Hotcakes

I love eating here, they are the best breakfast place ive found in my 42 years. The bread pudding is the best I’ve ever had, pancakes are always the tastiest in the country. I haven’t had anything I didn’t like. «The Best in the country»

Best pancakes, EVER!!! Seriously! I’m not a person who frequently eats pancakes, but when I do it has to be at Hotcakes. The first time I was there I got Chocolate Chip pancakes, or as they call them Candy Pancakes. You know how at most places chocolate chips make the pancakes good? At Hotcakes, they chocolates chips enhance the taste. I’ve been back a few times. On one of my visits I tried some simple, plain pancakes just to make sure it wasn’t the chocolate chips that had me coming back for more. What did I find out? Indeed, the pancakes in their simplest form were amazing!
The service was great and those that worked there are friendly. This is a cash only restaurant so if you mainly pay via plastic be sure to have some bills on you when you visit.

Love the Wilmette scrambler! The waitstaff is always friendly and attentive, and the coffee is nice and hot. They have a lot of savory and sweet items for breakfast and a full lunch menu as well. Specials rotate and are always interesting. I love it here! Very cozy.

Cute little breakfast place in the heart of downtown Wilmette that I’ve gone to since I was a kid. The corned beef hash is a favorite, as is their eggs benedict, and their colorful homemade cupcakes with yummy cream cheese frosting were basically a part of my childhood.

I went here at 1230 on a Sunday — mostly because I was a party of ONE & was told Id have to wait in the line outside of Walker bros BEFORE I was even allowed a number to be called or however they do it. Anyways I am SO glad I came here instead! Small & cozy & was seated Instantly even though it was already quite busy. My food came FAST but it was hot & fresh. I got the Spinach & feta omlette which was AMAZING! Not dry at all which feta can do to eggs! Potatoes on the side were great as well. Staff was friendly & tentative on the refills! I will come back to try the pancakes! ONLY CON: coffee could be a LITTLE STRONGER! Thank you though my service & food was Great!

My parents and I ate at Hotcakes yesterday. We chose this restaurant because we were all craving breakfast at 12:30 and there was a line out the door at Walker Brothers. While other reviews mention this line and invite you to come here instead, I urge you to recognize that a line is a good sign! Our waiter was new and that was initially completely fine by us (everyone at our table has been there), things just became too ridiculous and management (although the restaurant is quite small) did nothing to acknowledge this. The waiter asked my dad four times how he wanted his eggs cooked (the last time being while my mom and I were about a third into our own meals… we waited as long as we could). My dad despises cinnamon and inquired about cinnamon being in the French toast. The waiter assured us there was no cinnamon in the regular (old fashioned) version. After clearly requesting (and reinforcing his disdain multiple times) no cinnamon, a giant plate of cinnamon-​laden French toast appeared… and the eggs my dad ordered did not. The kitchen would not make French toast without cinnamon (um…it’s just eggs and milk, right?). The waiter told my dad three eggs and French toast was way too much food and said he’d bring two instead. Waiting tables 101=just bring people what they order and let them order what they want. When my dad’s food finally came, the toast was multigrain/​wheat. He ordered white. At this point, my mom and I were finished with what were, quite frankly, very «blah» meals anyway. My dad’s plate was not on the table for 30 seconds before the check was smacked onto the table. I said, «OK. The woman who appears to be the owner or at least management has stood at her post (5 feet away) and has seen all of this go down. There is no way your meal is on that bill, dad.» Sure enough it was. We were all too ready to get out of there, so we didn’t make a scene, paid the bill and tipped the waiter 20% (even servers who provide the poorest experience get this as we were all waiting tables at some point in our lives (as mentioned above)). Bottom line – when you’re craving breakfast food in Wilmette, stick with a tried and true establishment, even if there is a line!

Had an early dental appt. the other day and got out of the house w/​o eating breakfast. So after my appointment, I stopped in, it was a Wednesday about 9:30, so pretty easy to swing in for a bite without a wait.
Quickly ordered a special (Chorizo skillet) and dang, not only came out quickly, but it was damn fine. Nice amount of housemade Chorizo, not overly spicey, just nice and in the middle. lots of nice potatoes and not over cheesed! I worked with two waitresses as I think one went on break, both super friendly. Noticed they have Swedish pancakes too… wife will need to come with me next time as well as the kids, we’ll see if we can beat the weekend morning rush!
This is not a huge place, they just moved down the street about 3 – 4 spots as a taco joint is going into their old location.

So glad to have came across this place while driving around. I’ll admit it was a little awkward at first because I went in, saw the cash only sign, and quickly turned around to go to the ATM. Better to find out before ordering though.
After getting my cash, I went back in and placed my order. Got the short stack of their buttermilk pancakes and a corned beef hash skillet with 2 over easy eggs.
Pancakes were great. Smelled great, came with tons of butter, and syrup was already on the table. Best of all. They were super fluffy and just a little chewy… I guess that’s what sets them apart from everyone else, that chewiness.
Corned beef hash was great. Nothing fancy. Just the dog-​food-​style that I grew up on. Nice pieces of browned bits here and there. Maybe just slightly salty.
The over easy eggs were good as well. White on both sides with super runny yolks. Perfection.
All and all, it’s a good place but probably not one i’d go out of my way to try again.

Hot cakes had a wonderful staff, great breakfast hit cakes, and fast service. I had a wonderful experience!

We love an early morning breakfast at Hotcakes. The new location is very comfortable (although not as intimate as the original location down the block).
The Wilmette Scrambler is a delicious and filling mix of eggs, veggies and cheese. The whole wheat hotcakes are the best I’ve had.
The specials menu is always filled with creative seasonal offerings.
The cheesy potatoes are a real treat.
The coffee is served fresh, hot and as much as you want.
But the best part of breakfast at Hotcakes is the warm friendly service from the staff. They always make us feel right at home.

Pretty damned good.
Typical pancake house offerings done much better than most.
I don’t even like pancakes, other than buckwheats at Walker Brothers. Hotcakes’s simple hotcakes come from the griddle smooth and rich with butter in their batter and make me want a second helping. Their house syrup is very mapley. They cook egg dishes in butter, too. Basted eggs come with correctly soft yolks! Breakfast meats are all a cut above, also.
Small, a bit cramped. Heavy golden oak coloured paneling. Charming.
It’s pretty damned good, by golly.
~Peter O.

I will never go back mostly because of the rude owners. Took my elderly parents there for a late breakfast. No air conditioning and it was 90 degrees outside! Funny because we left The Green Bay Café for the same reason. The waitress there said «Go to Hotcakes it’s the same owner and he finally paid to fix the AC there». She was wrong. But we were starving and stayed anyway.
Food was nothing special considering 4 of us spent over $ 50 on breakfast and left hungry. The kicker was paying the bill when we met the owners. My Mom went to pay and was told they only take cash. The woman behind the counter rudely said «Been the way for 20 years!» Really? It’s 2015! And if you are charging that much for food you better put signs everywhere that says you are stuck in the dark ages.
So my Mom said in her sweet old lady voice «Hmmm No air conditioning and no credit cards. Strange place» That is when the man also standing behind the counter who I also believe is the owner looks at me and my wife and rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders and shoot his head making fun of her. He didn’t realize THAT IS MY MOM YOU ARE MAKING FUN OF YOU JERK!!!
Go spend your money with good people who provide good food and good service instead of Hotcakes or The Green Bay Café! They don’t deserve your hard earned money!

Good place for traditional breakfast. Eggs, pancakes, the works. They also offer corn meal pancakes and other Mexican options to change it up a bit. Kid friendly too. My son tried the BLT and seems pretty happy with it.
Service is friendly and fast. Atmosphere is small but cozy (although a little stuffy for the time we were there).
Heads up though. Cash only.

I was visiting from Baltimore. My Sister and Brother in law brought us here on July 4^th for Breakfast. I had the best breakfast I’ve ever had and returned on July 5^th for the second best.

We decide to try this place to avoid the wait at Walker Brothers. We were so happy we did. The food was great and fast. Out server was so friendly. The fresh oj was delicious. We are so happy to have another option for a great breakfast in the area.

We’ve been here a couple of times — the food is pretty good, but the service is spotty (granted, they’re very busy) on weekends and it’s not obvious until the end that the place is cash only. We’ve only dined outside and not actually in the restaurant, but it’s a welcome alternative to Walker Brothers (which has a horrible line, ALWAYS) and Panera Bread (which counts as breakfast, but barely).

People come here for the cornmeal hotcakes. And with good reason. They’re amazing.
At first, it seemed kind of strange putting salsa and sourcream on my «pancake», but once I tried it, it was great.
There are a lot of Mexican-​influenced breakfast items on the menu (such as the hotcake) which makes complete sense as most of the staff is Mexican.
The place is tiny, but we were able to be seated right away on a Sunday morning.

Excellent food! Combinations flavors and dishes like your Gramma made. It is small and tables are close but there is countertop seating too. You have to try it. It’s charming, great service & really good food @ reasonable $$.

Place does NOT accept credit/​debit cards.
They didn’t tell us this until after we were done with our meals.
The place itself was small and had a very home like feel. They have good specials and good food and friendly staff. I went around noon for lunch and it was busy but we still got our food in good time.
There was nothing really special that stuck out other than the environment of the small restaurant.

Despite living nearby for years, I never wandered into Hotcakes until recently and I’m so upset at all I have missed out on! I love breakfast food and I haven’t been disappointed in either of my two visits. On my most recent trip, last Sunday, I had one of their specials — a Mediterranean omelette with tomato, fresh basil and feta. It was awesome! I tried a bite of my friend’s tamale corn flapjacks and they were great, too.
While they have a lunch menu, too, I’m sticking with breakfast when I go there. Although I have to admit I was tempted by some of the items on the specials board, like a Turkey Club. Makes me hungry now just to think about it.