French Press Coffee and Crepes — Restaurant in Salem

I placed an order online for $100+ of food as my whole family wanted to try the place and boy were we very disappointed in every aspect. Sad we wasted the time and chunk of money. We honestly threw everything away.

When I went through the drive thru to pick it up at the time it said it was complete, the staff member was not welcoming or nice at all. They abruptly opened the slider and just stared at me in silence until I greeted them and said I had a mobile order to pick up. It honestly felt like I was doing something I wasn't supposed to do or that I wasn't invited to be there. I checked and the website said I could pick up it via drive thru or inside so I'm still confused.

The staff member then just replied with "ok" and gave me my food/drinks and slamed the door closed as soon as they did. Don't get me wrong, I understand sometimes customer service workers have bad days but this was only an hour after they opened and I had made sure to tip as I placed a larger order.

We got a variety of sweet/savory crepes and drinks in our order. The ingredients in the savory crepes aren't cooked together or at all. Just thrown inside and that is it. I'm honestly not entirely sure what I was expecting but it wasn't that. We got the California crepe with potatoes and the potatoes was the only thing that had any flavor.

I also noticed that they probably use the same type of batter for the savory crepes as the sweet ones because it was sweet and tasted like vanilla. Which was honestly very off putting.. I'm not sure if it was the condensation but the crepes were a bit slimey? Under cooked? Hard to tell as everything was not even remotely warm but stone cold.

For the sweet crepes, we got a strawberry one with Nutella subbed for vanilla custard. All they did was fold up a crepe, put some strawberries and globes of Nutella on it. I assumed since the menu said it is "Filled with french vanilla custard" that if you sub Nutella for custard (the option specifically said sub for nutella), the Nutella would be inside also. But that wasn't the case.

The coffee we got was unable to be drank because both were severely burnt yet watery at the same time. It was so bitter we gagged. Keep in mind, it was not a black coffee.

If you get the berry smoothie I would recommend straining it as it has an incredible amount of seeds in each swallow.

I wouldn't recommend this place for food or drinks. The drinks might be a hit or miss depending on who is...

I really do like the crepes and the coffee here so it pains me that every time I've come, service has been lackluster at best.

I think the biggest challenges are, sadly, a result of their popularity. First, seating is always a problem. Every time I've come, there's been a long wait for a table. Apparently, people come here to sit and have long conversations over coffee. Not the fault of the business, but worth being aware of. Also, their drive through is badly run... I ordered a simple coffee drink and waited 20 minutes in line because the car ahead of us placed a massive order. That car should have been directed to get out of line, park and wait while the rest of the line was served. I eventually went inside and complained and they gave me my tepid coffee (which had been made and then left to wait).

This would be a much lower score if it weren't for the delicious and varied selection of crepes and very well-made coffee drinks. All of the ingredients are high quality and thoughtfully combined. And, their Black Irish coffee is one of my favorite coffee drinks anywhere. If only I could sit and drink it at a table near the lovely fireplace once in a while...

Overall, the place is too loud and crowded to be a nice cafe or bistro, too small to be a proper restaurant, too slow to have a good drive-through. It tries to be all these things and doesn't quite succeed at any.

Maybe a second location would help? Or actually having a seating host, reservations and wait staff instead of just counter service? Go all in and run it like a restaurant instead of a coffee shop and it would be a better experience...

My 5 star review is now a 2 star, with the opportunity to get the other stars back... APPARENTLY they changed their menu about a week ago, but only in the store not online. So I call and order the BEST crepe EVER, the Chuckwagon which is still listed on their online menu, but apparently it is the ONLY savory crepe which was removed from the menu in the restaurant along with some other items.

The Chuckwagon was literally magic in your mouth. My friends, family and myself specifically come here to order it. Yes we've tried other crepes, but this one was special. I'm disappointed that you changed your menu, but I'm extremely disappointed that you failed to change your online menu, according to the online menu I should still be able to get the absolute best crepe ever made, but sadly when I placed my order I was told very politely that it was the one and only savory crepe removed from the menu (even though it currently shows available on your website).

I guess my only option now is to make the fillings myself and order plain crepes from you to go and make the Chuckwagon myself at home (I seriously do not want to make my own crepes so I will rarely give you my business so you can make them for me)

#bringbacktheChuckwagon and get your...