Rachel Adams is the founder / owner of one of Lancaster city’s most beloved cafes, Rachel’s Cafe & Creperie. She admires the diversity of Lancaster, as well as the versatility of the food she curates. Rachel herself reflects that versatility, as a woman operating a successful business for almost two decades within the male dominated food and restaurant industry.
Anyone who has ever been to Rachel’s cafe on a Saturday morning can attest to the success of the restaurant. Despite the bustling traffic through the cafe on the weekends, Rachel’s always has a homey and friendly atmosphere.
The cafe boasts thousands of positive reviews from happy customers across the area, who continue to visit the cafe for its delicious food, drinks and warm ambiance. Rachel’s is one of my favorite restaurants in the city to recommend to anyone, whether you’re a local or just visiting.
After speaking with Rachel and learning more about her story, I can see how her bubbly personality and people skills have come together to create Rachel’s as we know it today.
Question 1: Starting with the basics, what is your background and the business’s background? How did you end up where you are now?
“I’m from Lancaster and love it here. I am so proud to have been a part of its growth over last 18 years that I have been a business owner within the community. This city has come so far from when I was a kid and there’s so many amazing small local businesses and organizations. I’m just so honored to be a part of the community.
During my time at Penn State University studying Environmental Science, I took a part time job at a crepe cafe and just fell in love with it! I decided to change the course of my life and work towards opening my own cafe back home. So in 2006, at 24 years old, my Creperie opened. It was incredibly hard to do on my own but I had so much love and support from my friends and family that I got through it.
We started on Queen Street and were there for 7 years. We quickly outgrew that space and were looking for something bigger. So in 2013, I bought the building we are currently in on Walnut Street and its been our home ever since. I love this space! It allowed us to have a larger space and kitchen, as well as own the building and not just rent. We went from having only three burners to eleven, which is amazing. I never would have thought we’d grow to this point, so I’m very happy and honored that Lancaster has embraced us so much.”
Question 2: Can you talk more about your experience as a woman in business / entrepreneur?
“As a woman I have seen a few hiccups, but honestly this community has been great from the start! It used to bug me when I first opened and people assumed the business was named after a woman but owned / operated by a man. Delivery drivers would walk right past me and go to whatever man was working in the kitchen with me, and assume they were the boss. It has just made me laugh really. I’m super proud of what I’ve built and having done it as a woman is pretty rad! I was raised by a family of strong women who always made me feel like theres nothing you can’t do.”
Question 3: What are the most important things you would like the community to know about you or your business?
“I feel I’ve been pretty open about what I want my business to stand for and support over the years through our events, fundraisers and coordinating we do with local organizations. We do annual fundraising and awareness-raising with the local YWCA, which is an amazing organization and means a lot to me. We do the same type of work with local LGBTQIA+ organizations.
Girls on the Run is another wonderful organization that we work with that means so much to me; it supports, lifts, and encourages young girls and women through physical activity and empowerment. Going through this program years ago with my own daughter got me into running which is something I am also grateful for. There’s plenty more businesses that we are honored to partner with and I hope give a good snapshot of what I value as a business owner / member of the community.”
Question 5: Do you have any fun facts about yourself or Rachel’s? Or maybe some cooking tips?
“Some fun facts about me… My daughter’s name is Ella. She’s named after both Ella Fitzgerald and Nutella; two things that I adore!
I love Christmas so much that I have multiple christmas tattoos (I also have a Nutella tattoo!)
As far as about Rachel’s; the most popular crepe on our menu is the Oyler (garlic-infusion, eggs, cheddar, feta, steak, scallions, hot sauce, and hash browns inside). This crepe came from a regular who would come in and say “make me something…anything”. So one day we gave him this combo and he said it was the best he’s had so we put it on the menu. It has since become many people’s favorite!
Crepe kits are something fun we offer as a way for folks to make their own crepes at home. This is something that came out of necessity during COVID but has really taken off and customers still love them. We have been coming up with fun new options for kits and expanding our offerings. I have a super creative team of cooks who love to come up with ideas for the kits and crepe specials in general.
As for cooking tips… I don’t really have many. Crepes are big skinny pancakes that we fill with ingredients and wrap up. Its kind of a fancy burrito, so I wouldn’t consider myself as skilled and/or knowledgeable as a trained chef… by far. BUT, I can say that crepes are one of the most versatile foods ever!
You can fill them with anything for any meal of the day so it is a handy skill for sure. Everyone should get a crepe maker so they can make them too! Oh wait, scratch that part. DON’T get crepe makers, keep only getting your crepes from my cafe!”
Question 5: Do you have a favorite female owned business (or multiple) you would like to shout out or that you admire?
“There are SO many amazing local women owned businesses! Oh…where do I start…here at the Creperie we partner with Greta and Angel at Happiness is Granola, Megan Miley at Miley’s Handcrafted Kombucha, and Nyisha Hammond at Juisibox. I love and admire the amazing women at the YWCA and Friendship Heart Gallery for the work they do for and in the community. Hawa Lassanah and her organization DECA city farms (plus she is a dear friend who I love and who helped me when I first opened the Creperie). Then there are the women behind some of my favorite local restaurants like Starla from the Horse Inn, Cindy from Silantra, Susan from Citronnelle….dang thats a tough question. There are so many, which is so amazing! Good for Lancaster!”
Rachel and her cafe’s legacy perfectly exemplifies the power behind the women in business within our community. It is also a fantastic example of how you can instill your own passion and values into your business all while giving back to the community you serve.
Please join me in supporting Rachel at the cafe’s Walnut Street location, or follow along on social media to see the kitchen’s latest creations!
https://www.rachelscreperie.com
https://www.instagram.com/rachelscreperie?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Femme Forward - Lancaster, PA 
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