Pancake Pantry

Nashville’s pancake house of record, flipping scratch batter in Hillsboro Village since 1961. The line down the 21st Avenue South sidewalk is part of the ritual, and the menu runs 23 scratch-made varieties.

Hillsboro Village took shape in 1920, when 2 groceries and a pharmacy opened along the trolley line down 21st Avenue. The surrounding blocks filled in as a streetcar suburb from 1910 to 1940.

Founder Robert Baldwin’s son, David Baldwin, grew up in the business, starting at age 10, and took the lead in 1988. Batter and syrups are still mixed each morning from Baldwin family recipes.

After nearly 56 years of Baldwin ownership, the family sold in January 2017 to Crosby Keltner, a Red Pony manager. The Hill family’s realty company still owns the building itself.

Garth Brooks was a regular in the early days of his career, when tourists already lined the street daily for a stack.

Taylor Swift told Bon Appétit in 2012 that her favorite meal in Nashville is the sweet-potato pancakes here. Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, and Vince Gill have been spotted in the room too.

Around the corner on Belcourt Avenue, the Belcourt opened in 1925 as the Hillsboro Theatre, a silent movie house, and hosted the Grand Ole Opry from 1934 to 1936.