Pancake Circus in Sacramento

At Last

I love pancakes and I love a circus theme. I've had my eye on this place since we first visited Sac, 9 years ago.

The Sacramento restaurant has been serving food on Broadway since 1961, although there were no clowns and maybe no pancakes then. It became Pancake Circus in the 1970s.

Monday in May

​Don and I parked in the lot on a Monday morning in May.

The sign said breakfast anytime. It was 8:30. Could I order steak and seafood anytime?

We passed a colorful window with clown art.

We were early enough for the Early Bird Special.

The steaming pancake art tempted me. The devil-moon and the fork-eating clown sort of scared me.

But a smiling clown greeted us inside.

We did as the sign politely asked.

We waited for just a brief moment near the cashier's counter, filled with clown figurines.

There were also framed clowns on the wall and clowns dangling from balloons and a parachute. Luckily Don and I are not freaked out by clowns. Many are.

Seating

There were 3 seating areas. 140 seats I believe.

​Don and I were seated in a booth near the window. There were about a dozen coffee colored booths​ that matched the dark woodwork.
​
There was a room in the back, with seating. A perfect place for a pancake party! Which I've never thought about having before.

From the "party room" I had a good view of the jolly light fixtures, that I wish I'd captured in a closeup. The gold and green circus tent shapes, looked so 1970s. The far out fixtures almost looked like something Marcia, Jan & Cindy Brady might have had in their TV bedroom.

​It was tempting to ask for a seat at the counter.

There were over a dozen cushioned stools. All seats had nice views of the curious cut-out animals. Was that smiling orange bear, Winnie the Pooh? Was that a Tigger, with the yellow face and big nose? The lion I didn't recognize. 

Mouthwatering Wallpaper
​
We had a window view, but some tables had a view of pancake wallpaper!

It was a refreshing treat to see a spotlight on pancakes, in this dining room full of circus.

​Cecilia

Our server Cecilia was friendly and efficient and she kept our coffee cups filled.  

Since she'd been working at Pancake Circus for 17 years, I had a special question for her.

How Many Clowns?

I wondered if anyone had any idea how many clowns were displayed at Pancake Circus.

Cecilia didn't know, so I went for another question. "Have you ever served a clown here?" She laughed and said a group of costumed clowns used to come in now and then. She gestured towards the space I'd decided was a party room and said that's where they'd sit. I loved picturing that!
​
Food

Don and I seemed to be the only guests who even looked at their menu. The diners we observed all seemed to know what they were going to order before arriving.

There were options for "seniors" on the menu, so Don and I embraced our ages and enjoyed. 

Don was pleased with his fried egg, potatoes and sausage. I ordered pancakes and scrambled eggs, with crispy bacon. $7.99!

I don't have Influencer Skills or I would have arranged my bacon and poured my syrup over melting butter. My photo does not look nearly as good as it tasted. I was honestly surprised, since reviews had been mixed. This was a tasty, hot choice!
​
Wandering

​After enjoying our food, I wandered a bit to snap some pics.

I know that clowns are not everyone's favorite, but I appreciated the endless collection. 

I wish I knew more about how these circus decorations had been acquired. I did read somewhere that many diners have added to the collection over the years.

Much of the decor is kitschy. But there's fun in that.

I actually liked this artwork that showed the restaurant.

I know the business has changed hands over the years, so I'm even more surprised that the no one has disrupted this little time capsule.

Yay for keeping the theme and serving up a decent morning meal!

Late Night Pancakes?

We headed out and I snapped an odd photo of the neon letters, just as the sun broke through.

It made me want to come at night and see the letters glowing. Sadly they are no longer open at night, but I drove by late one evening. A couple letters needed to be fixed, but the CIRCUS word was nice and bright!

Maybe I'll start up a fundraiser to fix the sign!
​