Silver Pancake House opens in Warson Woods
The breakfast and lunch restaurant is a sister concept to Golden Oak Pancake House, with locations in Swansea and Edwardsville, Illinois.
Photo by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by Cheryl Baehr
Besarta “Bessa” Asani and her twin brother, Besart "Bessi" Asani, have a friendly sibling rivalry going on. Ever since she opened her new breakfast spot, Silver Pancake House, last month, the two regularly check in with each other to see who's been selling the most pancakes. Bessa is proud to report that she has been holding her own.
“Really, we don’t have that much of a competition because he’s been coming by to help out,” Bessa says. “But he still jokes with me about how many I have sold—and I have been telling him 'pretty good,' considering he has two locations and I only have one.”
The Location
Bessa opened Silver Pancake House on October 30 in the former Warson Woods location of Wasabi Sushi Bar. Since then, she's been thrilled with the reception that her daytime restaurant has received from the community, with area neighbors commenting on how happy they are to have an unapologetically classic, family-friendly pancake house in a part of town largely lacking sit-down breakfast options.
Photo by Cheryl Baehr
“We saw so many homes here and really wanted to connect with families with kids,” Bessa says. “Kids love pancakes, so a big point for us was to make this family-friendly. It’s been so busy, it’s not even funny.”
Photo by Cheryl Baehr
As Bessa explains, that lack of quintessential breakfast options in such a a high-traffic, residential part of town is what brought her across the river in the first place. For the past three years, she has been helping her brother with Golden Oak Pancake House, first in Swansea, Illinois, and then as it expanded to a second location, in Edwardsville, Illinois. Content to continue helping him manage his restaurants, Bessa’s interest in a place of her own was piqued when she and her brother began talking about expanding and their broker suggested that they take a look at the storefront in Warson Woods. Instantly, she recognized it as a great opportunity and decided to take on the project as its proprietor, with her brother’s assistance.
The Menu
Bessa believes that Silver Pancake House has already amassed a loyal following in just a few weeks because it is such a classic concept. Though the names are different, the restaurant is exactly the same as Golden Oak, down to the menu offerings, prices, and décor. Although she admits that the food is “nothing fancy,” she's emphatic that the restaurant uses high-quality ingredients and takes extra care in preparing the best versions of the classics that they can.
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Photo by Cheryl Baehr
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Photo by Cheryl Baehr
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Photo by Cheryl Baehr
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Photo by Cheryl Baehr
“Everything we serve is fresh,” Bessa says. “The fruit is freshly cut to order. We crack our eggs fresh for every dish. Our skillets are great. People are getting to know that our portions are a good size and that you will not leave hungry. I think really that’s what makes us special: the freshness and quality of food.”
Photo by Cheryl Baehr
Bessa is proud of everything on offer at Silver Pancake House. From Belgian waffles smothered in cinnamon and apples or stuffed with bacon, to savory skillets with ingredients like hash browns, ham, bacon, sausage and cheese to French toast and classic biscuits and gravy, she is thrilled to provide guests with a nostalgic breakfast at a reasonable price, one plate and steaming cup of drip coffee at a time.
“We hear from our customers, more than anything, that they can tell we are different because of the quality,” Bessa says. “They don’t want us to make it fancy or add this and that. They like that it’s nice and simple; it’s bacon, hash browns, eggs, and regular toast; that's it.”
The Back Story
Courtesy Golden Oak Pancake House
Bessa can’t help but laugh at the fact that she and her brother are now restaurateurs. Having grown up in the restaurant business in Chicago and helping out at their father and grandfather’s establishments, the twins vowed that they would never get into the industry. Instead, after moving to Southern Illinois with their family in high school, they both enrolled at Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville as biology and chemistry majors, determined to forge their paths as far from the restaurant business as possible.
Her brother was the first one to crack, opening Golden Oak Pancake House in Swansea three years ago. Though it was hard work, he was quite successful, and Bessa found herself drawn back to the industry, first to help out and eventually because she realized how much it was a part of her. She is particularly energized by working the front of the house, greeting guests as they enjoy their meals and making connections with already regular diners.
