Golden Nugget Pancake House

Although I live more than an hour away form the golden nugget. I found myself passing through and decided to give it a try. I searched Unilocal for breakfast places in Dayton which brought me here. Right off the building from the outside is very unique. The front entrance looks like you’re entering a fancy bank or something. It appears to be well maintained from the outside with loads of parking space available. A sign on the inside suggests that it was last renovated in 2006.
Inside there is a «Please Wait To Be Seated» sign at the end of a waiting line roped off. I arrived here at roughly 7:20 am on a Wednesday and had no line. I stood at the sign, there was an employee standing at the cash register talking to some other lady about all her life’s misfortunes. Completely ignoring me. A waitress came over after a few minutes and guided me to my seat. I must say now, to explain why I still gave 5 stars, my only negative about staff was this «receptionist». She could of at least said «someone will be with you shortly» or something alone those lines.
While we walked back to the seating area I was asked if I would like some coffee. I said yes and before even sitting down there was another waitress that swooped in and filled my cup. Talk about service! The menu seems quite large. Once you start looking at it closer they have every item numbered. Pancakes with dozens of combinations of eggs and breakfast meats. Waffles, French Toast, and sandwiches. I opted for the 3 buttermilk pancakes and sausage links.
While waiting for my food to arrive I tasted the coffee which was hot and strong. The way I like it. On each table is a small vessel for cream, and a sugar dispenser. My food came in short order and wow. The pancakes were not huge but not small. While I left my tape measure at the house this time, I would say they were 6 inches across. Outstanding flavor. The sausage links were also very nice. Breakfast places have a bad habit of being stingy with the breakfast meats. I got 4 large sausage links. The outside was a perfect crispiness but not burnt. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say this might be the best breakfast sausage I have had. Something about them tasted extra good. The syrup was brought out in a large vessel. Warm but not boiling.
I am happy that I came here. It really set my mood for the day. Now I am sad that I don’t live closer! Guess I will have to make more excuses to pass through Dayton now.

Finally got to try this place!!! I’ve heard great things. I went during the week at lunch and didn’t have to wait long at all. The menu was so large I could t decide. But that’s not a bad problem to have. I live breakfast so this is the place. Huge variety and daily specials. My waitress was outstanding and professional. So excited I finally tried this place!!!

Great food. Great service.
And they are now serving gluten-​free pancakes upon request! You will not see it on the menu, but just ask! They are GREAT!
Good coffee! Good service. Great, friendly people.
Thelr line can be intimidating. (Today he ‘snake line’ was full with 20 people in the vestibule, but we were seated in 20 minutes!)

I am sure that I am not the target audience for the Golden Nugget. How do I know? Look around when you walk in on a weekday morning and you might think you were in a retirement home cafeteria.
Overall, I was not impressed. Here’s why:
1. Service: Lousy. The waitress was inattentive. This becomes a real problem because they guard the coffee like a hawk, with the waitress being the only means of dispensing your next cup. Waitresses are floating around, carafes in hand everywhere yet my cup still went dry.
2. Rules. This place will make you feel like you are back in the second grade. Although things like «No substitutions» (printed ubiquitously) are not very odd, hidden surcharges for sharing, reminding patrons they aren’t responsible for personal items and and messages banning cell phone conversations are just weird. I mean, I hate someone yakking on the phone as much the next guy, but do all there restrictions really need to go in print?
3. Gluten free options. Well: there aren’t any allergens listed. This is typically O.K., but the waitress was annoyed when I inquired a bit further. When explaining the allergy, she offered no changes or substitutions, and just pointed rudely go the a-​la-​carte menu. Sure it’s a dingy pancake house, but I expected a little more.
4. Food: bland. I got the vegetable omelette and my compadre got the German potato pancakes. After one bite, my guest’s face said it all. His only words were, «well, I can cross these off my list.» The omelette was just as disappointing: served with cold El Paso salsa that clearly was scooped right from the can before serving. Yuck.
Overall, I am sure for the masses the Golden Nugget is excellent. I am used to truly brilliant breakfast places like Taste of Belgium in Cincinnati, so this place really falls short. Even to compare the Golden Nugget to Bob Evans means you’ll be convinced you got a piece of fool’s gold.

Great food… better service. friendly servers ! Although there is typically a good size line on Sunday morning it moves quickly and is worth the wait !!

Always a good choice to come to the Nugget. Great pancakes, truly the Platonic form of an omelet, and an unending cup of coffee. Their sandwiches aren’t bad, but their strength is squarely within the standard American breakfast fare.
Wait staff are mostly friendly, and while they don’t overtly rush you out, the line of waiting patrons usually pushes you away from an overly extensive chat after your meal. Time your visit so that you arrive before the weekend church and post-​drink brunch, or well after — otherwise, you’ll end up waiting 30 minutes or so. Still worth it either way.

I’ve been there many times and I’ve never had a bad experience (even when my mother-​in-​law is with us!!). Breakfasts are consistently good, service is prompt, free coffee refills are never-​ending. Omelets and Blueberry pancakes (my two favorites) are both very good. When I do order pancakes, I only order 3. They are very big. I can’t imagine an order of 5.
I’ve found recently that if you get there on Saturdays by 8:30 am., there is very little if any line. Later than 9 on weekends, and you’ll probably experience a pretty significant line. Even their long lines in the morning (must mean it’s good, right?), go pretty quickly and there are padded benches available if you are with people who have a hard time standing for very long.
The restaurant is accessible for physically-​challenged individuals.
The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is that there is nothing really unique on the breakfast menu, unless you consider all the different kinds of pancakes. (I’ve never been there for lunch).
When it is crowded, parking can be difficult to come by, even though they have a pretty large lot.
Prices are very reasonable.

What happened?! I grew up in Dayton and enjoyed this establishment before moving to CA, and even when I returned to OH a few years back. Went there this am and had one of the worst Denver omelettes ever. Too much bacon (at least I think it was bacon), hardly any Am cheese (I would have expected cheddar), and a cold English muffin. The coffee was good, along with the service, but even the kids scrambled eggs looked dead, and it was nearly empty at 745. I’m no chef but come on Golden Nugget — I’m sticking with the Original Pancake House

Great service and great food. Our family ate there on December 27^th.
The waitresses remind me of back in the day. (I.E. Hasty Tasty or Dominique’s)
Free refills on coffee.

Although the food may be good, the service is poor. I say this with an example that most of you will not believe. We have a group of 15 high school students in two vans plus a baby and 5 adults. We called 2 weeks prior to our travels from Tampa to reserve space and said we’d be there between 8:15 — 8:30. We walked through the door at 8:29 and the hostess said «We had to give away your table. We are busy.»
We even called before we loaded up the vans and cars to make sure we were all set! They said they had our tables ready. Can you believe how we all felt when we had to load up again and find somewhere else?
Thank God for Frisch’s Big Boy!
Please don’t hesitate to go somewhere else where they care about you as customers!

I was extremely extremely disappointed. I guess you can blame us for coming in at 245 on Saturday when they close at 330 but I think that’s a weak excuse. When she brought out the biscuits and gravy she wanted us to poke it to tell her if it had been in the microwave long enough. It had in fact, but that didn’t help the tasteless flour paste anyway. The microwaved biscuits melded with the unseasoned flour paste gravy to form a mucky mess that stuck in your molars. The pancakes weren’t any better. My partner decided it tasted more like the batter on a fried fish than a pancake. Maybe they cooked fish on the grill right before, who knows.
Needless to say we had a ton of leftovers but don’t like things to go to waste so we gave it to the guy living out of his garage in our neighborhood who we sometimes invite over for a hot meal. Today we saw it sitting on top of a dumpster uneaten. Think about that for a minute.

This place had a long line out the door this morning at 9:00am (Sunday). It took about 30 minutes to get a table. They fill coffee cups quickly but the cups are small and need filled often, they should probably leave a coffee pot on the table. I ordered a lot of food because I was having trouble picking and was sharing with my boyfriend. Had pumpkin pancakes, German potato pancakes, eggs Benedict and hash browns. I know a ton of food!!! Overall the food was good but nothing fabulous. Just good. They do not serve alcohol here so no brunch bloody Mary’s or mimosas I’m afraid.

The best service and breakfast in town by far. Potato pancakes and blintzes omfg! Clean and warm. What does the fox say?!

Fantastic omelettes and pancakes. The staff reminds me of the restaurant from the TV show «Roseanne», which I absolutely love. Check this place out the next time you want an omelette.
They serve the best coffee!

A Dayton staple for breakfast. Pancakes and bacon are always great.

The servers are friendly. Some times are busy some are not. The grits with cheese is good.

It’s not Christopher’s.
Yes, the service was excellent but it’s beyond me why people wait on a kind like that for the quality of the food. I had the veggie omelet and it srsly didn’t taste better than something you’d get at waffle house. Also had the blueberry pancakes, not a fan of the pancake/​compote style pancakes myself, but if that’s your thing they were alright. Also tried the potato wedges, they were super crispy and hot. I really liked them but the ranch that came with them was meh. All in all I’m glad I saw what the long lines were about but I don’t see myself ever going back.

There is always a line in this place. I mean, always.
And the building looks so classy and like you would need to dress up for breakfast. However our breakfast was served on plasticware and so was our water. The servers were in really casual attire. It didn’t really match what you would expect from the outside. That being said, the food was good. However it lacked a certain wow factor. It was good, and that’s as much as I could say. Good, not great. Honestly it’s a great old breakfast standby, but is it spectacular? not really. Our service was good too!

My favorite local place for breakfast. They have a huge selection including blitzes. .there Canadian bacon is thick and amazing. I’m a bacon snob has to be crispy and they always get it right. They aren’t open for dinner and there is usually a line but it moves fast. Love this place !!!

This is a difficult review for me to write. I’m aware of the Golden Nugget’s status as a Dayton breakfast/​brunch mainstay, as well as its status as an institution in the Dayton area.
However, my first trip to the Golden Nugget was decidedly…‘meh’.
Jules and I hit the Golden Nugget on a Sunday morning and, even between the church crowds, there was still a massive line for entrance. Never before have I see a restaurant use a ‘rope maze’ to line up customers; I felt like I was waiting for a roller coaster! However, the line moved fairly quickly and we were seated within 20 minutes. I was shocked to see, however, that a huge line was still there even as we were leaving, despite the fact that easily ¹⁄₃ of the tables in the restaurants were open.
Service-​wise, there was nothing to scream about. While our waitress was friendly enough, it took nearly 10 – 15 minute for her even to come by to take our drink orders. I’d understand it if the restaurant were truly ‘crowded’, but as I mentioned: there were numerous empty tables, leading me to think that the Golden Nugget wasn’t quite as busy as they’d like people to believe.
In terms of food? I wasn’t really impressed. Jules got the pancakes, which were light and fluffy, but nothing really mind-​blowing. My platter included 2 eggs, bacon, and home fries, as well as sausage gravy and biscuits. My eggs were done quite well, but there simply wasn’t much of them – I have a hard time believing that they were, in fact, two eggs. The bacon wasn’t as crispy as I generally liked, though the home fries were pretty good. The Heights Café’s home fries, though, are significantly better.
My real disappointment was with the sausage gravy. The gravy was decidedly under-​seasoned, lacking any real flavor or taste. I usually expect some kind of ‘umami’ meatiness, but this was nothing. The biscuits were toothsome and buttery on their own, but the sausage gravy’s blandness drowned them out utterly. Further, the gravy had a thick skin on it, as if it was the first thing plated on our order, then left to sit beneath a heat lamp and congeal.
Oh, and this is a piddling complaint, but I’m going to indulge in it anyway: the coffee cups are too damn small. They’re maybe one step above espresso cups, holding *maybe* 6 ounces of coffee. The coffee’s tasty, but I ended up getting something like 4 – 5 refills throughout my meal, simply because the cups were so small! My kingdom for a properly-​sized coffee mug!
I really want to like the Golden Nugget – their reputation as a Dayton institution is built on a legacy of serving customers for decades. In reality, though, I kept comparing them in my mind to the great diner’s I’ve been to back in the Pittsburgh area or our recent trip to The Heights Café. And, really? The Golden Nugget doesn’t hold up to those standards.