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.
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 β 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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