Holy crepe!
Crepes and coffee anyone?
Memorial Day marks not only the unofficial start of summer, but it’s also the weekend that one of my favorite seasonal spots unlocks its doors for the warm weather months to come.
Crepes and Coffee is a jewel: a one-of-a-kind, independent, mom and pop (well, actually, it’s run by teenagers) type of shop that could only exist at an idyllic place like Bear Lake.
I really love this cafe, and I don’t even drink coffee!
Crepes and Coffee is a must-visit locale whenever my wife and I hunker down at Bear Lake’s pristine glamping resort destination: Conestoga Ranch. Of course, Conestoga Ranch has the best restaurant in the town of Garden City with its excellent Campfire Grill.
But one thing they do not have is crepes.
Fortunately, a 10-minute walk or 2-minute drive from the glamping grounds puts you at Crepes and Coffee, where you should plan on cooling your heels for a bit. That’s because, during the busy Bear Lake tourist season, Crepes and Coffee is an extremely popular place to gather.
It’s not uncommon to wait 45 minutes to an hour for an order of crepes on busy days … and it’s worth every minute of it. So bring a book or an iPad or a board game to help pass the time and chill.
One of the reasons that things can get a bit backed up at Crepes and Coffee is that when I’ve been there, there’s only been a solo crepe maker. There’s usually a long line of folks waiting to place an order at the walk-up window and more people lounging around outside (there’s no indoor dining) awaiting their food.
On a Monday after a weekend when the creperie was slammed, I asked the teenage dude making crepes how many of the thin, French-style pancakes he had made by hand over the weekend and he said he lost count at somewhere around 650.
“You must see crepes in your sleep at night,” I suggested. “Pretty much!” was his reply. And yet, service at Crepes and Coffee is always super friendly, helpful, and unharried, no matter how large and/or inpatient the hungry crowds get.
More Crepes you can shake a finger at
The good news is that you’ll have time while in line to decide what sort(s) of crepe you’d like to order, from over 20 varieties.
There are breakfast crepes, sweet crepes, and savory crepes on the menu, and folks with gluten issues will be pleased to know that Crepes and Coffee offers gluten-free buckwheat batter as an alternative to their standard crepes.
In the breakfast crepe category, there’s the Popeye ($7.17), stuffed with spinach, ham, egg, and tomatoes; a vegetarian crepe called Vegg Out ($7.77) with egg, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, onions, and red bell peppers; a classic pancake-style crepe called Miss Butterworth’s ($6.48); and my favorite, the Classico Crepe ($6.80) with just ham, egg and cheese rounds out the breakfast offerings.
In case you’re wondering about the seemingly odd pricing, menu items are priced so that when tax is added you get a round number so you can leave your pennies at home.
Sweet Crepes
Utahns are known for loving their sweets, so it’s no surprise that the most popular crepes served are from the Sweet Crepes section of the menu.
There are 10 different sweet crepes, ranging from an Oreo Crepe ($7.22) with crushed Oreos, and a S’mores crepe ($6.48), to a hazelnut spread crepe called Nuttelicous ($5.94), and The SkiChick71 ($6.91), which has a choice of fruit and chocolate—milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or Nutella.
But hands-down the most popular crepe sold at Crepes and Coffee is the Bear Lake Raspberry Crepe ($6.48), which is made with fresh, local Bear Lake raspberries, of course, plus raspberry syrup and whipped cream.
Get in early if you hope to enjoy the Bear Lake Raspberry Crepe, however, since the kitchen often runs out of raspberries on busy days and they wouldn’t think of using store-bought berries.
Savory Crepes
In the Savory Crepe dept. Is a Swiss Dijon crepe ($6.85); a crepe with pizza-style stuffings ($6.85); a turkey, ham and Swiss version called Mik’s Club ($7.87); a Tapenade crepe ($7.22); and a crepe based on a Margherita pizza named True Ruthy’s Margarita (sic) which includes marinara sauce, fresh basil, tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella ($6.94).
Libations too
As mentioned, coffee is one of the few vices I never acquired, somehow, so I am ill-equipped to comment on the coffee at Crepes and Coffee.
My wife, however, assures me that it’s excellent. And there’s a wide selection of coffees, teas, iced drinks, Italian sodas, smoothies, and even beer and wine.
So whether you’re in the mood for a Caramel Macchiato, White Chocolate Mocha Latte, Steamed Hot Chocolate, Americano, fruit smoothie, a glass of Champagne, red/white/rose wine, or beer from breweries like Uinta and Epic, Crepes and Coffee has the beverage spectrum covered.
Wait, there’s more …
If that weren’t enough, Crepes and Coffee also features a gelato stand serving three sizes of gelato ($3.75/4.75/5.75) in flavors such as hazelnut, pistachio, raspberry, honey-lavender, and strawberry-basil.
So the next time you’re in the Bear Lake neck of the woods and looking for a friendly spot to enjoy artisan, made-from-scratch crepes, I highly recommend Garden City’s most interesting and inviting eatery: Crepes and Coffee.
Culinary quote of the week:
If there’s a sexier sound on this planet than the person you’re in love with cooing over the crepes you made for him, I don’t know what it is. — Julie Powell
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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.
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