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This Saturday evening I did quite a few things that I wouldn’t normally do: I went out to eat on a Saturday evening in Ybor City with a group of 13 other people.  Other than the Ybor city thing, it pretty much goes against the guidelines I follow when dining out.  First, I rarely dine out on the weekends; the restaurants are generally crowded and full of amateur diners.  Second, I believe dining out with a party of 14 is generally a disaster waiting to happen; the waitstaff hates it, the kitchen hates it, and the thought of having someone pull out a calculator to figure out the check makes me cringe.  My girlfriend organized this meal for a group of people from work, so of course I was game.  The last part that I didn’t mention was that we dined at a place that hasn’t been too well received by some local foodies: La Creperia Cafe.

Though I may have broken all of the rules in my “little black book of dining rules*,” we all had a fantastic experience doing something outside of the norm, eating crepes at a restaurant.  Crepes may be a popular street food in Paris, but it’s a food rarely eaten in Florida outside of breakfast time, much less at a restaurant.  La Creperia Cafe fits an interesting niche in dining, serving both savory and sweet crepes with beer, wine and coffee in a charming location until the wee hours of the night in Ybor city.  How’s that for a mouthful?

La Creperia Cafe is located in a narrow space on 7th Avenue in Ybor City.  On the inside there is a long bar stretching the length of the right hand side of the restaurant, all the way from the kitchen to a window in the front where the owner can demonstrate crepe making to the passers-by.  The atmosphere is charming, with high ceilings and exposed brick that is both warm and inviting.  The beer selection is small and composed mainly of several imports along with the requisite Budweiser.  The wine selection is just as small and unpretentious, most bottles cost between $15 and $20.  If you are in the mood for coffee, you are also in luck with several different blends. 

Menu choices are numerous, with a large selection of both savory and sweet crepes.  Each crepe comes with different fillings, including chicken, shrimp, sausage, peppers, goat cheese, artichoke hearts and artisan cheeses.  In addition, there is a “build your own crepe” selection on the menu for those in a creative mood.  I didn’t have the energy that evening and I needed a little kick to my palate, so I tried the Jambalaya crepe, even though it’s not exactly the norm for South Louisiana cuisine.  The peppers, sausage and shrimp blended surprisingly well with the savory crepe and a couple dashes from the provided Tabasco bottle made it almost perfect; for a crepe, that is.  My girlfriend had a crepe with chicken, cheese, artichoke hearts and some assorted cheeses; good, but not great enough to get me running back.  We each had one savory crepe and for dessert split one sweet crepe, filled with Nutella, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Strawberries.  Scant on the strawberries but tasty nonetheless, it made a great finish to a relaxing dinner.  The service was excellent, especially for a party of 14.  I had heard that service was inconsistent, but was relieved to have caught the place on a good night.  Surprisingly, the waiter brought our check and the paying of the bill went off without a hitch.  A bottle of red wine, three crepes, tax and tip made for a reasonable dinner for two at less than $60, but then again, we were only eating crepes.  If you want to try something out of the ordinary, stop in for a fun and different meal.  It’s not a place that’s on my list to frequent, but I am happy to say I have tried it and will probably be back for dessert at the bar.

After a stop at a local drinking establishment then to a friend’s house in Ybor, we turned in early for the night.  The crepes at La Creperia were fantastic at 7pm and a perfect beginning for the evening, but at about 11pm, my stomach felt just a bit empty.  On the way back to the car, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon another eatery to try something else a little different: Alaskan Tacos!  More on that soon…

* not a real book… I made it up on the spot

La Creperia Cafe
1729 E. 7Th Avenue
Tampa Fl (Ybor City)
813-248-9700
www.laCreperiaCafe.com