People Don’t Drive to Sugar Hill Just for Pancakes… Here’s Why Polly’s Pancake Parlor Is Worth the Trip

There are some restaurants you visit because you're hungry. Then there are the places you plan an entire day around. Like Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill.

Can pancakes really be that good?  That's what I'm told and now I have an incredible desire to eat a full stack combo with bacon. So, if you don't hear me one morning on the radio, it might have a desire for pancakes that I can't overcome.

Photo Credit: Polly's Pancake Parlor via Facebook

Polly's Pancake Parlor has been welcoming guests since 1938, when it first opened as a way to showcase New Hampshire maple products during the Great Depression. Nearly 90 years later, it's still family-owned, still making pancakes from scratch with New Hampshire maple syrup and still feels like the kind of place where time slows down a little.

That kind of history is rare.

It's also one of the reasons Polly's earned the prestigious James Beard Foundation's "America's Classics" Award, a really cool honor that is given to legendary local restaurants that have become part of America's culinary story.

Photo Credit: Polly's Pancake Parlor via Facebook

Then there's the food. The menu looks fantastic.

Instead of one standard pancake, you get to choose your batter. Buckwheat. Cornmeal. Oatmeal buttermilk. Whole wheat. Gingerbread. Add blueberries, walnuts, coconut or chocolate chips if that's your thing.

Ummmm yeah... all of the above.  I want all of the things

And yes... the maple syrup deserves its own paragraph.

READ MORE: These Are the Best Places for Mac and Cheese in New Hampshire

This isn't one of those tiny plastic cups of syrup you reluctantly pour over your pancakes. Maple is part of Polly's identity. From the syrup to the maple spread and maple sugar, it feels like you're getting a true taste of New Hampshire.

Photo Credit: Polly's Pancake Parlor via Facebook

Polly's might have one of the prettiest breakfast views anywhere in New England. Make sure to bring your camera with your appetite, especially during fall foliage, or after a fresh snowfall.

The biggest thing that you should know before you go.

You're probably going to wait.

Especially on weekends or during peak foliage season.

Photo Credit: Polly's Pancake Parlor via Facebook

Maybe it's because breakfast at Polly's isn't just breakfast. It's a tradition.

It's one of those places parents introduce to their kids, who eventually bring their own families back years later.

The restaurants with stories.

The places locals are proud of.

So... is Polly's Pancake Parlor worth the drive?

From everything I've learned, I don't think people are flocking to Sugar Hill because they simply want pancakes.

They're chasing one of those rare places that has managed to stay true to itself for nearly nine decades. That's amazing. If you have been, I'd love to know what you thought.