OMAHA'S BEST PANCAKES
Pancakes might not seem like the most technically difficult breakfast food to create, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about diving into a stack of enormous, fluffy flapjacks. And while one might think most pancakes are pretty similar, this man’s trek through Omaha’s pancake scene begs to differ.
I’m obsessed with pancakes and made it my mission to find the best pancakes in Omaha. I had but two rules:
- I reached out to each restaurant owner/chef and asked them what their signature pancake was, then I ordered that version.
- I had to test them without syrup first to get the taste of the cake itself.
They were then rated on four factors:
- Flavor: What did the pancake taste like? How did the toppings interact with the cake itself?
- Texture: How tender and fluffy was the pancake?
- Size: How large was the pancake, or how tall was the stack?
- Craveability: Which pancakes did I want to go back and immediately get more? Which ones stayed in my mind for several days after consuming them?
Of course, this is just one man’s opinion. But here is my ranking of the best pancakes in Omaha.
BEST PANCAKES IN OMAHA
1. Saddle Creek Breakfast Club—Banana Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 9.7
Saddle Creek Breakfast Club‘s take on pancakes is easily the most unique I encountered. The cakes themselves have a fascinating texture; they’re cooked to achieve a nice crispiness on the outside, but the middle is a little looser than most, producing a slightly creamy consistency that’s really enjoyable. On their own, these cakes would be incredible.
But SCBC’s innovation is ultimately what helps it claim the top spot. The pancakes are topped with a smooth, creamy peanut butter whip that combines the sweet, nutty flavor of peanut butter with the milky, vanilla taste of whipped cream. Slices of fresh banana add sweetness, while chopped peanuts bring crunch and texture.
2. Dirty Birds—Chicken & Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 9.6
Dirty Birds is best known for its fried chicken, and these pancakes come with two of their crunchy, moist-on-the-inside sweet tea chicken tenders. Those are delicious, but for my purposes, I’m judging on the cakes alone.
The cakes are thick and fluffy with cloud-like insides that dutifully soak up syrup. Cooked on a flattop, they have solid, crisp edges, and they’re stuffed with blackberries and chunks of brie cheese, which gives them bursts of tartness and a buttery creaminess.
But the kicker is the syrup these pancakes are served with. The sassafras syrup introduces notes of vanilla and cinnamon to the sugar, giving the syrup root beer vibes. It’s a delicious concoction that soaks into every crevice of the cakes and ensures every bite is a blast of flavor.
3. Good Lookin'—Ricotta Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 9.5
Good Lookin’ folds ricotta cheese into its batter, adding a brilliant creaminess to the cake’s bouncy, fluffy interior. The pancakes are also pan fried in butter, giving them awesome crispy edges and exteriors. The texture contrast is surprising and very pleasing.
The ricotta introduces a rich, creamy tang to balance the sugar in the batter, giving the pancakes tremendous flavor. You don’t need an ounce of butter or syrup to lose yourself in these pancakes. But Good Lookin’ provides a cinnamon butter, allowing you to add a cinnamon roll vibe to bites of your pancake. That, along with the high quality maple syrup, allow you to create an individual experience with every bite.
4. Lemon Tree Cafe—Blueberry Lemon Curd Cakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 9.4
The consistency of the cakes at Lemon Tree Cafe is unlike any other I found in Omaha. The pancakes are so soft and moist, yet also have a flaky, crumbly quality that’s difficult to describe, yet very addicting. The exterior has those awesome crunchy bits you get from the flattop.
The pancakes are loaded with plump, fresh blueberries that offer brilliant pops of tartness. The strongest flavor comes from the lemon curd, a tangy, silky, creamy condiment that’s almost as luscious as custard but slightly lighter. Even for someone who doesn’t usually love lemon flavor, it balances the sweetness of the pancakes brilliantly.
5. Harold's Koffee House—Fluffy Cakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 9.2
Appropriately named, the cakes at Harold’s Koffee House maintain a fluffy consistency despite being some of the thickest in Omaha. The batter has less moisture, producing a sturdy pancake that takes about 5 minutes to cook per side.
But the wait is well worth it. The inside is cakey and moist while the outer edges of the cakes are crispy. The pancakes are sweet enough to eat without a drop of syrup and large enough to serve as a parachute if needed.
6. Lisa's Radial Cafe—Killer Cakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 8.9
It’s the consistency of the pancakes at Lisa’s Radial Cafe that truly makes them stand out. While many pancakes are thick and fluffy, these are a bit more dense and with good chew, almost similar to the crumb of cornbread. These cakes have a firmer bite while still maintaining their excellent texture.
These pancakes are the size of UFOs and achieve crispy, craggly edges for additional texture on the outside. The flavor is sweet and buttery, though it’s not quite as explosive as the earlier entries on this list.
7. Early Bird—#16 Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 8.5
No syrup is necessary for these airy, borderline buoyant beauties at Early Bird; they have a wonderful balance in flavor already. The lemon glaze is rather tart and tangy, but it’s offset by the sweetness of the pancake itself and the drizzle of rich, buttery cream cheese icing. The blueberries, which are both inside and on top of the cakes, add fresh, tart pops.
The cakes are pretty moist, more cake-y than most, but they’re very light and fluffy with a good porous, airy consistency and a nice buttery backdrop. What ties everything together is the streusel topping; this sweet, crumbly mixture has a buttery undertone and just the right amount of crunch to provide some textural contrast to an otherwise soft plate.
8. Homegrown—Classic Buttermilk Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 8.5
The texture is the shining star of HomeGrown’s pancakes, as they have a delightfully fluffy, light consistency with moist insides and a good chew. The texture is a bit one-note; a few more seconds on the griddle would give them a bit more crust, but that’s a minor complaint. I also loved how each was its own unique size and shape; you can tell these are being formed and cooked by an individual, not a machine or automated system.
The flavor is sweet, but with enough tang from the buttermilk to avoid being too sugar-forward. The provided syrup is excellent and bumps up the sweetness.
9. Shirley's Diner—Buttermilk Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 8.4
Shirley’s Diner‘s pancakes are more dense and cake-like than most on this list, so if you want a filling, stick-to-your-ribs stack of cakes, this one is calling your name. But I enjoyed the changeup in consistency, especially with the crispy outer shell.
The cakes had a sweet, buttery flavor and, though they were a bit dry without syrup, don’t need the sugary condiment to be enjoyed. These can be ordered in stacks of 2 or 3; if your stomach can handle it, opt for the latter. Your taste buds will thank you for it.
10. Good Evans—Buttermilk Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 8.3
Good Evans‘ pancakes are quite thin but still have a pleasant fluffy, tender consistency (even if they’re a touch dry). The bouncy texture makes them pleasant to chew, but their thin nature doesn’t allow them to soak up syrup well.
Fortunately, that’s not a big issue because these pancakes taste great on their own. What really stands out is just how buttery and rich they taste, with just a slight tang from the buttermilk. Just a touch more sweetness would move these up a couple spots in the rankings.
And to get three plate-filling cakes for $10 is just a steal.
11. The Special Restaurant—Pancake Stack
Flavor: 🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐
Overall: 7.8
“Fluffy” doesn’t even begin to describe the light, feathery consistency of these cakes. They’re thick and have great structure. Though the pancakes are relatively dry without syrup, their large pores and tender crumb allow them to soak up syrup like a boss.
The flavor of the cakes on their own is mild and sweet with a vanilla touch. A little more buttermilk and sugar would’ve given the flavor that extra pop to match the standout texture.
12. Vidlak's Cafe—Buttermilk Pancake
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐
Overall: 7.8
The Buttermilk Pancakes at Vidlak’s Cafe are delicious as they are simple. They’re the size of frisbees, and they have a soft, pillowy interior that’s happy to drink up any syrup you pour onto them. These pancakes are a bit flat, but they still have a bouncy, tender consistency. There’s nothing crazy chef-y about them; they’re just feel-good cakes.
13. Le Peep—Lemon Ricotta Blue Cakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 7.5
Le Peep was not messing around when it named these pancakes. All parts of the name are prominently featured, as the cakes are loaded with juicy, tart blueberries, and the lemon glaze (served on the side) has an acidic bite to complement its sugar content.
And there are literally lakes of ricotta cheese, which add a luscious, creamy consistency and a good amount of tang. The amount of ricotta threw things out of balance a bit, as some bites were full of cheese, an odd sensation with a pancake. But the cakes themselves were delicious; light, fluffy, and with a tender mouthfeel. The lack of balance between that wonderful cake and the amount of cheese knocked Le Peep down a few pegs on the list.
14. Lola's Cafe—Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 7.1
The base flavor of Lola’s pancakes is very unique, as sourdough starter gives the pancakes a slightly tangy, complex flavor. They have the sweetness that one expects from pancakes, but also a touch of sour. The rich sweetness of the real maple syrup and creamy butter helps quite a bit.
Unfortunately, the pancakes are quite flat and don’t have a lot of structure. The blueberries are small and there aren’t many of them, but they’re fresh and add good flavor.
15. Nite Hawkes Cafe—Full Stack
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐
Overall: 7.1
To get a stack of 3 giant, homemade pancakes for $6.50 is a steal, and the welcoming atmosphere at Nite Hawkes Cafe immediately draws you in. The pancakes have decent size and good flavor, and they absorb syrup like its their job. However, they aren’t as thick or fluffy as most, and Nite Hawkes serves them a little darker than I’d prefer.
16. Time to Rise & Shine—Churro Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: 7.0
In terms of creativity, these pancakes are near the top of the list. Time to Rise & Shine uses a special churro/pancake batter, infusing each bite with a sweet hit of cinnamon. The trio is drizzled with a sticky, sugar-y caramel sauce and topped with cinnamon sugar, giving it nice crunchy bites to complement the soft cakes.
The pancakes are a bit dense, but the main issue is how dry they are. Adding syrup would help alleviate this problem, but at that point you’re nearing a sugar overload. The creativity and concept is great, but the execution doesn’t quite match.
17. AJ's Cafe—Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐⭐
Overall: 6.9
The consistency of the pancakes at AJ’s is like that of a cloud—there are large air pockets inside that vacuum up syrup, allowing the sweet condiment to meld with the light, buttery flavor of the cakes. They’re tender, though they are a bit dry and lack much flavor without syrup. But slather them in butter and maple syrup and you have a delightful pair of cakes.
18. Cafe Diem—Buttermilk Pancakes
Flavor: 🤤🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐
Overall: 6.5
These cakes are airy and light, with a tender consistency and a very soft mouthfeel. They lack the texture on the edges from griddling and have pretty much the same consistency throughout. They’re pretty light in flavor on their own, with slight hints of butter and sweetness, but they need syrup.
The vibes at Cafe Diem are immaculate and the price for a stack of 3 ($6.49) is terrific. There’s nothing wrong with these pancakes, but they’re not particularly memorable.
19. Billy's Cafe—Blueberry Short Stack
Flavor: 🤤
Texture: 🥞🥞
Size: 🍴🍴🍴
Craveability: ⭐
Overall: 5.5
Credit to Billy’s for absolutely loading their cakes. There’s no skimping here; there are tiny blueberries in every centimeter of this pancake. It’s impossible to avoid a bite without one, and I appreciate them delivering on the menu’s promise.
However, there isn’t much else that makes these special. There’s a touch of sweetness in the batter, but the cakes are pretty bland and flat, and even the blueberries were more sour than they were tart/sweet. I would 100% go to Billy’s again for the excellent hospitality and customer service, but probably not for the pancakes specifically.