Grand Opening of Maple Café In Buffalo Grove November 21 To Raise Funds For The Center For Enriched Living
BUFFALO GROVE - Maple Café, 340 Half Day Road, Buffalo Grove, in the Woodland Commons Shopping Center, is hosting a grand opening fundraiser on Saturday, November 21 on behalf of the Center for Enriched Living. The event is from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Cost is $15 per person and may be purchased at the door.
The restaurant is providing a special menu with a portion of the proceeds going to the Riverwoods-based organization, whose mission states, "The Center for Enriched Living exists so that people with developmental disabilities can be fully included in the community, achieve personal success, and enjoy a good quality of life."
For more information about The Center for Enriched Living please visit www.centerforenrichedliving.org/, or call (847) 948-7001.
The event will be preceded at 10:30 a.m. when the restaurant and representatives of the Buffalo Grove Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Maple Café www.maple-cafe.com serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch fare, including skillets, omelets, and other breakfast items, as well as lunch staples such as a Quinoa and Kale Chicken salad and chicken bruschetta sandwich. Many of the dishes are enhanced by Mediterranean flavors.
Maple Café is not your typical Greek diner, it's more of a boutique," said Missy VanLue, general manager, referring to the menu featuring many upscale items. The restaurant serves honey cured bacon; fresh vegetables; a variety of cheeses; our sauces are homemade, makes its own salad dressing with fresh ingredients, olive oil, and vinaigrette; and makes its own homemade soups.
Maple Café offers customers something they might not expect to find in a diner, something that will tantalize them when they walk through the door and look at the hand-written specials board, she said.
The special attention doesn't stop with the food, she added, as the orange juice and coffee are made with the customer in mind. VanLue said the orange juice is freshly-squeezed, not pre-squeezed and left in a cooler as most restaurants do. The Lavazzo brand of coffee is the very best. And the restaurant serves a great latte, she said.
VanLue said Maple Café has stepped up its catering capabilities and now offers more choices for area businesses to order for in-office breakfast and lunch and meetings. It also has begun reaching out to area Synagogues and churches to offer a percentage of sales when their members dine in or take out from Maple Café.
The completely remodeled space features an airy atmosphere with seating for 130 people in two separate, high ceilinged rooms illuminated by rows of modern light fixtures. It has become a well-liked concept, according to now-regular customers.
"They have good food, the atmosphere is nice and clean, the owner is friendly, and it feels homey," said Katie Delija, of Buffalo Grove, a veteran of the food service industry.
"When Michael's closed I was very disappointed," said Pam, also a Buffalo Grove resident who, with her husband, is a Maple Café regular. "The food is much better, they have a nice presentation, and they are very accommodating. It is a lovely restaurant, there's no other restaurants like it around here," she said.
Added 10-year-old Matthew Dalenberg of Vernon Hills: "I liked the French fries."
Maple Café, said VanLue, serves good food at reasonable prices in a fun atmosphere for family get togethers, social occasions, and business gatherings. It also is a popular spot for groups playing Maj Jong and other games.
Many of Maple Café's customers want to eat healthy, said VanLue, so they eat a lot of salads, egg whites, vegetables, avocado, and broccoli. The restaurant makes a healthy scrambler with egg whites, turkey patties, and spinach that is very popular, and will prepare whatever its customers want and how they want it, she said
She said the restaurant's popular smoked salmon Napoleon benedict is a unique dish to the Buffalo Grove area. It features sliced smoked salmon, capers, tomato, cream cheese, cucumber, red onion, and poached egg topped with our homemade hollandaise.
Maple Café is open every day from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information, please visit www.maple-cafe.com, or call (847) 383-5334.