Ybor City Distraction: La Creperia Cafe

OK. its not Brandon, I get it, but Erin and I were on an airport run to pick up my sister Donna. She was arriving from Rochester, NY, rising at some ridiculous hour (like 4:30am), and having only a breakfast sandwich to eat. It was now after 1:00pm and our collective tummies were on full alert.

Airport Success!!

Erin suggested that we should do lunch at La Creperia Cafe, in Ybor City. We had been talking about Donna joining us for "bistro day" during her stay. I immediately mentioned that it was not quite in strict keeping with the theme of the blog "Bistros of Brandon", but then I thought "Ah what the hell, why not".  http://www.lacreperiacafe.com/

Boutique sized shops on 7th Ave., Ybor City, Tampa.

I had never been to this cafe, had not been down to Ybor in quite some time and I do love the old town atmosphere. Erin, on the other hand, had been here a couple of times before and liked it a bunch. So it was a lock.

Small spaces + old building = eclectic decor/work tools

It was mid-afternoon when we got there so there were only a few customers around for a late lunch. The full menu is provided on the web site linked above so I will not bore you with a description other than this: The dishes are all numbered and there are ninety-six to choose from. For ease of selection they are in general categories. Drinks of all kinds are not numbered so you will have to either point or actually speak your choice.

Build-out area shelters diners from kitchen. Nice decorations!

Erin and I choose water and Donna got a Diet Coke. To our surprise they brought her a plastic cup with ice and a teeny little (8.5oz) bottle of Diet Coke. I'm sorry but for $2.25 I expected at least one free refill. That makes the per-ounce cost $.265! Thats only a few cents per-ounce cheaper than gas for the car, Boom! As you can see below, Donna was a good egg about it:-)

Donna as product model for teeny Diet Coke. (apparently not caffeine free) 

Skinny little Coca Cola cooler for skinny little bottles.

Tasty crepes all around for us.

The menu section that seemed most fitting for us was called Savory Crepes. All crepes in this section were made with whole wheat flour. We started to eat before I remembered to get a pic of the dishes, but this gives you the idea. Crepes totally stuffed with goodies and a little taste of salad along side.
Donna and Erin both got
#39. La Bechamel - Cheese, chicken, broccoli with bechamel sauce (white roux). Top two dishes in the pic.
I ordered #47. La Paris - Cheese, feta, chicken, spinach and sweet red pepper.

Both dishes were rich tasting and filled with nicely shredded chicken and a proportion of ingredients that did not cause the crepes to become too firm or overly watery. More than enough for a fine lunch treat.

Love the collection of stuff on the red brick wall

I think the ladies were laughing with me rather than at me, but we had a good time regardless.

See, Erin enjoyed it!!

On our scale of Yuck to Super, I would have to give this experience a Super.

Three meals and one soda came to  $37 and change. A bit on the pricy side but it is good quality food prepared fresh for you, so I would call  it a good value. There is likely a little cost included for the trendy/touristy locale.

New Restaurant: Smittys Chop House ~ IS CLOSED!!

Sorry to report this  restaurant appears to be closed ~ Never got back to try their dinner fare. It's always sad to see a local business go out after such a short tenure in the hood.

Smittys opened it's doors the end of June this year at 140 N. Parsons Ave., Brandon, 33510. They took over the old La Septima location on Parsons Ave. just north of SR. 60 in one of the busiest (ie. most congested) traffic sections of town. Unfortunately their location it is only readily visible to the southbound lanes of drivers on Parsons waiting in frustration for the brief green light that allows access to Brandon Blvd. on the way home. Being a little "out-of-the-way" probably keeps the rent down, but creates a challenge for a new restaurant looking to build a body of business.

Small light box sign needs some banner help I see.

One thing that helps draw some attention is the mammouth outdoor smoker kicking out wonderful smells from the south side of the building. When the wind is right and the car windows are open it may turn a few heads and plant the seed for a future visit when one can plan to get into the correct lane and pull into the parking lot. I was able to find them on Facebook and in a few web based Restaurant Guide Sites, but they do not yet have their own web page. Just in tonight, a link to their on-line menu, Smittys menu

(Brandon casual attire) Which means flip-flops and shorts. Tucked in shirts are discouraged.

Days and Hours: Serving Lunch and Dinner daily
Sun. - Thur. 11:00am to 12:00pm
Fri. and Sat. 11:00am to 1:00am
Features: Karaoke, special events, televised sports, beer and wine, daily meal specials, take-out, delivery and catering. A word of caution, the Friday fish fry special is catfish, just in case you were looking for a more northern Pollock, Haddock or Cod.

The Family Style Barbecue menu has a generous selection of traditional battered and fried appetizers like Jalapeno Poppers, pickles, green tomatoes (in season). Lunch and dinner selections also offered a good variety of sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads and dinners (almost every day has a dish on special at both lunch and dinner). They also serve beer and wine. Unfortunately I didn't take pics of the menu and our pleasant waitress said the to-go menu is not quite ready, so I'm working from memory and the F-book page.

We were the only ones eating, but it was an odd hour.

The interior walls still feature the expansive mirrors from the La Septima days, so we had some fun watching the special effects while we waited. See the "fun-with-cars" video below. Maybe you can hear Vicki's running commentary if you turn up your speakers:-)

Now wasn't that fun??

Club Wrap, Philly Cheese Steak and BBQ Cuban. All with rough cut fries.

Clockwise from the top left, Club Wrap sans "T" (Erin doesn't do tomatoes), Philly Cheese Steak on a hoagie (Friday's lunch special) and I had the BBQ Cuban (pulled pork w/BBQ sauce on cuban bread and pressed). We all thought the rough cut fries were very tasty and done to our liking (hot 'n fresh).

Club Wrap, Turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, shredded cheddar (upon request) in a wrap and pressed. Also a side of Ranch for dipping. Opinion was ~ nothing special, I could make it at home.

Philly Cheese Steak, chopped steak grilled with green peppers, onions and mushrooms, topped with a slice of Provolone cheese then oven baked to melt the cheese and slightly toast the hoagie roll, with a side of mayo. The vote here was also a mixed OK with a side of nothing special.

BBQ Cuban, pulled pork with BBQ sauce on cuban bread and pressed. I felt the portion of pulled pork was good, had a nice smokey flavor and I only got a little bit of fat in one bite. The sauce was their regular house BBQ and the bread was a little tougher than I like. This is presented as a signature sandwich creation so I expected a little more, well, creativity with the ingredients (maybe a slice of cheese and a long slice of dill pickle). It was really nothing more than a pulled pork sandwich on cuban bread instead of a hoagie roll.
I had to ask for a side of sauce to help with the slide down the throat. As our waitress brought out a plastic bottle of sauce and it struck me as odd that they did not have the bottle already at the table and maybe even a few bottles with a selection of flavors. The sauce itself was definitely on the "liquid smoke" side of the flavor grid, but it was OK for me.

On our scale of Yuck to Super I would have to give Smittys a Fair rating and withhold my final opinion until we give them a shot at wow-ing us with their tasty sounding dinner goodies, like Smoked Prime Rib or the BBQ Ribs and Chicken.

Lunch for three was $24.04 before tip.