While Clayton has seen new businesses rise, buildings transform and trends come and go over the past 30 years, City Coffee & Creperie owner Ann Gallardo has remained constant, defining her establishment by its quality and community.

The idea for the coffee shop first began when Gallardo’s son went to college. She envisioned a small coffee shop also selling a few pastries. Gallardo’s husband, Ramon Gallardo, had already built a substantial career in the restaurant business, owning a popular restaurant chain, Casa Gallardo. He knew the cafe needed something beyond coffee and pastries.

“He gave me the best advice and was brutally honest with me. I had to have something to separate myself from the other coffee houses in St. Louis,” Gallardo said.

Inspired by small crepe trucks in Paris, Gallardo decided to add crepes to the menu. In an effort to find the perfect recipe, Gallardo often went to Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

“I would sit on the floor and have all these different French cookbooks, and one of the cookbooks was Julia Child. I thought, I’m going to try hers. We liked it,” Gallardo said. “The recipe hasn’t changed one bit [in the last 30 years] and I’ll never change it.”

French teacher Laure Hartman, originally from France, recognizes the crepes’ traditional flavor.

“The basic crepe is very authentic,” Hartman said.

Despite Gallardo’s careful planning, the restaurant was not the success she had hoped.

“The first year was awful. We could sell maybe two crepes a day,” Gallardo said.

Gallardo credits IHOP for the crepes on her current menu. When the restaurant first opened, it had five crepes on the menu, but it gradually increased to nearly 50.

“I ended up going to IHOP for breakfast, and I looked at the menu and saw all the different omelets, and I would think, if this could go inside an omelet, this can go inside a crepe,” Gallardo said.

Immediately after making these menu changes, the Creperie’s popularity skyrocketed. Not stopping there, Gallardo expanded the menu to waffles, salad, soup, quiche and more. Following this increased demand, customers wanted a second location. 

“I didn’t want [a second location]. I wanted to make this location successful,” Gallardo said.

Another thing that helped Gallardo is that half of her employees are her husband’s family.

“I always believed that if I took good care of [the employees], then they’ll take good care of me and the business,” Gallardo said. “That is the whole secret of it all.”

On any given day, Gallardo can be seen clearing plates, cleaning tables and helping customers. Having gone to the Creperie weekly since he was born, junior Tommy Griffey believes Gallardo’s everyday involvement adds to the restaurant’s charm.

“She knows her customers and her regulars well. Even if she doesn’t know somebody, she always introduces herself,” Griffey said. “Just last Sunday, I was there with my family, and she came to our table while she took our plates. But she wasn’t just there to grab our plates. She came over to say hello, ask how we were doing, and it’s definitely what makes [City Coffee & Creperie] special.”

In addition to Gallardo’s hands-on approach, the atmosphere reflects the same welcoming quality. From the comfortable seat yourself setup to the French decor, customers often notice its warm feel.  Hartman recognizes similarities to her home city in France.

“It’s a comfortable, warm, familiar ambiance, because it’s decorated like a French Cafe. They have the big windows and also the smell of the fresh cooked crepe is a familiar smell,” Hartman said.

Despite Gallardo’s success, it did not come without obstacles.

“COVID-19 was a tough time, and I didn’t want to lose my employees. Forget that half of them are family, and the other half had been with me for 20 years, and I wanted to hold on to them,” Gallardo said.

Gallardo’s next goal is to reach 40 years with City Coffee & Creperie.

“You have to be ready to sacrifice. You must be dedicated to the business if it really means something to you, and it does to me. I could never have done it alone. It’s never one person, there’s always a team,” Gallardo said.