Clinton St. Baking Company

Lower East Side

New York City

Restaurants

Bustling Spot for Tasty American Comfort Food

Cuisine:

American| Comfort Food| Diner

Price:

Features:

Breakfast Brunch Comfort Food Lunch

About Clinton St. Baking Company

& why it made the Carpe City list

Legendary Blueberry Pancakes in a Cheerful Mom and Pop Atmosphere.
Started by a husband and wife team as a small neighborhood bakery, with some fried chicken and waffles thrown in the mix, Clinton St. Baking Company is now an international brunch sensation.
Not resting on its gilded laurels, the food is still fabulous; unfortunately, the lines are not.
Here’s the scoop: Breakfast/Brunch – No Reservations. They will take your mobile number and you can grab a coffee next door and walk the neighborhood until they ring you.
You’ll find some great street art nearby as well as cool historical and architectural sites, including the new Essex Street Market, which is only a 10 min walk. Check out our list of Lower East Side culture sites to make the most of your wait time.
They also serve dinner and the fried chicken is nothing to sneeze at. You can also get their famous blueberry pancakes and other brunch items for dinner. The bonus for the dinner hours is that you can make a reservation and savor pancakes without the wait.
On weekends expect an hour or so wait. Weekdays are much shorter.
For you brunch party hosts, they have a semi-private party room that you can reserve for up to 30.
The vibe is like a bright, sunny upscale diner, with friendly service.
Weekends are boisterous, but not bottomless-mimosa-boisterous.
Don’t get us wrong, they do have a proper adult beverage menu if you want to get your brunch cocktail on.
Cash only in the daytime.
Besides the pancakes, our tasting team enjoyed the fried chicken sandwich, the Spanish scramble, and the buttermilk biscuit sandwich.

Carpe City Trivia

The ancient history of pancakes

The first domesticated crops were cereal grains, which makes pancakes the oldest "non-meat" cooked food on the planet! Someone casually mixed flour and water and poured a dollop of that primitive dough over a hot surface. Right there, pancakes were born!

Ancient Greeks and Romans sweetened their pancake towers with honey (was that the original breakfast of Champions?) It took some time for pancakes to make it to America. The earliest written recipes for "Johny Cakes and Indian Flapjacks" date back to 1796. Pancakes were also called "Hoe Cakes," but we did well in ditching that one! The term griddlecake finally took over until a fancier term came along: the French "panne-quaique," and there you have it - the pancake.

Talk about food for thought, right?