Pancake House

Originally Sylvan Beach's Post Office and general store, this historic building has been part of the beach landscape for over 100 years. Here an Italian Restaurant opened in 1957 under the iconic Moe LaBella, who had a fun loving personality and whose favorite song was "It’s a Wonderful World". The Italian restaurant evolved into a breakfast haven and served "breakfast" late, late, late after night hours and into the morning. This eatery was dubbed the "Pancake House" and throughout the years was frequented by tourists and celebrities in the summer and locals and ice fishermen in the winters. Some of the celebrities that dinned here included Rodney Dangerfield, Frances Ford Coppolla, Al Martino, Harry James, Foster Brooks, Tony Sirico, Kay Ballard, Ken Norton and Dave Cowens. Moe LaBella passed away in 2008 and the restaurant began to evolve further under several owners.



In the winter of 2015, Lynn Rizzo Cifonelli and Dan Cifonelli purchased the building and business and decided to give this iconic eatery a new "old" look. The Rizzo Family made Sylvan Beach their summer home many years ago and now also operates "What's the Scoop", an Ice Cream Parlor adjacent this building. Lynn’s brother Gary is well known for his culinary skills in this area and is our head chef. The Cifonelli's and Rizzo's remodeled with intent of assuring historically appropriate design and materials. Some highlights of the renovation include revealing original yet hidden windows, restoration of original bead board ceiling, re-flooring from the ground up and adding first time ever for the building - air conditioning. How cool is that?! A great new menu has been created featuring new breakfast and luch specialties. “It’s all about good people, good food and good times,” said Dan. “We want to give back to a community our families have loved all of our lives.