The Century Village Museum, located in Burton, Ohio is an authentic representation of a Western Reserve Village from 1798 to the turn of the 19th century. It’s also the host of a fantastic pancake breakfast. In addition, they offer free tours of the Maple Museum on Pancake Sundays. The museum and store just reopened a couple of days ago (March 15) after being closed for renovations.
The Century Village Museum is located just off of Burton Square. My GPS directed me to the parking lot off of Park Street. I knew how popular this pancake breakfast is and just how small the parking lot is, so I took advantage of St. Patrick’s Day to ensure I could avoid the crowds, who I knew would be either at the parade downtown or at one of the many bars and restaurants serving green beer, kegs and eggs and corned beef. Anyone who knows me know I am not a fan of corned beef. This seemed like the perfect way to spend the morning/afternoon. I woke up at 10 am and headed out shortly after 11. The drive was gray and cloudy, and it started to sleet and then snow. I seriously questioned my decision, but in the end I am so glad I decided to brave the weather this morning. It was totally worth it!
The pancake breakfast is served every Sunday in March from 9 am to 2 pm. They also have signs directing cars through a drive-thru. I got there shortly after noon and had to drive around the small parking lot until someone left. I felt lucky to get a spot. Other people parked on the square, crossed the road, and walked a bit. By the time I left (probably at around 12:30 or so) there were some spaces open. I am also happy that I am walking better now, because it was a bit of a walk to the Bond Building, where the pancakes are served. I followed the signs, and because there was no line I had to ask someone at the door where to go. They have a cordoned off line along the inside of the building to the right. I followed the cordoned area down to the ladies sitting at the cashier’s table and handed over my money. They also take debit and credit cards.
The cost for the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast is $10 for adults and $6 for kids aged 6-12. The meal includes all you can eat pancakes (buttermilk, blueberry and apple – and they also had gluten free pancakes!!!), 2 sausage links, scrambled eggs, milk, orange juice and apple sauce. I also purchased extra sausage links for $1 each and extra orange juice for $1 (it said $0.75 on the sign, but they probably rounded it up to avoid dealing with quarters). Extra milk and water was also $1 each. I was glad I ordered the extra sausage and orange juice, because the sausage was fantastic. I didn’t remember about the milk and apple sauce being included in the price. Oh well, next time.
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I grabbed a tray with a plate and plastic ware and grabbed my orange juices (and probably should have grabbed a container of apple sauce and container of milk). When I got to the serving window they had steamer trays filled with pancakes, eggs and sausage. I chose to get one of each pancake, asked for another half-scoop of scrambled eggs and ended up with four sausage links.
After I left the window, a nice gentleman asked if he could “buy me a cup of coffee” and poured me a cup from the urn. He made me smile. They also had hot water and decaf coffee. I grabbed some sugar and creamer and headed into the seating area to find a seat. The table had jugs of real maple syrup and bowls of individual butters and salt and pepper packets. They also had paddles to hold up high if you needed more pancakes or more coffee. I got a refill on my coffee, and the thermos of coffee was nice and hot.
The coffee was quite good – and strong, which was appreciated. The orange juice hit the spot (and wasn’t still frozen like at West Geauga). As for the food, it was fantastic! The scrambled eggs were just how I like them, and the sausage links were also outstanding. The pancakes themselves were fantastic – even the buttermilk, but the star of the show was definitely the apple pancakes!! These are definitely my favorite pancakes at any pancake breakfast so far. The smell was divine, and the taste was even better. The apple pancakes had a nice amount of cinnamon and were delicious.
I finished the eggs and ate half of the pancakes and sausage on my plate. I moved the pile away from the puddle of maple syrup on the plate and carefully carried my plate of pancakes and sausage to my car.
I plan to run through the drive-thru next week after the Burton Fire Department’s pancake breakfast and get all apple pancakes for later in the day. And I will probably start making apple and cinnamon pancakes at home, because they were a revelation.
Contact info:
Century Village Museum
4653 E Park Street
Burton, OH 44021
(440) 834-1492
bottles. They have hot water, regular coffee and decaf coffee equipped with those bad boys. I think that is pretty ingenious.
my other friends opted to go to the Fire Station for their all you can eat breakfast featuring regular, blueberry and buckwheat pancakes. I’ll try it next year.
while I parked down and across the street from the high school lot, which was jam-packed with cars. I drove through the entire lot and not a single spot was free. I had an inkling this would not be a quick breakfast like the last two pancake breakfasts were. We queued up once we walked in and wound our way up the stairs and through the hallways of the school. They had pins for the visitors to mark where they came from. There was a board for Geauga County residents as well as one of Ohio. One pin was from Toledo, while several others were from Pennsylvania.
cardboard piece with a number (#1 for Western, #2 for ham and cheese, and #3 for veggie – peppers, onion, mushrooms and cheese) and handed the print-out to the person at the door to the cafeteria serving area. We wound our way through that area, grabbing a tray and silverware and collecting our pancakes and sausage patties, choice of milk (regular or chocolate) and orange juice. They then assigned us a table and whisked away our trays before we even had a chance to sit down. The omelets were quickly brought to our tables, and we handed them the colored cardboard.
kept serving more pancakes and sausage until we couldn’t eat any more. The woman overseeing our table whisked my plate full of leftovers away (I had stacked my plates together) and brought it back in a to-go box. I had half an omelet and four sausage patties left. I hadn’t asked for any more pancakes or sausage, but did ask for more coffee and butter as we sat down since our table was running low. Once we were finished they cleaned our plates and detritus away. Once someone left the table they were immediately there wiping the spots down and putting a placemat down for the next group of diners. When we left at noon the line had died down considerably. However, as we learned from one of our fellow 
diners if you go a little later you may find they have run out of something – in their case a few years ago pancakes. They serve from 8:00 am – 1:30 pm.
there). You pay when you walk in and walk past a table full of Goodell Family Farm products. The gentleman at the end then finds a seat for you and your party. We were seated with another older married couple, which was a little awkward. I had already blown past them getting off the turnpike, so I wasn’t too thrilled to be seated with them. Then to add to the awkward they sat next to each other, so we then also had to sit next to each other. As their penance they had to hear my girlfriend and I talk about our lives and high five each other several times.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 