Dani’s Kitchen and Pancake House
3501 Stadium Drive, Suite AWorking overnights is the worst. There’s really no way to sleep before the shift if it’s not something you do often so you then have to waste the entire next day sleeping.
It’s the worst.
But it happens from time to time and I just deal with it.
We had a last minute call off at work this past weekend and I was the on-call guy, so I got stuck with it. I did my midnight to 9 AM shift then headed home…exhausted but also hungry.
I had actually asked J on Saturday if she wanted to get up and go to breakfast when I got home. The kids had skating in the morning but we could do breakfast, I could go back to bed, and J could take L to the rink. Perfect plan.
I wanted to stay close to home and there is a fairly new breakfast joint not too far from home.
Dani’s Kitchen & Pancake House is on Stadium Drive near Adios Drive. The restaurant is in the duplex building with Wild Bill’s Tobacco Shop next to Sweetwater’s Donuts. This space was most recently Little Mexico and before that Menna’s Joint.
The restaurant opened in March and brings together American breakfast classics with some Mexican options as well. The restaurant was opened up by a friend of the people who ran Little Mexico after that restaurant was closed so the owners could focus on their other places. It has gone through quite a bit of a renovation turning the space from a counter service taco joint to a full service sit down breakfast spot. The kitchen has been closed off, the walls were repainted a more neutral color and filled with artwork and the booths have undergone a major renovation from cheap looking almost plastic booths to a higher back, brightly painted wood structure.
I flipped to the Mexican breakfast side first and saw a lot I wanted to try…but then just flipped back over the American breakfast side and found my usuals.
I ordered the Traditional Eggs Benedict. This hearty breakfast comes with toasted English Muffins, ham, poached eggs and a thick layer of hollandaise sauce. Super crispy hash browns and a slice of toast come on the side. There was a lot of food on this plate and much more than I was expecting for $11. The Benedict by itself was plenty of food for me but the hash browns were the crispy all the way through ones that are so delicious. I can’t describe how much I liked this breakfast. It’s like the best version of my comfort food.
J’s breakfast choice was also super interesting. She ordered Jayce’s Mini Waffles. This plate is like a flight of waffles. There are four mini waffles. Each are topped differently with whipped cream and fruit except for the fourth one which is chicken and waffles. By far, the best of the four was the Chicken and Waffles. It was sweet and savory with the crispy fried chicken and the sweetness from the maple syrup. The other four were good, but the chicken and waffles was clearly the winner. Again, this was a big plate of food and much more than J thought she was getting. She made sure to try all four but wasn’t able to eat all four of the mini waffles.
The kids? They did what the always do. B ordered the Chocolate Chip Pancake off the kids menu. He got three large pancakes with chocolate chips sprinkled on top with butter and syrup and syrup on the side. The pancakes came out so warm that we were able to spread the chocolate chips like butter across the pancakes. B ate one whole pancake and a half of another before he was defeated.
L ordered herself pancakes off the regular menu. She got two large pancakes with butter and syrup on the side and a dusting of powdered sugar on top. She ate one whole pancake and took the other home for dinner.
B, J, and L all ordered a side of bacon to go with their meals. They all go three slices of the most perfectly cooked crispy but not burned bacon. We didn’t really need three plates of bacon. J had more food in the waffles than she realized and B eyes are sometimes bigger than his stomach. L and I picked up the slack and ate the extra bacon but we probably could have gotten by with just two sides.
Our bill for dinner was right around $60 before tip…but that also included $12 in bacon and $10 in pop. The meals were actually really well priced considering just how much food is on each plate.
Everyone was raving about Dani’s Kitchen as soon as we left. I think it just became our new favorite breakfast spot on the west side of town. The food was fantastic and we all left needing a nap….although I was the only one who immediately went back to bed.
SW Michigan Dining 