It’s called Crepe Nation, though it’s actually a locally owned breakfast and brunch concept of young restaurateur Complete Chijioki. He moved in late May to Jackson Rd. west of Zeeb, upgrading from a smaller spot on Golfside Rd. in Ypsilanti Twp.
“I just wanted to include all kinds of all categories of people,” the twenty-four-year-old Ann Arborite says of the name and its diverse array of meal and dessert choices based on his custom crepe recipe.
“The perfect crepe’s gotta be very thin, and it has to have that perfect sweet and savory taste to it,” Chijioki describes, “but not too sweet, not bland either, so just finding a good mix between.”
Originally from Indiana, he was the youngest in his family, hence the given name Complete. He started college locally and found professional footing while also working at such places as New York Pizza Depot and Hello Faz Pizza.
He’d been saving for a pizza joint of his own, but his first taste of a crepe in 2019 proved transcendent, “and I just changed the whole entire business plan.”
His takeout-only location opened in a Golfside Rd. plaza during the 2020 pandemic, offering build-your-own crepes of various flavors and options. Customer preferences helped inform his menu of over two dozen suggestions, including the oft-selected Breakfast Classic, a crepe with egg, bacon, cheddar, and avocado. Customized options start at $5.50 for one of seven crepe flavors, plus per-item proteins, fruits, veggies, cheeses, or sweets. Chijioki adds that a gluten-free crepe made with rice flour is available.
Positive feedback encouraged him to open a location in suburban Lansing in 2021, but it closed in January after staffing difficulties, so he can bring full focus to the west side location, which seats thirty-two. Chijioki’s plans include continuing on- and off-site catering, retailing and wholesaling the dry crepe mix, and offering a five-dollar crepe special including coffee.
His neighbors in the former church also include Fleet Feet. Many runners will recall it as the former headquarters of Running Fit, a specialty store that was founded in Ann Arbor and expanded to eight locations after being acquired by Colorado-based Running Specialty Group in 2014. Later renamed JackRabbit, that company was in turn acquired by North Carolina–based Fleet Feet in 2021. It’s recently unified corporate branding, including at the downtown store at 123 E. Liberty.
Crepe Nation, 5700 Jackson Rd., (734) 879–0557. Sun. & Mon. 9 a.m.–4 p.m., Tues.–Sat. 9 a.m.–7 p.m. crepenationusa.com
