What’s kept people coming back to Smitty’s after 59 years? We decided to find out

IDAHO FALLS – After nearly six decades of operation, locals and visitors alike are still eating at a restaurant that has become an “institution” in Idaho Falls.

Smitty’s Pancake & Steak House, located at 645 West Broadway Street, has been open for 59 years at the same location. To find out what has kept people coming back to the restaurant, EastIdahoNews.com sat down with one of its managing partners.

“We’re friendly, (and) it’s comfortable. We’ve got a nice-looking restaurant. The food is comfort food. You can’t beat pancakes for breakfast (and) you can’t beat burgers and sandwiches for lunch,” said Lonnie Mack, a managing partner at Smitty’s.

While Smitty’s is a locally owned restaurant, it didn’t start that way. When it first opened, it was a part of a national Smitty’s chain.

Mack said the restaurant had been open for just around a year before the Smitty’s chain started being acquired by the Perkins franchise group. The restaurant in Idaho Falls was not bought out, nor was another one in Washington state.

“We’re not franchised together. … We’re independently run, and we just do our thing, they do their thing,” Mack said. “But if you get up into Canada, there are still quite a few Smitty’s restaurants from the franchise that are still running.”

The restaurant was run by the same family for decades, until 2019, when they sold it to the group of business partners that Mack joined the following year.

“They just didn’t want to see Smitty’s go away. They wanted to keep it open, so they came in and remodeled it,” Mack said.

Smitty’s is still serving customers food to this day, including top-selling dishes like its German Pancake.

“You can’t really get this anywhere else in Idaho Falls,” Mack said.

The plate on which the German Pancake is served is smaller than the pancake itself. It gets its bowl shape during the cooking process, where the batter slowly rises up the sides of the skillet it’s cooked in.

Customers have a variety of options for how to eat it, thanks to the syrup, powdered sugar, lemons, and strawberry toppings that are served on the side.

As for the pancake batter, it gets its delicious taste from a “Smitty’s secret,” Mack said.

For customers visiting at lunch time, another best-selling option to try is the French Dip sandwich, served with French fries on the side.

The meat is a prime cut, and the cheese is typically Swiss, but customers can also order it with pepper jack, American, or cheddar cheese. In around 8 to 10 minutes, the restaurant’s cooks toast the hoagie, cook the meat, and melt the cheese over it before putting it together into one mouth-watering sandwich.

Customers looking to get their fill of juicy meats could also order a Protein Omelet.

“If you’re a meat-eater like me, this is the best omelet we have,” Mack said.

This dish combines ham, sausage, and bacon all into one omelet, topped with melted Swiss cheese. Some customers even add steak to the omelet.

In addition to the omelet, Smitty’s serves its pancakes on the side, which have won multiple awards, including Best Pancakes in all of Idaho by Reader’s Digest in 2021.

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“People will get dinner, and they’ll sub out pancakes as a side. So (they’ll get) fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and then they’ll get a buttermilk stack,” Mack said.

As time goes on, Mack believes Smitty’s will keep its customers satisfied, and keep new ones coming through the front door.

“We’re doing the right things, people want to come back and see us, even if they’re not locals. We’ve definitely got to keep the locals happy as well. I think we’re doing that, and we will keep pushing it, to strive for the best,” Mack said.