No frou-frou in revitalized Pancake House’s menu

The simplest things in life can give you the most delight.

Marc San Juan, senior marketing manager of Pancake House, believes the redesigned restaurant will always be a place of comfort where everyone can go back to the basics amid pressures from the daily grind.

“A lot of people can relate to how complex life is right now and what we want to do is to be a venue where you don’t really have to overthink,” San Juan says, noting that when people enter a Pancake House branch, they already know what to order.

“When you say Pancake House, you automatically say the Pan Chicken, spaghetti, [or] the best taco in town,” he says.

For more than 40 years, Pancake House has been serving good comfort food besides the classic pancakes and waffles, he says.

As part of its “It’s Not That Complicated” campaign, Pancake House is offering “easy meals” that includes Pork Vienna, Fish Rolls and Classic Pan Chicken. Each meal is already paired with Almondigas soup (a classic Mexican meatball soup) and iced tea, giving value to the customer’s money.

“You just have to choose [from] the three main proteins,” he says. It’s as simple as that, he says.

As part of Max’s Group, Pancake House is also gearing up for its expansion program in order to strengthen its presence locally and globally. As of end September, the casual dining brand is operating a total network of 124 branches: 115 in the Philippines, eight in Malaysia, and one in Brunei.

At least eight more branches are set to open in the United Arab Emirates within the next five years.

Now characterized with earthy tones, wood accents, elegant furniture, and warm lighting, Pancake House stores are also giving customers a cozier and more welcoming feel.

“If you notice, when you enter Pancake House, they (team)  usually say ‘Welcome!’ or for our regular customers, it’s ‘Welcome back,”  he says. “I think those are the simple things—being able to serve what customers need.”

Pancake House also recently updated its logo, now showing a cabin with smoke coming from its chimney. The logo complements Pancake House’s iconic yellow and orange colors, which signifies the warmth of the brand, San Juan says.

“What we are trying to do right now is making sure that we’re relevant to the market,” he adds.

With the campaign’s “fresher and younger feel,” Pancake House also aims to include the younger generation in its loyal customer base.

“The way we are marketing it, it’s a little different, but of course it’s still relatable to every generation,” he says.