New restaurant puts original twist on traditional treat

WAUKEGAN – The name says it all for a new restaurant in Waukegan.

Create Your Own Cheesecake & Cheesesteak (C.Y.O.C.) brings a twist to the traditional way of serving cheesecake.

Located in Waukegan, the restaurant is the baby and first business venture of 37-year-old Joshua Kirkwood of Waukegan.

“I’ve been making cheesecakes for 17 years at home, and I wanted something different, but good,”  Kirkwood said.

Why not make something that’s already good, like cheesecake, just a little different? he thought.

So, he took out the crust part of the cheesecake and gave people some options – lots of options, actually. Once you pick your flavor of cheesecake by the scoop (like ice cream), you have an array of toppings you can choose from to add to it. There are cherries, chocolate chips, coconut, peanuts, Heath bar, Snickers, graham crackers and more. In all, 19 toppings can be added to any given flavor of cheesecake.

As for the cheesecake flavors, they include the original, plus cookie dough, chocolate, strawberry, Oreo, chocolate chip mint, lemon and a few others.

“This is how you get the kids to try cheesecake,” Kirkwood said.

Kirkwood, who’s been in the restaurant industry in some form or another for almost 20 years, says he has learned from other restaurants’ mistakes. That is why he chose only two main items for his menu.

“Pick one thing to focus on, and be the best at it,” Kirkwood said. “I want to make the best cheesecakes and cheesesteaks around.”

The best evidence that he’s making customers happy is the fact that they come back. This is the case for Tianna Lillard of Waukagan, who stopped by the restaurant to see what it was all about and enjoyed her cheesesteak so much she later brought her coworkers with her.

“I like that you can see them preparing the food,” said Lillard’s coworker, Shelene Kynard of Waukegan.

From behind the counter, the ingredients of a Philly steak or chicken can be seen sizzling on the grill when an order is placed.

“Everything is made fresh,” Kirkwood said. “It may not be ready instantaneous when you order, but it’s worth the wait.”

Sarah Gunter of Gurnee agreed.

“I really liked it,” Gunter said after eating a chicken Philly sandwich called “The Works” in C.Y.O.C. speak.

“We have so many chains around, it’s nice to have an independent restaurant,” Gunter said.

C.Y.O.C. is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for dine-in and carry-out. Cheesecakes start at $3.50 and can go up to $6.50 for specialty cheesecakes, such as the banana split cheesecake.

C.Y.O.C. is located at 2114 N. Greenbay Road in Waukegan. For more information, call 847-406-2962.

If you go

What: C.Y.O.C. (Create Your Own Cheesecake & Cheesesteak)

Where: 2114 N. Green Bay Road in Waukegan

Information: Call 847-406-2962