Corner Bakery Cafe

I never leave reviews, but I am very disappointed. The first time I came here, I waited forever for someone to take my order, and I was the only one in there. A lady working on the bread had her back to me, took a bite of the bread, turned around and stared at me, and then began working again. I was kind of disgusted, but I still waited for someone to take my order because I like giving the benefit of the doubt. I had a muffin and enjoyed it.
I came back a second time this morning and ordered the sausage flatbread. While I was waiting to pay for my order, a woman came in from the back carrying something. I did not see her, and she pushed me out of the way. Did not say excuse me or anything. Just pushed me out of her way and then hit my purse walking back into the back. I had already ordered my food, so I wanted to make sure that I paid, but I will never go back. The woman working the register is very sweet, and I feel bad that she has to work with rude people.

I come here once a week and really like this place. Food is good, service is excellent, staff are pleasant, and I am on my want in minutes. I get off a train at 8 and have a related breakfast of oatmeal with excellent hot tea, delivered to my table by a thoughtful and incredibly helpful server.
You can believe that in the midst of a commute it would be easy to start the day off quite differently, but this smiling team puts me on track every time.
Recently a new manager started his position here, and if anything, the place got even better. Yeah!

Super friendly and attentive staff — Margie went out of her way to be nice to us! Because hubby and I were sharing a soup and sandwich, she brought us doubles of everything without being asked and with a smile and a friendly comment. We had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup which had great flavor with a little kick and an Uptown Turkey sandwich. Both were fresh and worthy of ordering again! This definitely is a better choice than the food court inside Union Station if you’re looking for a meal on your way in or out of town.

Another rating based on my limited experience. It was a COLD, RAINY day in Chitown… Stopping in here was actually an escape from the elements. But alas, found an option and dug in. I should give an extra star for one reason, two words… HIBISCUS LEMONADE… maaaaaaaan, that stuff is made of angel tears and nectar from the gods. I can’t complain by my lack of experience here stops me from rating any higher… Maybe next time.

Stopped in this morning at the CB location inside Union Station (across from McDonald’s) to get a Ham & Spinach Power Flat breakfast sandwich. I don’t stop at this location often, especially if my train isn’t on time, but the visit this morning confirms why I prefer other CB locations. There is no organization to the food preparation/​ordering system. They have one employee that was taking orders and making food at the opposite end of the counter from the registers are located. I ordered my flat and then waited in line for several minutes to get to the register to pay. At the register, they asked if I had ordered already, which I said that I had. After paying and then waiting 10 more minutes and seeing people that were in line after me and some that ordered at the register after I had paid had received their food, I asked why the food wasn’t being made in the order that orders were taken. Clearly someone that ordered at the register after I had paid should not be receiving their bacon flat before me or the guy who was ahead of me (who happened to have ordered the same thing I did). The system of telling the cook what you want and/​or ordering food at the register and also having the cashier call out food orders to the cook is ridiculous. Why doesn’t this location have a computer system for the orders like basically all other modern restaurants? My flat was pretty tasty, but the excessive wait and chaos in the restaurant left a bad taste in my mouth.

I went inside the bakery just to look at the Menu options, and the French toast breakfast caught my appetite’s attention. The guy taking my order was very patient as I finally made up my mind.
The food came out pretty quick, and let me tell you, those French toast were probably one of the most amazing French toasts that my taste buds have ever tasted! The price for the breakfast platters and the baked goods were reasonable and came with a good serving size.
All the baked goods looked and smelled delicious. Everything there was homemade. I was satisfied with my experience there.
I would return again on my next visit to Chicago.

You probably know what you’re getting into when you go to Corner Bakery — decent soups, salads, and sandwiches. The selection is fine but I feel that for the price you can procure much better fare.
Service is typically great.

Do NOT go here unless you want your wallet stolen! I got mine snatched by a scam artist there today, and when I reported it to my Chase bank across the street they say 2 – 3 people come in to their branch a WEEK who’ve eaten at this Corner Bakery and gotten their wallets stolen and cards immediately charged… is that not enough of a red flag to take your business or lunch plans elsewhere? After getting $ 1600+ of fraud on my cards within 20 minutes of dining there, I went back into the café to discuss this horrifying issue with the manager. Guess what? The manager could’ve cared less that ONGOING crime was happening right in their establishment! She kept saying «we can’t prevent people from ‘losing’ their wallets» when CLEARLY that’s not the point… who knows, with that kind of dismissive attitude they’re probably in on it. So Unilocalers, tread cautiously here and anywhere downtown. This area is notorious for peddlers near the train station/​river, but just when you think you’re sitting down in this «nice» Corner Bakery Café AWAY from the scumbags stealers, they’re apparently crawling in there weekly.

Personally my go to when I am in and out of Union Station. I love the Caesar salad and pomadori panani combo. Yum! I also splurged since it was a holiday and bought the blueberry hand pie with lemon glaze. Holy Moly was it fruity and delicious. Yesterday, I had particularly awesome service from some lovely ladies as well.

Good food. Bad service. This review is for the Corner Bakery inside Union Station, which is located across the way from McDonalds. Every time i go to this location and order the guy in the front who takes orders always seems as if I am inconveniencing him. The ladies who work the cashiers and the pop machine have always been nice and ready to help me. The manager present always seems nonchalant when I comes to customers, and she looks as if she would rather be anywhere else. I will continue to go to Corner Bakery upstairs (Jackson) because they have better overall customer service.

The Corner Bakery on Jackson facing the river is my spot when traveling through Union Station. The wi-​fi is fast, coffee is good, and the food is very decent. Yeah, it’s a chain, but for some reason this has always been my favorite. There aren’t a lot of great places to sit and chill around Union Station, and the bathrooms are AWESOME compared to your other options in the area. Highly recommended if you’re passing through. I do wish they were open a little later, but otherwise, no complaints.

I ordered the Avocado & Spinach Power Thin Panini and paid more for egg whites. I hate when they do that… I think if your making a «healthy» or «light» option do it all the way and if someone wants regular eggs down charge them. The power thin was such a small sandwich no wonder they called it a «thin». The bread was laughably thin sliced. The bread was toasted to a severe crunchiness. It was cracking and crumbling under the weight of the egg whites when I tried to pick it up to eat. The spinach was fresh as was the avocado but the eggs weren’t seasoned, there wasn’t a stitch of salt, pepper or any other herb in there. The flavor was seriously lacking without adding the super spicy side of salsa that accompanied it, which had a seriously spicy kick. I found myself pouring salsa over every bite in order to make the simple sandwich a little more enticing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but hands down I like Panera better.

I was sitting outside in a public seating area when this cb employee started to set up stations around me, he did not say anything as got up to move he became very rude and tried to stare me down, I complained to the manager on duty but she said oh he doesn’t speak English I can’ t do anything.

Pro tip: Do not order anything that requires assembly at this location during the lunch hour, as you will apparently wait for at least 15 minutes or longer. Get a bowl of soup. That only took 5 minutes.
I get it, it’s lunch time. But so ridiculously inefficient. They take your order. They yell it out to each other and then begin working on the 12 other orders before yours. So you pay. And you wait. And you wait. and someone asks what you ordered (get an automated system, McDonalds has this down, why don’t you?). They yell it out again. Repeat waiting process.
Crazy. You’re located in Union Station and surely see a ton of foot traffic. You’d think you have a better system of how things work by now. Definitely avoiding this location for the future.

I personally like all Corner Bakeries but they are the same. Soup, salad, sandwiches and desserts. I think this is always a great stop in when taking a quick break or if you are a student or hard worker and need a quick lunch. Their soups are amazing!
However, if you are looking for traditional home cooking then you do not go to a chain but Corner Bakery is a nice place to eat and if you find a great location, sit outside and enjoy the amazing sites of Chicago. I prefer the one on Wacker near River North for outside sitting ;)

Today I went to CB to get one of those yummy muffins… as I got my muffin and paid. I noticed their «mini chocolate bundt cake», I was with a friend and I guess by the look on my face i was totally drooling over the bundt cake, and telling her we have to come back so I can try this. Thinking in my head, how i didnt want the muffin anymore since my eyes laid on the bundt cake. One of the workers must have overheard us and asked me if I would like to change my muffin for the bundt cake!!! (Obviously since I hadn’t left the store and the bag with my myffin was still sealed.) WHAT??! I get to have the chocolate bundt cake NOW… without a moments hesitation I accepted her offer, thanked her for the friendly service and was on my way to enjoy my morning dessert and have one of the best mornings ever!
5 starts for customer service! You dont see exceptional customer service everday, but CB proved they definietly know how to make their customers happy without even asking!

I was floored by what a good breakfast I had here today. The ham and cheese and egg paninni on sour dough toast was big, hot and delicious. The bowl of strawberries for an extra buck was fresh, too. Both for under $ 5.00 — combined.
I expected dreck and got quality. I’m glad I got here with time before the train. What a pleasure.

Generally, I like corner bakery for a quick, convenient lunch in the loop. Free Wi-​fi is a plus and they don’t kick you out. Decent soups, salads, and paninis and I do cave for their M&M cookies. This review pertains to THIS location.
First — bad attitude. Ironically, it seemed to be the manager/​superior employee. She seemed annoyed to take my order anc couldn’t even hand me change/​my number. Really?! My friend received two water glasses and tried to return one and she basically said «don’t bother.» Really?! As it turns out, she even got my order wrong. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that I or my friends have received rude service. This was just my breaking point to write a review.
Second — I need caffeine and several times, their machines do not work or are empty and take forever to get re-​loaded.
The only thing that saved it: the other employee who brought our meal was really friendly, fixed the wrong owner and was apologetic, and even came to see how everything was. Now THAT is what it should be and I hope he takes over.

This is a review for the very tiny branch of The Corner Bakery across from the McDonald’s in Union Station.
Sometimes, I will swing by here in the morning for a bagel, cream cheese, and a mocha. But there is only a small window of time in which I can do this, and have to time it perfectly between train arrivals. If not, this place becomes a total cluster-​phuck.
It’s just confusing. It’s like no-​holds barred; you don’t know if you should wait for your food, or go and pay and then wait for your food, or just stand there and hope no one tramples you. And if you order a coffee drink, you wait for and receive that at another location that juts out into Union Station. So if you order both food and drink, it can be a hassle trying to hunt down your purchases. There has been many times I’ve waited for my food, then gone to the counter to pick up my coffee, only to find that someone else has snagged my drink. (And on more than one occasion, have been sneered at by an employee when I complained.)
Besides that, the food is standard. I usually get an everything bagel (good, but I wish they would use more garlic) with plain cream cheese– I love the melty-​soft whipped cream cheese they have. And depending on who is working that day, my mocha may be good, or may be poor. But the cashiers are always really nice.

I just paid almost $ 5 for a «bowl» (more like a cup) of chicken noodle soup. That’s it. No side, no drink, no nothing.
I hate myself.