Does this Solvang cafe have the best pancakes in California?

And that’s just what I decided to do when I read that Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang were the “best pancakes you will find in your life,” according to Tripadvisor power reviewer Cesar C., describing the Danish-style offerings at the restaurant.

The Danish style, I came to find out, is like the New York pizza slice version of the pancake: paper thin, oversized, built to dissolve on the tongue and tough to find done right on the West Coast. But Cesar C. is far from alone. Peruse Yelp or Google or Facebook and you’ll see Paula’s is a strong contender for “best-ever” in the hearts of those who’ve had a taste. 

Everyone is loyal to their favorite pancake, and I’m no exception. My top three are Fred’s Coffee Shop in Sausalito (plate-sized and usually cooked to a more tree-bark brown to match the large interior community tables); Lucky Penny in SF (RIP); and Little Swiss Cafe in Carmel (a cozy space covered in murals of the old country, with a light and creamy Bavarian twist on the breakfast staple to accompany the frescos). 

For this one, I needed someone with expertise who could also help me sweep my biases aside, so I enlisted the most prolific pancake connoisseur I know: my 8-year-old son.

On a recent Monday night, I told him that we were going to go on a quick road trip the next morning to score some of the best pancakes in the world. This was a mistake. At 5 a.m., I was shaken awake by a hungry kid holding a notebook and, inexplicably, wearing a neckerchief. He was all dressed up and ready to discover more at his soon-to-be new favorite spot. 

We arrived in downtown Solvang at quarter past 8 and found parking in front of the restaurant. You can shut off your GPS as soon as you turn off the freeway; Paula’s is impossible to miss. Even in a sea of single-story Danish-accented buildings that lend credence to my SFGATE colleague Julie Tremaine’s assertion that Solvang is, in fact, grown-up Disneyland, Paula’s features Disney-esque lines practically all day, every day.

Maybe that’s what she meant.

Beyond the crowds gathering on the sidewalk to match any latest-and-greatest brunch spot on a slow-to-start SF Sunday morning, one thing to note about Paula’s is that it’s set smack dab in the middle of breakfast heaven. 

Scenes from Solvang: Paula’s Pancake House is a breakfast institution serving up a wide range of plates for breakfast, including chicken fried steak, lower right. (Images via Yelp & by Andrew Pridgen)
Inside Paula’s Pancake House, a beloved breakfast institution located in Solvang, Calif. 

Solvang is built around the most important meal of the day. As proof, within a three block radius of Paula’s, there are many renowned offerings. Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery. Birkholm’s Bakery & Cafe. Belgian Cafe. Mortensen’s Danish Bakery. Solvang Restaurant. Danish Mill Bakery. 

The crowd is full of people who seem to be extras for a big blockbuster titled “Your Favorite Breakfast Ever.” They ease around on their morning promenade, coffee in one hand, tiny white go-bag of Danish pastry in the other, small dog accessory may or may not be included.

With bakery and cafe smells coming at me from all directions, I wondered whether it’d be better to duck in and grab something equally tasty from a neighboring restaurant. But I remembered the many online reviews that said to keep your eyes on the prize, get your name in and talk to some folks — the wait will go fast. 

So that’s just what we did.

Lissette Guerrero, the restaurant’s assistant manager for the past 11 years, greeted us at the curbside stand. She asked me if I wanted a counter spot if one opened. 

“Yes please,” I said, then identified myself and sheepishly asked if it was always this busy on a Tuesday. 

Guerrero humored me with a smile and said, “Yes. But it’s also summer and especially this summer because people are traveling again.

“Don’t worry,” she assured me, “we won’t run out.” 

To avoid the surge, Guerrero advises that summer travelers get to Paula’s early (before 8 a.m.) or later in the afternoon (after 1 p.m.). If you do find yourself there in prime time, get to know a few of your fellow diners gathered around the front of the restaurant. Maybe it was because Paula’s gives such a strong about-to-ride-the-Matterhorn energy, but everyone seemed in an exceedingly good mood, especially for a cohort that hadn’t had their coffee yet.

There was Carlos Ferrufino, a San Fernando Valley resident who came with his wife and two children on a quick getaway for his older daughter’s 10th birthday celebration. He was there on recommendation from his cousin, who also gave him the advice to not let the crowds deter you. 

“We don’t mind waiting,” he said. “This is a highlight of the trip, and everyone here is nice.”

Ferrufino admitted he was a big breakfast guy and was there for the pancakes. “It’s nice to be away from the city,” he said. “I mean, look around you. This is a perfect little place.”

Ferrufino’s name was called soon after and they were off. He turned around and waved me farewell and said, “Here we go!” as he rested his hands on his son’s shoulders, bouncing in anticipation, which I’ve never seen happen at a restaurant before. 

When my name came up, we were led to the back corner of the restaurant’s centerpiece L-shaped white Formica counter. The host — dressed in a traditional dirndl, decorated with needlepoint — pulled the chair out for the kiddo. 

He immediately sat down and started taking notes. I took his cue and jotted down a few observations about the place myself: The wood paneling gave it the timeless lived-in feel you’d expect, and the round tables took up an outsized amount of room for a restaurant this compact — but also provided maximum comfort for patrons who all seemed delighted to be eating themselves into a joyful delirium.

My young partner ordered the Danish-style pancakes with fruit (an orange slice) and I got the buttermilk with sausage and a side of eggs. We agreed to swap halfway through. 

Two vacationers next to us, Kevin and Heather Gonzales, had come up early from Claremont to kick off a four-day weekday retreat in the Santa Ynez Valley. They told us that they were sure to make Paula’s their first stop, though they were not big breakfast people. “We may want to come back again,” Kevin said after he placed his order. He got the Danish pancakes and she ordered an omelet. Like us, they promised to swap midway through.

“We basically did the research and this is the place to go to,” he said. “Best pancake in the state, that’s what we heard.”

Soon after, both tables’ meals came out. Kevin and my son’s eyes did that cartoon thing where they widen and pop out as they observed the frying pan-sized thin rounds stacked and covered in a first-snowfall-of-the-season layer of powdered sugar. It was a good-looking, if not formidable, portion. 

For more traditional breakfast fare, there was Heather’s omelet, and my own buttermilk stack was served with Danish sausage the size of a frankfurter.

As my son and I dove in, the agreed-upon breakfast exchange never happened. I’ve seen the 8-year-old completely ignore a plate of carefully prepared dinner, and I’ve seen him take down a trio of store-bought birthday cupcakes at once. But I’ve never seen him eat like this. Midway through, he grabbed his spoon, along with his fork so he could double-fist his bites, just one scoop after another. 

It’s no exaggeration to say his plate was clean within five minutes. He would later declare Paula’s the “best pancake ever — or at least better than yours.” 

I turned to Kevin, who was moving slightly more thoughtfully through his stack, and asked him how it was. “Honestly, man, delicious,” he said between bites. “It’s so simple, but I’ve never had anything like it.”

That is the philosophy behind Paula’s. The restaurant’s eponymous owner, Paula Greenwald, moved to the Santa Ynez Valley in 1971 with her husband Charlie. After opening the Belgian Cafe in Solvang, the pair purchased Ellen’s Pancake House — a newer version is now in next-door Buellton — in 1986. “We took down Ellen’s sign and put up Paula’s,” Charlie told the Lompoc Record in 2014. 

“It’s plain food, not heavily seasoned,” Paula Greenwald explained to the Santa Maria Times in October 2011 for an article commemorating the town’s centennial. “Most Danish cooking is very bland.”

That may well be the secret to why Paula’s pancakes are so popular. They’re simple, not too fussy, the epitome of what a pancake should be. They conjure up the memories of all the pancakes that we’ve eaten.

Everyone should be so lucky to enjoy them at least once in their life. Everything about the experience — from the wait to the anticipation of the first bite to the people we enjoyed them with — was the most memorable kind of “bland.”