TOLEDO CITY PAPER: OCTOBER 31, 2002

UNCLE JOHN: defender of the old-style breakfast.

A pancake house where the food’s good, the coffee’s strong and the waitresses are cute and friendly.

Uncle John’s Pancake House is one of Toledo’s greater curiosities: It has done great business for many years while located in the Westgate area.

In the past trying to get into Uncle John’s on a Sunday morning has been challenging. On the Sunday of our visit, however, the gods smiled and granted us a long table. This was fortunate, because I brought along the whole Fan Damily-11 of us-to celebrate my nephew’s birthday. The family visit was a perfect test of Uncle John’s normal working conditions as they are inundated with the “after church” families on Sundays. They handled the challenge capably. This bodes well for them, because our clan’s youngest child, Grace [aka, “amazing Grace,” “Gorgeous Gracie,” “Gracie in the Sky with Diamonds”], is 3 years old and does not suffer fools or delays.

Uncle John’s is owned and operated by Paul Baumann and his son, Bret. The elder Baumann bought the restaurant 32 years ago and has been putting in 12 hour days, seven days a week ever since. Prior to his purchase in the early ‘70s, the Uncle John’s on Secor Road had been part of a nation-wide franchise that died in the ‘60s. Baumann has kept the eatery alive; it is the lone surviving remnant of the original chain.

As one would expect from the name, pancakes reign supreme at Uncle John’s Pancake House. From blueberry, to apple, to buckwheat, to the special “Hawaiian” pancakes, all manner of flapjack are for the ordering. Our crew tried chocolate [$3.69], potato [$4.79] and buckwheat [$3.59]. The chocolate pancakes are of the buttermilk variety and have chocolate chips embedded in them. They’re rich and sweat-good enough to fool my 8-year old niece into thinking she was eating dessert. The pleasant German potato pancakes come served with hot apples and bacon strips. For those requiring fiber for their morning constitutional, the tasty and thick buckwheat pancakes are the ticket.

The eggs Benedict [$5.79] comes with the usual poached eggs over English muffins and thick Canadian bacon covered with hollandaise. Benedict would be pleased that his namesake is being well honored. For the hearty diner looking to get his FDA allotment of cholesterol prior to lunch, the steak and eggs [$6.99] combo satisfies. Likewise, hungry folk might look to the imposing Belgian waffles, accompanied by whipped cream and a choice of toppings. I had mine with strawberries [$3.79]. the crepes-which aren’t on the regular menu-are darn good with the fruit filling of your choice.

The only lukewarm element was the omelets. We ordered three omelets, all of which came out a bit overdone. I attribute this to bum luck at the tail end of a Sunday breakfast rush, because I returned later and got an excellent omelet [$5.79] with said mushroom and Swiss cheese came out light, fluffy and perfectly cooked.

Dinner seems to be a little-known secret at Uncle John’s, but it’s available and dependable. Uncle John’s breakfast, however, stands out. It offers old-style eating where the foods good, the coffee’s strong and the waitresses are cute and friendly. What else do you need?