Creperie moves into permanent home

La Petite Creperie finally moved yesterday into its permanent home in Houston Hall after nearly three months of construction delays.

"I'm very excited," owner Andreas Andoniadis said. "This is a beautiful concept."

The creperie has been operating in Houston Hall on a limited basis since September. After working with scarce resources and a wooden vendor cart, Andoniadis is grateful for the extra space and the ability to expand.

"Business has been OK, but limited," Andoniadis said. "Now, we have more crepe makers and another cash register."

Not only has the Creperie expanded its equipment, but it has also expanded its menu to include breakfast crepes, crepes a la mode and flambe crepes.

"We wanted to take the concept to the next step," Andoniadis said. "People like variety."

Andoniadis, who first came to Penn in 1992 with the Spruce Street food truck Pizza Express, opened La Petite Creperie on Walnut Street between 37th and 38th streets. The truck has currently been relocated to Sansom Street due to ongoing construction at Gimbel Gymnasium.

"Four years ago, no one knew what crepes were. The concept was like outer space to most people," recalled Andoniadis. "Now, the wait at our truck is 30 to 45 minutes every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's not just Penn students, either. The whole community gets crepes from us."

The food truck's success is what prompted Penn officials to ask Andoniadis to set up shop in the temporary outlet in the bistro area of Houston Hall.

Many Penn students are excited about the Creperie finally moving into its permanent home and the additions to the menu.

"It's crazy," observed College junior Catherine Smith. "Everyone wants [crepes]."

Others were excited about good food with the creperie's quality ingredients.

"I spend a lot of time studying in Houston Hall," College junior Sheryl Kass said. "As good as Houston Market is, it's great that there is somewhere that provides good, filling food that isn't junk food."

Added Antypas, "I'm a huge crepe fan."

To complement its new menu, the Creperie has also formed a business partnership with Starbucks,which will be sharing the space.

"Big business partners are looking for a product that is nice," said Andoniadis. "I asked them to check me out, and I was approved right away."

Like many other Penn students, Kass and Antypas also feel that having a Starbucks in Houston Hall is a great addition.

"Starbucks will be a big hit," Antypas predicted. "It's good that they're offering coffee drinks."

"I'm definitely a Starbucks coffee addict," Kass agreed. "I was definitely upset when Houston Market switched from Starbucks' to Bucks County Coffee."

The Creperie is also planning on taking phone-in orders and installing a PennCard reader.

"It'll be fabulous if they take PennCards," Smith said.

Though most had positive comments about the Creperie, many pointed out that the one problem with the Creperie is the long lines.

"I'd definitely be more likely to take advantage of the Creperie if the lines weren't so long," Antypas said. "I know people who wait 30 minutes at their cart."

Smith agreed. "They still need to work the kinks out. It's not as efficient as the one on Sansom," Smith said. "The ticket system isn't quite working yet and the lines are long."

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