I'm still not sure how to pronounce the name of this place but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it!
My experience started with a lunch invitation to eat at the café which is inside the West Carrollton location but separated from the bakery counter.
The café is only open for lunch (10-2pm). The café seating area was comfortable and reminded me a little bit of a coffee shop. If I lived closer to this location I could picture myself coming to hang out and reading a book amongst their comfortable seating.
Soup, Sandwiches, Salad, Coffee, and smoothies are included in their menu. Ele uses very fresh ingredients and their portions are intentionally light so you have room for dessert! I ordered a combo meal of ½ Dijon ham sandwich (thinly sliced roasted cider glazed ham, caramelized onions, swiss cheese with Dijon mayo on a toasted pretzel roll) and a cup of the soup of the day. It was very tasty and light.
After hearing about Ele cupcakes, I figured I didn’t have a good excuse to not try one. I tried a plain vanilla one because I wanted to be able to measure the freshness of the cake and icing without extra flavor. I was not disappointed! The cupcake was moist with a good portion of icing but not too decadent like many other gourmet cupcakes.
You must visit just to look at the beautiful cakes and bakery items in their display area if nothing else. In addition to the West Carrollton location, there’s also one in Beavercreek that offers the bakery side of the business but not the cafe.
A good stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner, That Crepe Place has a menu full of good selections. So much so you may have trouble decided on just one to order. However you probably don’t want to order more than one for yourself since the portion sizes are large and very filling.
I’ve tried the Mediterranean which consisted of Chicken Breast, Feta Cheese, Sweet Roasted Red Peppers, Fresh Baby Spinach, with Balsamic Glaze and the Nutella and Fruit Crepe which was full of Creamy Hazelnut Chocolate spread with choice of Bananas and Strawberries. Both were very delicious!!
There’s not a whole lot of seating: 3 or 4 high round tables and chairs and a few tables and chairs outside. But the decor is very fresh and clean.
It was kind of neat to watch the crepe creation process. I overheard the owner say that he’d like to eventually franchise the concept which I could see taking off with the unique concept.
GiGi's cupcakes may send you into a sugar coma but they sure are a fun treat. The mile high frosting is really what makes the sweets so rich.
I looked up the company's history online and the franchise has a neat start-up story. It almost made me want to support them even more because of it.
The cupcakes may seem to be priced a little steep but that seems to be the trend these days with gourmet cupcakes. From what I've seen the majority of Gigi's customers buy no more than 6 at a time.
They do have a frequent buyer club card so after purchases of so many cupcakes you can get some free.
To ensure my body doesn't freak out from a sugar coma on the special occasion when a Gigi's puchase seems fun I've started cutting the cupcakes into smaller pieces. This way I can share the calories as well as the sugar and still get to partake in the wonderful sweetness!
If you live in the Dayton area and you haven't been to Spinoza's yet you're missing out.
It's located by Sears in the Fairfield Mall so there's plenty of parking.
I checked this place out for the first time last December and probably have gone at least 7 or 8 times since then (which is saying alot coming from someone who doesn't like to eat out too much and likes trying different places!)
Spinoza's atmoshere is relaxed with live music Thursday through Saturday. Service is usually pretty quick even with a big group.
I've gone with 1 person all the way up to 22, sometimes for lunch and sometimes for dinner and each time I've enjoyed my experience.
The salads and pizzas are great. My favorite salad is the drunken goat and even some people that don't typically like salads have liked Spinoza's! I've tried 8 of their gourmet pizzas and enjoyed each one of them. You can tell they use fresh ingredients that are good quality and serving sizes.
