Uncle Bill's Pancake House

06/12/09

best breakfast place ever!

by rln24 at Citysearch

i went to uncle bills the first time this past may and it was amazing. the food is more than delicious. the pancakes are light and fluffy and omlettes are exceptional. once you actually sit down the service is quick and its worth the 20-30 minute wait outside. great views of the pacific ocean and a welcome warm environment and friendly staff. uncle bills is my favorite! :)

• Pros: pancakes, omlettes, muffins, hasbrowns, and everything else
• Cons: long wait, usually have to get there early in the morning to

03/30/09

Used to be one of my favorites

by easilypleased at Citysearch

I grew up eating at Uncle Bill's and used to look forward to going there when visiting my family in Manhattan Beach but I'm done with that place now after two bad experiences from the same waitress (?). The first time I left a tip (20%) on the table and took my bill to the register to pay; because it was very busy I handed the bill with cash to the person at the register and did not wait for the small amount of change. As I was getting in my car directly in front of the restaurant, our waitress came running out and asked, in a loud and rude manner, if there was something wrong with the service. At first perplexed it then occurred to me that she thought the change from the bill was her tip and had not looked to see I had left the tip on the table. I told her the tip was on the table and she turned and walked back in without another word. Today I went back to Uncle Bill's thinking the instance was an isolated instance but had the misfortune to get the same server. This time I gave my ticket for $14.28 with a $20 bill to the server and waited for my change at the table but when it became clear there was no change coming back I asked her directly for my change at which time she looked at me incredulously and said she must have been mistaken that such a "large amount" was a tip; the sarcasm was thick. She gave me the $5.72 change and I left her $3 ( although I'm not sure why ). It seems that the stress of living at the beach is causing some very bad behavior at Uncle Bill's so I guess I'll have to venture on down to Hermosa or go to the Kettle from now on.

• Pros: Atmosphere,food
• Cons: Waitress

02/19/09

one of my favorite places to have breakfast

by nursead at Citysearch

i've been in LA for about 2 years and uncle bill's is one of my favorite places to have breakfast. the place is small so at times there's a wait...but it's LA and the beach....so a bit of a wait is expected. if you come during the week, you should be ok. I always get the Manhattan Beach omelette. I love it..the veggies are great and the avacoda slices are a perfect topping. also the pancakes that come with the omelettes are big and fluffy. you could use them as pillows. i always get the same thing but, people i've gone with have really enjoyed there other dishes. For me, this place is well worth the drive down from glendale . after I eat, I go for a walk on the beach and look at all the beautiful houses I can never afford. enjoy.

12/29/08

Bill's is the BEST!!!!!!

by aaaaaamd at Citysearch

We go here as many times as I can persuade my family every time we are in town. Great breakfast and lunch and a great setting. We have been all over the world and I love Bill's!

• Pros: Food, views, service
• Cons: Ya gotta wait sometimes

12/05/08

What's With This Place??

by jdseattle at Citysearch

There was no wait this morning at 10 a.m., but now maybe I wish there were and I would have gone elsewhere to have breakfast. The employees are nice, especially a short, friendly, older latina who waited on my table. I ordered a crispy waffle with eggs and sausages. The waffle was anything but crispy, it was pale in color and the batter did not even rise to form the holes that hold the butter and syrup - it looked like a corn tortilla. Tasted about the same, too. Anyway, I told the waitress who ordered up another. In the meantime my eggs and sausage were getting cold. The eggs and sausages, by the way, were the tiniest representatives of their species I have ever seen. Looked like doll food, they were so small. Finally the second waffle arrives looking exactly like the first. Even the waitress, as she was placing it on my table, noticed there was no improvement over the first so offered to have it ?crisped up? for me. After few minutes in the waffle iron, the exterior was browned and it was crispy, but that did not improve the taste. I do better with bisquick, water & canola oil! Maybe I should have had an omelet or something else, but a waffle sounded good at the time. If the rest of the food is like this, I don't know why this place is so popular. Maybe they're coming down in quality, which would explain all the empty tables this morning.

• Pros: Breakfast was $11+
• Cons: The Food

07/16/08

Good price, ok food.

by Sararene at Citysearch

I'll start with the ugly and and end with the nicest parts of uncle bill in my opinion

Wait time- Pretty long (30min-2hrs) this can be combated with either a nice walk around town or waiting in the line to sit at the counter (wait time for conter has been 5-15min.) The only con with the counter is the tight seating and the feeling that one of the wait staff will drop something on you.

Coffee/Orange juice-The orange juice does not taste real...more like chemical aftertaste or tang mied with grapefruit juice. The coffee makes my stomach upset.

Cleanliness of place-not to sound picky, but teh dishes and cups never really look clean and that makes me loose my appatitie.

Quality of food- ehh i guess this one depends on what you get. Omlettes are AMAZING. Pancakes are served soggy from the runny fake cool whip.

Cost- Very cheap...which is good for this area.

People sitting next to you there- Always friendly!

06/16/08

Glad I read the reviews

by nomadland at Citysearch

So I was looking for a breakfast place for my boyfriends birthday. I knew no matter where we went there would be some sort of wait, considering it was fathers day. So we park right behind the restarant and theres a good butt load of people outside, we put our name in and take a stroll down the street to starbucks- which was equally crowded. They let us know that the wait would be an hour- but we enjoyed walking around and just enjoying the perfectly beautiful sunday morning. We finally sat down- and since we had time to spare we had already decided on what we wanted. (I always recomend that at a place like Uncle Bills- if the menu is out side, decide on your meal and be ready the first time the server comes around) so about... 5 minutes after we order she brings us the muffins from my meal... holy moly super warm, cinnimon-y apple-y walnutty goodness! so we muched on those and about another 5 minutes later our order was up. I got the Manhattan omlette (the rumors are true. big old heaping helpings)- my fella enjoyed pancakes, taters and eggs. the food was good- what we expected. I would for sure make the hour or so drive down- and make a day out of it. theres plenty to do and see in the area.

05/11/08

Top Notch / 100%

by Tadzio at Citysearch

Uncle Bill's is "The Only" place to dine at when in Manhattan Beach. Matt, the owner, remembers people's names and greets them by their names. The food is excellent and the service is fantasic.

Rating of Top Notch, 100%....

• Pros: The Owner And Staff
• Cons: None

10/16/07

THE WORST EXPERENCE MEAN EMPLOYEE

by alicia39 at Citysearch

my experence at uncle bill's in manhattan beach was very upsetting, there is a waitress there that says she is the owner, i know that she is not because me and my family members use to come there every week, she was a unpleasent person to deal with, for one when me and two other friend came in there to eat it was on a weekday, she wasour waitress she was very rude to us we asked for something when she came by our table, she said it will be one minute that one minute turn into about 5 to 10 minutes so i had adressed her and asked why is it taking so long for you to help us with our meal. she just look so we just kept on eating, i was hoping that someone else would come and help us, but no one never did. So it was time for us to go, she came back over with the bill, i thought everything was ok, because we had experience so very bad service from her on that day, anyway i proceeded to go out the door of the resturant when all of a sudden, i looked for my girlfriend and she was in the resturant be yelled at about not leaving her a tip. she told her to let us all know not to come back into the resturant again, beacause we did not tip her. I than came back into the resturant and my friend told me what she had said, i addressed her and told her we need to speak to the owner, because i know he would not stand for an employee to run away his customer in that manner, she told me i had to call back to speak to him beacuse he off today, so we called the following day and she answer the phone again and gave me his cell phone number she said he is too busy to talk to us. i than tryed to call him another day to let him know what had happen to us at his resturant but that was still unsuccessful we left serveral messeages for him to call us back on his cell phone but know one ever called us back, so we just stop comming there for our food. i feel with a employee like that WE SHOULD ALL STAY HOME TO EAT.

06/27/07

Great Breakfast, Annoying Wait

by jnrcal at Citysearch

Although you have to wait until the lunch hour to get a table for breakfast, the food is great and the service is really quick. They turn tables in a very short amount of time, but it certainly doesn't feel that way when you are waiting for a table. The omelettes are delicious and so are the pancakes!

• Pros: Food, Quick Service
• Cons: Long Wait