Corner Bakery Café is a fast casual bakery and café in the United States that serves breads, pastries, breakfast, gourmet sandwiches, soups, salads, and pasta. This café and bakery serves high quality food in a more sophisticated atmosphere in comparison to the average fast food restaurant. The store provides an extraordinary variety of fresh, wholesome, irresistible foods. As the store grew over the years, more exciting flavors have been incorporated into the menu. The store also offers 100 Corner Combos under 600 calories.

Corner Bakery Cafe is passionate about everything it does. From its fresh handmade food, to the service provided to its guests, the store strives to provide the best. The establishment creates food to fit every lifestyle. It uses only the freshest ingredients in its food as well as breads fresh from the oven. The store’s service style is fast and efficient. It is designed to emulate the fast-paced, urban atmosphere of downtown Chicago, the place where it was originally founded. The café has a simple menu board from which guests can order and have their food brought to their tables.

History

The café was established by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. The original neighborhood Corner Bakery was opened in 1991 in Chicago. This first store baked artisan breads and freshly baked desserts. The neighborhood soon began requesting sandwiches as well as made-to-order specialties. Homemade soups and salads soon followed. Customer requests continued to inspire the menu and as a result, the store’s business expanded. The concept for the Corner Bakery Café soon grew into what it is today. The store continues to provide for the needs and desires of its neighbors with prepared-to-order food.

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises eventually sold the café to Brinker International, which then sold the café to CBC Restaurant Corporation. The establishment is currently owned by CBC Restaurant Corporation. CBC Restaurant Corporation is an affiliate of Il Fornaio (America) Corporation, which is located in Dallas Texas. The establishment’s current Chief Executive Officer is Frank Paci, who joined the establishment in October 2015. Paci provides over 25 years of retail and food service brand experience. The Chairman of the Board is Mike Hislop, who first started out as the Chief Operating Officer of the company.

The café has 192 locations throughout the United States. These locations are in various parts of the country, such as Northern California, New Jersey, Virginia, East Texas, and Mississippi. Locations include Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego in California; Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio in Texas; Denver, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Salt Lake City, Utah; Phoenix, Arizona; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, D.C.

It was recently announced in November 2015, that the restaurant would serve as the exclusive on-site dining store at Walmart and Walmart Supercenter locations. This transition is scheduled to be completed in August 2016. In 2004, the restaurant changed its logo and provided a new “look and feel” to its dining rooms. The establishment started franchising in 2006 and has continued to grow and expand over the years. The newest café location opened in Denton, Texas and has been a huge success. This location has experienced increased traffic, record sales, and high customer satisfaction. The establishment continues to have very strong partnerships with leaders in the industry.

Review

Corner Bakery serves breakfast, fresh salads, signature sandwiches, homemade soups and chili, corner combos, grilled Panini, grilled flats, hearty pastas, and baked goods. The store also serves beverages and provides a kids menu. There are so many selections that the combos are usually the best way to experience all the flavors. The combos allow customers to pair two favorites and are priced between $6 and $9. Examples of combos are the signature sandwich combo, salad combo, grilled flat combo, pasta combo, and the Panini combo.

The café’s beverages are priced between $2 and $4 and consist of hot and cold beverages. Hot beverages include roasted coffee, hot tea, chai latte, latte, espresso, truffle hot chocolate, truffle mocha, caramel latte, cappuccino. Signature sandwiches are priced between $6 and $9. The signature sandwiches are chicken pesto, tuna, turkey, ham, steak, and spicy Asian pork sandwiches. The grilled Panini and flats are priced between $6 and $8. These options include the Chicken Pomodori and Cuban Press Panini, and Southwest Chicken Grilled Flat.

Fresh salads are priced between $3 and $8 and consist of signature hand-tossed salads, homemade specialty salads, and the trio, which consists of three salads. Homemade soups and chili are priced between $3 and $8. Examples include Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup, Big Al’s Chili, and Roasted Tomato Basil Soup. Cold beverages include smoothies, old-fashioned lemonade, hibiscus lemonade, sodas, iced tea, and frappes. The baked goods are priced between $1 and $6, and include brownies, cakes, pies, bundts, dessert bars, rugalach, and cookies.

The hearty pastas are between $6 and $9. The pastas include the Pesto Cavatappi, Chicken Carbonara, Mac and Three Cheese, and the Cavatappi with Marinara. The breakfast and scramblers are priced between $3 and $8. Breakfast and scrambler examples include pancakes, fresh berry and yogurt parfait, and the Farmer’s Scrambler. The café also provides catering services upon request. The hours of operation are generally from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Mondays to Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sundays. Overall, the food is decent and the service is warm and friendly. The sandwiches are highly recommended. Corner Bakery is definitely a popular place for breakfast and lunch.