Crepevine — Restaurant in Berkeley

I love the Cheese Lover’s Waffle from here but I will not be going back ever again. I ordered the waffle to go, and when I got home and started eating it I noticed that all of the toppings were missing - bacon, green onions, and cheddar. (This is not the first time this has happened either, but when it happened before I hadn’t had the meal enough times to know what was missing) I called the restaurant to politely let them know and I was asked if I wanted to come back to pick up the green onions and bacon. I said that by the time I drove there and back home my waffle would be cold, so could they please remake it. The chef agreed and I arrived before the food was ready. I waited about a minute and was given my order. I checked my food about 30 seconds later in my car so as not to have any more surprises when I got home and my “over easy eggs” were way over cooked and so was the bacon. I mentioned all of the times because there is no way that the eggs could have gotten so overcooked in the time between when they were made and when I checked them, so it was clear that they were served this way. The waffle also had very little sauce and was super dry. I don’t even want to eat it. I can’t help but feel that this was intentionally done in retaliation for asking them to fix the problem they created. This waffle is expensive and I always tip, even for to-go orders, so I felt like my request was reasonable. I was super nice and polite too! Needless to say I will not be going back there ever again. I’d like to add that it was a dreary early Saturday morning and not very busy in the restaurant especially considering how busy it usually is. Some of the staff are really irritable too, and not pleasant at all. Had they given me a decent waffle the second time I would have been happy and not written this bad review, but because of the clear retaliation and poor customer service I felt this was warranted. Poopy business all around, other than the quality of the food most of the time. See the photos for yourself if you think I might be...

tl;dr, get the orange juice or crepes

Perhaps I was unlucky with my experiences, but I won't be coming back.

First experience was with Doordash. Wanted to get something nice for my birthday so I ordered from Crepevine to try something new. Food was mediocre. Home potatoes were dry. Like, really dry. Made me drink more water than eat actual food. Some pieces were also burnt and were thus inedible. El Baron Burger with sourdough tasted like something I could make myself but better. It was really greasy and the sourdough didn't taste like sourdough. The bread got soaked through with so much grease I had to take it off. They also forgot to get me the orange juice I ordered, which was a bummer. Also got a Rockridge crepe, which was pretty good.

I eventually called them about the orange juice since I was kinda sad about it, and they said they'd gladly get me one for free the next time I visited. Yay!

I visited the restaurant in-person today since I wanted to give them a shot at redemption. Got a Parma pasta (spaghetti and meatballs) and my beloved orange juice. Service was quick, but the food wasn't that great. The sauce was watery, almost like a soup, and the spaghetti was way overcooked. There were four meatballs with my order along with two pieces of garlic bread. The meatballs were alright, but everything else made me feel like throwing up. Finished the food with some difficulty and left feeling terrible - I didn't want to waste my $17. Also, they charge a credit card processing fee if you don't pay with cash. Wish I knew that before paying.

On the plus side, the orange juice was great and the...

I have been going here for the past 2 years and this is my go to place for a comforting brunch/breakfast/lunch.

Location: Conveniently located in North Berkeley's gourmet ghetto on Shattuck, It's easy to find with plenty of parking nearby.

Wait times: since you order at the counter before finding yourself a table, you sometimes need to wait a bit before you can order. Especially during the weekends in peak hours. This place is open sometimes even on holidays (e.g. New year's), which is great, but it can get crowded because of the lack of other options.

Ambience: there's an option of outdoor seating as well as indoor one. It can get loud sometimes when it's packed. Although it is open all day, it has a more brunch vibe than anything else.

Service: You pretty much order at the counter and they get the food to your table. But that's basically all the service you get. All the staff is pretty polite and friendly. If it's not too busy, the service is pretty fast.

Food: Eggs and Crepes. I recommend all of it. I've tried almost everything on the menu and my favorites are California, San Francisco, Luna, Florentine, Santa Fe and the Philly crepes. El paso, Costa Del Sol, the mission, Cote d'azur and the Mazatlan are my favorite egg dishes. I didn't particularly like the pasta or the sandwiches. The pancakes are huge (so order 2 instead of 3). But if you have a sweet tooth, the sweet crepes, pancakes and the French toast are all good. Also always do the house potatoes and not fries...