By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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BELVIDERE — Consider Linda Walker a testament to the excitement customers of Johnny Pamcakes have about the restaurant’s move to Belvidere.
The Stillman Valley resident was out front of the former Firebox Restaurant at 120 Buchanan St. on Friday morning to see and snap a picture of where the new Johnny Pamcakes is going. It was less than 24 hours after owners John and Pam Lack, along with operations manager Stephanie Wrenn, announced the move on Facebook.
“I had to find it,” Walker said. “We usually go every Wednesday, a group of us. So I thought I’ll find out where it is while I’m running around.”
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Johnny Pamcakes is leaving its Cherry Valley location at Kegel Harley Davidson, 7125 Harrison Ave., suite B, for the site in downtown Belvidere.
The Lacks purchased the building at 120 Buchanan St. for $370,000 from CCSIP Properties, according to a deed filed Monday with the Boone County Recorder’s Office.
They said they hope to open their doors by early March.
“We’re looking forward to getting in here and doing some elbow work and getting it Johnny Pamcakeized — if you know what I mean,” John Lack said in a video on Facebook.
Johnny Pamcakes celebrated 15 years in business last year. It opened at 3700 E. State St. in 2008 and then added the location across from the CherryVale Mall, which serves breakfast and lunch only, in 2015. The State Street restaurant will continue to operate and Belvidere will now be its second site.
“If you’ve never had one of their omelets you should try them, but you better be hungry,” Walker said, gesturing to indicate the thickness of the restaurant’s omelets. “The people are always so nice there. There’s a wait sometimes, but it’s OK, it’s worth it.”
The Lacks said the move to Belvidere will also bring an expanded menu, and it will be open for dinner and open seven days a week.
“We’re going to put the emphasis on, of course, our core business, which is our great breakfast that we’ve done for decades. We will not lose sight of that,” John Lack said on Facebook. “But we’re going to add some new things here. We’re going to add a breakfast pizza along with regular pizza, maybe with some specialty coffee drinks. It’s going to be exciting and a different twist on the Johnny Pamcakes menu.”
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There will also be dessert cones, similar to a waffle cone with ice cream, and cinnamon roles, sugar cookies with fruit, sticky buns and more treats, Wrenn said.
“We are really changing it up,” Pam Lack said on Facebook. “Harley location, thank you for broadening our horizons. … We realize we can do a lot more than what we’ve been doing, and we’re going to try it out.”
Pam Lack thanked Cherry Valley for its years of support and said Johnny Pamcakes outgrew that space.
“This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to us in a long time.” Pam Lack said. “We can’t wait to join the community and take part in what Belvidere has to offer.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas