12/03/12\n\nHmm... I could've sworn I had written a review of this place before.  At the very least, I uploaded a few pics of our breakfast here many months ago.  Took my Mom to try the oven-baked pancakes once.  Do yourself a favor and pass on these!  Guess the review AND photos were taken down.  (Let's see how long this NEW review sticks before it's taken down, too.)\n\nCousin texted me yesterday and asked if I'd join her for breakfast at JP Pancake today, and I texted her back guessing that it was too late to warn her not to buy the Groupon... Yes, it was.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if JP had improved on its service and food prep.  As you can see, it hasn't...\n\nWe arrived around 7:35 am to see a deserted parking lot with the exception of one car parked in front of JPP.  It looked like we were the only souls there, besides our server and the cook in the kitchen.  I thought perhaps we'll get better service this time, since we were the only customers.  The young man asked us to sit wherever we wanted, handed us the menus and asked if we'd like some coffee or juice to start with.  I asked for coffee, while my two cousins settled on hot cocoa.  He said he'd see if they had any in the back first.  He came back a few minutes later with their mugs of cocoa (Swiss Miss and canned whip cream) and said he'd be back with my coffee.  Upon his return, we placed orders of a \""Golden brown\"" waffle ($6.25), two full orders of French toast (one with strawberries, one with bananas, $7.95 per), and two sides of bacon (3 pieces each, $3.25 per).  I later asked if the side of ham is off-the-bone, and after consulting with the cook, he came back with a \""yes.\""  I placed a late order of that, as well.  \n\nWhile the service was good (food arrived fast, server checked back to see how we were doing), the breakfast we had wasn't as good.  Our French toast slices http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/jp-pancake-scottsdale?select=Q5s2HavHzD9RrGJOUbx0NA#Q5s2HavHzD9RrGJOUbx0NA were very dry-- the menu stated challah bread, but I think it was more like cake, and the slices could've used a longer soak in the egg batter.  Out of the six halves on my cousin's plate, she only had one (and all but one of her berry slices!), while I had one slice and a quarter of another of my platter.  I would've suggested we share a plate, but she didn't want to get bananas, and I didn't want any berries...  As I've said, the only winner this morning was the waffle, and I think the dollops of butter had a lot to do with its success.  (Also, I brought my own bottle of organic pure maple syrup, since most restos offer up a non-organic cane and corn syrup blend.  My cousin tried mine first before trying the restaurant's own syrup, ditched that, and then used mine until she was finished eating.)  Their sides of bacon http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/jp-pancake-scottsdale?select=OP_6MgCnCpDWtxi8JJAijg#OP_6MgCnCpDWtxi8JJAijg were very costly, considering that these were very thin slices and VERY greasy (even for bacon!).  I wouldn't hesitate paying $3.50 for a very nice plate of THICK-SLICED bacon, all-natural even, but these were pathetic-looking.  As unfortunate-looking as they were, however, they did save breakfast for my cousins.  As for the miniature slice of ham http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/jp-pancake-scottsdale?select=cHiSI19XYV1wUDemaXumCA#cHiSI19XYV1wUDemaXumCA I was presented with, I sent that back.  I may have been a fool to agree to waste my calories on a horrible breakfast this morning (thinking it was time to give JPP another chance for improvement), but I'm not that big a fool to allow my cousin to be charged another $3.25 for a paltry serving!\n\nAlso, zero props to our server who freaked my cousin out by hugging the wall by the kitchen with what I thought was the hope of keeping out of our vision while being able to hear our conversation without success!  Her sister confirmed seeing this behavior and thought it was very creepy, too.  I wished they'd alerted me sooner (by asking me to switch seats) so that I could see what they were talking about.  Overall, what a lousy way to spend $35* and a breakfast meal out!  :(\n\n*Original ticket was just under $45, which showed the order charges totaling under $38 before tax.  If you account for Scottsdale's food tax of 8.95%, what was the extra $3, or so, for?  A hidden tip?  Finding this hidden charge was surprising, because our server did not know we were using a Groupon.  There was a sign on the door that stipulated that all Groupon customers will be charged an 18% tip at checkout, and my cousin did not mention her Groupon until we were given the check.  Perhaps, just perhaps, JPP assumes that all of their customers are Groupon-users?  Not far-fetched, since the Yelp reviews can't be helping JPP these days...