Big Pancakes

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Nashville Diner, Nashville, NC

Nashville Diner is a pleasant little hole-in-the-wall kind of place in Nash County, North Carolina (not to be confused with Nashvegas, Tennessee).

When the server cautioned me against ordering two pancakes with my western omelet, I got my hopes up. Big is good, right? If only. On a scale of one to Midland-esque, this pancake was a merely edible 3.5. Okay on flavor, but the bottom was tough and chewy. After a few bites, I gave up.

Service was friendly and the coffee was good. The western omelet was delicious, filled with cheese and tomatoes. The “city ham” was unfortunately deli sliced.

These are not the pancakes I’m looking for.

The Scale

I evaluate pancakes on a scale of one to ten. One barely qualifies as a pancake. Ten engenders Midland-pancake bliss. Five is what I can make on my own with a box of Bisquick and some salted butter – yummy but basic.

Is there a perfect ten in this state?

Accidental Pancake Snob

I grew up in Blount County, Tennessee where a little diner named Midland Restaurant serves ginormous, life-changingly-wonderful, fluffy, perfect pancakes. Pancakes that soak up butter and maple syrup like it’s going out of style. Every bite is a revelation of sweet and salty goodness. These are the pancakes dreams are made of. Incredibly, Gracie’s, a newer restaurant in the same locale, boasts what may be the second best pancakes on the planet. Does anything in North Carolina compare? This traveling lawyer and accidental pancake snob intends to find out.

I evaluate pancakes on as scale of one to ten, with one barely qualifying as pancakes and ten being Midland-esque. Five represents what I could make on my own with a box of Bisquick and some salted butter.