The Original Pancake House | Facebook | IG: @ophcentralohio
715 Worthington Rd. (map it!)
Westerville, OH 43082
(614) 948-6200
Open Mon-Fri, 7a-2:30p; Sat-Sun, 7a-3p
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/Y
Kid-friendly? Y
Based out of Portland, Oregon, The Original Pancake House now has two locally owned locations here in Columbus. The first opened back in 2017 in Upper Arlington, and this newer one, opening in late 2020, snagged a corner of Polaris Parkway on the Westerville side of things.
This newer location is big and open, with tall ceilings and lots of glass walls for natural light. Aside from the large dining room, there’s a long counter that partly looks into the kitchen, plus a small window up front for carryout orders.
Beverages are generally on point, from good coffee in specially made mugs and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Pancakes are obviously a big feature on the menu, but it spans much more than that: eggs benedicts, corned beef hash, omelets, crepes, waffles, even plates of just bacon and eggs.
The pricing on some of OPH’s menu is a little higher than other breakfast joints, but generally we’ve found that the portions are larger as well. We easily got two meals out of each of our dishes.
The pancakes, of course, are all solidly done. You can’t call yourself the Original Pancake House and not be good at pancakes. They offer classic buttermilk pancakes, but also blueberry, chocolate chip, banana, pecan, buckeye, strawberry, plus seasonals like pumpkin. And gluten free versions are available, too.
There are also a couple fun varieties like plate-sized 49er flapjacks and Three Little Bigs in a Blanket: pancakes wrapped around their house sausage links.
One of my favorites – and a bit of a personal specialty – is the Dutch baby, a big, puffed up pancake that’s baked in the oven. When it arrives, they mix up the topping – butter, lemon juice, and powdered sugar – table-side.
Lots of other specialties we’ve tried and enjoyed (clockwise from top left): the apple pancake with Granny Smiths and a cinnamon glaze, the cherry kijifa crepes with rich and tangy cherries, the corned beef hash with potato pancakes, the chorizo omelet.
Kudos to their eggs benedicts as well. They offer a classic benedict, a veggie with spinach and tomatoes, an Irish version with a slightly onion-heavy corned beef hash, and my personal favorite, the chorizo. All served with a huge side of hash browns.
Let me finish with a quick word on hash browns: they’re better than home fries. Dr. Breakfast says so. The texture is better, and they’re more useful for mixing with soft egg yolks or hollandaise. And you’ll get plenty of them at the Original Pancake House!
