Unlikely - La France Cafe & Crepes, Lombard!

Stumbled across this place in their second week of operation - La France Cafe & Crepes. Tiny place in a two storefront strip mall just north of Glenbard East High School. The owner is a Moroccan who has worked around some pretty good places, Ritz Carlton and such, as well as had his own place, a Moroccan fine dining place called (I think) L'Olive, around Fullerton or Lincoln near the El, closed down after 9/11, feel free to straighten me out on those details.

Anyway, it has all the attributes of a great, crazy, family place. It is tiny - seating about 12 people at most. Everything is made from scratch, from pesto to roasted pepper sauce to the crepes (he says it is to save money so I guess I hope he continues on a shoestring). You will find other members of his family hanging out there many afternoons, often one of his daughters doing homework.

And the crepes are fresh, done perfectly and just plain wonderful. Unlike pretty much every other Chicago crepe place I have visited, the crepes are prepared to order, and not cooked ahead and then reheated. Judge for yourself whether this is a big difference - for me, it is everything, a reheated crepe is crap. Limited menu at present, about 6 savory and 6 sweet crepes, plus coffees and teas. He makes everything himself to order, so it can take some time if things are busy at all, but it is very good and quite reasonable for the quality.

I like the grilled vegetable crepe (with feta and pesto) or just a simple sugar and lemon, or sugar and butter crepe, so as to enjoy the fresh crepe. But he is still tinkering with the menu and was threatening to add real French Onion Soup soon when I stopped by today.

One warning - the place is not very warm when the weather is cold.

It is worth a trip.

Hours and location are on the link.

Can't wait to check it out.

Location:
939 S Main Street
Lombard, IL, 60148
Phone:
630.613.9511
Tues - Fri:
8:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sat - Sun:
9:00 am - 8:00 pm

dicksond wrote:Unlike pretty much every other Chicago crepe place I have visited, the crepes are prepared to order, and not cooked ahead and then reheated. Judge for yourself whether this is a big difference - for me, it is everything, a reheated crepe is crap.

I have to admit that I don't go out of my way to try crepes in Chicago because I used to travel to France fairly often for business and got spoiled - nothing I've had in Chicago has ever stacked up. That said, there was a crepe place that opened up near the Sears Tower 5-6 years ago that always made their crepes fresh and made for a decent occasional lunch spot when I worked in the area. And I know Magic Pan, the LEYE crepe place in the Northbrook Court mall food court, makes all of their crepes to order. The savory crepes there are a waste of time in my experience, but the sweet crepes are quite acceptable.

In any event, I definitely want to check this place out next time I'm further out west. Makes a good excuse to finish up my Christmas shopping out in Oakbrook or the Yorktown mall I suppose.

I live about 2 minutes away from there and have not heard anything about this place, I going to try this out this weekend.

I've never seen a reheated crepe at Icosium.

dicksond wrote:One warning - the place is not very warm when the weather is cold.

The crepe maker was placed under the thermostat and it was throwing off the heat.
The owner has moved the crepe maker and now its nice and warm in the cafe even when the weather is cold.
This cafe is wonderful and the crepes are tre magnifique! and the coffee is the best I've ever had. I'm definately never going to Starbucks ever again.

Mike G wrote:I've never seen a reheated crepe at Icosium.

Icosium was just on Check Please! I'm surprised, never really thought of it in that caliber. But it's definitely a decent place to stop by occasionally if you want something different.

I have been back to La France a few times and can provide more details. Ben does very nice work. Ratatouille crepes, wild mushroom crepes, sinfully good French Onion soup have all been sampled and enjoyed. Not a fancy place, and no liquor is served, but he does make a very nice mint tea (Moroccan style, sweetened and with real sprigs of mint even in January) and we have brought our own wine once or twice.

His eldest daughter is usually there to help and learn how to cook, though it seems he has also hired a waitress now. Cousins, brothers, his wife and younger daughter all filter in and out, too, and Ben is an engaging and friendly guy, even whacky at times.

The menu seems to keep growing, but it is not completely meaningful since some things are never on it and always available, while other things run out during the day. When you order, Ben usually suggests additions or variations that would suit what you have requested and tells you about other things he has and particularly likes, and my advice is to trust him. If he does not tell you about anything special, be sure to ask. On one visit he suggested cheese on everything we ordered, specifically Gruyere though he offered other options, which could have gotten a little repetitive, except it was very nice Gruyere and was added with a good touch so as to complement and not overwhelm. We also were drinking some bubbly that night and the Gruyere went very well with that. With about 4 tables, it does fill up at lunch and dinner times, so beware.

Prices are generally very reasonable for the quality of the ingredients and skill used (even if the kitchen is nothing more than a salamander, a crepe pan, and the coffee machines - it does make me reconsider my need for more and better equipment at home, though I suspect Ben does a lot of prep at home) - easy to get more than you can eat for $10.

If you are price sensitive, though, be aware that prices vary and if you let Ben create dishes for you, the end cost can be a surprise, either on the high or low side. I have had meals where he charged less for the creation I ended up enjoying than the original (and less interesting) item I ordered off the menu, and others where the price doubled. I am fine with that level of informality as it is a small price to pay for the creativity, quality and interaction, but I know others might object.

Business seems to be quite good, and I expect he will be looking for a bigger location one of these days. Meanwhile it is a pleasure to be able to enjoy the work of such a skilled guy in an intimate setting. It is a mystery what he is doing there at all - the place is so small, so ill-equipped, that it does not seem likely to be a very profitable business no matter how busy it becomes, nor does it exactly jibe with his background (even if he has inflated it a little, this still has to be the smallest and simplest place he has ever worked), but it definitely does allow him to spend time with his family and that may be the answer.

If you are anywhere in the area, it is worth a detour.

I'll have to try this place out. I stopped in one time while getting my order from the pizza place next store (btw: Zacks moz/tomato salad is PATHETIC) and grabbed a menu. Based on what I read here it was a very early version of the menu.

I would love to have French Onion soup or other French food that doesn't require a tie and a suit to eat. Maybe I'm a noob but I've yet to find a French place that is truly relaxed. Not relaxed enough to have kids running around screaming - just where you can walk in nice casual clothing.

BTW: His kitchen/restaurant size may be small but that's how I would start out a restaurant business. It seems like a lot of places fail when they have more seats than they can afford.

My wife and I went the La France for lunch yesterday. It's a fun little place and with the exception of one misqueue, we liked it.

First off, as has been noted, this place is small. We got there about 11:30 and got a table, but by the time we left after 1pm, there were a few people waiting for tables. Below are photos of the storefront, the chef/owner (never got his name) and the "back of house", which is on the opposite side of a counter from the "front of house". By the way, as you'll notice from the timeframe I mentioned, it takes a while to eat here because everything is cooked to order, including the crepes, by one guy who is also directing the wait staff. No worries though, as he makes it a fun experience by engaging everyone with comments and thoughts about food on a regular basis.

Store front



The chef/owner



The "back of house" and kitchen



For my lunch, I ordered the poached egg crepe, adding wild mushrooms for a slight extra charge. The crepe was filled with roasted red peppers and topped with two perfectly-runny poached eggs and whole sauteed cepes. Whole sprigs of thyme is on every savory crepe, which the chef recommends stripping onto the crepe and eating instead of just having it as a garnish. This was a very nice dish.



My wife ordered the ratatouille crepe, which I think was a special. She had them add some gruyere cheese, which is also a slight up-charge. The crepe was filled with the roasted peppers and topped with roasted veggies. She loved it.



For dessert, I ordered the "Crepe La France", which is a sweet vanilla crepe with powdered sugar and a vanilla creme. I also had them add some chocolate sauce, which was a slight additional charge (I think Dicksond mentioned the cost of customization). The crepe was really good.



My wife's dessert was the Crepe Nutella. This is where the misqueue occurred. We're used to the crepes filled with Nutella that you get at the street vendors in France. The Crepe Nutella at La France isn't filled with Nutella, but instead has the melted Nutella drizzled inside and outside the crepe. It tastes very good but is a bit of a disappointment when you're expecting a blast of Nutella in your mouth.



Overall, I liked the food a lot. I don't tend to go to crepe places much because I think they're a bit pricey for the quantity of food you get, and this one is no exception as our total was $31.00 + tip. However, I think this is an excellent crepe restaurant that is made a lot of fun by the outward personality of the chef. It's a cool little place.

La France Cafe & Crepe
939 S. Main St. (corner of Main and Wilson)
Lombard, IL. 60148
630-613-9511
http://www.lafrancecafe.com

Right around lunchtime my wife and I stopped here for lunch/dessert.

We were pretty surprised! Although the place is small and we had to wait for a table to be cleared this restaurant had a lot more soul than most places. The owner is an absolute trip and has way more personality than most owners I've run into.

For the main course she had grilled chicken with pesto sauce while I had two poached eggs on spinach, some sexy looking/tasting mushrooms, and gruyere cheese covered in a swiss cheese sauce.

Both of our crepes were heavenly! My wife thought she got a little to much pesto sauce - which in my opinion isn't a bad thing though it is VERY rich. We also had to sort of reprogram ourselves as we kept expecting most the ingredients to be on the inside of the crepe.

For dessert she had a apple/carmel crepe and I had the classic nutella/bananna. Both with sinfully decedent homemade whip cream! We kept wondering how good the hot chocolate would be with that whip cream and some carmel

With our drinks and tip it came out to around $45 which is not something we can afford to do everyday but definitely something we definitely will come back for.

If I was forced to make a suggestion it would have been nice to see ham or headcheese added to the meat selection.

My friend and I stopped in about 10:30-11 am on Saturday. Two of the tables were filled and we sat right down. As we made a beeline to the table, we were greeted with a boisterous, "Bon Jour!!" The owner is a character. He is a man with a personality that likes to talk to his customers. He asked how we found him. I mentioned I am one of the crazy internet people that like to find good food at good places. He said he would create something worth talking about.

My friend jumped at the strawberry/raspberry crepe. It looked awesome. It was the thin crepe, with the berry filling on the inside and a dressed outside. (Btw, the berries were chopped in front of us) The amount of berry was generous and then out of squeeze bottles were this drizzle of chocolate and berry sauce on the top with two mounds of FRESH whipped cream on the top. My friend was in heaven.

I ordered the salmon crepe. It came with the crepe with salmon, sour cream, spinach, capers and red onion. It was cut into mouth size pieces - think sushi roll size. I took one bite of the first section and the flavor was intense. I hadn't had something this good in a long time. I am a fan of all the ingredients but when assembled it was better than the sum of its parts. I gave my friend a section. Upon swallowing, he announced "I am ordering one of those for me!"

The place is small, but I think that is part of the charm. The owner is energetic and knows his way in the back of the house. His college aged daughter was working the front. She was very friendly and accommodating to the additional ordering. She was very adept at keeping the flow going once the place was full.

I will say that the prices are what they are. I think they are fair for the quality of product you are eating. My total for two salmon crepes, one straw/raspberry crepe, blueberry scone and two coffees came to $35.00. I know that might be a bit much if you are looking for a Grand Slam breakfast. I was looking for quality food in a nice atmosphere - I found it here.

Hours on the door 7 - 2:30. Check it out.
www.lafrancecafe.com

Just in to make a note that even at FoodLife in the Water Tower building, from what I remember, they make the crepes to order. I'm not so sure they'd be as good as this place, though. Definitely can't wait to check it out. Crepes are a bad weakness of mine.

GreenFish wrote:Just in to make a note that even at FoodLife in the Water Tower building, from what I remember, they make the crepes to order. I'm not so sure they'd be as good as this place, though. Definitely can't wait to check it out. Crepes are a bad weakness of mine.

The crepes are made to order, but the fillings/toppings are all pre-made and sit in giant bowls. Or at least they used to, iirc the stand that makes the crepes changed location within FoodLife and I think they may have changed up the selections for the better.

Ate here today. The owner cook is a real character and talker. He is French-Morroccan. The method of cooking is very primitive like someone making food for you from scratch one plate at a time in a somewhat primitive home kitchen. Gruyere cheese came out in a block and was sliced on the spot, not precut or shredded in advance. The crepes were excellent. I had the ratatouille crepe with gruyere fresh thyme on top. Very good. My dining companion had shrimp with wild mushrooms and a touch of spinach which he enjoyed.

The Morroccan mint jasmine tea was interesting and exotic but too sweet for my taste. We were too full to try the dessert crepes.

Orders take a long time due to the cooking methods and just a couple customers can throw the cook into a backlog.

Advice: Don't go if you don't have time to spend
Don't go in large parties (very tiny place-small tables)
Don't go if you want peace and quiet or a time to have a chat with your dining partner.
Don't go if you expect service. Mostly its go to the counter and self serve when your food is ready.

Excellent meal at La France today. Despite a previous post, it was not self serve. Expectations were exceeded. The food was great and the portions large. Luckily, we had an 18 year old male to help us polish off our orders. 4 crepes, Ham spinach cheese, ham cheese asparagus dpinsch bechamel, fruit w/ creme anglaise, and banana nutella.

Summer hours are 7 am til 2pm. Once school starts the restaurant will be open until 8pm.

Tiny place with service at a leisurely pace. Will definitely be back multiple times.

Went with a small party of LTH'ers last night. I was surprised how good the food was. I mean, it was really good. The place is very small. Florescent lighting is kind of a mood killer. "Ah mon cheri, your eyes look like limpid pools of radioactive waste."

Sorry, this had a bunch of photos but I accidentally deleted them from flickr. Anyway, it was really good!

Last night's dinner was excellent - no surprise, as numerous lunches I've had at La France Cafe have been uniformly excellent as well. Ben prepares the best crepes I have had anywhere in the Chicago area. For that matter, I'd say he's preparing better crepes than most creperies in France that I've been to.

Everything is made to order, which can make for somewhat slow service at times, but it's well worth it. Ben is very proud of the food he prepares, and rather vocal about it at times, but deservedly so.

I've been remiss in not posting pictures and thoughts from meals I've had there over the past year, so I'll get some up now.


Curry a l'Indienne with sliced almonds. Always a very mild curry, but prepared differently in the past than in last night's dinner. Seen here it had a fig spread throughout that made for a much sweeter experience than last night's, which I believe featured whole figs. Both good, in different ways.



and


Jambon & Gruyere. As you can see, the additional veggie component changed depending on what was in season or what Ben felt was good at the time, but both were excellent renditions.


Another Curry a l'Indienne.


I believe this sweet crepe was seasonal fruit, sauce pâtissière. And a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream.


I normally prefer sweet crepes, but Ben's savory creations may have changed that permanently. I still make sure to save some room for dessert, but if I had to choose, I'd go for something from the savory side every time. I have a low end crepe griddle that my parents bought for me years ago that I pull out from time to time. Eating at La France Cafe makes me simultaneously want to push myself to do so more often in the hopes of producing something half as delicious, while at the same time driving me to despair as I realize that I never will. This is a true gem worthy of a trip to Lombard - you won't regret it.

Thanks to the OP Boys for joining me at Ben's place. For me, La France has taken another step, really become something great. Ben is a very accomplished chef, dating back to Cafe Bernard, L'Olive and more. La France is certainly a lifestyle choice for him - to be close to his family, choose the hours he works, do what he wants. It is, in many ways, like eating in his house. He greets you, the staff is friendly and joking with him and the guests, the food comes out when it is ready, and he makes whatever piques his interest that day.

Then you get into the details - the ingredients are great, the technique excellent, from the creamy vinaigrette on the perfect little salads that accompany each savory crepe (whose composition varies, but usually includes a green or two, a bit of apple, some dried fruit, and a dash of cucumber slices) to one of the best onion soups I have ever had, to the crepes.

There is nothing fancy, formal, or pretentious about the place at all, aside from the food on the plate. And it is not cheap either, until you consider what you are getting. But I have always been greeted warmly and enjoyed a delicious meal.

Thanks to Ben, too. And for those of you who have no interest in crepes (which usually includes me), trust me, these are great, and the food is worth a trip.

David - is the onion soup on the menu all the time? Somehow I forgot to take a picture of it. It was very good.

They have a website, at lafrancecafe.com.

nsxtasy wrote:They have a website, at lafrancecafe.com.

Gotta be a smartass. It's not on the website, that's why I asked.

teatpuller wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:They have a website, at lafrancecafe.com.

Gotta be a smartass. It's not on the website, that's why I asked.

I wasn't "being a smartass" and I wasn't posting it because you or anyone else posted or asked anything in particular. It was not related to your previous post, which is why I didn't quote yours in my post. At the time, it didn't even cross my mind that my post would be taken that way! I was just trying to be helpful by making the website address available. No need to take anything personally, and no need to get defensive! (Although I see how it could have been interpreted that way, and I apologize for any angst my post may have unintentionally caused.)

Most of the time, restaurants have far more information, better organized, on their website than anywhere else, such as their Facebook page. But no one had posted a link to their website in this topic until I did. I thought it would be helpful to post the link, in case anyone wanted to check their website out after reading this topic. NOT as a way to find answer to your question about the onion soup (especially since many restaurants change their regular menu periodically without updating the sample one on their website).

nsxtasy wrote: No need to take anything personally, and no need to get snippy!

No problem. Before posting, I had predicted someone would say something like, "here's the phone number, why don't you give them a call?" I hate that. Obviously David has intimate knowledge of how the place operates. That's why I asked him.

teatpuller wrote:No problem. Before posting, I had predicted someone would say something like, "here's the phone number, why don't you give them a call?" I hate that. Obviously David has intimate knowledge of how the place operates. That's why I asked him.

Understood. Hopefully he'll still respond.

Incidentally, I periodically lunch in that area (coincidentally including today, at Holy Mackerel in the Westin at Yorktown), so I've added La France to my list of lunch candidates to try around there. There's already a crepe place on my list: Suzette's Creperie, in Wheaton. Anyone here been, and able to compare/contrast the two?

At $13.95 that better be one kick-ass crepe.

zoid wrote:At $13.95 that better be one kick-ass crepe.

They are, and absolutely worth the price.

I didn't remember this thread until after I got home. I was driving by, not really intending to eat out, but this place caught my eye and I'm very glad it did.

I immediately liked the place, despite the claustrophobic seating. The chef greeted every customer with a hearty "bonjour!" My crepes don't appear on the online menu, so I don't know how often they change things up. It was stuffed with shrimp, red peppers, onions and spinach with a red pepper sauce, and it was incredible. I loved the salad of cukes, onions, apples and cranberries on the side, and especially the little plate of thinly sliced, buttered and toasted baguette sprinkled with Gruyere (?) and served with whipped raspberry jam/mousse. I pored over The Flavor Bible while I ate (they have a small bookcase with books and mags to read while you're there) and left with a big smile on my face.

This is not far from the cat shelter I volunteer at, and they are having another bake sale on the 28th. I think I'll stop back in.

We went last night. When we arrived, both 4-tops were occupied (there were three of us), so it was a bit of a wait. The total capacity is around 24, so it can fill up pretty easily.

But it was worth the wait. Great flavors, warm service, friendly staff. Because of the wait, we ended up closing the place (8PM) and chatted for a bit with the chef (not Ben -- is it his daughter?).

(The GNR plaque is not visible, by the way -- it's in the Chef's office)

Prices are a bit higher than quoted upthread: $14.95 for the dinner entrees, $15.95 for the one we had which was on special (shrimp with feta, olives, and other things I forget). That was SueF's, I had the Coquilles St. Jacques, Thing2 had the Poullet Andalous (feta, tomatoes, spinach). The salad which comes with each crepe is very nice -- a creamy dressing on a couple spears of romaine with apples, cranberries and cuke, accompanied by a gruyere and tomato crostini.

For dessert we split a butter and sugar (with almonds added) and a nutella/strawberry (with whipped cream added).

If I'm in the west burbs, now I'm torn between there or Katy's (probably Katy's when I'm in a bit of a hurry, La France when I'm not -- note that neither place is optimal for a large group)... but I'll try to get back again soon.