By Aubrey Tipton

For Deaf customers, going to a restaurant can cause reliance on written communication. At Crepe Crazy in Austin, customers are able to converse with the employees directly through American Sign Language.

Crepe Crazy is a Deaf-owned restaurant in Dripping Springs, Texas, and Baltimore, Maryland. Many people love Crepe Crazy for the accessibility and how well the food tastes. Austin has a large Deaf population due in part to the presence of Texas School for the Deaf (TDS) which was established in 1856. It is considered the oldest continuously operating public school in Texas, according to its website. 

Parker Kennedy, the American Sign Language professor at UMHB who is deaf, signed that he enjoys going to Crepe Crazy because the food is good and it is a good learning environment. The ASL students travel once a year to Austin to experience the food and become immersed in the Deaf community. 

When a hearing person is learning sign language, it is helpful to surround themselves with people who are deaf because they are willing to help teach and help hearing people learn the language. 

For UMHB students or anyone interested in learning ASL, Crepe Crazy provides a good opportunity to use what they know and use it in a real-world setting. Visiting the restaurant, it allows students to practice communicating with deaf people while experiencing Deaf culture firsthand. 

Crepe Crazy serves excellent quality crepes, from good-morning crepes, sweet crepes, all the way to savory crepes. Other than crepes, they have a selection of soups, sandwiches, salads and pastries. They have many different selections to accommodate any dietary restrictions. They also serve hot and cold drinks, smoothies, moo-thies and seasonal drinks. A moo-thie is their shakes they have created.

“We eat here because we are deaf and the food is good, [there is] community here,” a deaf family signed. 

Since it is a Deaf-owned business, all of the employees use America Sign Language, creating a sense of community so deaf customers feel more included. Instead of taking the time to translate, they can sign directly to the employees. 

When interviewed about what Crepe Crazy’s mission is, Trei, one of the employees signed, “[The] customer is my priority. I want them to come back and leave this place happy and positive with this environment and atmosphere.” 

For many of the deaf customers, going to a restaurant can lead to written communication or using a phone to communicate with hearing employees. At Crepe Crazy, the staff is able to communicate with everyone since the most used language is ASL. For people who do not use ASL, employees use a writing board to communicate. This pushes for a comfortable environment where deaf people can enjoy their meal without having to worry about a language barrier.

Photo Courtesy Ayla-Marie Book