Clarkes On Belmont

Doesn't Recommend

dredre16

Joined 3 years ago

Awful. I have never felt more unwelcome and felt more uncomfortable in a restaurant in my life. From the moment we walked in we were ignored. It took ten minutes for them to even serve us water, and we had to ask for it. Another ten minutes or so went by before we even had our drink orders taken care of. My friend ordered coffee and I ordered a coke. My friend received her coffee, and I did not receive my coke until we asked for it even after we got our food. When the awful waitress finally took our order, we waited an obscene amount of time for what we ordered. I could see clearly into the kitchen and saw the nachos my boyfriend ordered sitting there under the heat lamp for quite some time. The waitress never even bothered to check on us, and when she finally gave us our food, we asked for my coke. She replied with, "Sorry, we're really busy tonight." all bitchy like. We looked around and there was literally 4 tables of people including us.

Not to mention everything is over priced. Esp. for the service you get. We have gone there a few times before and were never happy with the way we were treated but it was never as bad as this past time we went. I think the only reason we would go there was because it's open 24 hours.

The staff is just blatantly rude.

Never go here.

The nachos were disgusting, since they were sitting under the lamp for so long, the cheese was hard and cold. Gross.

Doesn't Recommend

JeffLovesGolf

Joined 4 years ago

Good good, gross clientelle. Good food for cheap, late night, what's not to like?

Well one thing I don't like is the people who come in here at night - the old expression, "The freaks come out at night," is more true in this neighborhood than anywhere else in Chicago. Its hard to enjoy my french dip when the guy at the table next to me is enjoying tobbaco dip that he's spitting into a cup.

Seriously though, once you get past the gross people who walk in here at night, it's a pretty good place to eat. If you're trying to decide between this and Hollywood grill on Ashland Avenue, Hollywood is definetly better.

Doesn't Recommend

tomcat710

Joined 6 years ago

Don't buy into the hype.. After being told to visit Clarke's by multiple people, I figured I'd give it a shot. What a mistake. There is nothing likable about this hipster staple. When my group was first being seated, we were placed next to a giant noisy speaker even though the restaurant was nearly empty. We asked to move. Thankfully, we were reseated. My waiter was some Spanish guy who barely listened to anything I had to say. I asked for a milk to be brought out with my food, and I went out of my way to specify. Of course, he brought it out first, completely disregarding my request. The pancakes I ordered were a crumbly joke and I couldn?t help but feel like the food wasn?t worth the price. When asking for my check, my waiter was too busy doing the Macarena to bring it to me. He just kept talking to his friend and singing/dancing to the radio. I was about to just leave. You shouldn?t have to fight to pay your bill.

Side note: The bathroom is beyond disgusting. There?s an awkward toilet sitting in the middle of the floor and a urinal on the side. And this is supposed to be an open bathroom for multiple people? Thank god I didn?t walk in on some shameless guy.

I think I?d choose just about any diner over this one.

Recommends

Jessia823

Joined 5 years ago

Friendly, fast service & great drinks. A diner with a full bar and a bar with a full menu, from burgers to breakfast, is hard to beat! The drinks are tasty, especially the perfect hangover-breakfast $3 Bloody Marys on Sunday or the made-from-scratch margaritas for $3 on Fridays. The bartender makes a mean Long Island Iced Tea, or try the Peach Clarke's Iced Tea.

The menu features typical diner fare, including generous omelets and skillet egg breakfasts, as well as bar & grill offerings including a few vegetarian selections. The sweet potato fries are to die for, and the Mexican Potato Soup, when offered, is amazing. The service is great, especially in the bar, where even on a Saturday night the place usually isn't overly crowded.

Recommends

aeh5458

Joined 6 years ago

Slow service. The food here is pretty good and not too expensive, plus there is that diner feel and the 24 hour service. And you can't go wrong with the breakfast foods. I haven't had good luck with service here, but usually when we go it's with plenty of time to spare and more for the laid-back atmosphere and variety of cheap food than speedy service.

Doesn't Recommend

AnnaAradia2769

Joined 11 years ago

Horrible service. I went here on a Wed. with a group of friends. My husband and I showed up a few minutes late, and waited 45 minutes before a server named Bria or Brianne appeared, and that was only after asking for one. She came to our table and just had a horrible attitude. We asked if she could do a seperate check. She stated that she could not if we were at the same table because she would loose money. I really didn't understand this as to my knowledge they don't have any group tip policy here, and we all were going to be charged. When she went to take my husbands order, she decided to go off again about how she couldn't do seperate checks for about 10 minutes. My husband kindly asked her to stop, she then said my husband was being rude and told him to leave. We didn't leave because I had ordered food. After about 40 minutes we didn't think the food was going to arrive, so we were about to leave, and then the food arived- totally wrong order, and totally cold food. My soup came with my sandwhich instead of before. This is not the first time we have had bad service or messed up orders with no appologies There are so many other restaraunts in the area worthy of my business. They really need to clean up there act.

Recommends

skim05

Joined 8 years ago

Best 24 hour diner around. Every sunday, we trek from Hyde Park to Clarke's. We love the artichoke spinach dip that comes with warm pita bread. The barbecue chicken pizza is SUPERB. Steak fries are not that great. drinks and desserts are as to be expected from late-night dining fare. Nice place to hang out with friends. NOT A DATE PLACE.

Go with the expectation that this is a diner. it is perfect!

Recommends

alinalin1983

Joined 8 years ago

Great place after a drink. This is a great place after you've had a few and need to sober up. Also a cool place if youre a smoker you can actually enjoy a cig. And finally, you have to try the sweet potato fries they are quite choice.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Diner favorites 24 hours a day at this bright spot on busy Belmont Avenue.. In Short
Relaxed and casual, with bargain prices throughout the menu, this place draws the late-night crowds. Semi-loud '80s rock plays on the stereo, and windows offer Belmont Avenue people-watching. Breakfast fare features omelettes, egg-topped skillets and baked pancakes. Adults go for the Zorba omelette packed with fresh spinach and feta cheese; kids dig the funny-face pancake decorated with chocolate chips, whipped cream and maraschino cherries--and chocolate milk that's made from scratch.

Doesn't Recommend

cherfer

Joined 9 years ago

TERRIBLE SERVICE. I have never had such poor service at a restaurant. Our waitress made us wait over 20 minutes for the bill while she talked on the phone. We didn't tip her. The worst service ever. The food was no good either.