I love this place. Great service and fantastic food. I especially love the biscuits they give you while you wait for your food! I always come during the week, so not sure how crowded it gets on the weekend. Free parking at the hotel. Keep up the great work! read more

The food is just ok, some of the staff at the steam table need better customer service skills.

Awesome!! If you love good soul food served with a smile. Pearl's place is where it's at!! read more

We really enjoyed ourselves. The good was pretty good. Compared to McArthers I would go here for a more authentic try at soul food. (Not saying I won't go back to MA). The service was good. Our waiter had some good one liners that were very appropriate and made the experience more personalized.! read more

Great place! Staff was very friendly, food was served promptly and very very good! I really enjoyed the shrimp and grits appetizer. I didn't try the buffet but it seemed like a popular choice among other customers! I would definitely recommend this restaurant, my girl and I thoroughly enjoyed and we'll be back again! read more

I visited Pearl's Place today with a couple of my family members. The food was fine. We chose the buffet option but the food was so filling we probably could have just ordered one meal at a cheaper price. But that was on us. - One thing I didn't care for is that the buffet is not self-serve. A server is behind a counter making a plate for you. This could be an issue for picky eaters who like to control portions or don't like their food touching because the server was definitely overlapping a lot of the food. - My MAIN problem, however, was with the management. I walked in and simply asked whether or not this establishment was a buffet and the man at the counter, who I now know is a co-owner, answered me so sarcastically and blunt. Every interaction with him was unpleasant. He was short with his answers and just plain rude. It seemed like he didn't want to be there or like he was annoyed that we were there as PAYING customers. - Another issue was how unclear the policy was on taking home leftovers. I read a sign that said there is an additional charge (on top of the $20 buffet) to take leftovers home, which is understandable. I asked the waitress how much it would be to take my food home. She replied that it depended on how much food was left on the plate and proceeded to get the rude manager who came and "quoted" us a price of $2. I asked how much the additional charge would be if I had a fuller plate and he sharply replied "That would be $21" and walked away. ??? This makes no sense to me and seems to be way too subjective of a method for "pricing out" leftovers. Although I've been looking for a good soul food restaurant and this is close to home, I'll never return to Pearl's Place because the customer service is lacking big time. read more

I have had mixed experiences with this place. They have changed management a few times. When I first started going, the food was good, and the service was decent, but they would sometimes close and would not tell anyone. I would be eating and asking for dessert, then the waitress would tell me the kitchen is closed for a party. Why was I not told that sooner? The next time I went, it was with my mom and sister. It was not very busy, but the food was lukewarm, and my sister asked the waitress to heat her food up, and she told her "I'm sorry, but I don't have time". I had NEVER experience this kind of rude service in my life. As I left the waitress had the nerve to ask why I didn't tip her. I told her," I'm sorry, but I don't have the time" My friend came in from out of town recently and he suggested we go there. I was reluctant given my past experiences, but he insisted. So I went. This time I must admit, under the new management this place has changed. The food is so much better, the service was much better, and there were no surprise parties. I will be back until new management takes over................. read more

I'm a patron of pearls from back in the day so I had not been in about 3 years. WHAT HAPPEN? Service was great but was disappointed with my meal. I don't understand how this place went down so badly. Maybe it was just a bad day. read more

I had been suffering since I moved to the north-side of Chicago for some good ole southern cooking. For the past few weeks that hunger grew until today I decided to get off my lazy butt and go south for some grub. Wait, do not get it twisted I love some of the great places I eat from here up north but there is nothing like some good southern cooking to make your stomach ignite. Could not decide what I wanted but knew where I wanted to go. Called a close friend to see if they wanted to go. Well I was told to go to Pearl's Place instead of where I was suggesting... duh... I remember Pearl's, been there several times before and loved their food. Hopped in the car and started my journey. First let me say I do know some of the folks there and was reminded that I had not been there in over a year... yep it was true. Anyway! The young-lady at the counter was Cynthia. Cynthia was personable and attentive as she is always. I guess they are accustomed to people being less than patient and I may have given off the impression that I was in a rush... everyone was making sure those of us that were waiting for carryout was okay, I was fine. Now if they had brought me some food from the kitchen within 5 or 10 minutes I would have been skeptical... lol. The wait was not bad at all and someone was celebrating a birthday so there was plenty of entertainment for me. Back to business. Pearl's place serves good food with a short wait and the buffet is great was well. Prepared to be full of satisfaction both with the service and the food. The staff is always great when I go and the management team is wonderful. Thanks again Cynthia for the smiles as you work!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

So you know how you give things 3 times before you try to say how something is. Well all 2 out of the 3 times the service I had is terrible. I ate the Buffett and my waiter has no even came to check but once. I order a appetizer and I been to Buffett twice and it came 20 mins later. No use of having it now. Normally when you go someone if they see your glass is not filled with they refill it. I will not be coming back here. Food was ok Today but when ever I am paying my money to Eat Somewhere I expect good service. read more

I have never yelped before, but this is just unaccepatable. I thought I would treat myself and order the $17 Jambalaya entree. I got my ordered delivered via UberEats with no problems and as I was taking my food out of the bag I noticed a very familiar smell...I ignored it, but as soon as I took the first bite I knew for sure that I was eating Zantarain's boxed Jambalaya mix. Bad enough this place is overpriced, but that is just plain lazy. Never again. read more

Found this place last minute...great selection, just a heads up a little pricey but def worth your money... I was most impressed by the bright airy atmosphere, and the customer service was excellent tended to and checked on several times def will be back. Thanks for the great food! read more

Holy smokes! I had the lunch buffet recently and was in heaven. The fried chicken, red beans and rice and roasted turkey were amazing. The cornbread had bits of corn, too. The small plates helped you contain the food on the plates and not stuff yourself. The waiter was a bit odd. He was not really friendly but not off-putting either. The salad bar was meh, but the soul food is stuff dreams are made of. Ah, and I had the peach cobbler and a bite of banana pudding was delicious. read more

We went for brunch on a Sunday, and it was a first for me. Upon entering they ask that all customers wash their hands. There was a 15 minute wait, they took our name and number and notified us via text when a table was available to us. When we got our text, we came back and was seated on a bench until the table was clean. We sat down and waited for a server. My husband had been there before and explain the process. So, I went to the breakfast station. The chef worked quickly on online orders, and after clearing about 3 of them he then asked what I wanted. I order an omelette with: spicy sausage, cheese, spinach, and mushrooms. I was very disappointed that the ingredients were not raw/fresh. The mushrooms reminded me of the ones from a can and the spinach was frozen. I also got some salmon croquette patties. They were sour in taste. I gave up on breakfast and decided to try the soul food. I got jerked turkey, greens and Mac and cheese The jerk turkey was the most flavorful thing on the plate and we ate it all. I've never left a restaurant and there were plates full of food just waiting to be disposed of. read more

Yum, yum, yum. This is some of my favorite soul food in the city. Everything I've had from here has been delicious. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because I'm obsessed with Thanksgiving food. So when I come to Pearl's I almost always get roast turkey, collar greens, and cornbread stuffing with a side of cranberry sauce. It's amazing and always makes me feel like it's November. Their yams, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and biscuits are also great. I really don't think that you can go wrong here. Now, the ambiance of the restaurant leaves much to be desired. You can tell it's kind of a mom and pop shop. But fear not, you can get your food to go or alternatively delivered. I've ordered from this restaurant on UberEats several times and it gets delivered incredibly fast and tastes just as good. Oh and last but not least, try the sweet potato pie. It's amazing! read more

Food was just ok and with the underwhelming service, it was not worth the trip. The rules for the buffet are not clear cut and they will overcharge you every chance they get. One of the owners was overly watching the table and very rude when asked why the bill differed from the pricing stated to us by the waiter. All and all, at least the smothered steak was enjoyable but I will not be patronizing again. read more

I have to agree with the reviews - the pure mention of Pearl's Place and I begin to salivate. Was introduced to this the first week I moved to Chicago, absolutely fantastic. The wait staff are so generous and kind, the ambiance is pretty chill (you will catch the church crowd on Sunday, so plan ahead). Always a place to sit, reasonable prices, the food is DELICIOUS. I have been here for both the breakfast and dinner brunches and they are both simply amazing. Great comfort food, cornbread that you would slap your momma for. Only gave it four stars because sometimes the wait for the food can be kinda long, but once it arrives at your table.. drool. read more

Cornbread: great Dirty rice: spectacular Greens: amazing Cabbage: absolutely wonderful Catfish nuggets: pretty much perfect! Jerk ribs: mine were a little dry, but sauce was tasty! Candied Yams: scrumptious Mac & cheese: TO DIE FOR!!!!! I cannot WAIT to get back! read more

Oh wow. One of the best places in Chicago. The food is incredible. The atmosphere is welcoming and very fun. Lots of laughs here! The buffet is everything! This is a hidden gem. Perfect for everything from large groups to a table for two! read more

NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ordered 2 potroast dinner and it was $70 some odd dollars. The dressing was horrible, smashed up cornbread with a hince taste of cinnamon or thime and salty. No Bellpepper, onions, celery, chicken flavor , just cheap. I mean just terrible. WE WANT REAL RICH TASTING DRESSING!!!!!!! Mac and cheese dry but had a good taste. Cornbread nasty and bland. Pot Roast was excellent. They don't give good size portions either for the price. There is no height to the food in those white sterophone containers. Your bag is very light. The Chinese give you better portions in a regular meal or a small order of your choice and the food is good and much cheaper. No height to the food. Very cheap servers.. So, definitely not worth the money they are charging. They should be ashamed of themselves. Find you another Soul Food Restaurant. They are a Rip Off!!!! read more

The food in Chicago constantly makes me think WHY AM I STILL A NEW YORKER residing here with high hopes that appear to be shot down every place I eat at. Clearly this a biased review as the food is truly a hit or miss throughout Chicago. The food is very mediocre, and I am not sure what the cornbread was made of as it was desperately tasteless. Too many aromas ( various foods mixed with chemical cleaners) seem to interrupt my experience as well. The fried chicken was very good and the mac and cheese was quite a hit. However, I am not excited enough to go back. read more

Server was a little strange, and it's odd that the buffet isn't self-serve but the omelettes were good. The rest of the food was ok.

The customer service (not) provided by management was quite surprising. A friend and I arrived there to eat at approximately 11:03a on December 23, 2017. We both decided on the buffet. I went to get food while she sat at the table for me to return. While waiting for my waffles & omelet to cook, I noticed one of the cooks was breaking down the food; she stated they were "turning over" - FIRST ISSUE: if the buffet ends at 11:30a, it shouldn't be shut down/turned over until 11:30a. Anyhoo...my friend goes to get her food...she's waiting on her eggs & pancakes, then asks for chicken wings and Parker House sausage but is told "no." Mind you, there are 2 wings sitting there. The response from the white manager and cook is "no" because they are turning it over and offered her to order the sausage off of the menu ; mind you, it's not 11:30a yet, plus she was already in the queue, which should have counted for something - SECOND ISSUE: the manager should've obliged my friend the 2 wings. The server states she didn't see the problem and says that the manager said he did not tell my friend that she couldn't have the wings. My friends pleads her case with the other (black) manager. THIRD ISSUE: if there was confusion with what was(not) said, the appropriate thing for either manager to do/say would've been "ma'am, I apologize for the confusion, what would you like?" NOPE...it didn't happen. No matter how good your product is, I REFUSE to spend money and receive piss poor service. In the scheme of things, dollars may not matter, but my opinion does; then again, my opinion may not matter either. Oh well...Pearl's Place gets from me. read more

PEARL'S PLACE: Terrible customer service!!!!. Management just as bad. Waitress Diedre needs to go back to training for customer service skills and personality. After meeting with the managers both the black one and the white one, it is understandable. Both of them also need customer service training. The price of food is too much for the service and the food ($4.00 for sides). Brought me dried chicken that we watched the waitress obtained from the buffet line, burned pancakes and overcooked biscuits. When brought to their attention, did not bother to ask if I wanted another order, but instead assumed I wanted my check adjusted. White man snatched my plate from under me. Well they took off the price of my food but had the audacity to ask me to pay for $2.99 for one cup of coffee. Just as stated in two other reviews, the white male is VERY RUDE and WEARS A FAKE SMILE. The black male (Daryll) was not much better as he stood there with his FAKE SMILE and watered down apology. When I told him that word of mouth can make or break a business, he reminded me that a hundred customers come in all day. Can you say JOKES AND NOTES-Mary Lindsey? She too thought she could treat their AA community without respect for the coins they spend to patronize her business. Our churches are always encouraging AA to spend money in their community with other AA businesses. I no longer subscribe to that message. The reason that many of the AA restaurant businesses close is mainly due to poor customer service and robbing the community with these outlandish prices. I spend my money in a restaurant where I can obtain a decent meal at a fair price. My message to you Mr. Daryll is that you had a 100 customers that day, now you have 98. Keep this up and you're be you're be joked and noted out of business too. Food is okay most of the time boo!, but not good enough to deal with that service. Read your reviews, a lot of 1 or 2 stars from your 100 customers you felt compelled to brag about. read more

Best baked ham sandwich I've ever had !!! The owner was unbelievably friendly , staff was cordial and attentive .

This place is excellent. We ate there for breakfast and it was a real treat. I ordered "Pearl's Breakfast" which is two eggs, fried catfish, grits and pancakes. Everything was the best I've ever had. Great friendly service. read more

my first time going was a nice experience. I went around breakfast going in to the lunch buffet. breakfast was good, but I'd rather go for lunch, much better. The only thing I didn't like was, the space was a little small, and the waitresses could have been more friendlier. read more

Service was fine. Food was sooooo disappointing. This place is for people who can't cook or don't have anyone to cook for them. No flavor, just salt. Mac and cheese is always good. I asked for chitterlings and they had to bring them in few minutes. That's fine, but when she brought the bowl, they smelled so bad and that was it for me. read more

No one in the entire building has any customer service skills, especially the manager/co-owner. The food was EXTREMELY bland. They are really over priced, especially considering the food isn't great and the buffet price doesn't include drinks or dessert. There's no way I would ever step foot in that establishment ever again. read more

Overrated and over priced. The food is not good and the portions are small compared to other soul food restaurants. I was charged 22.00 for a bowl of chitterlings as a side. I hade the neck bones meal which for some reason only comes with one side and was given a bowl of neck bone soup and maybe two neckbones. The dressing was hard and dry and the greens was sweet. I ended up spending 74.00 for two people. Absolutely unheard of. I will never eat there again and I don't recommend it. read more

The food was Very good my first time been here i will come back again and bring friends atmosphere nice black owned

Great food! Needs an makeover in terms of decorations etc. Warm, welcoming service! read more

Today my my best girlfriend and I went to Pearls place for lunch and we had a great experience. We were greeted immediately, the host that seated us was polite, our waitress was very pleasant and attentive without hovering. The food was DELICIOUS! I had the smothered chicken with Mac n cheese, cornbread dressing and collard greens. My friend had the seafood platter with perch, HUGE shrimp, a salmon croquet patty, mac n cheese and collard greens. The complimentary biscuits and cornbread were also tasty. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who want some delicious soul food with good service. The portions were not skimpy either. read more

Pearl's Place - My meal, smothered chicken, collard greens, cornbread dressing and macaroni and cheese. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Delicious food, cheap prices, amazing staff. *Full disclosure, your homemade mac n cheese is probably better than theirs but you couldn't make it for anywhere near the price. I will be back for sure! read more

Went to have some soul food. First time in the restaurant. Ordered the buffet everything I ate was decussting.the greens weren't seasoned taste like the can ,the dressing taste like dry cornbread, the chicken was dry,the only thing that was edible waste the macaroni and cheese. They have the nerve to request a tip .my tip for them is to get a better cook. If I was the cook the lines would be in the street. I will not be visiting this place any too time soon. Until the get a better cook. I don't care if its black owned or red owned.i want good quality food. read more

I will never ever eat at this place again I hate the fact that $75 was wasted and who the hell messed up the frozen ass peach cobbler

I was in town visiting from Altanta. This was my first time here! Food was amazing! I had the salmon croquettes, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and potatoes! Delicious!! We had the best waitress on the planet! Diamond was the best! She made our experience a great one! read more

Once you've had a Parker House sausage for breakfast at Pearl's Place, you'll have a hard time switching back to bacon! They do a great job at breakfast, it's an easy place to meet during the week. and it's 3 minutes south of downtown. Their buffet is served all morning at a great price - less than what you'd pay for breakfast at most north side restaurants. They make your eggs to order and they also make Belgian waffles and french toast to order. The french toast is a real treat and you can get a 1/2 portion, which is nice. I'll definitely be taking friends and family over to Pearl's! read more

This use to be my favorite spot when I come to town to get soul food, but not anymore. My favorites were the mac& cheese and cornbread dressing, but, for the past two times, both were disappointing& flavorless. I spent almost $300 that automatically included a tip of $40 and the food wasn't fresh or properly stocked. We literally asked the waiter to bring food from the back and the place wasn't crowded. read more

After placing a delivery order for my co-workers and I, all of our meals arrived with missing items. While normally this is common and easily correctable issue the manager J.R. belittled and downplayed our concerns. Instead of remedying the situation and showing concern, J.R. blamed the delivery driver and said that we "did not need those side items anyway." Overall the food was greasy and not worth the hassle. We will never eat at Pearl's Place again. They do not respect the customers. read more