Crave Cookies had their grand opening in Mount Prospect on Oct. 4. According to the Village of Mount Prospect, the day featured a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Paul Hoefert and their first 1,000 guests received a free warm chocolate chip cookie. They are located on Elmhurst Rd, which is around a five minute drive from Prospect.
Crave has more than 50 locations across the country and each location is locally owned. Every two weeks, five different flavors rotate at a store. Every two months, each city votes to bring back a sixth cookie flavor, called the “Local Legend”. They also sell loaded sodas where customers can select creams, purees and even boba pearls to add to their soda.
Crave drops cookies every Friday, with a basic cookie priced at $4.99. The store also offers “Cookie Combos,” where four, six, and dozen bundles are available.
Being similar to Crumbl Cookies in many ways, we were eager to decide which cookie shop would reign superior.
Some aspects of the shops are identical, like price per cookie and the cookie shape/size. However, the moment we entered Crave the environment was starkly different from Crumbl’s. Compared to Crumbl’s uncomfortably, unfriendly feel, where workers barely interact with customers, we were immediately greeted with smiles when we walked into Crave.
Crave being a family-owned business creates a more authentic, welcoming feel, something Crumbl lacks. But let’s be real, we didn’t come to this store for the customer service, we came for the cookies.
We decided to try two different cookies: the “Brookie Way” and “Stuffed Cookies ‘N Cream.”
Both cookies were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, filling our mouths with warm, gooey bites. With cookies named things like “Stuffed Cookies ‘N Cream,” we expected to be overwhelmed and grossed out by sugar overload, but this was unsurprisingly not the case.
Each cookie was sweet, but not to the point where we were feeling sick after a couple bites, something we feel steers us away from Crumbl.
For the Brookie Way, we loved the rich, but not overpowering flavor the cookie provided. We agreed that it wasn’t too sweet to where we couldn’t finish it, but that it was too much to eat another cookie.
Stella’s ranking: 4/5 cookies
Meg’s ranking: 4.8/5 cookies
Similarly to the Brookie Way, the Stuffed Cookies ‘N Cream did not disappoint. While it was not as rich or gooey, the cookie still satisfied our cravings, creating a nice flavor balance between the oreo and vanilla cookie base.
Stella’s ranking: 5/5 cookies
Meg’s ranking: 4/5 cookies
After tasting cookies like this, we can confidently say Crave is giving Crumbl a run for its money. So next time you’re tempted to head down Arlington Heights Road to satisfy your cookie craving at Crumbl, consider stopping by the friendlier and more flavorful alternative, Crave Cookies on Elmhurst Road.
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