A popular Raleigh crepe place is opening a new restaurant. Here’s where you can find it
An all-day restaurant known for sweet and savory crepes is opening its second North Carolina store this year.
Simply Crepes will add to its Raleigh footprint with a new restaurant at 1028 Oberlin Road.
It is expected to open this spring in one of the end spaces at the Shoppes at Oberlin Court shopping center. Most recently, Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ filled the corner spot, which spans about 3,500 square feet, Simply Crepes co-owner Nicole Heroux Williams told The News & Observer in a phone interview.
“We’re excited to expand in Raleigh. ... We just think it’s a perfect fit for the demographics in the area. We love that it’s close to Oberlin Village, and it has nice charm to it,” said Williams, whose family owns Simply Crepes.
The company, which was founded in New York, expanded to North Carolina with a restaurant in Raleigh’s Lafayette Village in 2011.
What to expect at the new Simply Crepes
The Oberlin Road restaurant will have indoor and outdoor seating along with a private event space with room for 40, Williams said.
It’s being modeled after one of the newer Simply Crepes restaurants in New York, which features a modern farmhouse vibe, she added. There will be comfortable lounge seating and cafe-style seating indoors and fireplaces throughout the restaurant.
“We want it to feel like you’re coming into our home,” she said. “So there’s quite a bit of renovation being done and quite a lot of demo.”
The Oberlin Road restaurant will employ about 40 people, and it will be closed Tuesdays to give the staff a day off.
“All of our management team is obviously local to the Raleigh area, and they’re constantly up here in New York,” Williams said.
What’s on the menu at Simply Crepes
Breakfast is served all day at Simply Crepes, and several items from the morning menu are popular among customers. A couple of top sellers are the French toast, which is made with brioche, and the breakfast sandwich, which comes with eggs, cheddar, hash cakes and a choice of meat on Texas toast spread with lemon basil aioli.
There’s a range of sweet and savory crepes. The chicken cordon bleu and Thai curry crepes are popular on the savory side, and “everyone loves that traditional Nutella strawberry crepe,” Williams said.
The restaurant will also serve beignets with lemon sweet cream.
“We try to purchase local when possible, when it makes sense,” Williams said, adding that nearly all of the food items, including sauces and dressings, are made in house.
The restaurant uses pure maple syrup, a nod to Williams’ father, Pierre Heroux, who co-founded the restaurant and hails from Quebec, Canada.
“Maple syrup production is near and dear to our hearts,” Williams said. “We just value, you know, the integrity of the food, and so that is what we put out for our guests.”
For beverages, Simply Crepes will have a full bar, serving boozy and nonalcoholic cocktails, and coffee drinks.
Other new restaurants & retail in the Oberlin Village area
- Postino WineCafe opened last summer in Village District, the shopping center formerly known as Cameron Village. The restaurant, which features shareable snacks and cheese boards accompanying an extensive wine list, joined an existing North Carolina location in Charlotte.
- The antiques store Antiques Emporium closed at Village District, and the neighboring Cheshire Cat Antique Gallery took the space.
- Copper Penny, a women’s boutique, moved out of North Hills and set up shop in Village District.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "A popular Raleigh crepe place is opening a new restaurant. Here’s where you can find it."
