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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Tim Krupicka enjoys a weekend meal with his five-year-old daughter. The Pig'N Pancake in east Portland is a special place for Parkrose resident Tim Krupicka and his wife Erin. They often ate there when they were dating more than eight years ago. Now that they've started a family, the restaurant is a favorite of their daughters too. Mid-county Memo photos/Tim Curran |
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| Pig'N Pancake family, from left Feimun Lum, Jennifer Hathaway, her daughter Lillian, Bernie and Jason Lum and Lori Bush, mark thirty years feeding breakfast and lunch to customers at the east Portland family restaurant. |
Seven days a week, for more than thirty years, the family restaurant - no alcohol or lottery - has been the Lums' life.
Despite being a franchise, Feimun Lum considers his restaurant a 'mom and pop' operation.
Just as he did ten years ago, Lum reminded the interviewer, “Like it said in your article (“Mom and Pop franchise marks two decades of service to Mid-County” - December 2002), as he holds up a copy, pointing to a line and reading, “ 'we offer quality food at reasonable prices and good service in a comfortable atmosphere consistently' … still the same.”
Transitioning to their children running the business has been underway for a while. “We're not in the middle of things anymore,” said Lum a Portland native and 1961 graduate of Benson Polytechnic. “I'm good to give a cook a break for about twenty minutes, but that's it.” With a laugh, he added, “Then, I get sent back to slicing tomatoes in the kitchen.”
The Lums brought their kids with them at an early age to be their home repair gofers for rental properties they own and to the restaurant. “We've been fortunate that our kids were interested in the family businesses,” Bernie said. “When they were growing up, they always helped out without question and never asked to be paid. Not too many kids worked for free. I'm fortunate our two kids worked as a family. I always taught them, no matter, what works in the family stays in the family; I tell them, 'eventually it'll be yours.' ”
Lum added, “We're here every day to give advice … or when it's busy, no problem, we pitch in.”
After majoring in finance in college, Jason, 34, got a bank job, but used to the fast-paced restaurant environment, he discovered he did not like the slower pace of office work. He soon quit, devoting himself full time to the family businesses. “It's a way of life,” said Jason. “I'm happiest when things are running smooth.”
The Lums consider their regular customers members of their extended family, and feel they are losing more and more of them everyday. “I enjoy my customers,” Bernie said. “I look forward to seeing them every day. If they don't come in, I say 'What happened to them?' We see so many people from different walk of life, and they become family and they tell us their troubles. Sometimes I lose them. When one of them passes away, the other one doesn't come in. It is sad. When they don't come in, I worry about them. And the girls [servers] have been here so long too. It gives us lots of joy … and sadness too.”
However, young families like Tim and Erin Krupicka are replacing the longtime clientele. The Krupickas, who live in Parkrose, first began coming to the restaurant more than eight years ago when they were dating. “Pig'N Pancake is a customer of Tim's at Cash & Carry (a restaurant supply and wholesale food store) and he always wanted to try it,” Erin said. “He knew about them and wanted to visit them and the place I was living at was not far from the restaurant, so he came and picked me up for breakfast one day and we both really liked it. They're always consistently good. We've never had a bad meal here.”
These days they bring daughters, five-year-old Rebecca, and three-year-old Abigail, to the restaurant. “Oh, they love it,” Erin said. “They love the food. They have fun looking at all the pigs all over the restaurant too.” She likes the consistency in the staff too. “They rarely have turnover in the wait staff. They're really very good. They keep your coffee and water refilled and make sure you have everything you need.” As her family has grown, she has gotten to know them. “They're very friendly. They take the time to visit with you.”
Nevertheless, Lum laments a time that may be gone forever. “This used to be full most of the day,” he said, waving his arms at the nearly empty counters at midday on a weekend. “People were in here at 5:30, lined up talking about what they were going to do that day, then meeting here later to eat, or just have coffee and talk about what happened.”
Aware people are eating healthier today, the Lums serve gluten free pancakes, low cholesterol eggs, banana-bran and Marionberry muffins. Unlike many breakfast houses nowadays who buy pre-whipped eggs, the Pig'N Pancake whips their eggs on-site.
Besides their original buttermilk, Swedish and sourdough pancake recipes, they offer an early bird breakfast and afternoon special Monday through Friday for $4.50.
The building maintains a link to its beginning through hostess, cashier and greeter Lori Bush, who, shortly after World War II, built a home 100 yards south of the restaurant, stalling her horses on the land Safeway sits on until the late 60's, when the original owner bought her out. She laments it to this day. “Should never have done it,” she said.
She has been coming to the building since it opened as St. Clair's Restaurant in 1960. She said it is a way for an 'old lady' like her to stay in touch. “I call it my playground,” she said. “We feed people and they take the time to tell me how good it is. They tell us things they won't pass on to other people sometimes like they would. It's more like it was when it first started out, like a little neighborhood, where people would like to sit and talk and visit. It's good to meet the people.”
Operating with 15 employees most of the time, Lum said, “Over the years, we've been blessed with great employees,” Servers Julie Swenson and Lisa Burnham have been there for 28 and 27 years respectively. His “youngest girl,” server Marlie Wetzel, has been there more than12 years.
Jason said their cooks come and go, but they rarely need to look for a chef because they enjoy a reputation as owners who not only know how to cook, but do cook. Whether it is relieving them for their paid breaks (unusual in the restaurant industry) or, when it gets very busy, the Lums step up to the line and cook.
“To me, people make things interesting,” Lum said.
In 1981, Bob and Marianne Pool opened the Pig'N Pancake restaurant on Northeast Glisan Street near 122nd Avenue.
The Glisan Street location was the Poole's third restaurant. The first two established in 1961 in Seaside and Astoria in 1967.
In November 1985, the Lums purchased the east Portland Pig'N Pancake location, becoming the first franchisees.
In addition to the east Portland, Seaside and Astoria locations, there are Pig'N Pancakes in Cannon Beach, Lincoln City and Newport.
Open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the only Pig'N Pancake in Portland is at 12110 NE Glisan St. The phone number is 503-252-3457. The website is www.pignpancake.com.
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