Whether you smother them in fresh fruit, stuff them with gooey chocolate chips or top them with fluffy whipped-creme, pancakes are a breakfast staple that lend themselves to some creativity. So, put down the Bisquick and head to one of these Austin favorites to chow down on a signature cake.

Magnolia Café: The Cornmeal Pancake

Buttermilk cakes, beware: Magnolia’s cornmeal pancake is a force to be reckoned with that must be acknowledged by taste buds everywhere. The sweet cornbread texture of this pancake is fantastic any time of day or night, so it’s a good thing Magnolia Café is always open. Whether paired with maple syrup or honey, or eaten plain, this pancake is sure to impress. Even if you dislike buttermilk pancakes, you might want to test this pancake out, because it’s less like a pancake and more like cornbread for breakfast. And, since you can order a full stack, a short stack, or just a single cake, your stomach will always be happy.

Kerbey Lane:

Pumpkin Pancakes

A seasonal tradition, no autumn is complete without Kerbey Lane’s famous pumpkin pancakes. The orangey cakes may look off-putting at first for those who haven’t tried them, but veterans of the pumpkin cake will encourage everyone to try them. Just like Magnolia’s cornmeal cake, the cinnamon-y pumpkin pancake is delicious whether eaten plain or smothered in maple syrup. Pumpkin pancakes are only available in the fall through winter, so be sure and get them before they go away until next season.

Jim’s Restaurant:Strawberry Pancakes

Jim’s Restaurants, which originated in Austin in 1947, have now spread throughout Austin and San Antonio. But the growing popularity of the restaurants is well-founded—their pancakes are delicious. The strawberry pancakes are buttermilk pancakes smothered in strawberry sauce, the kind that usually causes the strawberries themselves to become squishy and unpalatable, but this is not the case with Jim’s. The strawberries are still firm and tasty when paired with the perfectly golden buttermilk pancakes, and, if you add whipped cream and order around dinner time, you can have dinner, breakfast, and dessert all at the same time.

Magnolia Café: The Alien

While the Alien is not a specific type of pancake, it’s the best way to order Magnolia’s superb buttermilk pancakes. The Alien consists of a giant (plate-sized!) buttermilk pancake, with an egg, a piece of their all-natural sausage, and a slice of bacon. Magnolia Café’s buttermilk cakes are fluffy and cooked to a wonderful golden-brown. Their flavor is sweet, but not too sweet like some buttermilk cakes can be—they taste good, not overloaded with sugar, when you cover them in syrup. Of course, the Alien is not a vegetarian dish, but with or without the meats that create the Alien dish, Magnolia Café’s buttermilk pancakes are still out of this world.