We'd noticed a new-ish place in Bettendorf with a name that definitely piqued our interest - Duck Creek Pancake House. Well, any place with "pancake" in its name gets our attention. We decided to head down to the Duck Creek Pancake House on a recent Sunday morning for breakfast.
The restaurant is in the spot that used to house Mickey's Country Cafe for over 18 years until Mickey's moved down the road to their new location in the summer of 2011. (Click here to see the entry on Mickey's Country Cafe.) Arben Mustafa took over the location, did some renovations and opened the doors in late 2011. Duck Creek Pancake House is open until 3 p.m. seven days a week. (see map)
On Sunday's we always try to get into a restaurant before the church crowd gets out and it was after 10 a.m. when we pulled into the restaurant. There is a large parking lot on the south side of the rather non-descript looking building.
Going inside, we came across a sign asking us to wait to be seated. The dining room was large, roomy and well-lit. A young lady came over and shepherded us to a table along the wall. Cindy could see into the kitchen that was behind me. A small bar with swivel seats sat in front of the kitchen. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and comfortable.
The menu has a bit of a Mediterranean flair with dishes that featured gyro meat. The gyro omelet sounded good to me. But I was thinking of something along the lines of pancakes.
Cindy was thinking of getting something simple like an egg sandwich, but there didn't appear to be one on the menu. She asked the waitress who came by with coffee if they could make her an egg sandwich. "Oh sure," she said. "We can do that. We just charge the same for two pieces of toast and an egg. Cheese is extra."
Cindy finally decided on the gyro scramble platter. It came with eggs any way you like with gyro meat, hash brown potatoes and cheese. I decided upon the big breakfast - three pancakes, two eggs (over easy) and corned beef hash. I knew I wouldn't be eating all of the breakfast, but Cindy was wanting to try their pancakes. There'd be enough for both of us to try.
Our breakfasts came out less than 15 minutes after we ordered. Cindy's gyro scramble covered her plate. Bits of gyro meat was interspersed with her eggs, potatoes and cheese.
I certainly had a lot of food to try. The pancakes were about 8" in diameter, big and fluffy. I normally don't care for big pancakes like that, but I was willing to give them a shot. The only problem was that she didn't bring out any maple syrup or butter.
And we had to wait a bit. There were three waitresses and the early church crowd had begun to filter in. The place began to fill up fast and they were running their tails off. I was fine just eating my eggs and much of my corned beef hash while we waited. Cindy finally got the attention of one of the young ladies who got the attention of our waitress. When our server realized that she didn't give us butter and syrup, she gushed, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, you guys!" Seconds later, we were able to dig into the pancakes. Honestly, that was the only service hiccup we had during our visit.
Cindy thought her gyro scramble plate was fine, but sort of greasy. My corned beef hash was fine, too, but a little more salty than I like. The pancakes were, well, they were all right. Not the best I've had, but serviceable for what they were. I'm spoiled by my wife's pancakes - thin, well done and full of vanilla. These were OK for a restaurant, but I also felt they were a little greasy in taste. And they were very filling.
All in all, our breakfast at Duck Creek Pancake House was all right. It wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't bad, either. The small service hiccup in forgetting the syrup and butter was minor. The place was clean, portions were big, and it was a pretty good value. Oh - and they also had free Wi-Fi at Duck Creek Pancake House. It's one of those family-run breakfast/lunch joints that seems to cater to the needs of their customers - even if it isn't on the menu.
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