kudos, iphone

Callie and I made plans to go to lunch (trailer style, of course) on South Congress one day, and we really had our work cut out for us when we tried to decide where to go. If there are 1600 food trailers in Austin, 800 of them seem to be on, or around, South Congress. Luckily, it was a Tuesday afternoon and the pickings were slim. I used a variety of online tools to help me find a trailer that was open and chose Crepes Mille as our destination. I met Callie at Dominican Joe's coffee shop, a typical place to find my friend, and we set out for our crepe fest. Upon arrival we both realized the 'cash only' sign required a trip to the Automated Teller Machine. Luckily, there is one on the same corner that charges the low, low convenience fee of $4. This prompted the conversation of how one could get themselves an ATM and start raking in $4 every time someone used it. If you have business advice for us concerning this, please contact me!

 

 

I have driven past this trailer a few times a week for the past year at least, and I always love seeing the sign. It's such a happy, hopeful, colorful sign! It fits right in with the rest of the South Congress vibe. The menu follows the same pattern of joyfulness and is helpfully broken down into savory vs. sweet and meat lovers vs. vegetarians. This is probably one of the clearest trailer menus I've ever read, to be honest, and I really appreciate that. It made the stress I usually feel when it comes to deciding on a meal far less debilitating. Since I had slept in till 11 that day, I was still in the breakfasty or brunchy mood and I ordered the vegetarian omelet savory crepe. Callie struggled to make up her mind, but eventually settled on creating her own easy crepe. She opted for the classic nutella and banana sweet crepe. We understood at that point that sharing would probably be our best bet, which is exactly how I prefer my trailering. I also got a Thai coffee since I can't seem to resist them once my boyfriend introduced us.

Now, I know crepes. I studied French in high school, visited a few French cities on my study abroad trip, and shared a room with a French girl, Manon, while I lived in Sydney. I have had some great meals tucked into those delicious thin pancakes, but this crepe omelet was out of this world. Everything about it worked and meshed together flawlessly. The egg, cheese, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions were all cooked and seasoned perfectly and it was as if the crepe itself was hugging it all together with love. I did end up splitting mine about half way with Callie... mostly since I ended up eating half of hers as well. The nutella melted so wonderfully inside that warm crepe and the banana actually added a nice touch (remember, this is coming from a person who is just recently starting to like bananas). The only thing about this meal that was better than the food was the great conversation and verbal processing we had going on. ;)

 

These crepes themselves are a bit different, seeing as their makers are Thai instead of French, but in my opinion they might be better. Don't tell Manon! I loved this place, but the only thing lacking was the atmosphere. We were sitting right on South Congress, but I didn't feel blown away by the ambiance. However, it was only a Tuesday afternoon and I might be expecting too much. Perhaps in the evenings it's a bit more impressive. 

Crepes Mille gets a 4.75 out of 5 trailers. I loved their food, the service was pretty quick, and the location is hot (in the good way and the bad way). I can't go all the way to 5 since the atmosphere was alright and I would have loved to chat more with the girl working. I will definitely go there again to try some of the curry crepes though. Maybe on a Thursday since there is a rumor that if you buy two savory crepes you get a sweet one free! Who's in?

Oh! Small detail: all the photos were taken with my iPhone 4 since I forgot my real camera. Impressive, right? Thus: Kudos, iPhone. 

Guest Review:

Since moving to Austin two years ago I've been wanting to eat at Crepes Mille on South Congress for several reasons. First of all, who doesn't like crepes except maybe communists and Paris Hilton. Secondly, I've heard friends suggest Crepes Mille many times so when Miss Shanks said we'd be dining at this trashy-trailer-eatery I was very excited. That excitement was met with equal apprehension however when I checked the weather and saw a scorching forecast of 105 degrees that day. No worries though, trailer-eatery-eaters... the atmosphere of Crepe Mille caters to Texas' scorching sun and they provide a comfortable, covered eating area. Another great things about CM's atmosphere is that it's located in the heart of South Congress; look North and be flooded with Texas pride as you gaze at the beautiful state capital or to the South for an overwhelming reminder that Austin locals are, welp, just plain weird :). As far as the food goes I ordered a "simple crepe" with Banana and Nutella which turned out to be pretty good, but I would definitely recommend the breakfast crepe (which Shalyn got) over mine. Overall I think Crepe Mille is a fun trailer eatery to share with friends who are visiting Austin and want to grab a quick bite while venturing around South Congress. I'm not sure I'll ever have a craving to visit CM for a random meal, but it's definitely a trailer eatery to experience at least once if you're a local Austinite.

Callie