TRACKING DOWN THE PERFECT PANCAKE WITH THE LEADBELLY BOYS CITY Edition

• Published in: Dayton daily news (Dayton, Ohio. 1987)
• Main Author: the Leadbelly Boys (Jim Dillon, Ray Marcano and Ron Rollins) Dayton Daily News
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dayton, Ohio Atlanta Journal Constitution, LLC 06.11.2002
• Subjects: Dillon, Jim; Marcano, Ray; Rollins, Ron
• ISSN: 0897-0920

The wagon-wheel chandeliers, burbling fountain and red-vinyl booth seats harken back to the days of real family restaurants. The menu is charmingly old-fashioned, with little drawings of pancake stacks and cute descriptions (`delicately spiced . . . flavor gems fit for a king!'). We ate very well for low cost and didn't overeat. There's the usual banana, blueberry and Southern pecan - but also fruit-topped pancakes and dollar-size pancakes billed as `small and dainty,' $3.25 for 15. Tall stacks are $4.25, short stacks are $3.55. * [Ron Rollins]: Lordy, we did well here. For $5.25, you can get three buttermilk pancakes, hash, home fries and two eggs - and for a buck extra, sub the specialty cakes. I had three cinnamon cakes, so fragrant that [Jim Dillon] and [Ray Marcano] also had to have a bite. In Ohio 725's retail sprawl, it's easy to drive right past the Original Pancake House. Don't, though, if you're interested in a wide variety of pancakes unlike any other place we encountered. This coast-to-coast chain, newly opened in the Dayton area, offers (take a deep breath!) pecan, Hawaiian, bacon, buckwheat, banana, blueberry, buttermilk, Swedish, chocolate-chip, Silver Dollar and sourdough cakes - plus 49er Flapjacks, potato pancakes `sauteed to a lacy edge,' strawberry pancakes in season, nine sorts of crepes and seven kinds of waffles. Service is very fast, but sides are just standard and the coffee's stiff - and be forewarned, the prices are a bit high.