Brunch Review: Richard Walker's Pancake House

Week two of my San Diego brunch reviews! If you missed last week, I was at Queenstown Public House for one meal. For my other brunch, I went to Richard Walker's Pancake House. My grandparents used to live in San Diego, and my mom recommended Richard Walker's to me. She even gave the the inside scoop: go Friday because it'll be too busy Saturday. Good thing I actually listened to her this one time, because I went around 9:45am on Friday, and it was still busy.

They are so busy in fact that it's totally normal to queue up a line outside, hand out menus and have people wait their turn to dine. Why? Because Richard Walker's is delicious and totally worth it.

While I was standing outside, I was going through their extensive menu and was totally overwhelmed. There are so. many. options. And they all sound delicious. Then I looked up and saw their awning, and it said, "Home of the World Famous Baked Apple Pancake." So then I decided that if it was that famous, I needed to order it.

"Sara -- party of one."

Yup, I got in pretty quickly because I was a party of one, which was a little victory minus the embarrassment of someone yelling, "party of one," and you having to respond to that. Then, once I sat down, the waitress came over and said, "Is it just you?" before swiping away my other silverware and napkin set. Yes -- it's just me, am I not enough?

All at once, the waitress asks for my food and beverage order (to help rush the sad single out, I'm assuming). Then I go to the bathroom. There was one person in there, so I had to wait maybe 2 minutes (I promise this is relevant). Then I went to the bathroom and returned to my table. I texted my mom to told her I had a table, and then my food arrived. Clearly trying to get the lonely loner out quickly.

I got a coffee, a water, a baked apple pancake and an egg, as the waitress told me I'd need something not sweet to cut the sweetness of the pancake. Then I had the pleasure of enjoying everyone staring at me with my half a table of food. Despite that all, I had a great meal. The pancake was like a funnel cake and a pancake that had a baby. Then smothered that baby in thick cinnamon and apples. It was heavenly. And super sweet.

The egg helped to cut it a bit, as the waitress suggested, but so did my coffee. In hindsight, I wish I didn't waste the few dollars on the egg, but I suppose the added protein was helpful to get me through the day. I even ended up with leftovers, which tasted pretty decent, but sufficiently spongier on the repeat.

If I were in San Diego again, I would be down to return, especially if my grandparents were with me. The food was great, and the super fast service is much appreciated. They deserve the line they have, but I also appreciate that they know how to manage the large crowd and get people in and out rapidly. Overall, Richard Walker's is a great business with great food. Thumbs up all around, minus the judgmental handling of my fun little party of one.