Will bike for pancakes: Flagstaff's Crown Railroad Cafe

One of our last gastronomical adventures in Flagstaff was a bike ride to the Crown Railroad  Café   for breakfast.  Bob and I had packed up most of the kitchen and couldn't prepare the kind of healthy breakfast needed to sustain hours of packing and moving boxes to the garage so we went out in search of a good, inexpensive, sit-down breakfast.  I wasn't jazzed about a long wait at the IHOP on Woodlands Boulevard (and IHOP really isn't cheap either) so we pedaled across the street to the Crown Railroad Café.  We'd never been there in the 5.5 years we'd lived in Flagstaff but the location was near our house and the price point on the menu was very reasonable.

A model train overhead bring a smile to the face of an otherwise stressed out guy with a lot of packing to do.

The shopping center where the café is located provides a not great bike corral several feet from the front door.  It was empty so we were both able to lock up.  Inside, inside the decor naturally revolves around the country railroad theme.  I almost felt like I was sitting in a café at Petticoat Junction.  Over just-strong-enough coffee and conversation, we were quickly hypnotized by a model train circling the restaurant over our heads on a track mounted several feet from the ceiling.  Even for a girl whose life revolves around always owning a pair of pink kitten heels, it's really hard not to love model trains.

Some really to die for buckwheat, blueberry pancakes.  That's real butter melting on top.

Also hard was not being able to finish the entirety of my absolutely amazingly scrumptious buckwheat blueberry pancake.  I asked them to double the blueberries in the batter, and they did.  My tummy was happy yet full too soon.  I had a side of bacon that I couldn't finish it either.  Bob had some kind of chorizo omelet  that he  gobbled down but this post is about really delicious pancakes.  Even though I was on my bicycle and didn't really need to feel the ex-Catholic guilt about eating a whole 12-inch (if it was a day!) short stack, my only suggestion to the proprietors is to offer 4 - 6 inch stacks instead.  A short stack of 2 smaller pancakes is less guilt inducing to cut into and fully consume than a  12-inch short stack.  I could have ordered a single pancake but wheres the fun in that?    A uneaten, buckwheat, blueberry pancake is a terrible thing to waste.

Aunt Jane, Mom and Bob post a really awesome breakfast.

So anyway, if you live in Flagstaff or happen to be passing through and you've never been to the Crown Railroad Café, let me be the one to tell you, they server great pancakes, at an affordable price and there's no big wait.  We enjoyed our meal so much we took Bob's mom and aunt when they were in town the next week.  From what I understand, their French toast tastes is the best.