Nearly two years after it closed, Pancake Farm in Ephrata reopened this week with a renovated dining room and more of its namesake breakfast cakes.
Situated along Route 272 south of Ephrata, the longtime breakfast spot is now owned by Javier and Jennifer Camacho who began redoing the space in September. Upgrades included repainting, installing new flooring and upgrading some equipment.
About a half dozen tables were also removed in the dining room, a rearrangement Jennifer Camacho said was meant to make it feel less crowded, not because of anything related to COVID-19. There’s now seating for around 75.
The Camachos have also added more pancakes to a menu that had previously had about half a dozen. There are now 14 varieties, including Smore’s, peach crumb pie, and Nutella banana pancakes. French toast, waffles, omelets and egg sandwiches are also on the breakfast menu which is available all day.
The recently renovated dining room at Pancake Farm in Ephrata.
The Pancake Farm’s lunch menu has sandwiches, burgers, soups and salads.
The Camachos are both longtime restaurant workers who seized on an opportunity to own a restaurant that has operated in Ephrata for nearly 60 years. The Camachos intend to eventually buy the restaurant property, but are now leasing it from investors who bought it last year from Kathy Styer and Beth Bucher.
First opened in 1960, the restaurant at 1032 S. State St. had been owned since 1982 by Styer, who began working there when she was a teenager. Then in 1992, she and Buchter became business partners and bought the property. They closed the restaurant in Dec. 2018 because they wanted to retire, selling the property in Oct. 2019 for $550,000.
