Sean Dengler.

A couple weekends ago, after an evening celebrating my aunt’s birthday followed up by staying at the Isle Casino Hotel, my wife and I lost a mere $12. Gambling has never stuck. Too scared to play the card games and too bored while playing the slots. After staying in the lovely Isle Casino Hotel room, it was time to eat at a Waterloo staple for breakfast.

While I have been to Newton’s Paradise Café plenty of times, it was not the choice on this day. The place of choice was Morg’s. While hearing about this diner plenty of times in the past, for some reason or another, I never made it to Morg’s. During my time as a Panther, I always went to J’s Homestyle Cooking. It was close to the University of Northern Iowa and made sense the morning after a night enjoying the bars. Traveling all the way over to Waterloo with a hangover. That is too tough.

After all these years and trips to Waterloo, I can proudly and sadly write I have been missing out on this establishment for many years. As if ripped from the past with its small diner feel, it was the place to be. Despite the lack of vehicles around the outside, Morg’s was hopping. Every booth was full, but fortunately, my wife and I found a seat at the counter to watch our food be made.

Morg’s was full of all different individuals coming from all diverse backgrounds. It did not matter your economic class, what race, or who you knew, this diner was a smorgasbord of society. Compared to fancy brunch places in the suburbs where the yuppies live, Morg’s clientele are the actual people driving change in their city. No one felt too big for their britches or needed a fancy mimosa. It was a diner full of good people having good eats.

When it comes to the eats, Morg’s stays in a lane breakfast places often forget. Whether it is making avocado toast (which can be good), a sandwich with ham and eggs with a green garnish, or a fruity brunch cocktail, Morg’s is the opposite. What they are is a place which makes the biggest pancake I have ever seen. This pancake was not the size of one pancake or two or three or four, it was the size of my plate. If a regular size pancake is a superhero, this pancake is a mashup of the Avengers and Justice League. It was massive. Usually, after eating a pancake, I feel hungry an hour later. When it came to lunch four hours later, I still was not hungry due to being fully loaded on pancakes.

The other part about typical pancakes is no matter the place, they usually taste the same. When it comes to Morg’s, these pancakes are different. They hit differently and taste better in addition to being quadruple the size and have a half gallon of butter served with it.

This exceptionally large pancake also comes with a side of bacon. While not four times the size of other sides of bacon, it had a better taste than other bacon. The extra-large pancake more than made up for the lesser amount of bacon. It was still worth the add, and I was fortunate I did not want to add eggs to the mix. I would have exploded like a balloon.

Overall, I was incredibly happy I got to enjoy Morg’s but disappointed that it took so long to experience this long-time Waterloo staple. Whenever it is time to be in the Cedar Valley in the morning in the future, I will stop again at this diner. The atmosphere, the food, and everything in between made Morg’s a great visit. I will be thinking about this pancake for a long time.

Sean Dengler is a writer, comedian, now-retired beginning farmer, and host of the Pandaring Talk podcast who grew up on a farm between Traer and Dysart. You can reach him at sean.h.dengler@gmail.com.