Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The Ugly Duckling was previously located at 115 Springfield St. in Dayton, before relocating to 1430 E. Fifth St. in July 2024.
The restaurant is known for its all-day breakfast featuring:
- Breakfast Burrito (scrambled eggs, bacon, grilled bell peppers and onions, tater tots and cheddar cheese sauce in a flour tortilla) $15
- Tater Hash (tater tots, cheddar cheese sauce, sausage patties, grilled bell peppers and onions topped with an over easy egg) $15
- World Famous Breakfast (one pancake with maple cinnamon butter and powdered sugar, two eggs, choice of protein and side of tater tots) $17.50
The pancakes served at the restaurant are made from Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix is nostalgic
Clay and Jeckering started the brand in 2021 as a way to get involved with the community.
“We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel,” Clay said. “A lot of it is like the nostalgia with the pancake box itself and growing up with the cereal box-type situation.”
Jeckering designed the box and they ordered 100 boxes.
“I kind of just made a Facebook post and said that we were starting this pancake business,” Clay said. “After we saw it went good and got a little feedback from people who tried the mix (and) whatnot, then we ordered I think maybe 2,500 boxes to 5,000 boxes or something like that.”
Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix has been available at The Ugly Duckling, but other than that, the brand has been on a hiatus for the past two years.
A need for a production space
In September, the owners of The Ugly Duckling secured a space on North Main Street to produce the pancake mix and a new line of spices.
Pancake mix started being produced in October with the owners promoting it at various Dorothy Lane Market locations.
Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix can be found at all four Dorothy Lane Market locations, Tony & Pete’s, Gem City Market, Tasty Bird Market and The Ugly Duckling for $7.99.
Their goal is to produce 1,000 boxes each month.
“It has been really interesting having the restaurant and selling the mix versus when we were just selling the mix,” Jeckering said. “Once we say we have a restaurant, people get really interested in that, they want to know more...”
In the future, they hope to get Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix in as many stores as possible. They would like to have a regional deal with Kroger or Meijer.
Blazin’ Dayton Spice Co. to release a line of spices
As for the spices, they hope to produce the first one in the next month under Blazin’ Dayton Spice Co.
“It’s just a way to step into the hot sauce (brand) without doing the hot sauce necessarily,” Jeckering said. “We’re already packaging a dry good.”
They have plans to release a total of six spices. The first one is called, Sweet Heat, and it’s based off of Schindler’s hot sauce.
Jeckering described it as a sriracha, but a little sweeter.
Schindler started Blazin’ Dayton in 2022 after working in the restaurant industry for more than 10 years. He participated in several pop-up events, but needed a commercial kitchen to take his business into area stores.
His hot sauce is available at The Ugly Duckling and pairs perfect with the Breakfast Burrito.
Blazin’ Dayton Spice Co. hopes to eventually appear in the same stores as Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix — producing 1,000 bags of spices each month.
The Book Worm Café is coming soon
“We’re just excited to keep pushing out new ideas and kind of see how people receive them,” Clay said.
They are in the midst of opening a new café at the Dayton Metro Library’s Main Library on East Third Street.
The Book Worm Café is expected to offer coffee, soda, snacks, sandwiches, local baked goods, knickknacks and much more.
The space does not have a kitchen, so they’re planning to offer easy, carryout items.
The owners submitted a proposal in September after the Dayton Metro Library announced on social media that they were looking for a local entrepreneur to operate their coffee café.
This space was previously home to The Coffee Hub. The coffee shop closed earlier this year.
The owners are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with the library and bringing a new network of people into the space.
They want to “be a business that’s needed in the community more so than a business that’s just trying to make money,” Clay said.
Investing in the city where they were born and raised
Business continues as usual at The Ugly Duckling 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
The restaurant serves breakfast all day with burgers starting at 11 a.m. Kids meals are $5 after 3 p.m.
The owners recently reopened with new floors thanks to Greater Dayton Handyworks.
When asked why they continue to invest in Dayton, Clay said, “It’s where we were born and raised.”
“We grew up in a time where you would always hear stories of it being busy down here,” Jeckering said. “Now, we’re finally at a point to where we have a chance to be the ones to bring it back.”
Natalie Jones writes about food and dining in Southwest Ohio with an emphasis on the Dayton region. She may be reached at natalie.jones@coxinc.com.
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