I visited the 'best cheap eats' spot in Florida. My $10 breakfast was so good I'd drive 7 hours to get it again.
Yelp listed Gypsea Crepes in Panama City Beach as the "best cheap eats" in Florida last year.
I recently visited Gypsea Crepes and was blown away by both the crepes and the crowds.
My $9 breakfast crepe was so good I haven't stopped thinking about it.
According to Yelp's 2023 report, the "best cheap eats" in Florida come from Gypsea Crepes, a restaurant located in a beachside strip mall in Panama City Beach (PCB).
To find the "best cheap eats," Yelp studied all single-dollar-sign restaurants in every US state and ranked them based on criteria like total volume and number of reviews.
Here's what it was like to visit Florida's "best cheap eats" winner, Gypsea Crepes — and why I'd make the long trip back to the panhandle to do it again.
Gypsea Crepes is a surf-style eatery located in a strip mall.
Gypsea Crepes is in PCB, a city in Florida's panhandle, is a popular travel destination with powdery white beaches and an impressive food scene.
The small eatery is located close to the beach in a strip mall alongside other businesses, though its kitschy surf decor — like surfboards and beach art — stand out.
I've been obsessed with food and restaurants for all of my adult life, and often say there are no better restaurants than those tucked away within strip malls.
The family-owned eatery was packed with tourists and locals when I visited.
When I arrived at Gypsea Crepes around 9 a.m. on a Friday morning, the dining room was standing-room-only, and there were so many people in line to order that I nearly had to wait outside the door.
As I stood in line, I listened to the conversations around me and discovered there was a pretty even mix of locals and tourists lined up for their crepe fix from the family-owned spot.
I overheard one out-of-town guest say her family rents a beach house in PCB each spring, and it's become a tradition for them to come to Gypsea Crepes for breakfast one morning during their trip.
I saw sweet and savory crepes on the Gypsea Crepes menu.
Gypsea Crepes has an impressive menu of crepe options, from The Sunny ($12), a crepe stuffed with eggs and breakfast meat, to The Moniz ($10), a turkey and provolone crepe with basil pesto.
The eatery offers a wide array of savory crepes with fresh ingredients, as well as sweet crepes with staples like nut butter, whipped cream, and berries.
My $9 sweet breakfast crepe was full of peanut butter, berries, and whipped cream.
Since I visited Gypsea Crepes at breakfast, I got a simple-but-classic sweet crepe.
My $9 crepe was filled with peanut butter, whipped cream, and strawberries. It was incredibly tasty. Not only was the crepe itself light and perfectly fluffy, but also the ingredients carefully tucked inside tasted super fresh and flavorful.
I've eaten crepes everywhere, from trendy Baltimore eateries to the streets of Cannes, but I can honestly say none have been as delicious as the one I ordered at Gypsea Crepes.
The prices seem to have gone up in recent years, but my breakfast was totally worth it.
In the 2016 feature on Gypsea Crepes in Panama City News Herald, crepe prices at Gypsea Crepes were a bit lower. Back then, savory crepes ranged from $7 to $8, and sweet ones fell into the $5 to $7 range.
Prices have gone up a bit in 2024, with sweet crepes averaging around $10 each and savory crepes about $11.
Still, my sweet breakfast crepe was well worth its $9 price tag.
I'd make the long trip back across the state for more Gypsea Crepes.
The tiny beach eatery is totally deserving of its title of "best cheap eats" in the Sunshine State.
There was something uniquely special about Gypsea Crepes and its surf-town vibe, and I've yet to stop daydreaming about how delicious my breakfast there was.
PCB is a seven-hour drive from my own Florida beach town, but I'd plan a vacation back to the area again, both to enjoy its powdery beaches and to grab a bite at Gypsea Crepes.
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