The Dish: Loco Moco

By Matt Cortina

Stacks Pancake House. 34255 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point. 949.429.2222. www.stackspancakehouse.com

On the weekends, and some weekdays, you can usually count on a long line of people outside Stacks Pancake House in Dana Point. There’s a long line outside its other location in Mission Viejo, too.

Such a regular commitment of time indicates that something good must be going on inside. To find out, I tried the house specialty Loco Moco.

A bed of steamed rice was piled high with two fried eggs, brown gravy and a long, cut Portuguese sausage. There’s also the option for a more traditional hamburger patty or Spam, but no matter what you choose, it’s a bold way to start the day. With the yolk running, and the salty gravy mixing with charred sausage and rice of a perfect texture, each bite is pure happiness—and that seems to be the goal.

So though I think it remains that people are generally attracted to waiting in line, the food at Stacks is at least worth the wait.