The Water Street Tavern has a full menu page devoted to crepes. Had I done just a bit of homework, I might not have been surprised (pleasantly) by this unusual offering in an inviting watering hole in downtown Baltimore. Like its neighbor Peter's, it's tucked into an alley that beckons to passersby, especially when the sidewalk tables are full of people.

On approach, the tavern's Florida Keys themed outdoor dining area looked like a fine spot to grab a drink after work and exercise your people-watching skills.

12:26 p.m. We entered and were offered our pick of seats in the upstairs bar and dining area. It was too hot to sit out in the Keys. Again, our impression was of an inviting space whose bare brick, glossy wood panel and hinted-at hunting motif intones "cheeseburger and wings." But the menu suggested we'd found a crepe cellar disguised as a burger and wing cave.

Our sense of wonder did not end there, but it did take — from a foodie perspective — a downhill trajectory.

I ordered the "Holy Crepe" filled with diced chicken, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, portobello mushrooms, spinach sprouts and mozzarella. My dining companion and co-worker picked the crab cake sandwich because he feels it's a benchmark indicator of how seriously a Baltimore restaurant takes its kitchen.

12:40 p.m. Our entrees arrived, which was prompt. But therein lay the first sign of trouble: We had ordered a starter; it hadn't shown.

We dug into our main courses before remembering the starter and decided to forge ahead without it.

At the first bite, my buds said, "Check the born-on date." The first descriptive that came to mind was "stale." What? I mean, you can mess up crepes in several creative ways, but serving one stale? I passed a portion to my friend, who was a crepe-maker in another life. Not stale, he decided. But not fresh, not hot from the pan. He described it as "pre-made." Full disclosure: We didn't see my crepe pulled from a pan in the walk-in fridge, so I can't say for sure, but we concurred that it had seen a sunset or two. But not "stale."

Another thing about the crepe. It was uncommonly sweet, too sweet, not as in treacly or cloying, just too darn sugary for its decidedly savory filling. Maybe the cook pulled it from the dessert bin? The filling was tasty enough, but, again, for the foodie, nothing special, and not assertive enough to contend with the crepe's sweetness.

My dining companion thought the crab cake sandwich average. The bun looked Wonder Bread-ish to me, but he was OK with it. He declared the crab meat shredded, not lump, but with reasonable filler and in all not a bad average.

12:49 p.m. Our server asked how we were enjoying our meals. We inquired about our starter. She asked if we still wanted it. Well now, our curiosity was piqued. We wanted to know about their take on a Cajun crawfish dip, so we asked her to bring it.

1 p.m. The starter landed and we dug in with our light, crispy tortilla chips. This time my co-worker declared the crawdads had at one time been frozen. Nevertheless we both considered the dip/chip a decent bar food.

We enjoyed the Water Street Tavern space, a tempting happy-hour location, and wanted to say wonderful things about the food. And generally, the only demerits the tavern draws are for food quality and laid-back-a-trifle-too-far service. The crepe was odd, the crab cake average. The place wasn't busy, yet our server forgot our appetizer. For demanding foodies, it was pretty close to intolerable. But for bar food it was no worse than average and the crepes are an interesting spin on bar food.

1:22 p.m. We needed to get back to the office, so I flagged our server and asked for the check.

1:25 p.m. We paid and exited. Once outside, going over the experience, we both said we wanted to go back, first to check out the happy hour and second for another shot at lunch. We're both curious about their burger, what I consider the benchmark of a tavern lunch. And we really liked the digs.

Water Street Tavern

Where: 102 Water St.

Contact: 410-605-9495

Lunch hours: 11 a.m. to close (midnight-2 a.m.)

Lunch entrees: $8-$14

Food: ✭✭1/2

Service: ✭✭1/2

Atmosphere: ✭✭✭

[Key: ✭✭✭✭Outstanding;✭✭✭: Good; ✭✭: Fair or Uneven;✭: Poor]

Dining time 59 minutes