Test your limits at The Pancakery

PANAMA CITY — I skipped breakfast (not including coffee, of course) on Wednesday morning in preparation for brunch at The Pancakery, but the Atomic Bomblette was still a force to be reckoned with.

Stuffed and topped with hot sausage, fresh jalapenos (seeds included), green and red peppers, onions, mushrooms, and Pepper Jack cheese, I turned down the offer for hot sauce on the nearly seven-egg omelette. Just to cool down the taste buds, I switched it up with sips of hot coffee and bites from the stack of three Sand Dollar Pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar served on the side.

"The pancakes we sell the most of is the Destinite (with strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips cooked inside). Omelettes are also a big seller and they come with pancakes, so you get the best of both worlds," said The Pancakery managing partner Mona Weiss, who admits she gets the jalapenos on the side of her Atomic Bomblette — when she's not ordering an Eggs Benedict.

Another big seller is the Western Omelette with ham, green and red peppers and cheddar, and the California Omelette with mushroom, Swiss and avocado is the new Summer Special.

Louisiana natives — and childhood friends — Ricky Lehrmann and Daryl Battaglia first opened The Pancakery in Destin in 2011, and added the second Panama City Beach location, 13800 Panama City Beach Parkway, on Jan. 5.

"A lot of people get the perception we're a big chain, but we're not," Daryl said. "We saw a need we thought we could fill."

On average, each location goes through about four cases of eggs with 15 dozen in each case.

"That equals about 720 eggs, but it could be well over 1,000 in June or July," said Daryl, who spent many Spring and Summer family vacations along Northwest Florida's coast. "I had some experience in restaurants. I didn't want to do nights/weekends, but enjoyed having breakfast with my family."

He and his wife, Mandie, live in Miramar Beach with their two sons, ages 2 and 11, who had come in for breakfast at The Pancakery in Panama City Beach earlier Wednesday morning.

"The little one likes the happy face pancake," said Daryl, who likes the chocolate chip when he isn't ordering his "go-to," the Atomic Bomblette. "When we first opened, my other son was 5, but now he likes the Breakfast Sampler with eggs, meat and hash."

Mona added, "Today he had the Nutella crepes." 

Mona came on board after the first restaurant opened in Destin and then moved to the Panama City Beach location, where she is striving to learn her new customers' names and preferences.

"We tried to create an all-star menu, took the best of the best from different pancake restaurants we had gone to," Daryl said. "It was a lot of trial and error." 

Kitchen Manager Joy Stevens, who has also been with the company since the beginning, continues to be a key ingredient at the Panama City Beach location. Tiffany Hulit, Front of House Manager, also made the move from Destin to keep things running smoothly.

Ricky and his wife, Jenny, and their 4-year-old daughter reside in Destin.

"We were both teachers, but that was another chapter. He was math; I was English," Daryl said. "My family has a po'boy restaurant in Mandeville, La., right outside of New Orleans — since 2006, where I worked for about a year. Ricky's family had a bar."

The full menu of breakfast and lunch is served all day — from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (They are only closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.) The menu also includes hand-cut steaks for the Steak and Eggs, as well as a taste of New Orleans — from Gone Bananas (Bananas Foster French Toast) to Cajun Benedict with hot sausage and sandwiches available on Leidenheimer French Bread.

"Customers have started substituting regular breakfast sausage with the hot sausage patty. We get the hot sausage, Patton's, special through our supplier. Go anywhere in New Orleans and order a hot sausage po'boy and you will get Patton's on it," said Daryl, who grew up in Chalmette, La., just outside of The Big Easy. "We also sell a lot of the Hotsy Burgers; the patty is half hot sausage and half ground beef."

For other ingredients, they "try to keep it as local as we can."

The Pancakery also serves beer, wine and cocktails with wine-based liquors.

"Being from New Orleans, we're serving larger portions," Daryl said. "My family's restaurant is po'boys, Italian and seafood — all large. I saw that in their success, giving good portions. A lot of times being at the beach, families come here and eat with us and then leave and go to the beach for the day. They might skip lunch; and they are still fueled for the day." 

What: Breakfast and lunch

Where: 13800 Panama City Beach Parkway, Ste #110, Panama City Beach

Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily

Details: 850-588-5077 or ThePancakery.com

The Pancakery