Memphis Nosh: Staks Pancake Kitchen

Last weekend I went to Staks Pancake Kitchen, the new breakfast place in East Memphis at Perkins and Poplar, with Sloan and his daughter - even if I didn't like them, it's pancakes, and I really really love breakfast food, so I was going to go eventually, and with a bunch of people I could steal their food too!

Truth.

So here's the deal with Staks: you order at the counter, you don't tip (because they actually pay their servers a decent wage *GASP*), and they have the best damn pancakes I've ever eaten in my whole life.

(Even if the food was bad - which it absolutely isn't! - I would support them for this!)

We all got water, Sloan's daughter got milk, and Sloan and I got coffee - great coffee, from J. Brooks.

The pancakes are amazing, but right off the bat I was impressed by the service. My water cup had a tiny leak, and I asked a passing server if she could take it and get me a new one - I said I know this probably isn't your job but it's flooding. She looked at me, smiled, and said "of course it's my job, my job is to take care of you!"

Amazing what happens when you pay servers more than $2.15 an hour. 

Then the food started coming out.

And holy wow.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes - these were surprisingly not too sweet!

I didn't feel bad snagging a bite of that GIANT pancake!

I got just the regular buttermilk pancakes with a side of crumbled bacon. I wanted to try the foundational pancakes, and I was not disappointed!

I mean, look at how well they stay together! They weren't dry, but they weren't that gross squishy texture either. Absolutely perfect!

Their side of bacon is huge, thick cut bacon from Porcellino's.

I also got the fruit cup. This was the only part I wasn't totally impressed with - mostly because it wasn't very much fruit from $3.25 - but the fruit was really fresh and good.

Sloan got the Shrimp N Grits.

Gouda grits. 

Shrimp. 

Two poached eggs. 

Oh. My.

It was so good - I'm definitely getting pancakes AND an omelette or this next time!

The menu is pretty extensive, with lots of choices for everyone. It is a little pricier than a lot of breakfast places in town, but they don't accept tips (so if you're a decent human being, you should figure 20% of that price is the tip you should leave anyway) and a lot of the ingredients are local. Plus, I'll always pay a little more for good food and good service.

Staks is a gorgeous, delicious new breakfast (or lunch!) option that y'all should definitely check out soon!