The Chef and the Baker

I really wanted to be hooked on this place but I couldn’t do it. The sandwich was good… fair portion but with a small side for the money. I had a cupcake-​not impressed with light whipped frosting and cake was a bit crumbly. Owners are very nice with a creative menu and as much as I appreciate a family business, their son was in the eating area during the daytime amusing himself at a table. Absolutely understand this except we were at a table for 2 and he brought over all of his toys to play on our table and drive the trucks around and over our food. Awkward lunch. Both agreed this wasn’t the best location to have a lunch date to catch up. Possibly an off day but if I’m spending 10 – 15 $ on lunch I would rather not eat in a day care setting.

Being at the University of Illinois (Champaign), you just assume that all the other cities and towns in the area are secondary… even though Peoria is ACTUALLY a city and Champaign-​Urbana, twin towns. Anyway, I have friends who have trekked out from Champaign to eat at the Chef and the Baker and I can now count myself among those ranks. The drive will take a couple hours but it is worth it. The food is seasonal and just really good — I went on a rainy day and the Pastrami sandwich just hit the spot. I took one of their salads home and it was super tasty. But the highlight of the meal was the cupcakes. Wow — the cupcakes. I will spare you the pain of reading someone waxing on about cupcakes but I will say, they are just really good — substantial, home made toppings, great flavors.
You can pre-​order cupcakes and other baked goods if you’re having events and I would definitely recommend that — especially given the quality and for the price.
The icing on the proverbial cake? The owners (Karen and Ian), include their son in the business and he hangs out high five-​ing people and welcoming them to the shop.
If you’re in Peoria (e.g., going to the Peoria Zoo) or in the neighborhood, you can both eat in and take away (although the inside space is a bit limited since it is geared toward take away). But if you’re transiting through Peoria or work in the area, definitely stop in and order some good eats.

Love this place! Been here twice so far, and everything I’ve had tastes amazing. The husband makes the sandwiches. My favorite is the Havana, but the Bird & Pig is also tremendous. The red potato salad and the homemade chips are also amazing. Everything is fresh and made when ordered. They had Chili the last time as well and that was great too (not a normal item so they might not have).
But it doesn’t stop there. The wife is a baker who makes amazingly moist cupcakes. My favorite is the Red Velvet, but my wife loved the carrot cake.
Great friendly people with a young son who is a joy to be greeted by. Not a large place, so you will likely have to take it to go, but well worth the 2 block walk from the Zoo or Children’s museum.
Only small detail to be aware that they don’t have a children’s menu, so it’s a little tough for the little guys unless they are big sandwich eaters. Absolutely recommend!

I’ve eaten here twice — both times took our food to go. It is a small restaurant just down McClure from the zoo. Keep in mind it is small — 4 or 5 two person tables. The owners are always behind the counter, and their little boy too.
They have various sandwiches and salads. And… can’t forget cupcakes. so many cupcake choices! I have gotten the box lunch both times, which comes with a sandwich, side, and a cupcake. I got the Bird and the Pig sandwich both times, and a side of roasted corn and spinach orzo salad. I got the same thing twice becaue it is SO GOOD. My bf got a diff sandwich each time, and liked them both. We’ve tried almost all of the cupcakes as well, and they are delicious! I would definitely recommend taking a chance on this place!

Wondering food and cupcakes. The Havanna Sammie was devine. The service is impeccable. The owners are very welcoming

If you haven’t checked out this little gem hidden away in Peoria, IL, then you have been missing out!
I have yet to try something I didn’t like. Everything, down to the bread, is handmade. No frozen or premade-​in-​factory junk.
The service is what you would expect in any establishment. They were on point with everything, even during busy rushes.
The place is clean and inviting.
Too many restaurants these days care more about profit and numbers than the actual food that they make. That is not the case with the Chef and the Baker. From the very second the food is served to the very last bite, everything about it screams tender loving care. Their passion is great food, and it shows.

Very nice lunch option! I had the beef and cheddar with a side of potato salad. Both were delicious! My mocha espresso cupcake was dry and didn’t taste like mocha at all but I had a bite of my friends strawberry cupcake and it was amazing. Will definitely be going back. Very friendly staff that seemed to know most of the customers who came in.

Cupcakes. Need I say more? Ok. I will. Sandwiches. The sandwiches are the best I’ve ever had. The care that goes into each dish comes across in quality and taste. Don’t be afraid of seemingly strange flavor combination, such as apples and sharp cheddar. Every thing tastes amazing

Great food, great place, great service! My husband & I had two sandwiches: the bird and the pig & Bloody Mary marinated chicken wrap, both were delicious! We also ordered a peach marscapone cupcake which was AMAZING (in fact my husband says it’s the best cupcake he’s ever had!)! If you want to help make the East Bluff a better place, then support this restaraunt, because they are definitely bringing the neighborhood up by their presence!

We are fans of the cupcakes but finally returned for sandwiches. So far we have tried the Divine Swine, Havana, and Joe Friday. The box lunch comes with homemade potato chips and a cupcake. The sandwiches are uniformly terrific. Each one has something distinctive that makes it special. For example, the apricot caper compote on the Divine Swine makes it have the perfect combination of sweet and salty. Yum! The potato chips are the best in town (Sorry Cyd’s), and again the cupcakes are splendid. These are the only cupcakes I have ever had where the cake is as good as the frosting. For example, the peach cupcake has large pieces of peach in the cake. This place is a gem. Go now!

This is a great family establishment. I didn’t get to try a lot of things on the menu but they certainly do make everything with care.
My first try was the Pastrami, which is a rye bread sandwich with beef brisket pastrami. There’s a hint of slaw and and stone ground mustard that gives it a bit of a spicy kick. It was pretty good!
The Havana was what really kicked my butt. This thing is amazing. Pulled pork combined with ham. Now the kicker is the pickles. I ordinarily dislike pickles but you don’t get the sourness that pickles usually come with. This sandwich is AMAZING. It comes on a hoagie with swiss. Definitely try this one!
The peach cobbler cupcake was my fav. The marscapone topping (no idea what it is but it tastes awesome) is light and sweet and complements the peach cobbler base really well.
The final part is they have an adorable doorman who greets you at the door and fist pumps you when you leave. They do a great job of trying to get to know you, but temper your expectations for time because sometimes things get busy! Order ahead and it’ll help!

My wife and I had two fantastic sandwiches, sides, cupcakes and homemade lemonades on Saturday and you can’t beat that. The reviews were right, it’s really nice to find a place like this in Peoria. And there was a dude in there waiting on pastrami and the conversation around that with the owners convinced me I need some of that pastrami next time.
We will be back for sure!

This place is fantastic, small little place, but the food makes up for it. Everything on the menu is great. You will also need to try a cupcake, you won’t be disappointed. I suggest the Mocha w/​espresso buttercream.

Wow. Everything here taste AWESOME. The cupcakes are really fluffy and have smooth tasty frosting. I recommend getting a small batch of a variety of min cupakes. That way you can taste all the flavors. The cappuccino and peanut butter jelly were my two favorites. Strawberry one was also good.
The sandwiches are also amazing. I had the apple jack. It’s a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with sauté apples, thin sliced red onions, tomatoe, and lettuce. Ingredients taste very fresh.
They offer box lunches and large order of sweets, would be a great idea for a work lunch or party.
Have nothing negative to say. Will definitely be back

Had a great lunch here with my spouse. The dining room is tight so come early to get a seat. Hey, if there is no room and it’s warm enough you can get it to go and head over to the Peoria Zoo or the park just one block away. I had the Apple Jack sandwich and the wife had a Beef and Cheese. Both were excellent. The owners are both working behind the counter so be sure to introduce yourself to these folks.

Amazing sandwiches, chips and cupcakes! My husband and I were visiting from Houston, a foodie mecca, and found this quaint little place in a very unassuming neighborhood via Unilocal. We could taste the fresh bright ingredients in every bite. I am very particular about my cupcake frostings but this baker has found the perfect balance in flavor and texture and offers plenty of classics as well as experimental genius. The owners were very kind and wanted to make sure everything was yummy and it was! I will definitely have to find out if I can get some of their crazy good cupcakes overnighted to Htown.

Stopped in and picked up two cupcakes — mandarin with marscapone & mocha with espresso buttercream. Both fantastic — the mocha/​espresso was the BEST cupcake I have ever had. Light, fluffy, delicate Mocha flavor. Perfect buttercream. I have had/​made many a cupcake but this one was tops.
Looking forward to trying their lunch offerings (salads, soup, sandwiches).

I have two gym memberships I use regularly and a sweet-​tooth, but if you took one look at me, you’d think I just had a sweet-​tooth. I really know my sweets and I’ll bet my shortened life expectancy on it!
Most cupcake places (like the now defunct Crumbs) make the mistake of putting a super-​sugary frosting on top of a sickly sweet cake and then step back thinking they’ve made something awesome instead of a surefire way to get type II diabetes.
Not this place.
I had the chance to try a variety of their cupcakes over the holidays and holy wow does this place know how to make a balanced cupcake. In every one I tried, there’s a good balance between the taste of the cake and the sweetness of the frosting and every one tastes exactly as advertised, instead of some places where everything tastes like artificial flavoring.
Some random notes:
— Vanilla bean frosting tastes like real vanilla beans… go figure because they use the actual vanilla bean pods to make the frosting.
— Pumpkin with cream cheese frosting (might be a seasonal thing) I love pumpkin and cream cheese frosting is my favorite. So naturally, I loved these.
— Espresso frosting has a really good coffee flavor.
— Dark chocolate cupcake is perfect with a good cup of black coffee.
— Strawberry frosting tastes like strawberries.
— Snozzberries taste like snozzberries. Just kidding, no snozzberries here. But if they did… they’d taste like snozzberries.
It’s so cool to see restaurants that have people serving food that they care about and it shows in their food and the way that they’ve been embraced by their community. Plus their kid is really cute and is usually running around, helping as best he can!
I’ll have to come back and try the sandwiches cuz they look legit!

Small cozy restaurant/​bakery place. Menu is equally small, but the flavor was explosively good. A neat upscale place where $ 10 – 12 will get you a meal, chips and a giant cupcake that will leave your stomach full and smile on your face.

Small, hole-​in-​the-​wall bakery/​deli, friendly, family owned business. Excellent baked goods, excellent food.
Atmosphere (³⁄₅): The place isn’t small. It’s tiny. With only three tables, sitting down to eat probably isn’t your best option, but don’t let that stop you, because The Chef and the Baker also deliver and take orders togo.
Service (⁵⁄₅): The business is family owned and the whole family participates. Ian is the Chef and Karen is the Baker. Both know their stuff and both are super personable and super friendly. You can often find them interacting with their regulars on a first name basis. (And they’ve only been open three weeks!) Even little two year old Gabe helps out serving customers, and also is the most adorable friendly little guy.
Food (⁵⁄₅): I had an epic Cuban sandwich which they call the Havana on the menu. It featured home made pulled pork and black Forrest ham with with mustard, pickles and Swiss, all on a freshly made hoagie roll. There is really no way to describe it other than amazing. The meat was juicy and tender, and all the ingredients are incredibly fresh, especially the bread which was baked in house by Karen. My girlfriend had the Tahitian salad which featured fresh greens topped with oranges, pineapples, peppers, almonds, and an in house thai dressing which perfectly blended sweet and tart. Also ended up getting a red velvet cupcake and a chocolate cupcake for desert. Both were delicious, perfectly balanced between rich, moist, and sweet.
Value (⁵⁄₅): For the two of us, I paid $ 20 for lunch. Doesn’t get better than high quality food at very affordable prices. Each cupcake only ran $ 2 which is completely ludicrous. These things could easily sell for twice as much anywhere else.
Overall (¹⁸⁄₂₀): Unless you’re super picky about sitting down where you eat, this could easily be one of the best lunch places in town. Call in and order a sandwich to pick up on your lunch break, or even call in and delivery!