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GRANITE CITY - Chocolate Covered Creations Cafe is celebrating two years in Granite City, and owners Breanna and Erik McGill couldn’t be happier with their anime-themed cafe.
The cafe, located at 3214 Nameoki Road in Granite City, has a bigger location and more great treats than ever before. Whether you’re an anime enthusiast or you’ve never heard of Studio Ghibli, Chocolate Covered Creations has something for everyone. They serve a wide variety of boba tea, coffee, pastries, baked goods and more.
“It’s been hard, but we’ve found our niche and our people,” Breanna said. “We’re ready to grow.”
The McGills started Chocolate Covered Creations out of their home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they began making chocolate covered strawberries and selling them on Facebook. One of their biggest customers, Sue, asked if they’d ever consider expanding to a brick-and-mortar location. With her help, they eventually found a spot in Granite City and opened their doors.
The cafe was quickly overwhelmed with customers. With a tiny kitchen and lines out the door, the McGills struggled to keep up. Breanna was the main baker and the only barista, so she was working 20-hour days to keep the cafe running.
When the location at Nameoki Road opened up, the McGills knew they had to seize the opportunity. With the addition of a bigger kitchen, a new pastry chef and several staff members, Chocolate Covered Creations is thriving in their new home. They couldn’t be happier to serve the Granite City community.
“We’ve been able to expand into more food options because before we only did desserts, but now we do wraps, breakfast sandwiches, stuff like that,” Erik said. “We have a bigger kitchen. We hired a pastry chef so all our croissants are all made from scratch and everything. We’ve been able to do a lot more.”
Chocolate Covered Creations uses quality ingredients to make the best products. Their homemade boba tastes like “heaven,” Breanna said, and they use Ghirardelli chocolate and European butter for many of their items.
The anime theme is another fun part of the cafe, as both Erik and Breanna love anime and enjoy sharing that with their customers. They joked that their employees sometimes grow tired of it, but their customers seem to love it. They make sure to only play family-friendly anime, and they plan to host movie nights this summer starting soon.
This is one of their goals for the new location, which has allowed them to expand into more community events like movie nights and book clubs. They’re also right across the street from the high school, so many students will stop in after the final bell to enjoy a drink and do their homework. Breanna and Erik like that they can provide a safe, friendly atmosphere for people of all ages.
“All the things that were popping through our head in our old location that we wanted to do but didn’t have the room for, we got to do it here,” Breanna said. “We got to have our floral drop-down that people take pictures and selfies with. We got to have our huge murals that we were originally wanting at the old location but that didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to. We got the seating that we wanted, the pink booths that we wanted. It just all turned out phenomenal.”
And there are more good things on the horizon, with several new drinks and treats on the menu. For more information about Chocolate Covered Creations Cafe and to stay up-to-date with their specials, community events and more, visit Chocolate Covered Creations on Facebook.
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