Most pancake breakfasts are served on Sunday mornings in March when the maple trees are being tapped and the sap is flowing, although a couple run into mid-April. If you look you can find several maple syrup making events. Geauga County is known for its maple syrup, and the pancake breakfasts in the area serve genuine Geauga County maple syrup, freshly tapped and boiled. This pancake breakfast has their maple syrup in water pitchers.
I first attended the Pancake Breakfast in Parkman with my old neighbors from Solon in 2017. I met them at their place, and we drove out 422 to Parkman. I always love driving across LaDue Reservoir. It always brings me peace. Anyway, the patriarch and I somehow got turned around and drove in a circle for a few extra miles. I hadn’t realized how easy it was to find from 422. It’s a straight shot on 422, just past the Welshfield Inn. The Community House was built in 1863 as a cheese factory. It’s currently the social hub of this tiny town. We stood in line and got seated quickly along the large serpentine table. The table was built to allow the servers to easily walk back and forth and wait on the visitors requesting more sausage, more pancakes, more coffee, more milk, etc. That was pre-Covid.
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This year was the first time back in two years, and it has made some changes. They offered takeout in lines in the parking lot. There is no more serpentine table; they are socially distanced dining tables instead. There are still plenty of all-you-can-eat buttermilk pancakes and sausage from Charlanne Farms and several beverages to choose from. They still use real dishes and flatware, which is a nice change after having to eat off styrofoam at fish fries and other pancake breakfasts. Still the same great maple syrup in drinking pitchers (we finished that pitcher among the 7 of us). And the water was drinkable (it’s been Crystal at Eat*Drink*Cleveland’s biggest complaint)! I would have happily paid extra for orange juice, but the milk hit the spot just as well.
The pancake breakfast runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I arrived there at 12:10. I pulled into a great parking spot right at the entrance and had very little wait time to be seated. They said they had served about 350 meals that day. I handed over my $10 and walked to the door to be seated. I was seated with three couples. We were quickly served plates of pancakes and sausage, and we helped ourselves to the coffee in the thermos and the butter, creamer, sugar and maple syrup on the table.
I was full after finishing my plate, and after drinking a second cup of coffee and having a nice chat with my tablemates I got up at 1 and headed home.
Contact info:
Parkman Community Center
16295 Main Market Road
Parkman, OH 44080
440) 548-2904
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