Contrary to popular belief, there are significant holidays in March. In fact, one of our nation’s greatest holidays takes place within the first five days: National Pancake Day. Although schools remain open and employees are expected to go to work, March 5th is certainly a day worth celebrating. In order to make the most of your day and best honor your favorite breakfast staple, I recommend following these three steps:
Step 1: The Roundup. Gather up your girl gang, brunch squad or ride-or-dies (people who can love and tolerate you while you're hangry).
Step 2: The Pre-game. Before any big game, you have to get yourself hyped up! Be sure to drink a lot of water and eat breakfast. I know it sounds cliché, but this step is essential to get your digestive system moving so your stomach has room for more pancakes. No time for rookie mistakes!
Step 3: The adventure. Its go time. Open your phone to this article, and get ready to embark on a citywide adventure to try some of New York’s best pancakes!
Here is your guide. Note: this is not a ranking as the list follows no specific order.
1. Clinton St. Baking Company
If you choose to start your day at Clinton Street Baking Company, you're already winning. Chocolate lovers–the chocolate chunk is your match made in heaven. Look no further than these hot and fluffy pancakes loaded with gooey, melted chocolate and topped with, you guessed it, even more chocolate. They're like oozing chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven and we haven't even gotten to the maple butter yet!
Is chocolate not your thing? No worries! Clinton Street makes some of the best blueberry pancakes I've ever had. In addition to being fluffy, moist and flavorful, these pancakes also contain fresh fruit so you can be a skinny legend or whatever.
Feel like going bananas for National Pancake Day? Then you'll love the banana-walnut. Grab a stack of these hot, nutty and delicious cakes for a taste reminiscent of homemade banana bread.
The beautiful thing about Clinton Street Baking Company is that there's no wrong choice, especially if you drown your pancakes in their signature maple butter, with hints of caramel and butterscotch.
Clinton Street Baking Company and I are like-minded in our belief that one calendar day doesn't do our favorite breakfast food justice. Luckily, Clinton Street Baking Company gives pancakes an extra 28 days of celebration by recognizing February as Pancake Month, and launching limited time, innovative flavors every day of the month. Be sure to stop by on weekdays for Breakfast for Dinner to enjoy all of the customer-favorite brunch items without having to deal with three hour weekend lines and your brunch squad's hangry-ness.
#SpoonTip: Brunch line too long at Clinton Street Baking Company? Head over to Community Food and Juice, also owned by Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman, for the same classic pancake selection.
2. Sunday in Brooklyn
Like the infamous orange tiles of 2017 and the video of T-Pain being hit by a beach ball, these pancakes have taken millennial Instagram feeds by storm. However, unlike Fyre Fest and the second half of Bartender by T-Pain, these pancakes actually delivered.
If these hazelnut maple praline pancakes had a superpower, it would be captivating the attention of everyone within a 50-foot radius. Eyes widened, jaws dropped and heads turned toward the server carrying a heap of pancakes the size of the national debt smothered in some kind of magical sauce.
I can confirm the sauce is magical. The trick: chefs roast fresh hazelnuts, blend them into a chunky nut butter and mix them with maple syrup to create a heavenly sauce which coats the pancakes. As for the pancakes, there's one key ingredient which makes them fluffy enough to take a nap on–buttermilk. Buttermilk sets these pancakes over the edge and allows the texture to be light and fluffy while another key ingredient, malt powder, adds a nutty taste to complement the syrup.
Enjoy now, nap later–order a stack of these pancakes for the table!
3. Big Daddy's
Rapper Post Malone named Big Daddy's NYC one of his favorite New York restaurants and I can certainly see why. Their whimsical and innovative pancake flavors combined with the restaurant's retro 1950's diner ambiance makes Big Daddy's the perfect spot for post-concert eats, late night grub or a fun night out with friends.
In addition to their iconic chocolate chip cookie dough pancakes, Big Daddy's will be serving up pancakes and milkshakes inspired by their March flavor of the month, Lucky Charms, on National Pancake Day. Be sure to take advantage of this March deal–when else will you come across a hybrid of two of your favorite childhood breakfast foods in one?
4. Bubby's
Life is full of hard decisions such as which college to attend, career path to follow or flavor of pancakes to order at brunch. Fortunately, this isn't one of them. Bubby's pancake flight is the perfect trifecta: three light and fluffy golden brown pancakes topped with blueberries, caramelized bananas with toasted walnuts and Nutella with mixed berries and whipped cream.
#SpoonTip: Head to Bubby's Chelsea location, directly across from the Highline. Take a casual post-meal stroll on the Highline for scenic views of New York, fun pictures and burning off those excess calories.
5. Le Barricou
Le Barricou certainly doesn't slack on the "cake" part of the pancake. In fact, their pancakes take 40 minutes to oven-bake before they are whisked out into the bustling brunch scene. After what feels like 40 years passes (I swear trends emerged and died within the time period I ordered), these massive golden brown pancakes come flying out of the kitchen topped with a heap of freshly whipped strawberry butter, scattered mixed berries and sprinkled powdered sugar.
Being 5’1 and coming face to face with these absolute unit pancakes was an interesting proposition–I wasn't even sure how to go about conquering them. Do you slice them like a cake? Do you cut them into bite-sized pieces? Do you need to pick them up with a crane? Do you just stick a fork in the whole thing and go for it? I watched many seasons of Survivor on CBS but nothing prepared me to devise a strategy with this time crunch. Suddenly, innovation hit me and I knew how to pack the perfect bite.
Friends, family and fellow readers, I present "the move:" cut a piece of pancake, spread strawberry butter on the surface, place a strawberry or blueberry on top and pour a little syrup on it. This method is clean, gives you all of the flavors in a single bite and has a 100% success rate. Bonus: no strawberry butter is left behind (you seriously won't want to waste a drop).
The exterior texture is similar to that of a fried donut, offering the perfect crisp to complement the thick, fluffy and pillow-like interior which immediately melts in your mouth. They are definitely more filling than your typical pancake, but also offer a more complex flavor profile which sets them over the edge. The best part is easily the strawberry butter which somehow defies all rules of gravity by remarkably sinking through each layer of pancake. Ultimately, it's the hint of strawberry butter that makes these pancakes worth the 40-minute wait and keeps customers pouring through the doors of this trendy neighborhood bistro.
#SpoonTip: The strawberry butter melts very fast, so don't spend too much time taking Instagram pictures or marveling at these state-of-the-art pancakes, or you'll miss out.
6. Aunt Jake's
Just as Hannah Montana lives her "Best of Both Worlds," any carboholic can live theirs at Aunt Jake's with handmade pasta and lemon-ricotta pancakes! While their pasta is certainly phenomenal (I couldn't recommend the pesto enough), we're here for the pancakes, and they do not disappoint!
Aunt Jake's serves their lemon ricotta pancakes hot, fluffy and bursting with flavor. Topped with whipped mascarpone, mixed berries, powdered sugar and of course, maple syrup, the pancakes' many flavors create the perfect bite. Eat slowly and take it all in. These may just be one of the best stacks of pancakes you've had in your entire life–I know they're near the top of my list.
7. Chez Ma Tante
The Infatuation is confident that these are the best pancakes in Brooklyn, a very bold, but valid claim. So what gives Chez Ma Tante the edge? Frying their pancakes in a cast iron skillet. This technique gives the pancakes the perfect exterior char and crunch to accompany the fluffy and moist interior. The butter and maple syrup seep into the pancakes beautifully, creating a depth of flavor beyond words. Check out their location in Greenpoint to see what I'm talking about.
8. Mom's Kitchen and Bar
Mom's understands that a few weekend hours don't do brunch the justice it deserves, which is why they celebrate it all day, everyday. If you like your pancakes fluffy, fruity and whimsical, stop by and try a stack of Bedrock pancakes–you won't regret it!
#SpoonTip: Live today, diet tomorrow. Get the most out of your experience and pair your pancakes with a crazy freakshake from Mom's.
9. Due West
Maybe you don't like your pancakes tacky or oversized. Maybe you're craving something a little more classic with a refined modern touch. If this is you, you'll love Due West. Due West nails the consistency of their pancakes, making them extra fluffy. Topped with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit and even whipped ricotta, these hot-cakes are the textbook definition of decadent.
10. Good Enough to Eat
Tucked in the corner of 85th and Columbus, Good Enough to Eat is killing the brunch scene with their iconic pancakes made from scratch with locally sourced ingredients. From banana walnut to Belgian chocolate with toasted coconut, Good Enough to Eat has a flavor for every astrological sign, Mario Kart driver or whatever else dictates your personality.
Eating brunch here carries a similar warm feeling to eating a meal at grandma's house. I'm a strong believer in table pancakes, or ordering a bunch of different flavors to share as a table, but you can also never go wrong with a stack of classic pancakes and the insane strawberry butter (if you couldn't tell, I'm a big fan).
Can't hit all of these places in one day? I don't blame you, it's quite the adventure. Be sure to come back to the city on a weekend with friends and family to try the ones you missed!
Also, since pancakes are so important and IHOP is on a completely different wavelength, there are TWO national pancake days! Stop by your local IHOP on March 12th, 2019 for "Pancake Day" for a free short stack of Original Buttermilk pancakes because food tastes better when it's free.