Blend Tea & Crepe Lounge

I am a long-​time bubble tea fan, and I’ve loved Blend since day one. The café is always very clean and inviting, but quiet enough to get work done, if need be. The staff is super friendly — the owner even started to memorize our order! Safe to say we frequented this place quite often in college.
I love their taro milk tea with bubbles, and Blend’s is delicious and always consistent in taste. I tried a few crepes — egg & cheese (they omitted the spinach for me), Nutella & strawberry, Nutella with strawberry cheesecake ice cream … they were always fantastic. Just the right amount of food to fill you up.
I brought several guests to Blend during my time at SIU and they always raved about it. One of the saddest parts about graduating was leaving Blend behind. Not even kidding. We still make a point to go when we visit family in Illinois.
Whether you’re looking for a place to study, catch up with friends, or just get a tasty tea on the run, Blend is the way to go.

Delicious food and drinks! They offer a variety of options. The husband and I enjoyed the strawberry whipped cream crêpe and the spinach, egg and cheese crêpe. Loved the ambiance, very cozy. Friendly staff. Just be sure to let your warm crêpe choices cool down because mine was hot!

Blend has an incredible vibe to it, and not to mention great crepes! It’s quiet and good when you need to do homework. Both sweet and savory crepes are delicious and very affordable! I highly recommend trying Blend if you have not.

Friendly service, everything fresh made. I got unsweetened green tea, I didn’t want any extra flavors. And I also got a Nutella and strawberry crêpe. My brother got peanut butter banana. Both were really delicious! It’s a nice quite little place with college kids studying and on their computers. Paid about $ 11 for a small plain tea and both crepes, I’ll definitely be coming back here! It’s cute and has good food!

This spot is a simple place to enjoy some crepes and milk tea. The menu isnt as expansive as other bubble tea places but was decent and cheap enough to satisfy my cravings.
I had the 2 types of milk tea, strawberry smoothie, the strawberry honey crêpe, strawberry nutella crêpe, and the chipotle chicken crêpe.
The milk tea was smooth but not as rich as other places ive been to. Tasted like warm milk with a hint of flavor.
The crepes were great each time. Crepes were crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. It was fresh and flavorful. The chicken crêpe was actually filling and the chicken was tender and full of flavor. The strawberry nutella crêpe or strawberry honey crêpe was also great. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the crepes or tea from my experience. The smoothie on the other hand was subpar and could be better. I will try the matcha tea next since I like green tea.
Service was good and the owner was friendly. A customer came in looking for coffee which they don’t serve oddly and he was kind enough to offer suggestions.
They also have free WiFi and is a good place to study. It was pretty quiet the two times I went. Open from 11am to 11pm.

Oh so torn because this was the most delightful matcha milk tea I have ever enjoyed and at the same time, they totally forgot my crêpe.
The place was quiet on a weekend in the middle of the day, with a few tables taken up with students on laptops and a few families with small children enjoying their crazy-​strawed bubble teas. It’s got a sort of minimalist appeal that works and patrons can choose from a rack of magazines to flip through while they wait.
We were here last winter to enjoy a quick snack before heading home from our Valentine’s weekend in a Carbondale cabin. My husband ordered the mushroom & chicken crêpe which was decent, but my money would have been on my strawberry & honey crêpe if it had ever made it my way. They ended up apologizing that the crêpe somehow never got made and refunded our money, and if it had, I have no doubt this would have been a 5 star experience. Bummer, Blend! We’ll be back for my crêpe.

I love this place! Mainly because it’s one of the only cafes open late in Carbondale. Their menu consists mainly of (you guessed it!) tea and crepes that are both cheap and delicious! Nutella and strawberry crêpe is my favorite so far and the teas are perfect for a sweettooth like me! Perfect place to study while snacking, quiet and in a great location, right off campus.

The Nutella and strawberry crapes are amazeballs. I could make myself sick off of them!

This place is is an odd duck in the much needed variety of downtown Carbondale. The food is great and the service is decent. This is a great place to eat and do some studying. The only downside is the cost. I am not the smallest guy in a crowd, and I need to order two crepes to feel full… So my pocketbook gets a little sad when I come here.

Good teas, good crepes, good people. Def coming back here and trying the rest of the crepes.

Unbelievably good flavors on teas, savory crepes, and sweet crepes. What a little gem!

Soooo good!!! I’m addicted.

Introduction:
I just recently tried this place out… and I’m absolutely addicted! I cannot better express that this place is one of my favorites in Carbondale beating out some oldies for the top spot right now!
Food & Drinks:
The only thing I get is the White Peach Yogurt Slush and the Strawberry & Honey Crêpe. It usually comes out to about $ 6-​$ 7 for both. The White Peach Yogurt Slush is made with reverse osmosis filtered water (no fluoride) and has a refreshing taste of Peach to it. The crêpe has fresh strawberries, honey, and whip cream inside.
Service:
The owner is usually there and is very kind and easy to talk to. The employees are also always friendly. They bring your meal out to you and can answer most questions you have.
Atmosphere:
There is a variety of places to sit. They have a very nice, comfy couch and coffee table area, which is my personal favorite. They have white tables with either clear, plastic chairs or modern, black, comfy chairs inside. There are also tables and chairs outside during the day.
Pros:
Blend has two wifi networks one from Mediacom and one from Frontier. This is in case one goes down. I’m not familiar with Frontier’s service, but Mediacom is always going down. For a college town having two wifi services is almost unheard of.
They currently have a Rovertown deal (Smart phone app,
) for $ 1.00 off of a $ 5 or more purchase.
They have live music at times. I came in one night as the band was leaving. I can’t wait to see a performance at Blend!
Cons:
They open at 11a.m. I wish they were open before I had to go to work. So, I could get a healthy start to my day. This place definitely needs to be open at 10a.m. at the latest.

Blend is definitely a great experience. I actually used to work there and I can say it’s great behind the counter as well. The crepes here are fantastic. You can get a sweet crêpe with fruits and ice creams or a savory crêpe with meats and veggies. They also offer green, black, and oolong tea with a variety of flavor add-​ins. And if you’re not a tea fan, they also have yogurt smoothies in any flavor or flavor combo you could want.
The atmosphere is also a plus. It’s normally pretty quiet and a decent place to study. It’s a warm colored place and they have a big couch for napping or lounging. There is also free wifi and reverse osmosis water available. They normally play decent music on their speakers but sometimes that’s a toss up depending on who is working. The workers are all really nice as well. Especially the owner Ming.
One downfall I had with Blend was a lack of healthier options. But with their newly added Whole Wheat Crepes and with their substitute sugar for teas, they’ve bumped up a notch for me. The prices are great as well. Definitely affordable for a student.
My favorites are Shaken Ice White Peach Black Tea, Shaken Ice Honey Green Tea, Any yogurt slush, Almond Hot Milk Tea, Veggie Crêpe, and Peanut Butter Strawberry Sweet Crepes. Yum.

Very friendly staff, tasty and reasonably priced food, and great drinks.
I would highly recommend this place for lunch with a group of friends or for anyone wanting a cool place to study.
I can’t imagine coming here for dinner unless you were a student and planned to do some reading or studying. But it is a great place for after dinner hot or iced tea.
I would definitely come back.

When I first went here early last spring, I thought the food was so-​so (kind of lunch meat/​sliced cheese-​tasting like someone else said). However, the quality has DRAMATICALLY improved since then. The chicken-​mushroom and mushroom supreme are my two favorite savory crepes. I hope to try one of their sweet/​ice cream ones some day.
And their ice milk tea (and hot milk tea) is amazing! The rose and lavender flavors are both lovely.
This place does not have a huge crowd during the day, which gives it an airy, quiet and intimate atmosphere. I love the couches by the front windows, I like to sit there during breaks between classes.

Meh for sure.
Cute place. Very clean and great for late night studying or hanging out with friends, but their food was meh.
I did not think anything special of their food or drinks. I ordered one of their savory crepes and you knew after biting into it that it was store bought sandwich meat and sliced cheese. I make those sandwiches on a regular basis. Of course I would know what it tasted like.
I would only need to learn how to make my own crepes and voila! I have made what they made in their shop, but for a quarter of the price.
The drinks are okay. Not spectacular, but not bad. Holds me over, but I never crave them.

What the crêpe! This place is adorable.

I had been wanting to try this place ever since reading an article in the DE about it. As a native Virginian, I was excited that the owner moved here from Blacksburg, VA. My boyfriend and I walked in around 11:30 for lunch and they were eager to take our order so we looked over the menu quickly. We both stuck to savory crepes for lunch and ordered the Smoked Turkey crêpe and Roast Chicken for him. Mine was cheesy and the crêpe was light and airy. I ate the whole thing. We also ordered peach black tea to share. It was super sweet but I liked the flavor, so I just let the ice melt a little longer. We decided that we were not in the mood for dessert so I guess we’ll have to go back.
The building is so cute — it’s very college coffeehouse. It’s got great potential — just needs a few more personal touches: chalkboard walls, bulletin boards, community bookshelf, live music — something. One of their signature drinks is «Ice Coffee Milk Tea with Coffee Jelly» … ok, maybe they could stand to change a few of the names of their drinks :) But, the price is low and you can stay as long as you want — free WiFi and they are open from 11 am to 11pm every day.

Must-​try place for savory sandwich-​like and dessert crêpes, iced and hot milk tea, bubble tea, regular tea and slushes, as well as quiet studying. I am perplexed as to why they don’t serve coffee though. I must find out upon my next visit. Anyways, Blend is fairly new so they have a couple of minor necessary things to improve but I highly recommend you try this place at least once. You won’t regret it. Also, don’t forget to ask them about their cat!
The 12 or so two-​person tables are well spread out so you don’t feel like you’re invading other people’s personal space. As soon as my boyfriend and I entered, we were happily greeted by the employees (friendly service is lacking nowadays). We ordered a hot coffee milk tea. A tad generous with the milk, and there wasn’t enough tea or coffee but the 20 oz. serving is generous for the price. We also got a green tea which actually tasted like, and probably was Jasmine tea, but still good. Next time I’ll ask for less milk. The next day, we went for brunch, ordering the roast chicken crêpe, roast beef crêpe and nutella crêpe. What can I say, I’m greedy and wanted to try them all. At first I was disappointed that they used sliced lunch meat but the crisp pancake had just the right amount of sweetness, they gave a generous amount of gooey cheese, and both the chicken and roast beef were yummy so all was forgiven after the first bite. My only qualm is that our roast chicken had only 2 tiny pieces of sundried tomato. Be a bit more generous if you’re going to list it as an ingredient! I was most excited for the nutella crêpe but the pancake wasn’t mouth-​pleasingly crisp like the others. Fortunately, Nutella could make dirt taste good, and I loved the whipped cream they put in the crêpe. And after a few bites, I liked the softer, chewier taste of the nutella crêpe.
I’m looking forward to my next visit to Blend and will be back to try their bubble tea and fruit crêpes!