Tempo Cafe

11/09/09

Good service. Good breakfast!

by CSMobileUser2 at Citysearch

The food was well deserving of the recommendation we received. Knowing Tempo is open 24 hours made it easy to set a time to go. We got there and was sat in about 30 minutes. We ordered the Omelettes. My wife enjoyed the Turkey Omelette with swiss and added cheddar. I enjoyed the Cream Creese Omelette. We both substituted Turkey sausage. That did the trick. Freshly squeezed orange juice and a quick to fix staff make it easy for us to know where to come for a bite the next time we're in Chicago.

01/15/09

It's a matter of dedication

by JonoLee at Citysearch

I moved into the neighborhood. On the day of the move, my wife went down for lunch and she brought me roast beef sandwich, which I discovered after the fact. The "roast beef sandwich" was completely covered with mashed potato. It's not even a small scoop of mashed potato, the sandwich was swimming in mashed potato. I will not touch any food prepared by someone who is so uncaring and undedicated to his/her work that the food is prepared in such a manner. My wife thought the food was pretty awful, too. Pathetic.

09/28/08

No credit cards, Ok ... bad food, NOT OK

by njs29 at Citysearch

PROS: open late; large variety of food. CONS: tasteless food; doesn't take credit cards; This place is a diner, which means it has a wide selection of food & is open late; these are pretty much the only positives. The food unfortunately is NOT good. I had French Toast which was no more than bread coated in a fried egg; check the food network recipe by Alton Brown for a true French Toast recipe. My wife had a veggie burger which has no seasoning just tastes like mashed up lima beans. The service is OK, but not horrible like some of the other reviews state. Just keep in mind that this place is used to serving drunk college kids after a night of clubbing so they don't always treat customers as you would want to be treated. Ambiance is like a typical diner. I will NOT be going back here ever again. ALTERNATE breakfast/brunch RECOMMENDATIONS: Yolk; The Bongo Room

• Pros: open late; variety of food
• Cons: bad food; no credit cards

09/01/08

Tax Compliance Problem

by taxfraud at Citysearch

Food and service all right but watch your bill. I was charged 15% sales tax and everyone at my table of 8 (individual checks" was overcharged in varying amounts -- no undercharging though. I think the City of Chicago needs to pay a visit to find out where the extra money is going. Check your bill the going rate for tax is 11.5% -- don't pay more.

05/14/08

yummy!!

by wackojacko at Citysearch

one of the best breakfasts i have ever had! i want to fly back to chicago just to have their omelets and hash browns. they have great atmosphere, and on a cold winters day, nothing beats their food. highly recommend it!

04/28/08

becoming a regular

by javagirl70 at Citysearch

To complain about not being able to use a credit card is a personal issue. The food at Tempo is so terrific that I can't wait for morning to come when I am in Chicago so that I can go there. The skillets are super and the homemade marmalade is delicious. Go there! You will be so happy!

04/21/08

BY FAR THE BEST BREAKFAST IN THE TOWN!!!

by Natorzmom at Citysearch

Anyone who can put one star on this Cafe has some issues they should work out on their own blogs. Came into Chicago for a two day stay at The Drake who highly recommended the breakfast. GREAT SERVICE, GREAT FOOD and worth two breakfast visits in a city where food options are not limited; so that should tell you in a nutshell how good it was.

Cash only but that makes it a high paced service environment were no problems arise and your in & out with a great meal for reasonable prices.

Highly recommend the homemade orange marmalade and the the great MORNING GLORY French Toast. All ingredients are fresh and prepared as served. Can't wait to get back... :-)

• Pros: SERVICE AND FRESH FOOD ARE AWESOME!
• Cons: Cash only but makes service fast & no fuss!

01/15/08

No Credit Cards!

by beefing_about_businesses at Citysearch

I went there for breakfast this morning, and when I sat down to look at the menu, I saw on the back of the menu that credit cards are not accepted. They did have an ATM, but machines charge usage fees, and banks charge penalties for not using their ATMs. Therefore, I ended up leaving. It was truly one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. They are located just north of the downtown area of a world-class city, it was a very busy area, it was a sit-down restaurant, and the average menu item was priced $8. Above all, this is 21st Century USA. A reasonable person (especially those like me, who dislike carrying large amounts of money) would expected them to accept credit cards. Seriously, do they want the business or not?

11/20/07

THEY CHARGE $2 FOR A SIDE OF SALSA! BOYCOTT!

by burkito at Citysearch

The food wasnt that bad, but when I asked for a side of salsa, they said it was two dollars. I will never go there again, unless they begin offering free salsa, like every other restaurant in the world; I mean its almost like charging money for ketchup. Ridiculous and greedy. The management must stink.

11/10/07

Great Breakfast, everyone else's excuse for bad service is unreliable

by dyingpanda at Citysearch

The Tempo is a great place to go for breakfast and it is not as bad as everyone keeps saying. The food is actually good but i guess since other people had issues they thought they would let their anger out by blasting the food. Anyone going to eat there on a Sunday morning is a ignorant for not reliezing that everyone from Holy Name Cathedral, right down the block, is going there for breakfast after mass, so they should be expecting long lines. For that matter isn't everyone restaurant in the downtown area packed with long waits on the weekend, so why is the Tempo any different. To those who got thrown out of the Tempo because of the drunken group, are you sure that you didn't do something at some point that actually provoked your removal. It is no where near a Dennys or IHOP, one can you say that Tempo is one of a kind and they have one of the niceest wait staff in all of the Gold Coast area. Don't be turned off by a bad review go and have some good food for a decent price.

• Pros: everything
• Cons: n/a