Joie de Crêpe

closed. perhaps time to update/​delete their facebook page.

Where do I start… First, the place is dirty, and there was no soap in either bathroom. Not only could I not wash my hands, but I guess the cook doesn’t wash his either after he uses the toilet. We went at 10 am on the Sunday of the Michigan game. I brought my family and friends there because I’m vegan and there are few places to get a vegan breakfast. The year before I had a relatively good experience here: the food was very good and there were many choices of crepes both sweet and savory. It isn’t a very pleasant place physically, but it wasn’t filthy like it was this year. Also, last year they had a waitstaff as well as a cook. This year they must be under new ownership because it was completely different. Besides the aforementioned filth, there was only ONE guy working there. One. He was taking orders at the counter (no table service), taking payment, cooking and serving. He didn’t know how to do much of anything. He said he couldn’t make coffee because he didn’t know how. He didn’t know how to refill the paper in the credit card machine to print a receipt for me to sign, nor did he know how to void the cc transaction so I could just pay in cash. The food took 45 minutes to come out and one of the orders was wrong. Also, it was at least 90 degrees in the place and he was drenched in sweat. He probably didn’t know how to work the thermostat. If I hadn’t been starving and desperate for a vegan breakfast, I would have just left. It was truly awful. The crêpe didn’t taste bad, but it certainly wasn’t enough to compensate for the rest of it. I forgot to mention that the menu had also changed and there were only two sweet Crepes available, the rest of the menu was some weird «soul food» and other stuff that made no sense. This was probably the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.

If they want to succeed. Stop the soul food (don’t commit a fraud) LOL, move upstairs w/​a window facing College Ave and make fresh crepes in the window. Offer sweet and savory crepes. They only need have the size of space. If they want to branch out: do waffles, and/​or pancakes. Good luck.

Don’t count on vegan crêpes even if the chalkboard on the street is advertising them. At noon, on a football Saturday, when they had only 2 other customers and said they were out of the vegan batter and even an hour after we suggested they might want to remove the item from the chalk board, it was still there.
If you don’t have it don’t advertise it up on the street. We made a special trip downtown in the middle of crazy pedestrian traffic, bringing a big brunch hungry, just to finally try the vegan crêpes. We were greeted by a fellow (chef/​owner?) at the counter who started to ask if we were dining in or wanting take out, he seemed to think better of it and yelled into the back for a young woman that she had customers.
The young woman, seated us and upon asking about the vegan crêpes she had to yell back to the same man who said they were out of the batter. What a waste of our time and energy. It’s hard to say if we will return.

Having heard about a creperie in State College that served vegan friendly food in addition to regular fare, we hoped for a good experience at Joie de Crêpe. Those hopes dissipated quickly upon entering the dark and dirty restaurant on the basement level.
The friendly wait staff was one redeeming aspect of the experience. The food, which took far too long to deliver, was just OK. The sweet crepes seem to be a better bet than the savory.
My daughter had the strawberry and Nutella crêpe, which was decent, though many of the strawberries were unripe. The crêpe itself was good.
My wife had the Chèvre, Spinach and mushroom crêpe, which she liked a good deal.
I had the tomato, mozzarella and pesto crêpe. The pesto was too oily and there was too much of it. Combine that with a paucity of mozzarella, and you have a decidedly disappointing experience.
The highlight of the meal was the French press coffee, which was excellent; though it was unfortunate that they did not have decaf.
On the whole, the restaurant has a way to go, though there is some potential as the crepes themselves were quite tasty.

Oh I so wanted to rate this place higher! I should give 3 stars for just opening up in State College but there are so many things wrong with the place. If you want to try I would recommend calling your order in ahead of time and getting to go. The place itself needs a serious décor bump but it’s clean. The service was very good but with only one person to wait on the ENTIRE place on a Football Sunday someone is obviously very new to the restaurant business. The wait for food was way too long, the food was served to my wife first then 10 minutes later to me. Food itself was good but the soda machine was flat. Coffee on the other hand was great. So, again, a few tweaks and it would be better but they need to try much harder if they have any chance of making it.

I’ve been to Joie de Crêpe several times since it opened in July and have been very pleased with the food, coffee and service every time. There is much there in the way of ambiance at the moment, and personally I could care less — the crepes and coffee are great. I’ve had a variety of both their sweet and savory offerings and have never been disappointed. My favorite of the moment is Biscoff with chocolate and strawberries. The coffee is thankfully strong and pressed — just the way I like it.
Another Unilocaler mentioned Paris Creperie — Joie has a ways to go before it can match that taste nirvana — but, IMO, it’s off to a very good start.

I have been to Joie twice, each time having an excellent, freshly made Crêpe. From sweet to Savory, the selection with addition to daily specials, make Joie simply a joy to dine at! The man behind the counter was most friendly and informative about their offerings, even providing samples of different ingredients, some of which I was unfamiliar with (I now love biscoff).
Last time I had the Spinach, Feta and Red Pepper crêpe and it was phenomenal. The presentation was decadent, the tastes of each ingredient distinguishable, yet perfectly blended. Needless to say I recommend Joie to anyone who enjoys Crêpe’s or wants to break the State College dining scene mold.

Sadly, just had an okay experience at Joie de Crêpe… and I REALLY wanted to love it. Especially coming from the same people at the excellent Pita Cabana!
I love crepes (who doesn’t?) and have been waiting for another creperie to open up since Paris Creperie on W College closed (has to be close to 10 years ago now… wow I feel old… but I’m still mourning it). Unlike one of the other reviewers, I actually enjoyed the Middle Eastern music and honestly would rather they dump the cheesy French-​themed décor and embrace its Arabic side. Either way, it’s a little divey – but if you frequented it back when the Big Bowl was located here, you will feel right at home. Plus, the man behind the counter (owner?) was super nice and helpful.
The only thing I wasn’t enthralled with was… the crepes. They weren’t bad, the fillings were fine, but the crêpe was crunchy and dry. Crepes should be moist with just a slight crispiness on the outside. And it’s weird that they do not have any options for sauce. I will probably still come back here, but I hope they rework their crêpe technique. They’re still new so perhaps it will just take a little before they gain their footing… I’m rooting for them!

I just had my first experience here and honestly I was unimpressed. The music is Aribic which clashes with the vague Frence theme décor. I decided to try the savory crêpe because in my experience they are more difficult to execute. Many mistakes can be covered by nutella and biscoff. I ordered a $ 7 spinach, feta and red pepper crêpe. The crêpe itself was too thick and large and was wrapped incorrectly. The filling was almost completely raw spinach with a few hunks of very salty feta and one or two tiny bites of red pepper. I imagined a crêpe overflowing with spinach wilted in a sauce, smokey red peppers and a light touch of feta to balance it out. To say the least, it was bland as is. I have ordered $ 5 crepes from food trucks that load their product with 7 – 10 fillings and a choice of sauce.
To the establishment’s credit, the waitress/​crêpe chef was extremely personable and the dining room was cleaner than most. I have not tried the sweet crepes and would go back at least once to try them. I do believe that the restaurant would do much better with a greater selection of toppings, either lowering prices or adding more
Ingredients per crêpe, and introducing sauces for the crepes.

The only place that you can get a crêpe in state college.