Pantry

Roland

I’ll never understand the fascination and fanfare. It’s kind of dingy and the only redeeming quality of this mediocre diner food was that there was plenty of it. Service was fine, nothing special.

kennytn

summary: extremely inattentive service, good vibes, just ok diner food with several really delicious items i am a local and i've been coming here for three years now. i know that this is an institution and that many in east rock swear by this place. but my verdict on the pantry is overall negative, mainly due to the consistently low quality of service but also a few pet peeves. let's started with what the pantry does well. the cinnamon roll pancakes are absolutely delicious--they are my favorite item on the menu. the home fries are perfectly crisped and garnished. the benedicts and omelettes are generally pretty high quality. it's also an objectively very cute place, well-decorated with jazz posters. whoever runs this place has excellent taste in jazz that is tastefully played in the background. but the service here is nowhere short of neglectful. since i live nearby i know not to come here when it's busy and likely to be understaffed, but it seems to just not matter. (most) of the wait staff here are polite and friendly enough, but they almost always fail to check up on you after they bring your food. when they do remember to ask how you're doing and you request water or coffee refills, they /might/ come back with them ten minutes later, if at all. lack of water refills is bad enough at any restaurant, but coffee refills are especially important since a big part of what makes a diner a real diner is bottomless coffee. last time (this morning) our server passed by our table multiple times, coffee pitcher in hand, without taking note of our never-refilled mugs. only after we received our check did we ask for more coffee, which we finally got along with a whiff of attitude. a couple refills during your meal should be completely normal, but good luck just getting one here--and again, this is true regardless of whether the place is packed or mostly empty! worse, the place is cash only, and the prices have increased substantially over the past few months, which i wouldn't mind so much if the service were better. i still come here for the occasional order of cinnamon roll pancakes, but i have to make a conscious effort each time to budget time and patience for what i know will be a subpar dining experience for me. other random pet peeves: - the sausage + egg + cheese sandwich uses link sausages cut in half lengthwise rather than sausage patties. who does that??? - the "fancy" french toast is not very good. these are made with tiny baguette slices. sounds much better in theory, but they don't get very soft, don't stack well, and don't absorb much egg. - the cinnamon roll pancakes slap but all other pancakes i find to be mediocre for some reason - the menu is pretty small for a diner too. no corned beef hash, no breakfast burritos, no biscuits and gravy. not a sticking point for me by any means, but it would be nice if they had some more offerings.

Irina Ciortan

A cozy place in the East Rock neighborhood. However, nothing special about the breakfast. Very crowded tables. Prices could be lower. Only cash allowed. Staff nice.

Pumpjohnnie

Home of the original cinnamon swirl pancakes! Everything else is butter on a biscuit!