Berries Famous Pancake House (Gull Road)
I thought I was done with Skate the Zoo…our club’s Michigan Basic Skills figure skating competition.
My kids are both highly competitive on a national level in the Solo Dance Series and the Excel Series. They have leveled above what the Michigan Basic Skills series is for.
B qualified for the Excel National Festival (which is literally happening as I write this post) in Boston. He asked if he could do Skate the Zoo as a warm up for Boston. The event he is in is the last level available in the Basic Skills Series. He also wanted to do something called Interpretive where they play a song and the skater has to make up a program pretty much on the fly.
We decided to let him do it which means I actually have one more Skate the Zoo. Next year, both of my kids will have completely leveled out of it.
My parents decided they wanted to come to watch B in the Interpretive event. What happens is they get all the competitors on the ice for their warm and then they play the song they are going to skate to. They hear the song three times and have to make up a program on the spot. This is something B does constantly anyway so he thought it would be fun. My parents also thought it would be fun to watch him so they came to town to see it.
Two of B’s three events (he also did a jumps challenge) where first thing in the morning and pretty much back to back. He won both of the events. He got his medals then I got him changed out of his costume because the next event wasn’t for another four hours.
Once all that was done, my parents asked about breakfast. They were just thinking of going up the road to Butler’s Breakfast & Lunch which is normally fine with me but I wanted to go someplace a little further away so we’d kill a little bit more time. I don’t mind sitting in the rink most of the day but I know my parents aren’t huge fans. They don’t know anyone and they really don’t know what’s going on. They just want to show up and be present for the grandkids.
We headed away from Wings Event Center towards Gull Road. I had a restaurant out that way I have been looking forward to eating at.
We headed to Berries Famous Pancake House on Gull Road east of Sprinkle Road in the large shopping center on the north side of the road. This is Berries second active location and the third overall. The original one is on South Westnedge in an old Theo & Stacy’s. They also took over the downtown Theo & Stacy’s location for a while but closed that one after just a year in busiess likely due to the construction that kept people away from downtown. This third location is in the old North Eleven space which was a higher end pub and bistro that closed in 2024 and essentially moved the business out to Richland to become Tavern 32. This spot then became Berries Famous Pancake House in January of 2025
It has been a really long time since we ate at North Eleven. We ordered from them a couple of times during the pandemic but actually eating in, the last time we ate there was in 2011 so I don’t have a good memory of what the space looked like then. Like most pubs, I remember it being pretty dark which doesn’t work at all for a breakfast place.
The space is divided in to three rooms sectioned off by glass walls. The room furthest to the right when you walk in is the old bar area. The bar is still there but it’s been converted into more of a lunch counter. The stone wall accents from North Eleven area all still there but the room has been lightened up with white walls and more lighting. They’ve also added in some booths and a number of tables to expand the dining room capacity.
We were taken to a booth in the middle section. Again, this area is much brighter than it was when it was North Eleven. The stone accents in the middle of the room remain but lighter colors, brighter lighting and more tables packed in to the space are what really make this look and feel like a breakfast joint. My parents did comment on how nice the place looks and how it felt much more upscale than the breakfast place we and they typically go to.
The menu at this Berries is the same as it is at the Westnedge location. My dad had eaten hotel breakfast before he came to the rink so he wasn’t super hungry. He kept his meal simple with just a half order of biscuits and gravy which he said he really liked.
I was leaning towards the Steak and Eggs but my parents were buying and I usually go a bit overboard by ordering beer when we go to dinner. I decided to not order the most expensive thing on the menu and got the Classic Eggs Benedict. The name says it all there. It’s a classic Eggs Benedict with an English Muffin, poached eggs, and grilled ham covered in a hollandaise sauce. Every layer was cooked perfectly and every bite was fantastic. My mom was very intrigued. I don’t think she has ever seen a Benedict before and she asked a lot of questions. She was interested until I got to the poached egg part. She can’t stand runny eggs. I, however, really like a good poached egg. This was was really good as it wasn’t super runny…it had a bit of firmness to it, but still had all the flavor that comes from a little bit of a runny egg.
The plate came with hashbrowns which is another thing my mom still can’t believe I eat. As a kid, I would never touch hashbrowns. As an adult, I look forward to breakfast just to have them. These were nice and crispy on the top and some of that crispiness went all the way through. I still prefer more crispy hash browns over more potato-y ones. Theses were really good.
My mom ordered French Toast with Bananas and Pecans. This was a really large order of French Toast with a whole banana sliced up on top and a big mound of pecans. She ate about 3/4 of the plate. Since we were heading back to the rink, it was really hot out, and they still had a three hour drive home, she reluctantly declined to take the rest home.
Our bill for breakfast was right around $30.
We have never had a bad meal at Berries Famous Pancake House and that still holds true. My parents were really impressed with the place. They really liked both the atmosphere and the food. I know they get hesitant sometimes when I’m like “I have a place” instead of just going with a place we know…it’s bit me in the ass a couple of times…but that was not the case today. This is a place they would absolutely go back to and so would I.
SW Michigan Dining 