We dig into the growth spurt of Crepe Creation
When your restaurant consistently has a waiting list for dinner that’s an hour-long, it’s probably a good indicator that it’s time to expand. Which is exactly what Crepe Creation Café just did this month, nearly doubling in size to eat up the corner of the block on Deville Street.
New growth isn’t something new for the popular café, which first expanded on its humble beginnings at its first location on Howard Avenue in 2013. The original Crepe Creation was a tiny space that housed only three simple tables indoors and two alfresco. But, in two years’ time, owner Larry Cauble was forced to move to a bigger building (his current location) to better feed his patrons.
And it’s no surprise that Crepe Creation continues to get bigger and better, especially to Cauble’s wife/business partner, Emma Ware. Not only are the made-to-order crepes healthy, delicious, and preservative- and chemical-free, but the restaurant serves up an A in VIP customer service.
“I saw Larry being this successful from the early days, but I don’t know if he did,” says Emma. “We’re trying to bring back old-fashioned customer service, and I love catering to people and hearing that they had a great experience. I mean, people are here after a long day, they’re tired, so we roll out the red carpet.”
Patrons notice the customer service, but Crepe’s employees notice a difference working here as well, as servers work as a team, rather than a cutthroat competition. “We constantly have staff meetings about customer service,” says Emma.
The finesse and execution in every detail at Crepe Creation shows, from the charming French café atmosphere throughout the dining room and new full bar to the fresh ingredients carefully rolled into each crepe and perfectly plated. Larry first fell in love with crepes when he was stationed in Europe while serving in the Army for more than 20 years. Think of the crepe as a forever souvenir he brought back to the states.
After years of working at restaurants and visiting Myrtle Beach from the Washington, D.C., area on vacations, Larry decided to open his own restaurant here at The Market Common in 2011. Today, Crepe Creation features more than 30 crepes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert (with a gluten-free option as well) and has just recently added a full breakfast menu, with eggs to order, home fries, toasted baguettes and more. Plus, their freshly squeezed orange, papaya, pineapple, mango and tomato juices can be ordered straight or as a more potent potable.
Larry’s passion for presentation and hand-crafted recipes extends beyond the crepes to include new offerings like grilled steaks and chicken for dinner, paninis, soups, sides, specialty teas and homemade sauces (pesto, bernaise, Bechamel and more).
“People love the food and the fact that they don’t feel overloaded when eating our food,” says Emma, a nutritionist, clinical homeopath and owner of Emmas’s School of Healthy Eating here at The Market Common. “When Larry and I first partnered up, he would notice that I would recommend my clients to come in here.”
Crepe Creation Café is truly taking a bite out of healthy eating that’s also savory, something they hope to expand on in the future as they plan to potentially open new locations and franchise.
Crepe Creation Café, located at 4012 Deville St., is open Sunday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Live music is hosted nearly every night, and be sure to check out their daily 3M Happy Hour from 4-7 p.m., featuring margaritas, martinis and mojitos for $5 and much more. For more info, visit www.crepecreation.com or call 843-839-4019.