potato pancakes, made with freshly-shredded spuds and served with applesauce and bacon ($8.25). The chefs roll French-batter crepes with fruit compote, sprinkle them with powdered sugar and top the delight with whipped cream ($7.50).
Or, expand your horizons with Manhattan Crepes, filled with sour cream ($7.50), or Swedish pancakes, thin and crisp plate-fillers topped with sweet-tart Lingonberries and whipped butter ($8.25). Banana, blueberry, pecan, sand-dollar, pigs in a blanket — if you can flip it with a spatula and cover it with syrup, you’ll probably find it at the Pig’N Pancake.
You can force the pancakes to step aside, however, by ordering one of Poole’s favorite meals, the Kielbasa Skillet. It’s a sizzling polska kielbasa over hash-browned potatoes and topped with homemade country gravy, two scrambled eggs, onion, green pepper and cheddar cheese. Served with toast, it’s $9.25. The big breakfast selection also features omelettes, made any way you like, as well as steak and eggs, veggie skillets and chicken fried steak and eggs.
To wash it down, there’s juice, milk, espresso drinks and bottomless cups of coffee. For the past two months, diners have been enjoying Café Rojas, a certified 100-percent organic, shade-grown coffee from Boyd’s. The gourmet coffee lovers in the dining room have really enjoyed the change, Poole said.
There’s room for a light eater at the Pig’N Pancake, too. Smaller plates of pancakes, eggs and meat are available, and the children’s menu offers strawberry crepes, pigs in a blanket and other favorites, scaled down. The Lincoln City restaurant, 5,800 square feet and lined with picture windows, is just the ticket for large groups and families with small children. The children’s lunch menu – complete with coloring sheets and riddles, of course — includes homemade macaroni and cheese, breaded chicken breast strips and “B’isghetti with Meat Sauce.”
“This is a real family-friendly atmosphere,” Poole said.
At the Pig’N Pancake, breakfast is served throughout the day. But if you’d like lunch for lunch, Poole suggests seafood specialties like the Crab & Cheese, with local crab on an English muffin, topped with melted cheese ($11.95) or Beer Battered Halibut Fish’n Chips ($10.25). The fresh seafood is also served on salads, such as the Crab or Shrimp Louie (Dungeness crab or shrimp on a bed of tossed green salad with tomatoes, olives, hard-boiled eggs and pickles, starting at $7.50).
Or, see if the Pig lives up to its nickname by ordering the Miss Piggy Sandwich: turkey, beef or ham, with Swiss cheese and red onion, with all the fixings, on a toasted French loaf. The sandwich menu also offers an old-fashioned open face turkey sandwich, with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a Philly Steak Sandwich, with a shaved ribeye and Swiss with onions, mushrooms, green peppers and the restaurant’s own horseradish sauce.
Poole’s favorite is the Mr. Pig’s Burger, an 8-ounce patty served on a toasted French roll with a side of fries, soup or tossed salad. Smaller appetites can choose the 1/3 pound hamburger, or try a patty melt, chili burger or Hawaiian delight. They’re all made with 100 percent fresh ground chuck, and his customers can tell the difference, he said.
“The ground chuck is choice meat. We’re really careful in our food quality, and make sure we have good sources of food,” he said. “We stick with consistent sources. We’re good to our suppliers and they’re good to us. That makes a big difference, as far as consistency and quality goes. All those things add up to a good dining experience, which is what we’re really trying to focus on.”
The Pig’N Pancake is located at 3910 NE Hwy. 101, just south of McDonald’s in Lincoln City. The pancakes are flipped from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reach them at 541-994-3268.
TideTables is an advertiser-sponsored feature of the Oregon Coast Today. To include your restaurant in an upcoming edition, call 541-921-2306.
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