When you knuckle down for a hearty breakfast in Austin, there’s no place better to do so than in a breakfast place that serves some of the best pancakes. As a visitor to the city, it’s clear that you’ll want to sample the breakfast tacos, but don’t neglect the best pancakes in Austin!
In Austin, there are pancakes to suit every visitor and a whole bunch of locals too! From regular sweet pancakes to gluten-free savories, there are spots in Austin that you’ll want to remember on your next visit to Texas.
So, let’s look at some of the best places for pancakes in Austin.
Counter Cafe
The two Counter Cafe branches located on East 6th St. and West 29th St. exclusively offer delicious buttermilk pancakes. A wide variety of toppings are available, making these tasty pancakes a big hit across Austin.
You’ll be offered an option of either the cafe’s signature plate-sized hot cake or baby cake or two drizzled in authentic maple syrup. Both options are exceptional breakfast food when topped with chocolate chips, strawberries, pecans, or blueberries.
You might not always feel like pancakes though. Luckily, the restaurant’s all-day breakfasts include other offerings too. With fruit, biscuits, eggs, and famous breakfast tacos to supplement steak, chop, quail, and crab meals, you’ll not need to go elsewhere to fuel up.
But remember though, this cafe offers some of the best pancakes in Austin!
Magnolia Cafe
Magnolia is an institution in Austin that has served food to the community for over 40 years and counting. Since 1988, the cafe has found its home in South Congress Ave. and should be on your bucket list to visit when you’re in Austin. And there’s a good chance that if you visit once, you’ll be back for more!
The pancakes come in three varieties, with several extras available to layer with your hot cakes. You can order the classic pancake made with from-the-farm fresh buttermilk. Otherwise, go for the gluten-free cornmeal pancakes spiced up with jalapenos or covered in maple syrup. Lastly, the gingerbread pancakes never disappoint, especially if you add one of the extra toppings.
Toppings cost extra, but the reasonable base cake prices mean it’s possible to splurge. You can choose between bananas, blueberries, strawberries, pecans, chocolate chips, and bacon. Combinations like cornmeal banana pecan pancakes or bacon chocolate chip pancakes provide tasty examples of personal flair.
Josephine House
Josephine House has a reputation as one of Austin’s best brunch venues. The sister restaurant to Jeffrey’s, a well-known fine dining establishment in the city, it’s located in a cozy blue Clarksville cottage west of downtown Austin.
Through the years, Josephine’s has served many lemon ricotta pancakes within the cottage’s walls. Their enduring presence has established these mouth-watering treats as some of the best pancakes in Austin. In fact, these pancakes are legendary within the Austin community and are loved by visitors too.
Lemon ricotta pancakes are the only pancake option on the Josephine menu, but other treats supplement these sweet treats. The brunch menu includes the tahini caramel brownie and the ginger fig bar. These are both more than suitable alternatives to the fantastic pancakes on offer.
Snooze A.M. Eatery
Snooze describes itself as “making breakfast, but different.” Different Snooze may be, but this spot still serves up some of the best pancakes in Austin. The eatery runs a “pancake of the week,” where it creates a unique pancake every week, using suggestions from patrons as inspiration. The sweet potato pancakes they’ve made are particularly popular!
Besides the sweet potato pancakes, Snooze offers ten pancake flavors on its breakfast menu. These range from traditional buttermilk pancakes to blueberry pancakes to Snooze’s signature pineapple Upside Down pancakes.
These house-made pancakes are infused with caramelized pineapple chunks. Finally, they’re topped off with freshly-made vanilla crème and buttered cinnamon.
Snooze A.M. Eatery also has a signature pancake flight on its menu. This is a flavorful flight-sized feast of three famous Snooze creations. It includes the pineapple Upside Down, the blueberry danish, and their pumpkin pancakes, with the latter infused with pecans.
The menu doesn’t stop with pancakes, though. You’ll find some great food among Snooze’s delicious breakfast items. Why not try the Sandwich I Am breakfast sandwiches to start your day off right?
Original Pancake House
The Original Pancake House is a national chain with pancake houses in 28 states and eight in Texas alone. There’s only one in Austin, though, but it’s one that truly counts. You’ll find it off Cesar Chavez St. in W. Parmer Lane, and you should organize a trip there while visiting the city.
Not only does the Original Pancake House have some of the best pancakes in Austin, but its friendly ambiance is an experience in itself. This branch of the Portland-founded chain has an impressive menu of 15 pancake types. Its standouts are its coconut pancakes and Georgia pecan pancakes.
If your palate is more savory, consider sampling OPH’s french toast or sourdough flapjacks. The sourdough quality is comparable to that found at Austin’s famous Texas French Bread bakery. You could also go for the corned beef hash specialty or fresh vegetarian omelet.
We’d be wrong not to mention Original Pancake House’s specialties. If you fancy something sweeter after your hash, consider its Dutch Baby or apple pancake before you leave.
Café No Sé
Café No Sé is undoubtedly a top spot to get your lemon ricotta hotcakes in Austin. These pancakes are served with a delectable apple-thyme chutney and are topped with real maple syrup and pecan butter. The cafe runs a daily brunch menu, and with its phenomenal location, it’s a popular place to enjoy some delicious treats.
You’re in Texas, so if you’re not in the mood for a pancake, you could always try Café No Sé’s Cowboy Breakfast. It comprises two eggs, bacon, borracho beans, confit pork, roasted jalapeno, tomato, and cilantro butter. The meal is only one of several breakfast and brunch offerings that remind you that you’re in the Lone Star State. Don’t forget to try those hotcakes, though!
Kerbey Lane Cafe
Austin locals were probably wondering if we’d ever get to Kerbey Lane Cafe! With 11 locations in Texas, everyone offers patrons a wide variety of tasty food options. The first location of Kerbey Lane Cafe opened way back in 1980 in a small bungalow in Kerbey Lane, Central Austin.
Since those early days, the brand has blossomed into a thriving chain, serving some of the best pancakes in Austin. Kerbey Lane Cafe certainly has a “pancake” reputation, but it doesn’t stop there. The menu contains many great breakfast options, from breakfast tacos to eggs benedict and queso to migas to french toast. But let’s get back to its pancakes…
Kerbey Lane Cafe’s award-winning pancakes are precisely what one would expect from a pancake. Large and fluffy, with its original 1980s recipe still unchanged. You can custom-top your pancakes to make cinnamon roll pancakes, wild blueberry pancakes, or ones with chocolate chips.
Blueberry pancakes, apple wholewheat, gingerbread, pumpkin, and traditional buttermilk pancakes are all there. And Kerbey Lane Cafe also sells their original pancake mix so that you can make some of the best pancakes in Austin in the comfort of your own kitchen too!
Pacha Organic Cafe
Pacha Organic Cafe proclaims pancakes as its specialty, and so it should. The cafe prides itself on creating a brunch menu filled with locally-produced wares and has five different pancake options and many toppings on the menu. Pacha’s signature pancake is the pear bacon scallion, a well-rounded blend of savory meeting sweet.
When the current owners purchased Pacha in 2008, they went about changing how they source ingredients. Pacha’s larder stocks organic veggies and fruit, organic milk, and organic butter and flour. Everything you eat at Pacha has been carefully selected and crafted for its incredible taste.
FAQs
Where are the best cinnamon roll pancakes in Austin?
Try any Austin branch of Kerbey Lane Cafe for the best cinnamon roll pancakes in the state. They constantly receive rave reviews online and have built a reputation that’s hard to beat.
Where can I get the best gingerbread pancake in Austin?
Look no further than Magnolia Cafe for the tastiest gingerbread pancakes in the whole of Austin. A few bites of this pancake, and you’ll be lining up your order for more. Try sprinkling it with chocolate chips and add a few pecans if it’s a little sweet. Heavenly!
Who makes the best white chocolate chip pancakes in the Austin area?
JP’s Pancake Company in Austin has a reputation for this classic. It’s a delicious white chocolate chip pancake with raspberries, raspberry syrup, and whipped cream. It goes down a treat with the kids, and moms and dads with a super-sweet tooth will enjoy it too.