A year before we moved here, my husband had to survive an internship for a couple of months and not knowing a thing about San Antonio we chose to live close to his work and by default in a concrete jungle of overpasses, storage units and an abandoned golf store – dreamy.Luckily Magnolia Pancake Haus was 2 minutes away and I perfected my call ahead order, pick-up and relaxed breakfast at home. I don’t recall many places that I can go and just order pancakes. This is one of the only places I will do that. They’re delicious.

The chefs also have a knack for smoking and curing meat. Their hash here is top notch. My favorite is the Calico hash – smoked pulled pork, sweet potato hash topped with eggs. With a side of pancakes of course. The smoked turkey hash is also bomb. I prefer those over the corned beef hash actually. How often does that happen? Tip: add a side of hash to whatever you order if you can’t choose between the two!

Their Southern Bennie is also a rich creamy favorite. This was the first thing I ordered to-go years ago and I was very impressed with the way they packaged it. It’s hard to package eggs benedict to-go without it getting soggy. I took a risk and was rewarded with people who care about your food experience even if you’re not staying to eat. Their house smoked pulled pork is piled on their buttery biscuits, topped with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and laced with their house made BBQ sauce. It is dense, but man alive, it’s good.

On this trip I had their Eggs Fitzgerald – House cured corned beef shaved thin and piled high on a thick-cut Wolframs English muffin. Crowned of course, with poached eggs and horseradish-infused hollandaise. I love this combination of flavors for any meal of the day, and I was stoked to find it in a breakfast item. And so well done to boot. The swirling yolk with the horseradish hollandaise against the salty beef and buttery biscuit was a good time I didn’t want to end. Horseradish gets me every time, it’s so good! Kind of cheating almost 😉

I also have to give a shout out for something I’m usually not a fan of omelets. Maybe I’m too picky, but they’re usually on the tough side, watery and contain ingredients that aren’t prepared in a way that allows them to really become apart of the omelet. There’s a reason we had to make these over and over in culinary school. It can tell you a lot about a cook. So I kind of stopped ordering them when I go out. Fortunately my husband isn’t as picky and one fine day at Magnolia, he ordered one. The Denver. I tried it, not expecting much. And it pulled me back on the omlet train. It was fluffy, creamy, had great fillings and texture, and the roasted red pepper salsa and cilantro pesto it’s topped with are the crown jewels.

Now for the bad news – this place is always packed! Always! I’ve found the times between breakfast and lunch to be the least crowded. Or the late lunch hour (they close doors at 2pm). Or if you’re like me, call in an order for pick up. They package things well.  San Antonians love this place so much they’ve expanded to two and coming this summer, three restaurants in the 15 years it’s been open. Go forth, and don’t forget to order the pancakes!

Magnolia Pancake Haus (10333 Huebner Road, San Antonio, TX 78240 // 210.496.0828)