The Golden Nugget Pancake House is a chain of family restaurants originally launched in Florida but now operating exclusively in Chicago, Illinois. Some of the restaurants serve breakfast 24 hours a day, and their decor generally has a Western motif.
History
The chain was founded by Howard N. Quam, a Chicago native, who served in the US Marines and then worked as a blackjack dealer at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. In the mid-1960s, Quam moved to Florida and opened his first restaurant, which he named in honor of the casino. He returned to Chicago in 1966 to open additional restaurants. He returned to Las Vegas in 1988, where he opened other restaurants.[1]
As of March 2024, there are four Golden Nugget franchises in Chicago. Many other local restaurants with "Golden" in their titles, such as the Golden Apple restaurant in Lakeview, and the now-closed Golden Angel restaurant in North Center, belonged to the Golden Nugget chain in the past.[2][3]