Honorable Mention
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House
by David Brubaker
In 1968, when I graduated from the USC Business School, I was hired for my first job in El Segundo. My roommate and I, at the age of 24, moved into a Manhattan Beach apartment on the corner of Rosecrans and Highland. That first weekend we meandered south on Highland and eventually stumbled upon the best pancakes in Southern California: “Uncle Bill’s Pancake House.” I had the ones with bananas and walnuts, my roommate had the strawberry, and we both generously poured the real maple syrup on top. I knew that the South Bay was to be my home, and to me, Uncle Bill’s was the capital of Manhattan Beach!
Over the next 55 years, a lot changed in my life. As time passed, I left that job and started my own business that eventually went public. I moved out of my first apartment and into several others, then finally bought a home in the hill section. While I parted with the roommate, I gained a beautiful wife and an awesome son. I also watched my community evolve from a little-known beach town just south of the LAX Airport to one of the most bustling and growing communities in Los Angeles. Over time, bike and surf shops, mom-and-pop stores were replaced with upscale new restaurants and boutique shops. Through it all, Uncle Bill’s was where I spent every possible Saturday morning, and the pancake house – menu, decor, staff – stayed the same.
One of my favorite Saturday morning breakfast partners was Dr. Burton Marcus, my favorite USC professor from my time there in the ’60s. Attached is the most recent photograph (July 29, 2025) of the two of us old boys in front of our favorite breakfast diner. I am 81 now, Burton is 91, and we agree the pancakes taste the same or maybe even better! My son is 40 now and attended Mira Costa before graduating from USC. In the second attached picture, in the background, is a photo of us in 2003 that has been hanging there ever since.
There was a time when Uncle Bill’s was only a countertop room, and “Van” owned and managed it. In the ’60s and ’70s, there was a barber shop attached to Uncle Bill’s, owned by a man named Ronnie, who used to occasionally cut my hair. Uncle Bill’s bought the shop and it is now the main dining room, alongside the outdoor patio. Over pancakes with Dr. Marcus last week, I couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that while the Manhattan Beach community has blossomed into one of the most progressive and populated beach communities in LA, some things – happily – never change. Dr. Marcus, as a marketing professor, used to emphasize two keys to business success: first, “keep winners” and when I looked around the diner last week, I saw lots of the folks who have been mainstays of this iconic location like Matt (the manager and owner), Gloria, Blanca, Greg, Stacey, Jeanette, and Kyle. They have all been part of the history and growth throughout the years. The second key to success from Dr. Marcus is that a business should “honor their brand.” Uncle Bill’s, while larger in space and packed to the rim with fellow pancake lovers, still has the same charm, service, food quality, and beachy ambiance that it had back in the ’60s. Isn’t it wonderful, in this ever-changing world… that some things never change.
