New restaurant tucks big flavor into crepes
We had a funny experience at The Roll Up, the new all crepes, all the time restaurant at the corner of 1600 South and State Street in Orem. (A crepe, for those not in the know, is like a thin, light pancake, generally wrapped or rolled around some variety of tasty filling.) The usual baby-sitting arrangements didn’t quite come together, so we took our two daughters, ages 6 and a very energetic 15 months, along for the ride.
The Roll Up, which opened its doors at the end of April, doesn’t have high-chair seating for your toddler — it’s not really that kind of scene — so we wrestled with one uncooperative offspring the entire time, and then got an unpleasant surprise from our perfectly behaved other offspring when she began suffering from an upset stomach before we’d even gotten our food.
To make a long story short, we ended up getting a box for our dessert crepes and hustling the kids out to the family van at threat level Upchuck. So it wasn’t our smoothest family dining experience, and our 6-year-old now has a mortal (if unfounded) fear of crepes. And in spite of all that, if the only time to go back was on another night with no baby-sitter available, then we’d do it all again. The food at The Roll Up is worth it.
The restaurant space at 1605 S. State St. has housed a couple of other eateries in its time, including the old Peruvian place, La Carreta. The owners of The Roll Up have freshened everything up and installed a giant owl statue in front of the building to help you find your way. On the night that we showed up, there were almost as many people taking pictures with the owl as entering the restaurant.
You place your order at a walk-up counter, take a number back to your table and the kitchen staff brings your food as soon as it’s ready. There’s a small space that adjoins the dining area for musicians, poets, or other performers — during our visit, the microphone was occupied by what seemed like a family karaoke outing.
There’s water or fountain drinks if you’re on the go, or coffee and hot cocoa if you’re in the mood to sit and sip. The restaurant opens early and has breakfast crepes as well, but we ordered exclusively from the lunch and dinner options.
Of the four varieties of lunch or dinner crepe that we tried, our favorite was the Bechamel Chicken crepe that includes marinated chicken, sauteed mushrooms and various grilled vegetables in a roast garlic crepe. The creamy Bechamel sauce is especially flavorful, and the chicken and vegetables were cooked just right.
I also enjoyed the excellent Chicken Dijon crepe — I’m a sucker for mustard — and the savory Turkey Pesto crepe (which comes with a delicious cranberry sauce), while my wife preferred the hearty and very cheesy Lasagna crepe. Actually, I really liked that one, too. Frankly, I’m not even sure that chocolate and peanut butter go together more readily than lasagna and crepes.
The portions are generous and seem well priced. One lunch or dinner crepe, really, would have been a satisfying meal. Be advised that you may end up with a bit of a wait on your hands. We showed up mid-evening on a weeknight, with few other diners present, and still had quite a bit of time for reflection and conversation (and toddler wrangling) before getting our food.
Most diners are probably familiar with crepes, if at all, as a dessert food, and it seems likely that The Roll Up will find an eager patronage among daters young and old looking for something sweet after the movie. We tried the Apple Pie crepe, which wraps baked, tart apple slices in a vanilla crepe, topped with granola and caramel, and the mixed berry crepe: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries with lemon whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Both are as tasty as they sound. Actually, just listing their ingredients is making me hungry all over again.
The Facebook page for The Roll Up reports that the restaurant used up 52 gallons of crepe batter in a single day on a recent weekend. Once you get a taste of what they have to offer, you’ll probably understand why all of that batter has been disappearing so fast.
Where: 1605 S. State St., Orem
Hours: 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday; open 24 hours on Friday and Saturday
Cost: Crepes from $3.99 to $9.99
Info: www.rollupmycrepe.com
Dining
