Evol Cakes Bakery

My 3-​yr. old daughter wanted a Cinderella theme for her 3^rd birthday. I looked at the websites of many bakeries in the Chicagoland area that are known for doing children’s birthday cakes to see if I could find a Cinderella cake I wanted. However, I couldn’t find any of these — plenty of the other Disney princesses and generic princesses, but not a Cinderella cake. So, I searched images on Google and found hundreds of photos. I took these photos to Matina and she helped me figure out what to do for my daughter’s cake. The cake turned out so BEAUTIFUL and my daughter absolutely loved it, and our guests were blown away at the cake. It was chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream in between the layers, and a layer of chocolate ganache under the fondant… very moist and heavenly!

Happy pink décor totally at odds with the lackluster service. The coconut cakepop was quite tasty but pistachio cupcake was just Ok. The staff seems to be too busy having a grand old time in the back to bother with customers. Prices are cheap but the atmosphere just isn’t worth a return trip.

I’ll admit I have high standards for cupcakes. I don’t consider myself an expert by any means, but I have been known to smash a cupcake down my throat in an absurdly quick duration. Thus, after sampling two cupcakes from Evol I’m going with 3 stars for now, with room for improvement.
Todd W & I rolled in here (literally with a stroller) Saturday morning to nab a few cupcakes to bring home. Yes, we actually waited until we got home to eat them. We went with the Reeses PB & the red velvet. Of the two I actually preferred the Reeses — the cake was chocolately, the frosting a nice consistency with a tasty amount of peanut butter. As for the red velvet, I was a tad disappointed. The cake was fairly dry and the frosting was pretty light on the cream cheese. Just ask anyone who has seen me murder a cupcake — I believe in cream cheesiness when it comes to a red velvet topper.
Will I try Evol again? Sure. It’s a local cupcake shop that’s super easy to access. And I don’t mind making my way through a handful of cupcakes to find the *right* one for me.

I ordered a cake for my sons 1^st birthday with a Mickey Mouse theme. It turned out better than I could of even imagined. The chocolate cake was so moist and delicious. I had high hopes for this cake and I was blown away with the result. I will be coming back here for many years to come for all my future cakes.

Super impressed with the customer service when I recently ordered cupcakes for a birthday party. I had called several other area bakeries, and was having a lot of trouble getting what I wanted… which for the record was nothing crazy, pink frosting with gold glitter. Evol was able to meet all my OUTLANDISH requests, and as it turned out, the cupcakes were really tasty, which is important! And even better, my total cost was about $ 20 cheaper than what another area bakery priced me at! I got chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, vanilla with vanilla butter cream, and strawberry cupcakes with vanilla butter cream. They were all varying shades of pink, and delicious! I would recommend them over any other area bakery for large party orders.

When you’re a twentysomething woman out doing errands and you’ve had a minor emotional breakdown that involved some tears, the best thing you can do is treat yourself to something. I wanted a cupcake. And damn it, I got a cupcake.
Since I was in the area, I decided to check this place out. Admittedly, I had expected to see more than a bare store with a few treats in the display windows. While the colors were fun and girly, it didn’t feel very welcoming. I like walking into a treat shop and feeling overwhelmed by all the love and warmth. That didn’t happen here. OK, so there was a huge display of cake pops that was kind of awesome, but I was sad to see a few lonely cupcakes in the other case and no décor on the walls. There wasn’t even a menu/​pricing guide so I had to ask the woman at the counter a dozen questions. Fortunately, she was nice (and assured me they were working on putting up a visible menu).
I actually got a cake pop AND a cupcake. Cake pops were priced at slightly over $ 1, and cupcakes were between $ 2 – 3. The price seems kind of steep, but compared to other specialty shops, it was a pretty good deal. The lemon cake pop I got was pretty good, but it wasn’t amazing. The strawberry vanilla cupcake was an orgasm in my mouth. It was topped with a very sweet, creamy frosting (not too hard, not too soft) and coated with a sticky strawberry sauce. My only complaint was that it wasn’t big enough.
I know this place is relatively new and the owner is probably working her butt off to make this dream a reality — so I’m going to give her some more time to improve.
PROS: Awesome prices. Decent selection. Ideal location.
CONS: Kind of empty. Didn’t have that warm, happy feel.
I’d probably stop by again if I’m in the area, but I’m not going out of my way to visit. I wish I could give this place 3.5 stars, but since I can’t, I’ll bump it up to 4. After all, this was the cure to my tears on that sad afternoon.
Side story: Another customer buying a cake for his [older] daughter chatted with me for a little bit about how this place reminded him of Chocolat. We proceeded into a three-​minute chat about little shops and Johnny Depp (oh, how my heart beats for thee). I thought it was cool that he mentioned the film because the book I was reading that day had mentioned the film, too! It’s a sign that I was supposed to be there in that moment.

Very tasty cupcakes. Limited selection, but everything was tasty and fresh. Their location’s good, their book looks great.

My new fav cupcake joint! Let’s just say I’ve been around the cupcake block enough times to know if I’m really gettin’ a true, quality treat. Here at Evol you definitely are in for a stellar cupcake! I’m so happy there finally is a SUPER tasty cupcake shop in the nw burbs! The location is right by the Arlington Heights metra stop. It’s a cute little corner spot you can’t really miss. I’ve only tried three flavors and I love them all (they definitely nail the Red Velvet). I also noticed that I really like the size of the cupcake. There are a bunch of other joints who really just pack on the frosting and make it just FEEL super huge. here, you don’t get that vibe per say. The taste is a nice compliment of MOIST cake and soft, light frosting! I love the frosting because it’s more whippy and not so sugary! The only thing I’d suggest is just adding more table and chairs in the store to make it feel a bit more cozy, but awesome job Evol! :)

So I’m not the biggest cupcake fan, but last summer my friend dragged me around to so many freakin cupcake joints (and trucks) that I now know my cupcakes. Evol ain’t my favorite cupcake maker, but they bake up some tasty flavors.
I’ve been there twice now and each time there’s something new to try. If you like caramel apples, then it’s a no-​brainer to get the Caramel Apple Cupcake. It’s filled with gooey baked apples, with a caramel frosting. Plus the cake is super moist. I loathe dry cupcakes, just a waste of space in your belly. I had a Banana Split Cupcake sitting in the box for 3 days and that sucker was still moist. It made for an awesome sugar-​filled breakfast at work and it tasted just like a banana split. I enjoy the frosting too — not too sugary with rich flavor. They also have some other treats, like Cakeballs, chocolate-​dipped S’mores, Cookies, and Brownies. I’m now regretting not getting the S’mores… they looked so ooey gooey good.
They have some nice decorations, but the store feels a bit awkward since there’s so much empty space. Maybe some music would help? Anyways, not a big deal and you can’t beat the prices! Cupcakes are about $ 2, Brownies about $ 1, plus they even do Custom Cakes for about $ 8-​$ 12.
I’m a fan of Evol and glad to see a cupcake joint in the ‘burbs.

I’ve given this place waaayyyy too many tries because they are local and I’d love to see them succeed. I mean come on, I love cupcakes, the world needs more cupcakes. I just can’t do it again though, they haven’t improved after numerous months in business now. Cupcakes are dry, not moist at all. Frosting is overly sweet. The basic frostings, like chocolate and vanilla, are too greasy and grainy at the same time. The rest are just too sweet with little flavor. Also the hours, I mean COME ON. You say you are open until 7, so be open until 7. Especially when I see a full base of cupcakes in your window. Don’t close at 5:45 because you decided it was a slow day. A real business owner uses this time to perfect recipes, make product better. Hoping this place stays in business but I just don’t see it happening.

LOVE EVOL! Seriously, this is my new favorite cupcake shop and it’s in the ‘burbs! This makes me ever so happy as it’s beyond difficult finding a sweet shop outside of the city. A huge added bonus is the price is right! $ 2.35 a cupcake is a great deal!
I would venture to say the cake in their cupcakes was the best I’ve ever had. It was so soft, moist and tasted very good. Evol’s frosting was sugary, a happy medium in density between the super thick caked on frosting and the too light airy frosting. Seriously the cupcakes I tried were perfection and I consider myself a cupcake connoisseur.
Both the chocolate with chocolate frosting and vanilla with chocolate frosting were delicious. The star for me was the Cookies and Cream cupcake. The cake itself has oreos sprinkled into the batter so it looked just as fantastic as it tasted. The frosting in this cupcake had a milky kind of feel to it which made for a perfect pairing to the cupcake. The surprise came when there was an oreo at the bottom of the cupcake! So simple yet so genius!
Evol has amazing prices, amazing cupcakes and a very cute store with a couple of tables inside to sit at or a bench outside. I love Evol and it’s a great addition to downtown Arlington Heights!

Admittedly, Evol Cakes Bakery and I didn’t get off to a great start, but I was willing to forgive and forget the one-​time (very minor and almost non) issue, and come back with a sweet-​tooth fueled vengeance… unfortunately, the results were the same.
On my first attempted visit to Evol I passed by intending to hit up the coffee shop down the street, and got sidetracked when I saw the opportunity to eat a cupcake. I immediately looked Evol up on Unilocal,saw that my girl Jeka loved it and dialed ‘em up to get the deets on business hours since I wanted to pick up some cuppies after a little work business in the area. It was about 1pm and no one answered the phone… which was totally fine and I thought that maybe the number listed was incorrect or they were closed on Mondays or something. So I decided I’d still swing by after my meeting and at least get the business hours for next time.
Okay, so now it’s 6pm and I’m at Evol looking at their biz hours sign that says they’re open from 10am-​7pm on Mondays, with a small note on the bottom saying ‘hours subject to change.’ Totally understandable coming from a cupcake shop. I mean, C-​cakes are in high demand, they could’ve sold out and closed early for the day, right? … but then why is there an almost full of cupcakes inside? They’re looking at me through the glass doors as I stare at the invalid biz hours sign. Not gonna lie, I was kind of annoyed, but again, when sweets are involved I can offer up a whole lotta forgiveness… plus, it’s a small and (I think) pretty new business so it’s totally reasonable to think there may have been extenuating circumstances that caused for ECB to be closed either early or entirely on this given Monday.
Next visit was a few days later on Saturday. I walk into a cute but also kind of vacant looking shop where the boo and I are the only custos in the place. There are 3 employees in the very visible back, just a few feet from the counter making what I presume to be delicious goodies. They all turn to see us, but no one welcomes us or says anything at all until we’ve already made it up to the counter, and even then it was the most lackluster «greeting» I’ve ever gotten. Defo not the shiny, happy vibe you would expect from a potentially super-​cute bake shop. A few minutes later the guy who at least put forth the effort to greet us came out and watched silently as we excitedly peeped the case, deciding which cuppy to get.
For a new place, I guess I expected a warmer welcome, maybe a ‘got any questions?’ or just something to offer up a client-​customer connection, but no. Just a silent stare into the case, no eye contact, while we remained excited, trying not to let the seemingly non-​plussed vibe of the workers effect our jubilation about a case of cupcakes.
With maybe 8 different cupcake flavors to choose from, I knew right away I was getting the Cinnamon Toast Crunch one… only I thought the little cereal pieces on top were Golden Grahams as that flavor wasn’t labeled, but the guy behind the counter didn’t hesitate to toss out a kinda crabby correction that it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch — Oh. My bad, because they look so different and all … *insert mental eye-​roll* Then, my man, who has a sweet tooth to rival that of Wonka, is between about 5 different flavors, but numbers it down to either the coconut something or cookies and cream. He asks the guy working what he would do and the guy working responded with, «Well, I hate coconut, so cookies and cream,» and said it in an almost snarky tone as if we were the jerk-​offs for not knowing he’s not into coconut. Uhmmm ooookay. I appreciate your candid honesty but there’s probably a better way to get that across to customers. Maybe something more constructive like, «I’m not big on coconut, but customers really like _​_​_​_​_​» or even just answering ‘cookies and cream’ would have been better.
So we get the 2 cupcakes which I was honestly expecting to cost a lot more than they did. I’ve been to cupcake places where cupcakes that were half the size of these big boys cost $ 3… I think these were between $ 1.50 and $ 2 each, a steal in terms of bake shop cupcakes.
We were both hoping to bite into greatness so the less-​than-​stellar service could be redeemed, but sadly that was not the case. Again, for my partner, it’s the more sugar the better, so I was surprised when a few bites in he was ready to pass it off to me saying it was too sweet for him. When I took a bite of his, I noticed that the frosting/​icing was really runny (like maybe the cooler case wasn’t cold enough) and while my first bite didn’t seem too sweet, the second one, for some odd reason, did. I’ll admit, I don’t know jack about baking and consistency so maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but when I had my Cinnamon Toast Crunch c-​cake, I would 100% agree, only my frosting was harder and grainy and just not for me.
Try for yourself and decide, but personally, this Candi cupcake-​eater isn’t in Love w/​Evol.

Love their red velvet cake pops & oreo cupcakes! :) It’s smallish and so far has usually just their «basic» flavors, but the list of their specialty flavors LOOKED spectacular– we’re taling Irish Car Bomb, Bananas Foster, etc. They only had one filled cupcake that day (Boston Cream) but there WAS an Oreo inside the Oreo cupcake.
I think the vibe could be taken up a few notches (didn’t smell like a bakery, no window display really, more flavors that day, better signage, some music maybe) because it was a little eh inside. The things I tried were delicious, however!

This small shop has a nice variety and delicious cupcakes. We tried the red velvet and they were fantastic. Not setup as a place to sit and have coffee yet, but definitely a great product. We will be stopping by often. Once they get some tables and start serving coffee, I’d probably up this to five star.