Offering an alternative to mass-produced pancake mixes, a Chicago mother-and-son duo have introduced their own boutique version of the breakfast classic, available online and at three local specialty stores. 

Samuel Taylor partnered with his mother, Susanna Taylor, to start Long Table Pancakes, which currently offers two mixes—White Knight, made airy with popcorn flour, and Windy Point, a buckwheat/blue corn combo. 

The entire stock sold out in less than three days after the April 12 launch, Samuel Taylor said.

“I started with the problem that most commercial pancake mixes are terrible,” he said. “The reason they are terrible is people assume you should pay $2 a pound for pancake mix.” 

Long Table’s mixes are $36 for a four-package case.

Samuel Taylor invented the pancake recipes while trying new combinations of ingredients four or five times a week, sometimes twice a day, he said. 

The mixes are more complicated than the traditional white flour, sugar and leavening agent, Susanna Taylor said. 

“One is a lighter, fluffier fare made with popcorn flour that Sam invented by popping popcorn and putting it in the blender,” Susanna Taylor said. “The other is a bit heavier, more gritty and down-to-earth.”

Susanna Taylor said the pancakes are delicious and healthy. Most of the mixes’ ingredients are locally grown and milled, with a few exceptions including almond meal and hazelnut meal, which are not available locally.

Customers can order the mixes on the company’s website and at three stores around Chicago: Logan Square Farmers Market, 2755 N. Milwaukee Ave.; Andersonville Farmers Market, North Clark Street and West Berwyn Avenue; and Gene’s Sausage Shop & Delicatessen, 4750 N. Lincoln Ave.

Yolanda Luszcz, co-owner of Gene’s, said Samuel Taylor visited her store to offer samples before he was even ready to start wholesaling the products, allowing her time to consider hosting the mixes on her shelves.

“We really focus on European products, but just as important to us are local products,” Luszcz said. “We are a local artisan producer ourselves, and we realize how difficult being your own producer of a food product is.”

Gene’s has carried Long Table’s mixes for about three weeks, and so far, the mixes have been selling slowly at the store, but Luszcz said with new products, it takes some time to grab people’s attention. She said the packaging and reasonable pricing of the mixes are selling points.

Samuel Taylor said he is planning on taking samples of the second batch, scheduled to be available for shipping April 25, to local small grocery stores to see if they want to carry the mixes.

“We’re going to avoid the big box stores for a while, partly because we don’t want to get lost in the shuffle of a million food products and because if someone puts in an order for 10,000 pounds, that’s not a thing we know how to do,” Samuel Taylor said.

Long Table Pancakes’ second batch is scheduled to be available for shipping April 25 and can be ordered for $36 for a shipment of four packages from LongTablePancakes.com.