Staks, the new pancake-centric restaurant, opened in East Memphis a few weeks ago. Expect a line.
It’s fast casual: order at the register, take your number, and then grab a place to sit.
I started off with the toasted s’more latte ($3.95).
It comes with graham crackers, chocolate sauce, and a giant toasted marshmallow in the center. You sort of have to sift around the drink because the marshmallow is gigantic. (Hey, at the end you get a big and soft marshmallow to eat. Bonus!) The immediate taste that you get is the graham crackers followed by the coffee. The coffee is sweet and light. What I love is that the drink doesn’t have that taste of artificial flavoring. It’s fueled by the real ingredients that were put into it.
Then it was onward and upward to one of the sophisticated staks! I went with the Birthday Cake Stak ($8.95).
It’s their vanilla-glazed, rainbow-sprinkled “stak” topped with whipped cream. I didn’t know this when I ordered it, but the stak comes with a candle to help you celebrate any occasion. I loved that it was presented this way and couldn’t help but laugh out loud because it made me feel like I was the most special person in the world while I ate my breakfast. Talk about putting a smile on my face!
There’s five light and fluffy pancakes. The vanilla sauce is delicious and sweet. I don’t think there’s any syrup on them but you don’t need it because of the vanilla icing. Overall, it’s absolutely delicious.
Lastly, I tried the gouda grits ($3.50), which are becoming a very popular menu item.
They are fantastic — cheesy, creamy, and smooth. The green onions on top are a nice touch. It’s also a decent portion size.
Want to get creative? You can make your own staks at some of the tables. Order a squeeze bottle of their signature buttermilk batter, then pour, grill, flip, and serve yourself.
Egg and side dishes feature local West Wind Farms eggs and Hanna Farms grits. Meats are from local places as well and include Porcellino’s house-cured bacon and Winchester Farms spicy sausage patties, chicken sausage links and smoked ham.
By the way, you don’t need to have a craving for pancakes to go to Staks. They serve other breakfast items along with lunch. There’s everything from soup to salad and sandwiches. Many of those items will be available in a case that you can take “to-go.”
