What U.S. city is Eli's Cheesecake based in?

Eli’s Cheesecake is based in Chicago, Illinois.

The company’s Chicago roots go back to founder Eli Schulman, who was born on the city’s West Side and built a career in Chicago restaurants. His signature plain cheesecake was developed for Eli’s The Place for Steak in the late 1970s, helping establish the dessert as a local specialty.

Eli’s Cheesecake became an independent company around 1980, after the first Taste of Chicago. In 1996, it moved to Eli’s Cheesecake World in Chicago’s Dunning neighborhood, a facility combining bakery operations, a café, and corporate offices. The company’s products are distributed nationally and internationally, but its headquarters and identity remain Chicago-based.

Chicago is sometimes confused with the origins of New York-style cheesecake because both cities are famous for American cheesecake. Eli’s, however, is specifically a Chicago company, and its shortbread-crust style is associated with Chicago-style cheesecake.