In 1991, the first Corner Bakery opened on the corner of Clark and Grand in downtown Chicago to bake bread for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Maggiano’s Little Italy. On Corner Bakery’s opening day, the original menu featured only fresh baked breads, great coffee and espresso.
Quickly, the bakery found an audience who wanted to buy whole loaves over the counter and a few who wanted sandwiches made on the bread. Eventually guest feedback inspired the original Corner Bakery team to slowly build a menu – sandwiches, soups, panini and specialty desserts. With new menu options, demand for the innovative dishes grew and by 1995 Corner Bakery had expanded to five locations in Chicago.
In September of 1995, Brinker International purchased Corner Bakery and the brand’s rapid growth began. In 1996, Corner Bakery expanded beyond downtown Chicago and into cities across the country, ultimately opening up the first freestanding Corner Bakery in Plano, Texas, in 1997.
As guests continued to request more items, the Corner Bakery menu expanded to feature local favorites and a larger variety of flavorful sandwiches, crisp salads and “grandma-inspired” desserts. The menu further evolved to incorporate new specialty items such as hot breakfasts, including oatmeal and made-to-order egg dishes, as well as entrees that were equally fit for lunch and dinner such as pasta and grilled panini sandwiches. With a menu featuring savory items far beyond typical bakery fare, in 1999 the brand officially added “Cafe” to its name, emphasizing its extensive menu offerings in addition to its baked goods.
With a new larger menu in place came the opportunity to add innovative seasonal items. The culinary team began focusing on flavors that reflected the seasons. Currently, Corner Bakery Cafe features several menu items each year that include available fresh products. Each menu item is made-to-order, ensuring each guest can feed his or her cravings in the way that works best for his or her lifestyle.
In addition to creating an enhanced experience for guests visiting Corner Bakery Cafes, the breadth and quality of the restaurant’s menu is recognized through its highly successful catering program. With more than 20 percent of the company’s sales attributed to catering, Corner Bakery Cafe is the industry leader in this category.
In 2005, as the bakery-cafe category began growing at an unprecedented rate, Brinker realized the need to let Corner Bakery Cafe expand and mature at a faster pace. The company sought an investment partner that could complement the brand, provide the capital investment for growth and pursue opportunities in franchising and product development. The brand found a fit with Il Fornaio which purchased the assets of Corner Bakery Cafe in partnership with equity investment firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., LLC of New York.
With new ownership in place, the executive team began focusing on an aggressive growth strategy designed to help the brand grow successfully while maintaining the integrity of the original brand standards and ideals. In early 2007, Corner Bakery Cafe welcomed its first franchise partner, The Rose Group, as part of the brand’s newly developed franchise program. Corner Bakery Cafe currently has eleven franchise partnerships to date with over 150 franchise development commitments coast-to-coast.
With its mission to “Feed the Day,” Corner Bakery Cafe continues to develop strategic growth plans and seek out successful franchise partnerships. As Corner Bakery Cafe’s network of partnerships continues to expand, the team is working to bring its premier bakery-cafe experience into more neighborhoods across the country at an unprecedented rate.