Category: LA

Petit Soleil: Central Coast Delight

If you were to take Amtrak’s Pacific Coast Starlight (or Surfliner) train from LA up the coastline to San Luis Obispo, you too might find your face in front of some of the most delicious melt-in-your-mouth pancakes you’ve had in a long time. You would also have to have booked a room at the delightfully charming bed and breakfast – Petit Soleil, where if you are lucky enough or maybe mention your penchant for pancakes, they will whip up a batch of banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

My pancakes were served as a modest stack of two regular sized pancakes, with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar on top. One bite and I was hooked. The pancakes had an almost creamy texture, likely due to the perfect melting of chocolate chips and bananas baked inside. I can’t even recall another place that has done banana chocolate chip pancakes (with a strawberry bonus) on top as well as this. 

They received an equally high complement from my dining companion, who doesn’t even like any “detritus” on his pancakes. Some might say he is a pancake purist, so when he likes a pancake with three different ingredients all up and around the pancakes, you know this is a strongly positive review.

Bonus points: If you happen to be here celebrating a special occasion, they might give you a complementary tiny bottle of prosecco and colorful glass of juice for a mimosa with your breakfast.

I often think about skipping work and hopping a train back to this place, just to get these pancakes again. 

JUST THE STACKS – 10/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Sweet, creamy, and delicious. 

Mouthfeel: Fucking luscious. 

Size: Two modestly sized pancakes.

Presentation: Charming, delightful, mouthwatering.

Price: Included in your stay.

Location: 1473 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

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Does Crunchy Food Belong in Pancakes?

Marmalade Café, a local chain whose El Segundo location I visited, has a variety of interesting sounding pancakes: Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut, Pineapple Upside-Down Pancake, 7 Grain & Almond Granola Pancakes, and Buttermilk. My gut told me to go with the pineapple pancakes, but since I had recently had pineapple pancakes at Shoop’s (pancake mecca), I opted to go for the 7 Grain & Almond Granola pancakes. They are described in the menu as being “Smothered in crunchy granola & sliced bananas.”

I don’t think anything crunchy should ever (with very rare exceptions) go on top of or inside a pancake. It ruins the dream of pretending the pancake you’re eating is a fluffy pillow of deliciousness. Pillows aren’t crunchy. But for some reason I wanted to challenge myself and was curious how this pancake interpretation would play out. 

The pancakes arrived as described, with a heap of granola scattered on top, and a large sliced banana. A questionable presentation decision was made by whoever sliced the banana but I wouldn’t hold that against them. The pancakes smelled like freshly baked banana bread hot out of the oven. 

All in all they were soft, fluffy, mildly sweet, and pretty good. The granola was not crunchy but had softened up under the heat, which was good for me but I actually think a little more crunch contrast would have been nice. The granola also had raisins, which did not thrill me.

If I had not taken half of the pancakes home for later the TastyStacks rating would likely be better. They became very dense and heavy pancake discs. I warmed them up and they were almost slightly soggy, and no one likes a soggy pancake. Still, I would go back here to try the pancakes that caught my eye in the first place. 

JUST THE STACKS – 6.5/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Fluffy and mildly sweet, strong banana bread aroma.

Mouthfeel: More dense as more time passed, beginning bites were nice.

Size: The short stack has 2 sizable pancakes.

Presentation: Nice display of granola sprinkling, questionable banana tip display.

Price: $10.99 – $16.99

Location: Multiple, I visited the El Segundo location: 2014 Park Pl, El Segundo, CA 90245

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Shoop’s Part Three: Pancake Mecca

Mouthfeel: FUCKING LUSCIOUS.

It has been over a year since I last reviewed Shoop’s, and because they have clearly usurped my old favorite Nighthawk for best pancakes – this was the obvious choice for birthday pancakes in order to carb up for a hike (humble hike brag). 


As a bonus, it’s clear all those mediocre pancake dates back in the day paid off – I found someone happy to drive the opposite way of his work on the 405 at 7am to take me out for breakfast, and then drive all the way back on the 405 during rush hour. LA people will understand this as the definition of love.


Shoop’s lets you mix and match items on the regular pancake list, so we chose buttermilk, bacon, and pineapple. We also ordered one of their savory pancakes: Pastrami and Swiss. 


My 405 guy, famous for historically declaring he doesn’t like “foreign objects” in his pancakes, thought the savory pastrami and swiss pancake was delicious. Delicious may be an understatement. It was an unexpected joy to eat. Composed of one giant pancake, the batter is mixed with chopped up bits of pastrami and swiss cheese, and topped with fried eggs and grilled onions. The top of the pancake was lightly crisped, the inside was mouth-happy and marvelous. Imagine pastrami pancake angels dancing on your tongue, encased in warm buttery fluff. Even better, go eat these and experience pancake fluff heaven for yourself. 


The bacon pancake, while still excellent, almost pales in comparison to the magic of the pastrami and swiss pancake. The pineapple pancake, which is stuffed with caramelized pieces of pineapple, and one that I’ve had several times before, held up to the standard of excellence I have come to expect from Shoop’s. If you’re into (or curious about) savory pancakes, Shoop’s has several other varieties: Tomato Basil (fucking fantastic), Bacon Cheddar Jalapeno, and Savory Salmon. The latter two are on my list to try as ASAP as possible. 

  • Birthday breakfast of champions
  • Bacon, Buttermilk, Pineapple
  • The glory of pastrami swiss
  • Pastrami swiss and stack of tasties
  • Tomato Basil from a previous visit
  • Tomato Basil plus pineapple from a previous visit

JUST THE STACKS – 10/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Sweet & savory pancake fluff heaven.

Mouthfeel: FUCKING LUSCIOUS.

Size: Goldilocks would say these are just the right size. Savory pancakes comes as one extra large one.

Presentation: Humble and unassuming. Shoop’s has no need for faff.

Price: $11.95-$17.50

Location: 2400 Main St A1, Santa Monica, CA 90405 (Blocks from the beach! Ample cheap parking in back!)

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Hustler Casino Cakes: Don’t Bet On These

One Sunday afternoon, I found myself at Larry Flynt’s Bar & Grill located inside the Hustler Casino in Gardena, CA. I was in search of breakfast in the South Bay area that didn’t also come with a 45 minute wait. What I got was a relatively quiet place to eat amidst the gentle clinking of chips, an $8 mimosa, and pancakes that were pretty bad. At the time of eating here, everything was served in takeout containers due to covid policies. I also ordered eggs and bacon which were slightly below mediocre. The real standout of the meal was the bread served on the side. This wasn’t the usual trash toast you get on the side, this was real, bakery-fresh, thick cut bread.

The pancakes were a different, sadder story. The first indication was that they were hard to cut into. This is an immediate warning sign you are about to eat sad stacks. The only thing you can really do with pancakes like this is douse them in butter and syrup and hope for the best. Even sugar and fat weren’t much help. About 90% of the pancakes ended up in the trash.

I guess I might come here again if I had a hankering for a table game and didn’t want to make the hop over to Vegas.

JUST THE STACKS – 2/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Sad.

Mouthfeel: Not enjoyable, hard to chew.

Size: Large but useless.

Presentation: These definitely looked like pancakes.

Price: Do not recall, but not expensive.

Location: 1000 W Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247

More Casino Cake Reviews!

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Semi-Annual Nighthawk Review

I last had Nighthawk pancakes nearly a year ago during peak pandemic. They were takeout pancakes and they “were excellent, but not outstanding.  They were perfectly fluffy, perfectly moist with an on-point mouthfeel, but something was missing.” I recently revisited Nighthawk in Venice Beach, in-person, and dined at their newly expanded outdoor back patio.

I had just come from a particularly treacherous kayak outing, where the winds picked up just as my dad and I turned around at the jetty and created impressively rough waves for being inside the marina. A sailboat lost control and very nearly careened into us, then regained steering at the last moment. So I was covered in ocean crud and extremely ready to eat pancakes.

Nighthawk currently has a one-hour dining limit, so the food came out pretty fast. The first thing I noticed about the “Big Bird and Short Stack” was that the fried chicken, which on several past occasions has been disappointing, looked much more robust and crispy. The second thing I noticed was the scallions. Sure, scallions are a tasty addition to fried chicken, but I just don’t agree with them being sprinkled on pancakes.

  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks

The pancakes were good, but not great. The taste seemed a little off to me, and they were slightly overcooked. The dish is served with a plate drizzle of “apple-cinnamon gastrique” which I forgot to ask they omit, because I don’t enjoy the taste of it. It adds a cloying sweetness that is not complementary to the already sweet pancakes. They were not the “perfectly fluffy” pancakes I was expecting, and the mouthfeel was a little disappointing.

In a role reversal, I thought the fried chicken was better than the pancakes this time. I ate all the fried chicken, and took half the pancakes home for “the leftover test.” I am saddened to report that they did not pass. They got worse when I reheated them, and were too dense in the middle.

I feel bad giving Nighthawk anything less than an eight on the TastyStacks scale, especially given pandemic restaurant challenges, but I know these pancakes could be better. The Candied Bacon Mary on the other hand, gets a 10/10 every time.

JUST THE STACKS – 7.5/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Good but not great. Very good fried chicken.

Mouthfeel: A little disappointing, dense bites.

Size: Three good looking pancakes that looked fluffy but weren’t quite there.

Presentation: Excellent, even despite my scallion criticism. This looks like a stack you want to sink your mouth into.

Price: $17

Location: 417 Washington Blvd, Venice, CA 90292

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Tasty Stacks Turns Two – A Pancake Celebration!

What better way to celebrate moving to LA than driving all over the LA freeways in search of a food trend you saw online?

I celebrated my third year LAnniversary and the second year blogiversary of TastyStacks the best way I know how –  Pancakes. And not just any pancakes, but mini-pancakes drenched in almost offensive toppings. 

You may remember mini-pancakes from Early Pandemic Times, when “pancake cereal” made the TikTok rounds. To be honest, it looked like a painstaking pain in the ass. If I’m making pancakes, I’m making one giant pancake because I am efficient. 

Street vendors have now taken up this idea and streamlined it in an Instagram-worthy and tasty way. If something isn’t Instagram-worthy can you even eat it? If you live in LA, the answer is no. Even if you’re vegan. Or maybe especially if you’re vegan. 

The mini-pancake food trucks near me, which I had to find mainly through TikTok without rolling my eyes too much, were actually not near me. The closest one with the cutest name was Delicious Minis in Echo Park. My handsome pancake-partner-in-crime and I drove out there on a Friday night. It only took us 45 minutes from the South Bay which tells you that LA traffic still isn’t back to normal.

Unfortunately for everyone’s pancake plans, upon arrival we were informed their generator was broken. There would be no pancakes from this tiny pancake enterprise. I was crestfallen, mainly because I knew this meant we would now have to drive to North Hollywood and I was hungry. But what better way to celebrate moving to LA than driving all over the LA freeways in search of a food trend you saw online?

Ms. Mommy Stacks, the next closest option at that point, had a similar setup: food truck style serving with speedy pancake turnaround. They offer three sizes: Kiddystack (12 minis), Mommystack (25 minis), and Daddystack (60 minis!)

  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks
  • Image via TastyStacks

We opted for two different Mommystacks – one with strawberry, banana, and Nutella; the other with a caramel drizzle and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Other absurd pancake topping options include Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Oreos, ice cream, and a variety of syrups.

You might be thinking Cinnamon Toast Crunch doesn’t really belong as a pancake topping, and you might be right. For the sake of pancake research, we decided it was important to double check. 

They were fucking delicious. I was ready to tear these apart and categorize them as Pancake Crimes. That many ridiculous toppings?! And some of them are crunchy?! But these were great. The pancakes themselves had the most perfect fluffy mouthfeel. The fresh fruit and Nutella? You can’t go wrong there. And the caramel drizzle and Cinnamon Toast Crunch? My pancake partner in crime, who historically hates foreign objects in his pancakes, thought these were the best. We didn’t even mind that they were crunchy.

 If you’re craving super cute, super tasty, and super fun pancakes, (and also happen to find yourself in The Valley), you can’t go wrong at Ms. Mommy Stacks. 

JUST THE STACKS – 9/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Scrumptious – slightly buttery, sweet, and elevated by ridiculous toppings.

Mouthfeel: Perfect miniature pancake fluff fairies in your mouth. 

Size: Mini! You can’t get cuter than these. 

Presentation: Messy, but nicely contained.

Price: $7-$20

Location: 6138 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91606

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Shoop’s Part Two – Takeout Pancake Heaven

New year, new pancakes! Except this is more like – New year, same fucking pandemic, getting the pancakes you love to-go and hoping for the best.

Shoop’s, located in downtown Santa Monica and just blocks from the beach, previously scored a coveted 10/10 on the Tasty Stacks scale. How do they hold up in a takeout environment?

My friend and I ordered the Pineapple Pancakes and the Savory Tomato Basil Pancakes to share. The latter comes with “fresh tomato and basil, topped with 2 over-medium eggs, fresh pesto, and feta.” We scooped up our pancakes from the ever-friendly Shoop’s staff and walked them down to the beach. This is the second best way to eat pancakes if you can’t eat them right then and there at the restaurant.

What’s the most common pitfall of takeout pancakes? The fluff deflates, leaving you with a flat circle of sad flapjack. I was expecting at least some fluff deflation, based on past takeout pancake experiences. Instead, we were gifted with two stacks of unexpectedly luscious and perfectly fluffy pancakes.

Most notably, the Savory Tomato Basil pancakes, which I thought for sure would be soggy and weird with the amount of egg and pesto on top, were outfuckingstanding. They were soft inside, not soggy, and Shoop’s has managed to perfect the stuffed pancake technique – these had delicate morsels of tomato and basil in every bite. The eggs and pesto on top elevated the experience – this is a satisfying pancake on every level.

The Pineapple Pancakes were the perfect complement to the savory pancake. The pineapple morsels are caramelized which gives the pancake that coveted ever so slightly crispy edge. If you are looking for pancakes that not only hold their own, but go above and beyond considering the takeout environment, Shoop’s is one of the best choices you can make.

JUST THE STACKS – 10/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Sweet & savory pancake fluff heaven.

Mouthfeel: Unexpectedly luscious – even more so considering the deflation danger.

Size: Three substantial discs of deliciousness per stack.

Presentation: These are as good as you can make pancakes look in takeout containers. Take them to the beach for bonus aesthetic points!

Price: $10.50-$15.95  

Location: 2400 Main St A1, Santa Monica, CA 90405

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Morongo Casino: Gambling With Pancake Basics

They looked fluffy, but of course the real test happens in the mouth.

If you ever find yourself at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa and craving pancakes, you might want to go somewhere else. Morongo is located outside Palm Springs just before the wind turbines and is well equipped with lovely poolside cabanas, a very good steakhouse, AND Panda Express, but they fall short on their pancake performance.  

The Good Times Cafe, located within Morongo, seemed promising enough for pancakes. At the very least, it seemed like they had food we could eat. On the omelette menu, you can substitute toast for two large pancakes for only $2.99, a tempting offer after a night throwing your money at $25 blackjack tables.

Visually, the pancakes looked good. They were large and golden brown. The edges were lightly crisped, and the stack was topped with powdered sugar. They looked fluffy, but of course the real test happens in the mouth.

My fellow dining companion described them best, slicing them was “like cutting into a yoga mat.” One of the most important rules of pancake eating is that you should never have trouble cutting into a pancake. It does not foreshadow deliciousness, only dread. Anyways, these weren’t terrible but they weren’t that good. Ample amounts of butter and syrup improved them, obviously. 

I neglected to take any pancake photos, or least any worth viewing, so instead please enjoy this photo of wind turbines I could see from the hotel room. 

JUST THE STACKS – 5/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Extreme mediocrity bordering on bad. 

Mouthfeel: Two-ply yoga mat.

Size: Two large pancakes – good value but not good taste.

Presentation: Deceptively nice.

Price: $2.99 – $8.99

Location: 49500 Seminole Dr, Cabazon, CA 92230

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Mini Review: Japanese Pancake Balls

Moto Azabu Sushi Bar & Grill, in Marina Del Rey, CA has reopened under social distancing guidelines, and is the perfect place to have your temperature taken and wear a mask in between sunny, sushi bites. I’ve been here several times and this was the first time I noticed Japanese Pancake Balls on the menu. The pancake signal rang out, and I answered.

  • Image via TastyStacks.
  • Image via TastyStacks.
  • Image via TastyStacks.

They were cute. Four perfectly browned pancake balls with veggies and octopus inside, topped with bonito, seaweed flakes, pickled ginger, mayo, and “special sauce.”

The balls tasted like pancakes, maybe slightly more fried. The octopus inside was tasty, and all the toppings worked well. We may never know what the special sauce contains, but the whole appetizer was flavorful with a savory, complex mouthfeel.

JUST THE STACKS – 9/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Slightly sweet and definite pancake flavor, plus octopus bites.

Mouthfeel: A little bit crunchy, a little bit creamy, a lot of delicious.

Size: Four large pancake balls.

Presentation: Nice small-sized ingredient stacking on top.

Price: $6

Location: 517 W Washington Blvd 2nd Floor, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

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The Nighthawk Saga Continues: Takeout Celebration Stacks Part Two

 Obviously, I am going to keep eating Nighthawk pancakes. How could I not? 

Nighthawk and I have a delicious, yet complicated relationship. They were my first pancake loves of Los Angeles, and it’s hard to forget those early days of “super fucking delicious pancakes that elate your taste-buds in ways you might not have thought possible.” Then I had to end things due to poor pancake behavior. Then I decided to give them another chance and was pleasantly surprised, for the most part.

That brings us to May of 2020, in which we find ourselves in the midst of an actual pandemic, which is something we all used to read or watch disaster porn about (well I did), but never truly expect to live through. It also brings us to my annual celebration of another trip around the sun which called for a pancake celebration. 

My three person Quarantine Crew (who shall remain masked and anonymous) and I decided we would venture out to Nighthawk for takeout pancakes. Actually, I decided, because #birthdayrules. We were immediately shocked by the normalness of Venice Beach; people were biking in big groups and others were strolling mask-less without a care in the world. It was wild. We picked up our pancakes and to-go Candied Bacon Mary’s and got the hell out of there. 

I have acknowledged that takeout pancakes are going to have a tough time competing with the dining-in experience. So with that in mind, these sweet potato pancakes that don’t taste like sweet potatoes were excellent, but not outstanding.  They were perfectly fluffy, perfectly moist with an on-point mouthfeel, but something was missing.

  • Image via TastyStacks.
  • Image via TastyStacks.
  • Image via TastyStacks.

Maybe it was the fried chicken, which was nearly inedible. Because this is an integral part of this dish, Nighthawk lost points on the TastyStacks scale (which has been adjusted to account for pandemic takeout times).  It was pretty sad, because Nighthawk used to have really fucking good fried chicken. 

The Candied Bacon Mary’s here are outstanding; they pack a spicy and exciting punch. I was thrilled we could get them for takeout. One person in my three person Quarantine Crew strongly disagreed with my taste buds on this and didn’t even want to finish his, which was a win-win for me.

Obviously, I am going to keep eating Nighthawk pancakes. How could I not? 

JUST THE STACKS – 8/10 TASTY STACKS

Overall Taste: Delicious stacks of almost-heaven.

Mouthfeel: Fluffy and moist. 

Size: Standard Nighthawk three-piler. 

Presentation: Great. How do people like my re-plating skills?

Price: $17

Location: 417 Washington Blvd, Venice, CA 90292

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