Tony Pham has loved crepes for decades. Crepes are not only a great food, they are a family tradition, he said.
Mr. Pham and his wife, Christy, recently started to bring that tradition to the Quad Cities breakfast table when they opened The Crepe Corner in Moline in July.
“My wife has a passion for cooking and I have a passion for helping the customers,” said Mr. Pham, who is also the owner of the longtime restaurant, Le Mekong Viet Cuisine Restaurant, which is in the same building downtown Moline building at the corner of 16th Street and Fifth Avenue.
The Crepe Corner actually occupies the corner section of the 1606 Fifth Ave. building and can accommodate about 50 customers. “This corner used to be vacant and looked so sad. … We wanted to do something to make it lively,” he added.
Since The Crepe Corner’s opening a few weeks ago, the new breakfast business has been gaining a customer base. Mr. Pham added that many of his customers from Le Mekong Viet Cuisine have been very helpful with the new business by frequenting the new restaurant and helping get the word out about The Crepe Corner.
“Without them, I don’t think we could do much,” he said.
Mr. Pham said that some of the fan favorites on The Crepe Corner menu include:
- The No. 7, which is crepes with peach jam, whip cream cheese and wild cherries in syrup.
- The bacon chevre crepe, which includes avocado mash, bacon, goat cheese and honey drizzles.
- The brie ham crepe with forest ham, brie and honey drizzle.
- The deli fume crepe with Swiss gruyere, spinach, pineapple, chicken breast (or turkey breast) and bacon.
Some other crepes on the menu include: a pineapple glaze beef crepe, that includes cheddar jack, spinach, cherry tomato, roast beef and pineapple glaze; the trio salami with mozzarella cheese, spinach, egg, trio salami and cherry tomato; and the “Frenchy” with spinach, forest ham, egg and mozzarella.
In addition to his customers’ praises for the tasty crepes, the new restaurant also is getting praise from the local business community, including the Renew Moline organization.
“I am excited for Tony and Christy’s commitment to expanding their restaurant in downtown Moline,” said Kirk Marske, Moline Centre program manager with Renew Moline. “The pandemic may have delayed their plans for Crepe Corner, but it didn’t stop them, so now Moline Centre has another way to please your palate.”
The Pham family’s history with crepes actually goes back decades. Mr. Pham said that history began with his uncle – a Frenchman who married his aunt in the 1950s while serving in Vietnam.
His uncle eventually moved back to Marseille, France, and was in the restaurant business. In the 1980s, he visited the Pham family in Moline and helped introduce crepes to them and gave them his recipe for making the dish.
“He made crepes for us every morning,” Mr. Pham recalled. He added that his wife especially has a passion for making crepes. In time, the couple decided to take a leap of faith and expand their restaurant to include the crepe business.
“We didn’t know if it would work, but said ‘Let’s do it. See how it works,’” Mr. Pham said.
Currently, The Crepe Corner is a family-run business with three employees – Tony and Christy Pham and their son.
There probably will not be any additional employees in the near future. Mr. Pham said he is running into a familiar problem – finding potential employees who are willing to work in his restaurant. Because of that, he doesn’t see any expansions to the business or menu in the near future.
The Crepe Corner is open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call (309) 797-8660.
