

Corner Bakery Cafe began in 1991 as a small neighborhood bakery on a corner in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, it quickly gained popularity for its artisan breads and freshly baked sweets.
Responding to customer demand, the menu expanded to include sandwiches, soups, salads, and made-to-order scramblers. Today, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and operates around 100 locations across various states, including California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
In 2006, Corner Bakery Cafe began franchising, offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to bring its fast-casual concept to new markets. The franchise model emphasizes a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere, a diverse menu, and strong corporate support.
Corner Bakery Cafe differentiates itself through its commitment to quality and innovation. The menu features kitchen-crafted, artisan-inspired food made by real cooks, catering to breakfast, lunch, and dinner crowds.
Here's what you would need to invest if you were to start this franchise. These costs are provided by the franchisor in the Franchise Disclosure Document.
Corner Bakery Café offers a structured and multifaceted training system to prepare franchisees and their teams for successful operations:
Corner Bakery Café provides its franchisees with a defined "Protected Area" surrounding their Franchised Location. This area, typically ranging from a quarter mile to three miles based on local demographics and density, is detailed in Appendix A of the Franchise Agreement.
As long as the franchisee remains in good standing, neither the franchisor nor its affiliates will open another Café using the Corner Bakery brand within this area.
However, this territorial protection is limited. Corner Bakery Café retains broad rights to operate or license other outlets in various non-traditional or captive venues, such as airports, stadiums, hospitals, and educational institutions, even within a Protected Area.
Below are some of
Corner Bakery Cafe
key competitors in the
Baked Goods
sector.

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Al Manakeesh is a Middle Eastern bakery-restaurant brand offering manakeesh flatbreads, shawarma, and Lebanese specialties, serving neighborhood diners and families, and known for freshly baked dough, traditional flavors, and casual, counter-service settings that highlight Levantine comfort food.
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Golden Krust Caribbean Restaurant is a quick‐service franchise offering Caribbean-style patties, rotis, rice dishes and meals, serving diaspora communities and casual diners, and known for signature flavors, cultural brand heritage and growing franchise network.
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MidnighTreats is a late-night food-truck or small-format franchise offering waffles, desserts and sweet-snacks on-demand, serving late-night crowds, event patrons, and dessert lovers, and known for mobile flexibility, viral menu appeal and lean startup model.
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Schmackary’s is a gourmet cookie-and‐dessert franchise offering handmade cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and specialty treats, serving dessert lovers and gift buyers, and known for bold flavors, urban brand presence and experiential retail-tainment.
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BAGEL BOSS is a bagel-and-deli franchise offering New York–style bagels, breakfast sandwiches, deli items and coffee, serving morning commuters and families, and known for authentic bagel craft, strong local presence and franchise scalability.
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House of Bread is a bakery-café franchise offering freshly baked artisan breads, pastries, sandwiches and café meals, serving families and casual diners, and known for hand-crafted baking, community-driven brand and multi-stream revenue.
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