La Creperia in Ybor: Lousy Service Ruins Experience

On Sunday we decided to stop in to La Creperia, a relatively new French bistro on 7th Ave. in Ybor City that specializes in crepes. The restaurant is located between the old Italian Club and La Terrazza.

We had eaten at La Creperia two times before (on the first visit we sat up at the bar and met the extremely nice owner). On our last visit with a large group some months ago the service had been wholly underwhelming. I'm all for giving places second chances, though, especially a unique and potentially tasty concept like La Creperia. However, after our experience last Sunday I'm sorry that I did. Service was again a mess and the food was just average.

In addition to traditional desert crepes, La Creperia offers a huge selection of crepes as entrees stuffed with almost anything you can imagine. I ordered an Oppa Mexicana crepe (the server plainly told me she had "no idea" what items on the menu were spicy, umm ok) and a Caesar salad while Traci ordered a Prego (roast turkey) crepe.

The Caesar was overloaded with dressing, used iceberg lettuce (no romaine), and had a few lonely croutons. My crepe was okay, but no flavors stood out and it was overwhelmed by the sour cream and salsa on top. I had a bite of Traci's crepe and thought it was okay, but she pointed out that a different cheese was used than what was on the menu.

We would have ordered a desert crepe, but after the slow and clueless service, my patience was shot. A couple at a table near us looked equally frustrated.

Bottom-line: La Creperia may have a unique concept, but the execution has been muddled on my last two visits. I wouldn't go back for more than a final try at a dessert crepe (the Romeo Y Julieta - nutella, banana and strawberries - was tasty).

Inspection Scorecard: Last Inspection: October 2005 violations - Critical (3), Non-Critical (0).

Comments

[Rick]

We went to La Creparia last night and had a very similar experience: lousy service (it took almost 15 minutes to take our order with only five other diners in the restaurant! And there is a difference between a crepe and calzone, but the chef does not realize this. Stay away!

[matt]

Rick-

Sorry to hear about your experience at La Creperia.

I guess some things never change. (I originally wrote this review in July 2006).

Very good concept just mediocre execution.

[anonymous]

I used to work at La Creperia Cafe. The owner may seem nice, but behind the scenes sometimes he is not. Also, Sunday is the worst day because it is the busiest day and the owner does not want to hire enough help because he is trying to cut corners to save money. Correct execution(service and product) should not be compromised. The owners of La Creperia never had a real business plan, they just got construction done as well as equipment and food, hired a few people and opened the doors. They make up a business plan as they go along...can you say AMATEUR! Also, try asking for you your pay...that is almost impossible to get sometimes, he also gives you I.O.U's on your pay. Not professional at all. Also, he pays under the table...umm,ok now. They have always had a bad roach problem too, crawling all over the food. This was one of the worst job experiences I've ever had. I almost forgot to mention all the illegal aliens he hires...sheesh!