Eli's Cheesecake

Share the Love

Jan 24

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February is coming up, and that means Valentine’s Day! There are plenty of ways Eli’s Cheesecake will help you share the love with your significant other! Here’s the scoop on what you can expect from The Eli’s Cheesecake Company:

SHOP Eli’s Valentine’s Day Catalog! Your perfect guide to giving the best and sweetest Valentine’s Day gift to your significant other. It’ll be love at first bite!

RESERVE your spot for a Valentine’s Day Luncheon at Eli’s Bakery Cafe! Make your Valentine’s Day celebration special by making reservations to a Valentine’s Day Luncheon on Saturday, February 11th from 10 am-2 pm and Tuesday, February 14th from 11 am-2 pm. Guests will have custom cheesecake Valentine’s kits available for purchase, a special sale on Valentine’s Day Cheesecakes, plus FREE samples, a coloring contest and a fun photo op frame! The $10 lunch special will include a heart-shaped grilled cheese, tomato soup, and a strawberry topped cheesecake. Guests are recommended to make reservations ahead of time by calling 773-308-7000.

JOIN Eli’s Cheesecake’s First ever Valentine’s Day Cake Decorating Class! This will be the first of many classes and events to come at Eli’s Bakery Cafe. Bring a loved one and decorate a cake that you can take home and eat! Say what?! Make your reservations for $20 a person, Monday, February 13th at 5:00 pm.

ENTER the Share the Love with Eli’s photo contest for a chance to win a Valentine’s Day gift pack! Contest runs from January 30th, 2017 at 8:00 am US Central Time and ends February 6th, 2016 at 11:59 pm US Central Time (CT).

January Events

Jan 13

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Here’s a look at what’s in store for this month:

FOUNDER’S MONTH

On January 22nd, Eli’s Cheesecake will celebrate Founder’s Day. Prior to the 22nd, Eli’s Cheesecake will celebrate founder’s week with an in-store sale on Eli’s signature desserts including Original Plain Cheesecake and Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. On Saturday, January 21st, Eli’s Bakery Cafe customers can expect fun activities such as Cheesecake BINGO at 11 am and 1 pm along with free samples throughout the day. On the 22nd, the celebration will include Bingo, games, face painting and customers can enjoy a FREE slice of cheesecake in honor of Eli Schulman’s 107th birthday!

Eli Schulman was a man with a dream–who started with a small business which eventually led to the creation of a Chicago legacy. Eli, a man with no prior culinary experience, created Chicago’s signature Cheesecake through long hours in the kitchen and testing his recipes with his guests at his restaurant, Eli’s The Place for Steak. Self taught, Eli Schulman is the example of a man who didn’t quit even when his chef at his first business, The Ogden Huddle, didn’t show up on his first day.

CHICAGO RESTAURANT WEEK

Eli’s Cheesecake is proud to participate once again in Choose Chicago’s annual Chicago Restaurant Week (CRW), which starts on January 27th and goes through February 9th. This year, over 350 restaurants will take part in the culinary fun. Eli’s Cheesecake Bakery Cafe guests can enjoy a special prix fixe lunch menu for $22 which features a 3-course meal, including Eli Schulman’s signature Matzo Ball Soup!

CRW kicks off with one of the biggest culinary events of the year, First Bites Bash, on January 26th, where guests can enjoy samples of some of the foods and treats participating restaurants offer.

ATTENTION:

During CRW, Eli’s Bakery Cafe guests are encouraged to upload a photo of their meal to either Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #CRWatElis for a chance to win a $50 Bakery Cafe gift card.

Eli’s Cheesecake on NPR’s Morning Edition

Jan 3

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Today,

Eli’s Cheesecake was featured on NPR‘s Morning Edition segment. For Eli’s Cheesecake President Marc Schulman, “people who come as refugees have great skills.” At Eli’s, there’ s a strong passion towards providing equal opportunity to all individuals including refugees. The refugee employees come from various countries such as Iraq, Bhutan, Kosovo, Congo, Myanmar. Featured on the segment was Elias Kasongo, who began working at the bakery in 1994 after fleeing unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His story reflects his perseverance and determination to succeed. He started with a job in the dish room at Eli’s and was eventually promoted to purchasing manager. He has been a part of Eli’s for 22 years and also serves on the board of RefugeeOne, a Chicago nonprofit that helps refugees start new lives.

Others highlighted are 46-year-old production leader, Zamira Bejrektarevic who started as an office cleaner who worked her way to become production leader, and Ray Hermez, who works on the production line boxing finished cakes.

Eli’s Cheesecake takes pride in helping to provide opportunities to individuals and discovering Refugee talent.

Holiday Traditions at Eli’s

Dec 22

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At Eli’s Cheesecake, creating lasting memories and continuing traditions matter.

On Wednesday, December 21st, 2016, Eli’s Cheesecake hosted its annual Third Shift Dinner–a holiday celebration dinner for employees who work the third shift at Eli’s Cheesecake. Eli’s President, Marc Schulman, believes it is important that all employees be recognized and thanked for their hard work. Dinner was provided by Eli’s in-house Chef, Antonio.

Today, December 22nd, 2016, Eli’s Cheesecake hosted its annual Hot Dog Party, an end-of-the year holiday celebration for Eli’s associates. Each year, Marc Schulman, gives his thanks and appreciation to the Eli’s associates. Lunch was provided by Poochies. There was a raffle and a fun photo booth where associates were able to use festive props and take fun photos.

In addition to the annual hot dog party, last year we started an Ugly Holiday Sweater Day and we are making it a tradition. This year, more associates participated.

Holidays at Eli’s

Dec 14

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The holidays are a busy time for Eli’s Cheesecake.

On December 6th, 2016 Eli’s Cheesecake hosted its annual Holiday Open House–a kickoff to the holiday season. At the holiday open house, customers were able to enjoy pre-dock sale prices in-store (at Eli’s Bakery Cafe) and a dessert buffet, plus a chance to win a prize when they played the spin-n-win wheel.

On December 10th, 2016 Eli’s Cheesecake held its annual Holiday Dock Sale–one of its biggest dessert sales of the year! Desserts were discounted up to 40%! Eli’s Cheesecake knows how important the holidays are, and each year the holiday dock sale is held in order to give community members the best deal in the city. The dock was open from 8am-1pm, but the dock sale prices continued at Eli’s Bakery Cafe.

What’s going on online?

#12DaysofElis Holiday Giveaway

From December 1st-December 12th, The Eli’s Cheesecake Company hosted a 12-day giveaway online in order to celebrate the holiday season. Each day a random entrant was selected as a winner of the day. All prizes and winners were announced via Eli’s Cheesecake’s Instagram and Twitter account with the hashtag #12DaysofElis.

Our Pinterest 2016 Holiday Gift Guide is also up to help you decide which Eli’s Cheesecake dessert will best fit your holiday needs:

Looking ahead…

On Saturday, December 17th, Eli’s Cheesecake will hold the last In-Store Dock Sale of the year! Customers can expect low prices on holiday desserts and treats, plus holiday fun including music and free coffee while they shop.

#GivingTuesday

Nov 29

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Eli M. Schulman’s, founder of Eli’s Cheesecake, motto, “charity will never bust you,” is something that characterizes The Eli’s Cheesecake Company. On #GivingTuesday we would like to take a moment to discuss some of the charitable acts The Eli’s Cheesecake Company does throughout the year:

Every month, the Eli’s Cheesecake Company donates approximately 2,000 units of product to Top Box foods.
Aside from working with Refugee One in employing refugees, The Eli’s Cheesecake Company delivered pumpkin cheesecakes to Refugee One office where Refugees were able to enjoy cheesecake for the first time while learning about the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday. Refugees were also able to take home cheesecakes to share with their families.
The Eli’s Cheesecake Company has a 16 year tradition serving dinner to the disadvantaged at the Chicago Help Initiative. This year, Eli’s Cheesecake associates had the opportunity to serve 250 people. Serving this dinner each year gives us an appreciation for the need in our community and the difference we make.

Cheesecakes for a cause:

A Sweet Partnership: Eli’s honey is harvested by student beekeepers from The Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. The students raise the bees, maintain the hives, and package and market the honey. A portion of the proceeds from honey and Honey Cheesecake sales go toward college scholarships for deserving high school seniors. Our Wildflower honey cheesecake, enhanced with the subtle addition of ricotta, is topped with a dreamy, crunchy layer of salted honey, toasted pistachios and almonds, a cloud of vanilla mousse and a mosaic of more toasted pistachios and almonds.
Eli’s presents a Limited Edition Chocolate Banana Cheesecake, a collaboration with Chicago based Wild Ophelia, the spirited younger sister of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. The sweet partnership supports the Wild Ophelia Accelerator Program, to provide high school and college girls with grants and the mentorship needed to start a food business. The banana cheesecake, with a thick swirl of peanut butter, is topped with chocolate ganache made from Wild Ophelia’s Caramelized Bananas and Roasted Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Bar, and baked on a chocolate crust. Each slice is topped with a Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas and Roasted Peanut Butter Cup. Available at shop.elicheesecake.com and WildOphelia.com.

Lights Festival and Dock Sale

Nov 22

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Last week was an eventful week for The Eli’s Cheesecake Company.

On Thursday, November 17th, Eli’s Cheesecake President, Marc Schulman along with his wife and Eli’s Publicist, Maureen Schulman, participated in the annual Tree Lighting at Seneca Park, which has been a 20+ yrs tradition. The ceremony included a buffet, which Eli’s Cheesecake provided mini desserts, at the fire house next to the park, live entertainment from by After School Matters, and a special celebrity guest appearance from actress Miranda Rae Mayo.

Eli’s Cheesecake would also like to wish Mickey Mouse a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We thank Mickey and Minnie Mouse for celebrating with us early Thursday morning as we presented our big celebration cake for the Lights Fest on ABC7 Chicago.

On Friday, November 18th, Eli’s Cheesecake participated in the 25th annual Lights Fest at Pioneer Court. This year, The Magnificent Mile Association decided to make Lights Fest a 2-day event, with Friday evening being the kick-off to the main event on Saturday. On Friday, Eli’s Cheesecake presented Lights Fest with a 300 pound big celebratory cake in honor of its 25th anniversary. President Marc Schulman spoke on stage about the long-standing tradition of Eli’s Cheesecake at Lights Fest and the importance it plays for the city of Chicago in uniting the community.

On Saturday, November 19th, Eli’s Cheesecake participated at Lights Fest from 8 am until 4 pm. Although Chicago’s winter weather finally came through, Eli’s Cheesecake associates, along with the help from the CHSAS students, were prepared and ready to help serve eager guests. The Lights Festival Parade featured Eli’s Cheesecake President, Marc Schulman, one of the founders of the Magnificent Mile Association. Eli’s Cheesecake also held its annual Thanksgiving Dock Sale at the factory location with hundreds of people anxious to score the best dessert deals of the year just in time for the holidays. Below are some highlights of the two events.

Eli’s Cheesecake Celebrates the Cubs World Series Win with FREE slices of cheesecake!

Nov 3

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On Friday, November 4th, and Saturday, November 5th, 2016,

The Eli’s Cheesecake Company will celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ World Series Victory by offering customers a slice of a commemorative Eli’s Cheesecake—Original Plain hand topped with Strawberry Topping and a W Flag.

The offer is available on Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4pm at the Eli’s Cheesecake Café, 6701 W. Forest Preserve Drive, Chicago (intersection of Montrose, Normandy and Forest Preserve Drive) and is limited to one slice per customer.

The Café will also have special offers on Eli’s Cheesecake’s and Desserts for purchase at $1.08 and $10.80.

Eli’s Cheesecake’s 2nd Cubs Pep Rally

Oct 27

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On Tuesday, October 25th, 2016

The Eli’s Cheesecake Company hosted its second Cubs Pep Rally at Eli’s Bakery Cafe. All of us here at Eli’s love our city and support the Chicago Cubs as they play in the MLB World Series. Eli’s Cheesecake President Marc Schulman gave a speech discussing his support and faith in the Chicago Cubs in front of Eli’s associates, WGN and NBC Chicago news. Joining the Pep Rally were the Ridgewood High School Cheer and Pom Squad as both Eli’s associates and the Ridgewood High teams rooted for the Cubs.

Below are some behind the scenes: