Comings & Goings: Orange’s Pancake House now open in Palos Heights

Orange’s Pancake House co-owners, Elvia Briones, of Virgina, and Fernando Cruz, of Evergreen Park, said they were very excited to be in the heart of the Palos Heights community.

By Kelly White

Palos Heights is the home of a popular new breakfast café.

Orange’s Pancake House, 11845 Southwest Highway, held a ribbon-cutting event on April 18. Owners, Elvia Briones, of Virgina, and Fernando Cruz, of Evergreen Park, said they were very excited to be in the heart of the Palos Heights community.

“I dreamed of opening a restaurant in Virginia after majoring in hospitality management with a specialization in food service,” Briones said. “Due to monetary restraints I had to put a pause on my goals. A few years passed and I found out that my cousin who resided in Illinois also shared my dream of opening a restaurant.”

One day, after her cousin, Fernando Curz, a chef who aspired to have his own restaurant, had been living in Illinois for over 20 years, he happened to pass by a plaza in Palos Heights and was instantly inspired.

“Immediately, when he saw it, something in his heart felt that it was the place for his restaurant; but at the time, it was just a dream,” Briones said. “He didn’t know that in the future we would be opening our restaurant.”

In March of 2022, Briones and her cousin decided to pursue their dream and revisited the area that had inspired him before and found it what he described as the perfect place for it, being the location of the former Trio building.

“We submitted an application for our current location and, after going back and forth for three months, we were denied,” Briones said. “But that didn’t stop us and we kept looking but began to lose hope. Nowhere was as perfect as the first location. After a year of searching, we saw that the first location was still leasing the same space. We had nothing to lose and decided to apply one more time and were finally approved in March of 2023. Since then, we’ve had ups and downs on the journey to opening but it has been so fulfilling.”

Orange’s Pancake House officially opened on March 25 serving much more than pancakes, with traditional homecooked breakfast items, featuring delicate egg favorites, fruit, delicious coffee and more, all in a beautifully lit and decorated family-friendly restaurant.

“It’s almost exactly two years since deciding to undertake this adventure,” Briones said. “We want to thank the village of Palos Heights for all their help and support; and also, the community who have welcomed us with open arms on the path to our dreams.”

Palos Heights city officials could not be happier to have the family-ran restaurant right in the neighborhood, including Mayor Bob Straz, who attended the ribbon-cutting event.

“I’ve been here with my family quite a few times already,” Straz said. “The atmosphere is great and the food is excellent. We are proud to welcome them to Palos Heights.”

Palos Heights Mayor Bob Straz (second from right) welcomes Orange’s Pancake House to Palos Heights.