Helena’s Chocolate Cafe & Creperie

Just a block from the town square, this local eaterie offers a variety of crepes, salads, sandwiches, and coffee beverages. With few local cafes or coffeeshops in Carlisle, this may be your best bet to enjoy coffee while doing some work or share a simple meal with a friend. This small café offers varied seating and wifi in a convenient location downtown Carlisle. However the coffee just didn’t match the quality of the food or shop.

Slightly disappointing. We visited with a group of friends this summer during the Corvettes at Carlisle show. My savory crêpe was dry and lacked flavor. I didn’t even finish it. On top of that, they forgot our coffee/​dessert order. This place has charm on the outside, but is lacking on the inside.

Found this place on Unilocal when I had business on the area. Breakfast was very nice: Ham, egg and gruyère crêpe for me; steak, egg, and gruyère in buckwheat crêpe for my companion.
We each got 5 macarons to go … delicious.
We’ll definitely be back when in the area.

Macaroons were tasty, but the coffee was horrible. Watery, bitter, and not even hot.

Fruit macarons are not the greatest and the staff takes a little while to warm up to you, but they are friendly. Great outdoor seating in the heart of Carlisle. Macarons are priced fairly at $ 2 each.

I’ve is my gotten both sweet and savory crepes here, and they are delicious. The Nutella and banana is my favorite sweet, and the ham, egg and gruyère is my favorite savory. I got a latte and it was good as well.

I was in town for business and another restaurant suggested I go to Helena’s for carrot cake after my dinner. It was so amazing, I decided to get up early the next morning and come again for the BEST mocha I’ve ever had and a perfectly cooked crêpe with mushrooms and gruyère.
I wish to someday own a café as amazing as this place. If you live in Carlisle or you are in town for just a night or two, it is not to be missed.

I came in search of real French macarons. I was not disappointed. They have a very nice selection of flavors. No matter where you go, French macarons are expensive. They are very difficult to make and are fragile. They charge $ 2.00 per macaron, but it is worth it. I got a box of 10. My boyfriend ordered a café mocha coffee and was very pleased with it. Their other desserts and pastries looked amazing. We will be returning.

The crepes were yummy but the service left a little something to be desired. Bald guy was kind of grumpy and half of our orders came first and the other half 10 minutes later.

My son and I really liked this French café. We had sweet butter & sugar crepes and it was delicious !!! The café is kids friendly with a cute colored toddler table and some books. The staff was really friendly and gave us good tips about visiting Carlisle with a child. :) Overall great experience & highly recommended!

I tried this place for the first time and I think I’m in trouble! I have been looking for macaroons since the place I normally go closed and got the recommendation to go here. I was not disappointed!
The macaroons were huge first off! Perfect cloud like cookies with awesomely balanced cream centers. The flavors were great and I was surprised how much I liked the cherry ones!
I recommend getting there early, though! I got there at like 10:30 on a Saturday and pretty much cleared them out and I’m sure missed some great flavors. Can’t wait to get there and try more of different kinds!

The macaroons are GREAT! They are larger than most (and I have had a lot of macaroons from a lot of places) and are the perfect balance of soft, airy, and chewy. Love the key lime, cherry, cinnamon, cappuccino… Can’t wait to try them all. So glad we found this place, we were sad when our macaroon place on MD moved. We were fraud we wouldn’t find anything to compare, but these are even better! They also make crepes but haven’t tried them yet.

Best crepes I have had in a long time. Perfect to satisfy a sweet tooth, or to enjoy brunch with their savory choices. Dessert are made in house and superb tasting macarons if any flavor… rose and lavender are my favorite not to perfumey but full of flavor. Coffee and tea are also delicious and great pair to their dessert or their crepes!

I so want this place to be good. Unfortunately, most times my latte is lukewarm and my crêpe undercooked. And there is something off about the ambiance. It just feels cold and a bit dusty. I wish there was some competition to force Helena’s to rise above the mediocrity of Carlisle resaurants. A dissappointment.

Recently I’ve tried an egg and cheese crêpe, a macaron and an éclair and all were very good. The macaron was not as delicate and irresistible as the ones I’ve had in Paris, but Helena’s did a great job. It was fresh and not crumbly and the filling was tasty. The éclair was very good as well and filled with copious amounts of fresh whipped cream. It was very rich and I even had to ask my husband to help me finish it, which he gladly did.

My mom and I came for breakfast and had a strawberry, banana, and Nutella crêpe. The crêpe was delicious and their menu has some other items I am interested to try. The desserts and macaroons in the case looked delicious as well.

Get your coffee at Sheetz.
This place needs to invest in a real espresso machine. Their stovetop moka pot is not cutting it. They leave it on the stove far too long, the coffee starts to boil, and you’re left with an undrinkable, bitter, metallic, watered down cup of ram’s piss you paid $ 2.50 for.
Ambience is cold, stark, and empty; waitstaff is indifferent. Please get your act together and you would see more customers in your shop.

Overview:
Quaint little bakery located on the main drag in Carlisle. Menu isn’t too big but the food is homemade and flavorful!
Food:
I have only had the desserts and pastries, however they are very good. The ingredients are high quality and everything is fresh. The prices are a bit high, but I’m always willing to pay for good food. I do wish that their presentation for their cake slices had a bit more effort to it. For 4.50 a slice, a drizzle of chocolate sauce or a bit of whipped cream to jazz up the plate wouldn’t be amiss.
Recommend:
I highly recommend their croissants, which are big, flaky, and perfect with your morning cup of coffee. Their cakes are also truly lovely. I had the chocolate almond, which was a truly superb blend of both flavors. My boyfriend had the Oreo cheesecake and raved about it all the way home.
The macarons are also very delicious. They’re a good size, the fillings are very flavorful, and the shells have a good balance of crispness and chewiness. My personal favorite is the espresso flavor!
Atmosphere:
The place is a bit small, but there is still a good amount of seating. It’s definitely a college hot spot, but it’s also just a nice place to relax with an afternoon cup of coffee and a slice of cake.
Service:
We were promptly greeted and waited upon entering the bakery. The cashier/​waitress was nice and efficiently brought us our selections.

Cute little coffee shop. Definitely not a place to get work done, more of a social place. Can get pretty crowded at times like Sunday mornings so order may take longer. Homemade croissants are petty good (warmed up) and decent coffee (free refills!). Glad Carlisle got a place like this! Service is fine, not too friendly but not rude they just seem to be overwhelmed sometimes. Try it out for a yummy breakfast or treat! 3.5 stars

First time here. Loved it. Small, and local. Great food! Went on a Sunday morning, not busy at all.