Cafe Crepe - (Granville St. Near Smithe)

When the first one opened up so many years ago, there were line ups outside.  I never saw what the fuss was all about and never bothered to find out until recently.  Cafe Crepes started popping up everywhere....and no more line ups.

Some kind of tea to go with the sweets.

I got a crepe with Nutella and coconut shavings.  It was served on a plate with some chocolate drizzle and that was about as fancy as it got.  The quality was on par with some crepes I had at Konbiniya on Robson, or that place on Granville Island.  Cafe Crepe is just another cafe, like most others.  I have no idea why this place is considered so trendy, it really isn't that big a deal.  The crepe was tasty, but nothing out of this world. 

When me and my group dropped in, the rain was coming down pretty hard and we just needed a place for shelter. There was no line-up and when we sat down, the service was decent and the food was ok.  I'd probably go back, as long as there wasn't a line up.

Cafe Calabria

I'm not much of a coffee drinker so I can't tell you if this place is good for it or not, but the gelato isn't too bad.  I was here with a buddy of mine who's familiar with the neighborhood and was showing me places to check out.  One cafe that came up was Cafe Calabria.  We were kind of in a hurry so a sandwich was out of the question and it was blazing hot outside so I was in no mood for coffee.

Patio seating which is pretty nice in the summer time.

A good selection of flavours.

The sandwiches and paninis looked really good.....big.

They had a good selection of cookies, biscuits, and other sweets that probably go great with coffee.

I want to come back and try this....though we were in a hurry, I was pretty damn hungry and I really wanted to order this......next time.

Oreo ice cream, pretty decent size scoop, excellent on a hot day.

The statues are....interesting....

The decor in the place is interesting to say the least.  They've got all these manaquins dressed in Roman soldier outfits, other sorts of statues and pillars of ancient Rome, and posters from what I believe are to be from 80's porn.

I've read some really good things about this  place, even got a recommendation from my buddy Justin, but I've also read some pretty bad reviews on this place.  We weren't there for very long, but the staff seemed pretty normal to me.  Maybe it was because I was with one of their regular customers that we didn't get the bad treadment.  There are a lot of transients and shady people that hang around the area so maybe the owners/management are just a little defensive when it comes to certain clientele.  I remember certain establishments had signs that said "No shoes, no shirt, no service".  There were quite a few shoeless, shirtless squeegie boys/girls up and down the drive.  I saw this one clown sporting a mowhawk and an 80's jean jacket with a sign that said he'd work for beer money.....classy.

I'll have to come back sometime and see if it's really as bad as people say, but I have my doubts.  As long as I don't come in looking like some bunny-loving, tree hugging hippie dressed like Raggedy Anne eating outside food on their patio, I'll probably be okay.