One of the breakfast we visited while we were enjoying our short vacation in NH was Polly’s Pancake Parlor. They had high ratings and interesting menu. It was a bit of driving from where we were staying, but we do travel for food!

They have a good size parking lot, but even then, it seems to fill up really fast. If you need a handicap parking spot, they have that right by the entrance.

There is a nice waiting area outside, and there is a cute little wooden red horse sitting there. His name is Trot Trot, and the original Trot Trot was put in place a long ago by one of the restaurant owners. He wanted something for people, especially children to do while waiting for a table. This one is their third Trot Trot. What a sweet and fun idea!

 

The restaurant comes with a great view of greenery and very refreshing. There is a smaller house right next to it, I wonder if that used to be the original Polly’s Pancake restaurant? There was a super cute bird house right in front of it. It says “Polly’s Pancake Parlor Annex for Birds Only. NO squirrels, pussycats, raccoons, or small boys” I think… I am not sure about the small “boys” part, it was hard to make out what it really said…regardless, it was funny!

 

The entrance opens up to a store, and with hostess station to the right. The restaurant is behind the hostess station. They do not take reservation, and they are famous for a long wait… What you can do is to call ahead, before you leave your home. They can put your name down on the wait list, and that will shorten your wait time.

 

The store has so many merchandises, from toys, t-shirts, hats, cards…anything and everything you can think of. It is a fun place to browse around while waiting for a table.

 

They had a few antique items in a glass cases as well. These are only for show, not for sale. The small doll house was very intricate and fun to see. They were made by the family members of Polly’s from generations ago.

If you get hungry while waiting, you can get a little snacks here as well. How about some Maple Bacon Biscuits? We didn’t want to get filled up before our breakfast, so we patiently waited…

After you taste their pancakes and you know you love them, you can buy the pancake batter here. And of course, pure maple syrup from New Hampshire. I like how it says “Pure as the Mountain Air.”

We were excited when our table was finally ready. The dining area is a pretty big area, with lots of seating. The walls had a window from the front to the back, bring in lots of natural light. The walls and floor were heavy in wood, including the furniture. It felt like a big wood cabin.

 

They had antique-looking tools and memorabilia on the wall everywhere. It was fun to look around. Their kitchen is to the left of dining area, and you can see them making pancakes and other goodies. I always think that the open kitchen makes them more honest, so I really like that.

 

We didn’t get a table by the window, but if you do, you are in luck for a beautiful view. It didn’t really come out in these pictures, but you can see the amazing scenery, colored with green mountains and blue sky.

As we sat down, I found a cute red maple leaf place mats. Very fitting with their logo. They have special menu of the day, including entrée, pancake. coffee and more. We went with their Café du Jour, which was Mudslide Coffee ($2.29) on this day and came with one free refills. It was…well, just ok. It smelled good, but tasted like a slightly sweetened coffee.

Speaking of maple leaf, they are serious about their maple. They had a tray of condiments, and it contained basic stuff like milk, sugar, butter, maple syrup…

And then there were maple pepper, maple sugar, and maple butter too! This might not be a Grace Land, but it sure was a Maple Land. I was going to enjoy using the maple butter on the pancakes…

 

They are famous for, of course, pancakes. They make their pancake from scratch, and offer several different flavors and combination of pancakes. They have been serving pancakes and home cooked meals for over 75 years. Pretty Impressive. We each ordered Polly’s Sampler Combo ($11.99) which comes with 6 pancakes and a choice of sausage, bacon, or ham. We both chose sausage.

I really liked this combo, it comes with wonderful option! We get up to three kinds of pancake batter, and then up to three kinds of add-ins. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you like.  We wanted to try as many kinds as possible, so we chose three different batters and three add-ins.

 

The sausage also comes in two, which I didn’t realize until I started eating them. They were thin but tasty. Nothing amazing, but comforting.

As for pancakes, one of each kinds we ordered came with the sausages. They don’t make all six pancakes at the same time, so that you can enjoy freshly made, hot pancakes. How awesome is that? Another cool thing is that your server make your pancakes! Since the sampler order can become a bit complicated, they figured out that the best way to keep the orders straight is to have the servers make them. Cleaver but it does take some time away from the servers to do other jobs. It is still very interesting. Our server came to check on us to see when to start the second batch. Here are the second set of pancakes.

You can cascade them or stack them, however you like and dig in! I enjoyed the maple butter and maple syrup drizzled on them.

So, what exactly did we order? I got Oatmeal Buttermilk batter with Walnut, Cornmeal batter with Chocolate Chip, and Gingerbread batter with special add-ins of the day, Butterscotch. My husband got Cornmeal batter with Coconut, Gingerbread batter with Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal Buttermilk batter with blueberries. You can see how complicated some orders can become…

What I learned is that the add-ins usually go to the bottom of the pancakes. Which is ok, as the pancakes are rather small and thin, so you still get the add-ins in every bite. The first photo is the Cornmeal batter with Chocolate Chip, and the second photo is the Gingerbread batter with Butterscotch. You can see the chocolate chips and butter scotch on the bottom, pancakes are flipped upside down for the photo.

 

All the pancakes were pretty good, generous amount of add-ins in each pancakes. I liked the chocolate chips and blueberries. The cornmeal batter was pretty tasty, and oatmeal buttermilk batter was satisfying.

 

Gingerbread batter was nice, had a good amount of spice to it. The butterscotch went well with it in my opinion. I liked the combination of cinnamon and sweetness from butterscotch. The coconut add-ins were nice too, good amount of shredded coconut meat, and this was mixed well with the batter, so it didn’t all sink to the bottom like the other add-ins.

 

The second batch of my gingerbread batter came with chocolate chips instead of butterscotch. Once we were able to grab our server, she went back to the kitchen and made another pancake with the correct add-ins. So, we got one extra pancake for free… She was not very apologetic at first, but she did correct the issue quickly and she did make apologetic gesture at the end.

Their bathroom is in the front store section, all the way across from the hostess station. The doors are in bright orange-red color, so they are easy to spot.

The inside was an ok size, not too big but not too small. Simple design, reminded me of movie theater or office bathroom (without vivid color).

We had a good breakfast here, it was fun, tasty, and interesting. It is good to be able to taste so many different flavors of pancakes, instead of committing to just one kind. The pancakes were small so that you won’t get too full after having the first three of them. I really liked how they make the second sets of three when you are finishing up with the fist three. We loved having a hot pancakes right off the grill. If you are in the area and if you love pancakes, give this place a try. I do truly recommend you to call ahead, so that you don’t have to wait too long.

 

Polly’s Pancake Parlor – 672 NH-117, Sugar Hill, NH 03586