■ Restaurant review
Come all ye hungry to
enjoy this delectable
home-style eatery
Ye Olde Pancake House on West 11 th Avenue
serves fine food for breakfast and lunch
BY KRISTEN GERHARD
PULSE REPORTER
The first time I walked into Ye
Olde Pancake House, I felt as if I
had stepped into an oversized ver
sion of my grandmother's kitchen.
Ceramic frog knick-knacks wel
comed me at the door. Ivy wound
its way up a criss-crossed trellis
on the tacky-yet-endearing wall
paper, and the smell of hot, but
tered toast and fresh coffee filled
the air.
As a good Irish Catholic New
England mother of 10 children, my
Nana made her kitchen the heart
of her home, and just like the meals
she cooked, the food from this
greasy spoon diner in Eugene is
nothing if not good for your soul.
It's easy to recognize Ye Olde
Pancake House, located at 2421 W.
11th Ave., on any given Saturday or
Sunday morning because the
restaurant's parking lot is almost
always packed with cars. In fact,
the spots that lie along the fence
separating the lot from the
Wendy's next door are clearly
marked: "Parking for pancake
house only." It needs all the space
it can get.
Visiting on the weekend during
the restaurant's peak morning
hours will pretty much guarantee a
wait, but it isn'ttoo long. The wait
was about 15 minutes for two peo
ple at 11 a.m. on a Saturday, and
the free Boyd's coffee in the lobby
area helps tide customers over un
til they are seated.
Speaking of coffee, when cus
tomers order it at Ye Olde Pancake
House, they receive an entire pot.
In the waitress station, a large
cluster of machines lines the wall,
constantly pumping out fresh
brewed pots. As an admitted caf
feine addict, this little benefit made
me buzz with joy.
For our meals, my dining partner
and I decided to try two of the
items marked as "Mike's favorites"
from the menu. Our waitress ex
plained that Mike is the owner, and
ordering one of his favored dishes
is definitely a good choice.
I ordered the chicken fried
steak, which comes with three
fried eggs, toast and hash browns
or pancakes for $7.99 from the
breakfast menu. My partner or
dered the chicken delight sand
wich (chicken, ham, Swiss cheese,
lettuce and mayo on a French roll),
which came with french fries (reg
ular or seasoned) for $4.89 from the
lunch menu. Both breakfast and
lunch are served all day.
Our dishes came in less than 10
minutes, but quality was not ex
changed forthis speedy delivery.
My over-medium eggs were
cooked to perfection. The french
fries were just the right combina
tion of crispy and soft. And the
hash browns were real hash
browns, not the quartered break
fast potatoes so many restaurants
serve in place of the shredded,
fried delicacy I love so much.
Service at Ye Olde Pancake
House was both friendly and effi
cient. It's easy to tell the women
who work the tables know how to
deal with a crowd. Requests take
mere seconds to be filled, and you
neverfeel like an inconvenience.
All-in-all, the prices are ex
tremely reasonable — no single
item on the menu costs more than
$9. However, for those with only a
few bucks in their wallet, specials
are also a satisfying alternative.
Breakfast specials, for instance,
are offered Monday through Friday -
for$4.49. Some options include:
French toast, one egg and two
pieces of bacon or sausage; or one
egg, two potato cakes and four
pieces of bacon or sausage.
Justfor good measure, my com
panion and I ordered a short stack
of pancakes to make sure the
restaurant's namesake was appro
priate. We were more than con
vinced. The three well-portioned
cakes came with two large rounds
of butter and warm maple syrup
(boysenberry, strawberry and apri
cot syrup are also served). They
were a fluffy, sweet and delicious
end to an entirely satisfying meal.
Ye Olde Pancake House is open
daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. They ac
cept cash, debit cards, travelers
checks, Visa and MasterCard. The
restaurant can be reached at
541-344-7830.
kgerhard@dailyemerald.com
■ Video game review
‘Battlefield 2: Modern Combat’
exchanges complexity for fun
The game is more suited to battling other gamers
in multiplayer mode, but the singleplayer game is still fun
BY ANDREW MCCOLLUM
PULSE REPORTER
"Battlefield 2: Modern Combat" for
the Xbox and PlayStation 2 is not a port
of the much lauded "Battlefield 2." In
stead, "Modern Combat" is a simpli
fied, arcade shooter that sacrifices
complexity for fun.
The game's plot is about as standard
and vestigial as shooters get UN
peacekeeping forces move into the po
litically unstable Kazakhstan, the Chi
nese get nervous and move their
forces in as well, and they fight In the
single player game, players alternate
between playing as both the Chinese
and the UN forces.
Even though "Modern Combat" is
clearly slanted toward multiplayer, its
single player campaign is actually quite
a bit of fun.
Arguably, the game's best mechanic
is HotSwapping. At the press of a but
ton players can instantaneouslytake
control of any Al squad mates. If play
ers run out of ammo they can jump into
a soldier who has a full clip. If players
don't like their weapons they can take
control of the sniper lording overthe
battlefield, or betteryettake control of
a helicopter circling above.
To fuel the fast-paced arcade
shooterfeel, the single player game
grants rewards for all sorts of activi
ties. Players will get medals for every
thing from HotSwapping a hundred
times to killing three enemies with the
same clip. The game also rewards
players with damage boosts, armor
and other power-ups for killing multi
ple enemies in a row. HotSwapping
and power-ups aren't available in the
multiplayer mode.
The game boasts more than 30 dri
vable vehicles and five different soldier
classes. Players can play all five, and
each unittype has a unique weapon
and set inventory. The Assault class is
the basic infantry. Snipers are ... uh,
snipers. Special Ops are stealth units
that get C-4. Engineers can heal vehi
cles and Support units can heal people.
Each class has its own strengths and
weaknesses, and all are fun to play.
"Modern Combat" supports up to
24 players online. There are only two
game modes: Capture the Flag and
Conquest. In Conquest, two teams try
to capture and hold control points on
the map. The maps are small when
compared to maps in the PC titles, but
their size better suits the game's fast
paced play. The games are fun and
frantic, but in an average game, play
ers might team up with other players
like "2Stoned4u420" and "The
Kyleinator" on Xbox Live, so don't ex
pect too much teamwork.
It is debatable whether "Battlefield
2: Modern Combat" is worth its $50
price tag, but for players into shooters
with an arcade feel it's worth checking
out Rent it
amccollum@dailyemerald.com
*10
★Any Two
12” Pizza
* Beverage
Specials AFTER 10 PlVJ SPECIALS
1 FREE DELIVERY 1809 Franklin Blvd. 284-8484 • Sun.-Thu. 11 am-Midnight • Fri-Sat. 11 am-1 am
SAiTwRDAit
/miO^PHE'RE
FRI NOVEMBER ■>!
7 PA BOORS GENERAL ADMISSION
Concert Tickets, Detailed Event and Venue Info at
www.mcdonaldtheatre.com
Tickets Available at Safeway TfcketsWeSt Outlets
And Charge By Phone 1 -800-992-TIXX Service chutes may apply
General Admission WILL CALL Tickets at mcdonaldtheatre.com
JR.CONG
JWW) M*P
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