Chris' Pancake & Dining

Located on The Hill in St. Louis, a traditionally Italian neighborhood, Chris' Pancake and Dining is popular with the locals -- a sure sign of authentically good food, though it also means you'll probably wait for a table in the morning. The food is good, hearty and fairly priced. Though lunch and dinner are available, breakfast is the main reason come here. Favorites include country-fried steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and egg sandwiches; lighter choices include veggie-egg white frittatas, an egg white and turkey breakfast wrap, and eggs with turkey sausage. Since "pancake" is in the restaurant's name we figured we couldn't go wrong with the buttermilk pancakes. They were perfect; light and fluffy but rich enough to fill. Looks like Chris won't need to change the sign anytime soon.