Josephine Creperie and Bistro

My only update is that I still miss Josephine’s.

It makes me sad that Josephine is no more. Two of my favorite Ferndale eateries — Strawberry Moon & Josephine — have closed within the last few months! The crepes and entrees here were always amazing, and the owners were the sweetest people in the world. Hopefully they can open up shop again in the metro Detroit area, so we can indulge ourselves in their culinary talents once more!

The owners have announced they are looking to sell the business (I assume they own the building). Sad — I wondered how long they could go with little to no business (French Gourmet still holds the record for this).
It’s a shame — such a cool place and one of the last ‘little’ food joints left on W. 9 Mile. 7 years ago they had no competition, and now suddenly crepes join BBQ and Napoli-​style pizza as the ‘it’ foods. All this place needed was a re-​boot, or even just a re-​fresh.
The food/​service could be a little inconsitant, but still within Ferndale’s space-​cadet parameters. The ‘bionic klan’ paintings on the inside were interesting, but maybe it was time to lighten up a bit? Just a change of scenery? The sign on the exterior as well — almost illegible. Just brainstorming, but a crêpe walk-​up window? Even just pictures of food on the window? (lowbrow yeah, but we have the foot traffic for this now) The menu was never cluttered, but maybe there’s a way to re-​tool this too.
Overall just seems like another Ferndale case of a ‘too cool to try’. Dang. Here comes another ‘couture’…

I really don’t want to give this place 2 stars but yeowza it was not all i had hoped and dreamed it would be.
My guest and I attended a last Wednesday meal and were extremely stoked because the menu was right up our alley.
Got there and we were seated right away but a super friendly waitress. Received our not so great wine fairly soon as well.
Then it all started to slide down hill pretty fast. Course after course the meal got worse and worse,
The veggies were mushy and bland.
Anyway I was bummed!
The place is cute. I like the art and the atmosphere!
I will go back and give it another whilr but for now I have to stick with my 2 stars and the memormy of the not so up to par meal we were served.
Stay tuned for my update.

I went to Josephine’s for brunch with my wife, brother, sister and brother-​in-​law today. The food (mostly crepes and breakfast dishes) was pronounced excellent by all. Having had the spinach crêpe with tomato coulis and bechamel sauce, I must strongly disagree with Jennifer K’s assessment that they are bad. I also enjoyed the apple crêpe for dessert. Others ordered the corned beef hash (a little short on the corned beef apparently) and Eggs Norwegian.
Note: Josephine’s is not a place to go if you are in a hurry. However, each dish is feels individually prepared and the slow food enhances the French café atmosphere.

The best thing, the décor. Eclectic and strange art. The worst thing, the crepes.
For a Creperie the crepes here suck. The fam went here after church on a Sunday. An empty brunch place at noon on a Sunday? We should have known.
My main complaint is the portioning is off. Hubs ordered the chicken asparagus crêpe with whole grain mustard rue. What he got was one crêpe with three chicken tenders and five chicklet sized pieces of asparagus and no mustard even near the rue. My son ordered the banana nutella crêpe. He got a jar of nutella and maybe half of a sliced banana. I ordered the spinach, ricotta, parm, tomato coulis crêpe. The tomato coulis was bright and flavorful. However, no amount of rich rue or coulis could redeem the pound of frozen spinach on my plate.
My minor complaint, BLAND!!!
If you want to use up your
certificate go for dinner and order anything but the crepes.

Excellent. Perfect choice for a delicious, light meal, good music and great wine. The menu selections here never fail to amaze us. The veggie options are suburb and are always cutting edge. The pairings of some of the ingredients would make you cock your head, but after the first bite, you totally understand where the chef was coming from. The mushroom crêpe is out of this world. I would eat it every day if I could. I suggest this place for a date night — great soft lighting, and romantic french setting. Parking is just OK — bundle up if you are headed there in the winter, chances are you will have a few blocks to walk.

I love that there is a crêpe restaurant in the area! EVERYTHING is yummy. The chicken crêpe is super delicious. Dessert, the bomb.

Glazed sweet carrots were yummy. My spinach crêpe was creamy and delicious. Coffee was hot and black. Service was a bit slow but there was only one waitress. All I can say was we were having a conversation and when the food came, there was no talking. We both cleaned our plates.

I don’t really get it. I really wanted to like this place — but I can’t. It’s overpriced and underwhelming. The savory Mushroom Crêpe is about the only vegetarian thing on the menu, and it made me want to eat meat. I normally don’t complain about small portions, but I must in this case — but really, do you want more of this? I think not.

Great Food! That is all I have to say! I love the filet of sole! I could eat it every day of my life!
In fact, I eat here very frequently. I just can’t resist it!

there were definitely things that i loved about josephines. loved the atmosphere. young, dark, but sweet paintings on the walls, and very unpretentious furniture and flatware. laid back, but attentive and helpful waitress. loved the unique menu. savory and vegetable filled crepes. salmon with spinach/​walnut pesto with maple glazed carrots and cous cous. nutella and banana crêpe for desert was fantastic. not fancy, but the perfect size to share with hubs and not feel like i was gonna burst a button at the end of dinner. hubs had spinach crêpe. he wasn’t a fan, but i loved it. i particularly liked the bechemel.
didn’t love: took a while to get our food. i think there was only one cook/​chef working, so we had a bit of a longer wait than average. the cous cous strongly reminded me of ramen flavoring. i love ramen, but don’t expect to taste it at a restaurant.
bottom line: i’ll go back again, but probably stick to crepes. i really enjoyed the food overall, and the laid back atmosphere. maybe i’ll try to buy some of the art on their walls, too.

Sometimes I feel like I don’t have a partner… sorry I couldn’t resist transforming that sentence into a Red Hot Chili Peppers homage. Seriously though, sometimes I feel a little lonesome, like I can’t relate to anyone in Metro Detroit, specially about my foodie fancies. I went to brunch here last weekend, prompted mostly by the
offer, but partially by a years-​long curiosity. I am sad and disappointed to say that I won’t be back. I know one visit isn’t enough to justify a judgement, objectively speaking, but when it comes to my food dollars, specially now, unfortunately it has to be. Based on this one experience, I have to say nay.
Please believe me when I say it makes me sad. It wasn’t as if it was *terrible,*…it’s just not worth a second trip (again, based on this impression). Service was semi-​friendly but obnoxiously slow. We were first to sit outside, perhaps a reason but not an excuse. The chef that everyone raves about DID seem like the nice guy they say he is: he pointedly engaged in long conversations with EVERYONE but us. I honestly don’t require a visit from the chef, but you had to see how many opportunities he had to make eye contact and just at least say hello. It was like we were in his way of getting to his *real* customers. Would rather have an absent chef than an exclusionary one.
The food was bland. I’m trying to say more about this, but that’s all there was. It was edible, but I had to REALLY try not to feel duped.
I’m glad everyone else has had a pleasant experience there. I hope they continue to have a following, and I am walking away a dejected food enthusiast.

I love Josephine.
The food has always been perfectly prepared. The atmosphere is cozy, welcoming and has a bit of personality. Try the short ribs.
Last Wednesdays are the best. On the final Wednesday of every month, Bob and Jeanine prepare a five course meal inspired by a particular region (usually in France) for $ 30 (drinks not included).

A group of us met at Josephine’s one weeknight/​month for nearly a year, starting shortly after it opened. The food was always delicious, the service was extremely pleasant and the interior was very attractive. It’s a husband-​and-​wife operation, with the husband being the main cook and the wife being the main server. They’re both very friendly.

I noticed that no one has talked about Last Wednesday’s at Josephine’s, so I think I need to Unilocal…
I have been to Josephine’s twice for brunch now. Both times were enjoyable, but I agree that sometimes I feel that my crêpe is a little naked with no sides. Also, I advise sticking with the crepes. They offer some other eggs dishes such as Eggs Josephine (two poached eggs, tomato, avocado and hollandaise on an English muffin), but they didn’t really «wow» me. So far, my favorite savory crêpe is the wild mushroom and I have also enjoyed the nutella with banana crêpe. It would even make a fabulous dessert. I would say that the brunch is good, but I have to be in the mood for it. Oh, and they are on
for brunch, so if you haven’t tried their brunch yet, that’s a good reason to go. OK, but the real reason I’m here — Last Wednesday’s.
Each «Last Wednesday» features a menu from a different region that has French influenced cuisine. The meal includes an amuse bouche and five-​course prix fixe dinner for $ 30 per person. You get to pick between four entrees (including a vegetarian choice) and two desserts. The rest is fixed. I went last month to the dinner inspired by Piedmont, Italy and it was awesome. We made a reservation and got right in. It was consistently busy throughout the time we were there.
We were greeted with some fresh bread and an amuse bouche of bruschetta with asiago cheese. Next we had a small plate of pasta with bow tie noodles and wild mushrooms and then a great little salad. We were then served a strawberry rhubarb sorbet to cleanse our palate before the entrée. I ordered the vegetarian entrée which was a wild mushroom risotto topped with a stuffed portobello mushroom. My bf ordered the fish entrée. We both loved the entrees, but I had a really tough time getting through mine because it was sooooo rich! The richness of my meal is probably the only complaint I had for the evening. For dessert we split the mouse and strudel. They were both awesome, but I preferred the mouse (and my bf favored the strudel). The dinner was a lot of fun and I would definitely go back and recommend others to check it out. I thought $ 30/​person was pretty reasonable (doesn’t include drinks) and the service was outstanding. The chef (and co-​owner) is super nice and came out to serve the entrees to us and stayed to chat for a minute or two.

Maybe it’ an obsession, or maybe I just believe all successful brunch places need just one thing: bottomless mimosas. Unfortunately, Josephine’s does NOT have bottomless mimosas, just regular one glass for $ 6 mimosas. As far as I am concerned, the worst kind.
Anyway, I had the mushroom crêpe. Which was supposed to be made out of buckwheat… but I have my serious doubts this was a buckwheat crêpe. I even tasted the crêpe portion alone to make sure I wasn’t nuts. No buckwheat, this was a regular crêpe. Can you at least tell your patrons that you’ve run out of buckwheat batter instead of passing it off? The crêpe was supposed to be with mushrooms, chevre and balsamic glaze… but it was mushrooms, in a creamy mild goat cheese sauce, with no acid to cut all the fat. This baby was HEAVY. And unfortunately, it was also the only thing on the plate. It was a big fat heavy mushroom burrito on my plate. For $ 11, I was thinking… this is it? Can I get some toast? Or some fruit? Or really anything in addition to this ominous looking mushroom monstrosity on my plate?
Service was fine. The coffee wasn’t piping hot as I like it. And the place’s décor was a little off. It had these fast food style plastic booths with banquet style chairs. It was a little off putting.
2 stars to even out Aaron K’s review and bring it down to a more reasonable 3 stars. It’s fine, but I don’t think I’ll be back at least on my own suggestion. There are better brunch places out there.

I came here for Brunch today, having wanted to try this place out for a while. It is a cute place, though it was decidedly not comfy. And the background music seemed incongruous.
I had the eggs josephine (eggs benedict with avocado and no canadian bacon), which were really tasty. The mushroom crêpe got so-​so reviews. I thought it was tasty, but it was definitely heavy, and could have used something to break up this heaviness (maybe more balsamic?). The iced-​tea was very good too.
Service was very good. All in all this is one of the best places I’ve tried in Downtown Ferndale.

This casual bistro located in downtown Ferndale offers patrons hefty portions for a reasonable price. Josephine’s features entrees of the French inspired, but are best known for their crepes.
Located on 9 mile, Josephine’s offers diners such dishes as Escargot for a mere$ 7.50, pan seared scallops for 10 bucks and lamb shanks for around 20 bucks. More importantly, Josephine offers a wide range of crêpe selections from entrée crepes like chicken with asparagus and a whole grain mustard sauce, spinach crepes, and wild mushroom crepes to name a few. On the sweeter side Josephine’s offers, my personal favorite, Nutella crepes. Thin and fluffy crepes filled with hazelnut spread. Decadent and delicious.
In addition to dinner Josephine’s is open for Sunday brunch and offers wine and champagne along side their hefty menu of entrees and crepes. Check out the website for more info and an online menu.

In the heart of fashionable Ferndale, this bistro serves up a number of French standards as well as a number of different crepes.
I went for Brunch, and while it was good… The menu could use a little more French influence, or maybe just a little more variety. Half the menu seemed to be some form of eggs benedict, the other half crepes. (I mean really, even diners these days do variations of eggs benedict…). I had a seafood crêpe, which was scallops and shrimp in a crêpe covered in Newburg sauce. It was very good, but very heavy… Could’ve used a veggie on the side maybe.
Prices were reasonable. Service good. Seemed like a good place to go hang out for a long brunch.
I need to go back for dinner, the dinner menu looks great. edit: I tried going back at 9pm but they were closed.