Alex De Vore
Chicken breakfast enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, sour cream and queso fresco.
As longtime readers will surely know, I’m all about those restaurants that don’t feel the need to use words like “curate” or the desire to transform their interiors into impossibly clean spaces with minimalist white walls and tablecloths. Pomp and circumstance are fine for the second-homers who somehow decided that liking ridiculously overcomplicated dining experiences makes them interesting (or for people who scrape up enough cash to splurge). Some of us, though, are normies with not a whole lot of money, and some of us just want a solid meal that won’t force a tough decision later between rent and the dentist. This week, that something comes in the form of Crepas-Oh! (1382 Vegas Verdes, (505) 257-8775), an excellent and affordable Southside eatery completely lacking in pretense.
Make no mistake, Crepas-Oh! is adorable, and its plain exterior belies a clean and cozy atmosphere where the tables are spaced nicely and the lighting creates a relaxed experience. It also offers one of the coolest outdoor dining areas in town, where diners can sit beneath a few tall trees and/or an umbrella and make difficult crepe choices from a stacked menu. A companion and I began a recent afternoon meal there, and deciding between dishes that all sounded too good proved enjoyably tortuous.
When was the last time I couldn’t make up my mind at a restaurant? Oh, right—almost never. How fun! In addition to the crepes menu, which is split into sweet and savory options, Crepas-Oh! has a robust lunchy-brunchy menu featuring New Mexican items, classic breakfast foods, burgers, sandwiches, salads and more. As such, we repeatedly sent our server away while trying to make the call. Those noon-ish Sunday brunches are tough, and one never knows whether to accept the warm embrace of breakfast or the often more complicated world of lunch. Crepas-Oh! has both tastes covered, though that didn’t make selecting between dishes such as a green chile steak sandwich or the smothered herb and cheese omelette with three eggs and herbes de Provence ($13.95 each) any easier. In the end, we decided to order items from both worlds, including the crep-rese burger (a massive beef patty served in a crepe with mozzarella, pesto, tomato and a balsamic reduction—y’know, like caprese) and chicken breakfast enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, queso fresco and sour cream ($14.95 each).
For the breakfast fans, let me explain the glory of breakfast enchiladas: They’re phenomenal. In recent years, I’ve seen similar items on other menus and always wondered before ordering something a little more eggy/pancakey, but making the plunge at Crepas-Oh! was a smart move. The dish comes with two rolled yellow corn enchiladas stuffed with tender chicken that deftly avoids the dryness of bird by being smothered in a mild tomatillo sauce. Usually when it comes to sauces and salsas and breakfast dishes, I err toward the “Chile exists, why bother with something else?!” side of the road, but the house-made tomatillo mingling with the sour cream and queso fresco created a complex series of flavors that complemented the chicken well. And though the contents of my plate felt daunting to behold, I did manage to finish the dish without feeling I’d overeaten. Frankly, I would have happily overeaten for that bright and fresh little number.
The crepe-rese burger, however, was a revelation. Yes, that wording sounds melodramatic, but it’s a freaking burger in a crepe! The savory burger and the sweet crepe are a brilliant match. The combo works so well in certain arenas—Reese’s cups, for example. Here, the faintest hint of sweetness from the crepe catapulted the burger into legendary status, then brought it right back into earthier flavors with the house-made pesto. Plus, the crepe held up in the hand through the entire meal, though this one’s worth breaking out the forks, anyway. We mustn’t forget the tomato, either, because those can make or break a burger, and I’m not kidding. At Crepas-Oh!, the tomato came firm and flavorful and became a borderline crisp counter-texture to the gooey mozzarella.
We decided to close the meal with a sweet crepe, though that brought us up against another tricky ordering situation. Nutella in anything is always pretty great, especially with berries or banana ($11.50, or add $1.50 for both), and the tiramisu crepe sounded incredible ($12.50), as did the caramel pecan ($11.50). Once we discovered the crepelime crepe with key lime custard, graham cracker crumbles and a cinnamon-sugar dusting ($11.50), however, all bets were off. The crepe came warm with a more than healthy serving of whipped cream dominating the top.
Alex De Vore
We’re not sure if it’s Crepas-Oh! chef Kevin Lopez manning the crepes himself down there, but whoever made that thing knows how to achieve the proper crepe requisites: soft and just chewy enough with a satisfying golden brown exterior. Hear me now and believe me if you want—this key lime crepe is literally the best crepe I’ve had in my life, and I’ve been to Paris (which I say to prove a point and not brag, although still, it’s pretty cool to have gone there and chowed on crepes). With a delicious cup of coffee from Red River Roasters, the dessert portion of the meal felt almost sinful, like we were lollygagging with crepes when there was so much more to do.
We left soon after, and the staff were even OK with us taking so long to order that we wound up one of the last tables just before closing. In our defense, if you’re going to drop a creative and affordable menu on our table, we’re going to consider our options for as long as it takes. As it stands, there’s just one option left: Eat at Crepas-Oh! as often as possible until I’ve tried everything Lopez and company have to offer. As of Aug. 13, the restaurant’s Facebook page says we can expect a Railyard location soon, so that’ll make things easier no matter what side of town I’m on. Eating literally everything with be tough, though, but I think I can make it work.
