So, our time in Quebec City was over, and we began driving back toward Boston. It's about a six-hour drive, so we scheduled in a small detour through New Hampshire so we could fill our bellies. After a little bit of searching, I discovered the much beloved Polly's Pancake Parlor.

Polly's Pancake Parlor has been featured in regional and national publications, garnering "glowing reviews" in Road Food, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Cooking with Paula Deen, the Food Network Magazine, New Hampshire Magazine, and Yankee magazine. They also received a James Beard Award in 2006 for "American Classics."

So, I called ahead to put in a reservation (yes! a reservation for a pancake place!). This place has been around for 75 years and has a very loyal following.  As an aside, driving up here was absolutely beautiful. Snow-capped mountains reminded me of home.

And as soon as we arrived, we were seated in the wood-panelled open dining room decoraded with country farm tools and other memorabilia. The menu has waffles, french toast, omelets, sandwiches, salads, quiche --- and, of course, pancakes.

The pancakes are pretty customizable with your choice of batter (plain, buckwheat, whole wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal buttermilk, gluten free) with your choice of add-in (blueberry, walnut, coconut, chocolate chip). They come in sets of six. I got the "Polly's Sampler Combo," which allowed me to mix and match three different kinds of pancakes along with a side of sausage (or bacon or ham).

Batters for our pancakes and waffl es are prepared by us from our own original recipes. We use no prepared mixes! In an effort to serve the lightest, fluffi est pancakes possible we use the best ingredients obtainable. Our Buckwheat, Whole Wheat and Cornmeal batters are made with organically grown grains, which we stone-grind ourselves. The Oatmeal-Buttermilk batter is prepared with powdered buttermilk, canola oil and egg whites as a healthy alternative. All whole grain batters contain no added sugar. All Polly’s pancakes are 3” in diameter and served in two sets of three. Waf es are 7” in diameter. All pancakes and waf fles are made by your server and served with an unlimited supply of our own pure maple products. The fake stuff, fruit syrup, fruit spreads and diet syrup, are available upon request. 

They also have specials each day with a special batter or a special add-in. So, my three pancakes were whole wheat pumpkin with apple filling, oatmeal buttermilk with blueberry and plain. The pancakes come out in sets of three - so I had one of each pancake (3) on my first plate and then one of each on my second plate (3). For a total of six small pancakes, which was more than enough.

One kinda cool thing is that the servers themselves actually make the pancakes, which you can watch them doing as they run around the griddle in the front part of the kitchen. And, how are the pancakes? They're really good. The blueberry oatmeal buttermilk pancake was by far my most favorite. Perfectly fluffy with sweet blueberries inside. But not mooshy - absolutely perfect.

On the table was the maple syrup, maple sugar and a maple cream. My only complaint about this is - because it stays on the table - it wasn't the most clean.

One of my favorite parts of the meal, though, was that Kaitlynn ordered a maple bacon biscuit, and I kid you not, it was amazing. Like, actually amazing. The sweet, the salty, the crumbly -- it was SO good.


They also have a shop at the front where you can purchase their pancake mix, syrup, maple sugar and more. If you can't make it in person, they also have an online shop available.

So, if you have the opportunity to stop, it's definitely a fun little experience. Touristy? Definitely. Still tasty and homey? Absolutely.



Grade: A