The Bakery Box

This place has a very cool concept for getting a dessert: a 24-hour vending machine offering many options for cakes. It's pretty easy to use. Basically, you pick a flavor of cake you want on a screen. Each slot inside the machine with a specific cake flavor has its own number. If I remember correctly, all the cakes have the same price - $8. I believe it is a little overpriced because the cakes are not that big. However, I must say that all the cakes I tried were very delicious and seemed fresh. My favorite flavor so far is the Almond Cake, which gives a mix of sweet vanilla and almond flavors. The chocolate cakes from the machine were very tasty too. A big plus is that each cute pink box a cake comes in also has a little plastic spoon inside if you want to eat it right away outdoors. The location of this cake machine is good, only a couple of blocks away from Michigan Avenue, in the heart of Chicago where a lot of hotels and other businesses are. The little problem is that the machine is kind of hidden on the corner of a wall. Search for the green signboard "The Grand Ohio Condominium" to find The Bakery Box.I also have to mention a big issue with the machine - not all the cakes are actually available to get. Some slots with cakes were not available even though the cakes were there. The machine gave an error for these slots, and there was nothing I could do about it. This happened to me a couple of times when I went to get the cakes, and I believe the same slots did not work for a few days. They definitely need to fix this issue. Otherwise, there's nothing negative to mention about this Bakery Box. Very smart concept! I absolutely recommend trying a dessert from this machine.

This is such a serendipity finding-I was walking on Ohio Street and saw The Bakery Box 24 hour ATM! It seems like it is pretty popular because it appeared that the availability of items was limited to a few items at the time of my purchase.I ordered The Black Forest Mini Cake. It came perfectly in a secure box with handles and the cake included a spoon attached to the base of the cake! It was a unique size (individual) and under $10.00. However, in my opinion I would not say that it was representative of a traditional "Black Forest Cake" as it did not appear to have a Cherry compote filling-more a Chocolate Mousse Cake. Overall, the concept is fun; however, the cake was mediocre.The Bakery Box only accepts credit cards as a form of payment.Once your card is approved, you make your selection and the machine carefully selects your cake or pastry and gently delivers it to the box where the customer can pull open the door and receive the cake or pasty by the handles.No outdoor seating like in some of the pictures. Just a grab and go spot.

I've visited the Sprinkles cupcake atm before, but this bakery box still intrigued me. The little pastry cakes come in an array of flavors and are very aesthetically pleasing, down to the cute packaging. The vending machine is located right next to Eataly and is open 24 hours. Unfortunately, when I walked up, the directions on the screen instructed me to pay by card - not having visited before, I thought maybe you pay first and then select........ nope! Apparently someone had selected something and walked away without paying so I then got their order by accident. Oh well - at least they had only selected one cake! But it was the caramel mini so not what I would've chosen. As far as taste: eaten all together, it wasn't bad for a vending machine cake but each of the components couldn't stand on their own - specifically, the bottom chocolate cake layer was very dry and the ganache(?) topping was super sugary. Fun as a novelty, but not something I'd go back for.

This is such a genius and convenient concept!Literally a mini/individual cake vending machine that has plenty of options. Chocolate, 282828 variations of chocolate lol, vanilla, strawberry, etc. I tried the milk chocolate cake and it was great - after walking all day this was the perfect treat to end the night. My future hubs and I shared this however if you don't want to share..lol.. there is plenty and it will leave your tummy full. I was actually pretty satisfied with eating half of it. I mean the service is basically AI.. sooo you have to read and follow the directions. Payment was easy for the most part, it got confusing and I felt like I kept scanning my card at the wrong time but eventually it worked.This is cake vending machine on Ohio street. This is not a place where you can go inside and order with anyone. There is no seating. This is a grab and go spot. Oh! It comes with a spoon! I was trying to find a spoon in the hotel room I was staying at and thankfully there is a clear plastic spoon that comes with the cake.

An ATM that dispenses tasty desserts 24/7? Uhm, don't mind if I do! What a unique, creative idea. While it seems a little gimmicky, I was in the mood for some dessert after a big team dinner. It was quite late and this was one of the few options open along the way back to my hotel.They had a variety of different options available from mini cakes to macarons. After inputting my choice, the machine rejected it a few times and made me go through the motions all over again. After a handful of tries, I was able to get my two desserts of choice - a mini chocolate cake and a box of macarons. Unfortunately for my coworker, the atm charged her card, but did not dispense her order. We were holding up the line and at this point the guy behind us thought we didn't know what we were doing up until the machine ate his cash too, lol. I shared my treats with my coworker and we enjoyed the cake together. It was surprisingly still moist and tasty considering it had been in the "Bakery Box" from at least that morning (it would be nice to know when the item was packed). I found it a little sweet though. I also got a box of macarons that had three different flavors and was pleasantly surprised that the texture was still spot on. It was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I enjoyed this more than the cake.While I liked my treats and like the novelty of an ATM bakery machine, our whole experience was not the best when trying to operate the machine. Hence the three stars.

It's a twenty-four hour ATM with a selection of cakes that you can pay for with a credit card. I ended up grabbing one early morning because I had just gotten off a flight and was starving while I waited for other places to open. Unfortunately, the cakes are pretty expensive and kinda bad. Whatever ganache they are using is super thick and much too sweet. The actual chocolate cake itself was pretty moist, but the mousse within the cakes is closer to a thick paste than being light and fluffy. Additionally, you have no idea how long the cakes have been in the vending machine and at least for me, you could really tell that it wasn't fresh as the cake had started sagging to one side.Maybe if you're desperate you can grab something here, but I won't be their customer again...

Honestly, for a cake out a vending machine, it was surprisingly tasty. We tried the Strawberry Milkshake Mini, which is layers of vanilla and chocolate cake, strawberry mousse, strawberry compote, silky ganache, and tempered chocolate pieces. It's novel and delicious - and it does include a utensil!

food - I forgot exactly which flavors I got, but I had the pink one so far and it was kinda stale, didn't really taste fresh. the flavor was there (kinda?) the filling wasn't too sweet, but the whole thing didn't really have much flavor and pretty much tasted like sugar. which is good if that's what u like, but don't expect the flavors to be very distinctive. maybe it didn't taste fresh because I bought it later in the day, or because it was very cold??? but usually macarons should be refrigerated anyways, but I haven't refrigerated these and they haven't melted so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯. honestly the pink one was so mid that I haven't been able to bring myself to eat the other twoprice - ~$7 for 3 macarons, not bad for macarons but for the quality I would rather pay more somewhere else service - vending machine UI was a bit buggy. also there was a group of people in front of me and one of them didn't get their order even tho the machine said they did, and they had to call customer service about it. but they picked up pretty fast so I guess their customer service is not bad

I just had to avail myself while walking down the street in Chicago. Thought it was really cool. I had a macaron, not bad. I'd walk there for something else someday. :)

A straight up vending machine, simple to use and a complete eye candy. The atm machine services as usual, select, pay, dispense. Not much of an ambience unless if it's busy and a line forms behind you and then you're pressured to speed up your decision. You might think for something that looks so good it might be expensive, but no! A mini cake the size of a big cupcake only ran for $8. Very inexpensive but at what cost? Unfortunately the flavor is where the cost cutting hit, it did not had much flavor except... Sugar. Not too far off from the sugary cakes at Jewels in my opinion. I'd give it a solid 3.5 outta 4 for the beautiful presentation and purchase convince. Good once in a life time experience for sure.