Cake Eater Bakery and Cafe

The product is fine. Actually really tasty. I will give them that.
However that fact is totally eclipsed by the attitude of the owners. Paid $ 50 for a gluten free cake that tasted great and looked like it had been run over by a car. Upon calling the shop I was informed that it looked fine when they made it…
OVERRATED.

Disappointing. They only have gluten-​free cupcakes on special order– and pretty much promise that they’ll be contaminated. The website is lame (my 5 y.o. could design better) and the space is cramped.
If you’re a wanna-​be-​hipster and want to buy local but have no contact with anybody, here’s your space. Unfriendly and unhelpful staff, and not delish vegan food.
I get it — they’re having an identity crisis — but there would have to be a major personality change for us to go here again. I’d much rather spend my $$ at the Birchwood down the street.

Nice people with delicious new breakfast items. Quality coffee and a cute setting — not a ton of tables but it wouldn’t be as cozy and if it was bigger.
I will come here again to satisfy my satanic lust for both biscuits and graves.

Get ready for this Melanie, you will now have a choice of 2 cupcakes. Turns out co-​owner Shelia got an offer she couldn’t refuse at a bakery in Chicago, and took her recipes with her. As delicious as they were, 3 bucks for a cupcake of this size is nuts, especially when they would charge the same thing for it the day after. I got a salami sub with balsalmic, was average. Not sure if it’s worth the bother to try the new breakfast items. Getting a bad feeling about this place with Shelia’s departure.

Such a cute bakery with eclectic staffs :).
I really like their savory scone. However, I was not that impressed with their cupcakes. The cupcakes are a tad dry, and the frosting is a bit too thick.

I absolutely adore Cake Eaters and am really surprised by the negative reviews! I’ve never experienced rude workers — they are always pleasant when I am there, which is now three times and different employees each time, including the two owners.
I think the bakery itself is adorable — for those who like that hipster-​retroish look, this place will make you smile! It has a great ambiance and it’s not overdone.
The cupcakes are delicious! Their vegan cupcakes taste just like regular cupcakes — awesomely tasty. I’ve tried different ones each time I’ve gone in to the shop. I LOVE the fact that they are adventurous with their flavors! Last night I picked up a sweet potato bacon with buttercream — sounds weird, tastes wonderful! I am looking forward to future purchases!

I’m surprised to see so many negative reviews of this place. I’ve been crazy for these cupcakes since before they even had a bakery, when they were just sold on specific days in little shops around town. As a vegan, I know people usually assume that making a vegan baked good means compromising on taste. But when done correctly, like these cupcakes, they taste just as good as their omnivorous counterparts!
Cake Eater has a big selection of vegan and non-​vegan cupcakes, but they run out quickly. Call in the morning to ask what will be offered that day and what time it will be out. Or special order a dozen if you have your heart set on one! The bakery is adorable and has indoor and outdoor seating. There’s even enough room for kids to run around outside in the yard. I hope this bakery sticks around!

I found out that this new cute little coffeeshop in the Highland Park neighbourhood gets their cupcakes from Cake Eater Bakery, and though I haven’t actually been to Cake Eater Bakery — I love their stuff!
These cupcakes are worth throwing away your workout! They are worth… cellulite!
I still am dreaming about the dreamsicle, the s’mores and lemon lavender cupcakes. They are perfection in a tiny frosted cupcake holder. I haven’t bothered with the cookies. I make notable exceptions for the double chocolate.
I can’t even think about these distractions because of THE CUPCAKES, PEOPLE! THE CUPCAKES!
The lemon lavender, which I had NO desire to try, made me a believer. I suddenly acknowledged why small frosted cakes were a national phenomenon.
You gotta try their cupcakes!

I really like Cake Eater — as a contrast to other reviews, I like the «cake-​iness» of their cupcakes. I find stiffer cake and frosting easier to eat — and tasty.
Also, being a native Chicagoan, I LOVE the fact they carry Intelligentsia.
I’ve seen pretty good variety during the times I go, I think I’ve only seen a couple that I had seen previously. They are inventive and unique in flavors and I haven’t had one I didn’t like.

I had been wanting to visit Cake Eater ever since it opened. At least every few weeks or so, I’d read another glowing review in one of the local magazines that made me even more sure that it would be among the best cupcake-​eating experiences of my life thus far. I even made Cake Eater’s recipe for chai cupcakes with cardamom buttercream that was in Metro recently – their deliciousness just added to my anticipation.
At long last, today I made the trek. I’m sorry to report that I was completely underwhelmed. I began to get worried when I was told they had no chocolate varieties of cupcake available. «We’ve had a lot of special orders,» the guy behind the counter said apologetically. I feigned sympathy. But really? When an entire section of the menu is devoted to chocolate cupcakes, shouldn’t they at least have one variety on hand?
In fact, there were only 4 or so (non-​chocolate) varieties available – a little surprising, since it was only 1:30 and they were open until 7. I had strawberry vanilla; my husband had carrot cake. I will say that they were tasty. I will also say that they were nothing special. Mine was actually a little too dense, almost like pound cake, and a little dry. At $ 3 per (smallish) cupcake, I couldn’t help but feel ripped off.
Overall, I thought the building and décor were adorable, the staff friendly, and the chilled water in tin cups heavenly in the summer heat. I might give them another try – but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to visit again.

Their brownie was a pretty big disappointment. Dry and bland. As for the cupcakes, I’ve had some good, great, and bad. Their Surly Coffee Bender is quite possibly the best cupcake I’ve ever had. Ridiculously moist and delicious. Their gluten-​free chocolate was really good too. One thing that I like is when their cupcakes have a filling, especially because some tend to be a bit on the dry side.
I’ve been mildly disappointed with their lack of interesting flavors as of late. I’ve heard about some really interesting concepts, and some more sweet and savory options, which I haven’t actually gotten the opportunity to try. Raspberry and vanilla are both great flavors, but having 4 different cakes on the same day with those two flavors being the main taste gets a little boring.
Their «mystery white cupcake» that I tried yesterday ended up being a vanilla coffee bean, with bean shavings topping the frosting, and was pretty tasty. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I did have their mango lemonade, which was outstanding. Not too sweet, prefect amount of tartness, and a really nice compliment to most any baked good.
All consumables aside, the place itself is way too cute. I live a block and a half away and find myself planning my bike routes and walks so that I at least go by the exterior, because it makes me happy. If I were a maternal hippie/​criminal type I’d break in at 4am and give birth smack dab in the middle of this place so it could be my rug-​rats first sight.

Best cupcakes in town. Hands down. After being disappointed with Cupcake on University’s bland, dry, and overpriced goods — I needed a new go-​to for my sugar fix. Cake Eater Bakery has amazing cupcakes, and something for everyone. Every time I’ve been there, they have vegan and gluten free options.
They have original flavors and something new each day. I’ve had the Mojito, the Coffee Bender, Blueberry Almond, Lemoncello, Orange Cream, Shamrock Shake, Chocolate banana, Plain Chocolate, Vanilla Mint, Irish Carbomb, and various other flavors and none have disappointed. Yes — they have a lot of frosting — but that is where the flavor is at.
The reason I give them four instead of five stars is that the first time I went there, they had posted open hours until 5pm — but had decided to close early… which was a huge bummer since I was REALLY looking forward to cupcakes. And while I love almost everything I’ve tried there, the vanilla mint cupcake was a bit of a disappointment.
I suggest you go and try them — and let the cupcake sit at room temp for a little bit. It helps bring out the flavor.

Heres the deal – you have to get there early. Not much hangs around .
Just happen to stop in yesterday– had the most awesome cookie.
Pretzel M&M, in this perfectly buttery cookie base.
All their vegan stuff rocks my world, and when you can get a savory item in morning it’s item.
Keep up the good stuff Cake eater…
and I must do a plug for their cool T shirts.
But awesome baked goods.

Cupcakes at Lund’s taste better. Seriously, too. I like the idea of supporting a small, cute, local cupcake boutique HOWEVER… whatever they’re doing with the cake, flavors, and FROSTING is not working. It’s not as bad as the cupcakes at Cup Cake Inc Café on University. My hope: if your specialty is cupcakes, you should make damn good cupcakes.
So the verdict:
cake = dry, bland
frosting = hard, heavy, seems like it’s made of 95% sugar, 5% butter
Flavors = interesting in theory, but lacking in execution

I’ll be honest, I’m a cake eater, a connoisseur really. My motto is «Every Day I Need Attention», so when I heard about the Cake Eater Bakery opening I knew I had to try it. I purchased the Living Social deal earlier in the week, so my daughters and I headed over yonder to give it a try.
First of all, the building was cute. Nothing fancy, but pretty much what I expected. We walked in and there was a friendly gentleman behind the counter waiting to help us. I expected a much larger selection of goods. I’d say there were about a dozen varieties of cupcakes, two muffin flavors and one scone. My daughter and I spent a couple of minutes picking out a dozen cupcakes to take home. We got a little of this and a little of that. Once we were done there, I wanted to order a couple of other items, a muffin for my daughter, a scone for my husband, and a couple of beverages. It seemed to be a major bother.
A group of regulars had come in behind us and seemed to be much more important than helping a first timer, such as myself. The gentleman handed me over to one of the owners who again seemed to be bothered with my questions about their iced tea selection. I ordered my last few items and off we went.
My daughter said the muffin she had was OK. The chipotle cheddar scone was the best my husband had ever eaten. Kudos there.
As soon as we arrived home, we all wanted to dig in to the cupcakes. I am after all raising second generation cake eaters. The cupcakes left us terribly disappointed. By no means were they fresh. The frosting was stale and crunchy on all the varieties but the Elvis and a chocolate variety that I forget the name of. The frosting doesn’t cover the entire cake either, so the edges of the cake were very dry.
I can’t say we’ll be back, if the service had been top notch, I would have given them another try. Frankly there are just too many other bakeries out there to waste my time returning.
Hopefully they turn it around, because it seems like it could be something great.

I went here yesterday to use their recent $ 40 for $ 20 LivingSocial deal and bought a dozen cupcakes for my team. It was super out of the way (well, for me anyway :) so I figured it was just going to be one of those places I tried and never went to again. The reviews here were inconsistent so I didn’t have super high expectations. I mean, how good could it be?
Damn was I wrong! They must have smoothed out some of their kinks becase there was a great selection of cupcakes, even at 7:45 am. And seriously, their yellow cupcake with white frosting and a touch of fresh raspberry was the best cupcake I’ve ever had. No really, THE BEST! I’m talking better than NYC’s Magnolia Bakery good (which I incidentally just had last wk).
It’s pretty spendy ($ 35 for a dozen, ouch) but SO worth it. Get yourself there!

I’ve never seen a place peak, and begin to decay, so rapidly. I came to Cake Eater probably four days in a row right after they opened in April 2010. I was amazed by every single cupcake of theirs that I tried.
But after three visits in late April and early May, I noticed a sudden and dramatic decrease in quality. For one thing, the cupcakes became dry, the frosting was overly sweet, and the flavors didn’t stand out. This happened three times in a row. A few other vegans I know were also disappointed by the cupcakes here, and one of them said his faux hostess cupcake was «vile.»
The non-​cupcake baked goods are consistently mediocre, at best. Their gluten-​free vegan chocolate chip cookie is a crispy, unsatisfying piece of slate, with almost burnt edges. The muffins were also overly browned, dry and looked amateurish.
I came back again on May 8^th and the cupcakes this time around were decent, but still not as good as they used to be. The strawberry shortcake cupcake had great taste and interior texture, but was almost chewy on the top and outside. The chocolate cream cheese cupcake had good texture, but the cream cheese didn’t taste like anything other than a whipped topping.
What went wrong, Cake Eater? I suspect you’re making too many flavors for your own good and need to start focusing (offer only four or five flavors daily, not more than that). Also, figure out what you’re doing wrong with your muffins, which look nearly burnt and are mealy and dry. Better yet, drop the muffins, scones, cookies and bars. Concentrate your energies. You don’t do a good job with non-​cupcakes, anyway.
Also, speed up your service at the counter. Each transaction seems to take many minutes, especially if someone orders an espresso-​type drink. One person should be in charge of making drinks, while another should handle the money and take orders. Let the line move and, when a drink’s ready, the person who ordered it can pick it up at the counter.

1.) I really REALLY don’t like their coffee… it has a strange aftertaste. I had a chai there and it was pretty tasteless and watery too. It’s also a pinch expensive (which I wouldn’t mind if I liked the coffee). it would be nice if they’d support local companies, or a company like Zapitistas coffee like the Seward Café. To be fair, I have 10 years barista experience, so I’m a bit picky.
2.) I bought a muffin from them last week that was not cooked in the middle.
All that being said, it’s still a new place with kinks to work out. The staff is great and most of the baked goods are AMAZING. I mean, AMAZING! So I blame all of the problems on being brand new and have faith they will get settled soon.
I am so glad they are in the neighborhood and have ended up going there 2 – 3 times per week since they opened! But please… get new coffee!

I am sad to not get the «first to review» badge on this one, because I think I am going to become a regular there. It’s located directly between my house and school/​work, and the Mint Iced Tea I am still enjoying from there is quite amazing.
I had the Strawberry Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcake, and the only reason I am knocking a star off is because the frosting was just a touch too sweet, and there was too much of it for something that sweet to be super-​tasty. But the cake was exceptionally moist.
Plus, the place is effin’ cute. Can’t wait to bring friends to relish in the cuteness, and their bathroom, beautifully muralled by CakeSpy, my favorite baking blogger.

For the record, I am tired of cupcakes.
Having said that, it seems that nobody else is, and there was a line that wound through the seating area (where nobody was sitting due to the line) and to the door.
We waited patiently, and hoped they still had some baked goods by the time we got up there to order.
Even though the cupcakes looked good – everybody was buying the strawberry shortcake – we did not get any.
J got the ginger scone and I got the buzz bar – both were fantastic. The scone was more like a biscuit on the inside. Nice and soft.
The buzz bar had espresso and peanut butter and chocolate on a nice thick crust.
Some funny things we heard while in line include:
«We are waiting in line for a cupcake?» and from a woman holding her cupcake wrapper and a napkin «Do you compost?».
For the record, the answer to the latter was «Not yet.» and the answer to the former was, yes. You are waiting in line for a cupcake.
Judging by the looks on peoples faces, it was worth the wait.