It's amazing when you find a location with minimal wait, great food, fast and friendly service on a Saturday morning. Maria our waitress was very attentive. She was very thoughtful and listened very carefully when I was describing exactly how I wanted my simple meal. I give her a 10! She deserves an extra tip. read more

As a standard diner that gets you in and out quickly with food that emphasizes quantity over quality, this place rates well. If you're looking for the authentic foodie experience, this might not be your destination. If you're hungry as all get out and have a hankering for eggs and hash brown potatoes this will give you the fix. The skillets look great, but I found the flavor to be quite bland for my egg, canadian bacon, spinach and mushroom version. The desserts are not made in house - on display as you walk in they come from the Chicago sweet connection bakery. People start to wait for tables by ~9am so get there early if you have a large group. read more

Love it here. Great diner food and atmosphere. Open 24 hours - cash only - breakfast served any time. I've tried a couple sandwiches and salads and they were not amazing but pretty darn good for an inexpensive diner. Great people watching at night... gets busy when the clubs and bars let out. read more

Great service from Cindy from start to finish. Thank you so much and merry Christmas. read more

Tempo Cafe - Fresh squeezed great fruit juice and coffee to start. Great service. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

best food ever !!! it's bussin i got the temp club sandwich, its super good but i took out the extra bread in the middle but other than it perfect. The meal comes with a soup and i have the cream of rice chicken good as well. read more

Tempo Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We have been going here for years because it's next to my condo and the only option past 12 am. And it's consistently sucked. So even though I'm a regular, I stick with tea, because even their pastries and French fries suck. Service: they just expect everyone to be drunk, at all hours of the day. So you get "handled" by the rudest service staff in Chicago. If you're lucky, and catch them on a good day they won't roll their eyes when you ask for no sugar in your tea. My five year old nephew will make a better salad than this place, like he actually chops it. Their garden salad consisted of not chopped peace of lettuce you're expected to chop yourself, a massive tomato cut quarters, and a bunch of massive pieces of onion. They won't even bring you a cutting board to chop all this on. There's dressing on the bottom and bottom only. Their French fries is actually twice baked potatoes. Their steak and egg is actually beef bacon and egg, thin and flavorless. Their pancakes are smooshed cupcakes. Their coffee is melted dirt. Please don't go here unless you absolutely must. We have started to go to Bijans. I'd love it if they ran out of business so something Chicago quality could take their place. I don't understand how it's possible to run such a business in a city so rich with every option being better than this. read more

I thought i might being down their review with my 4 stars, I'm surprised to see it's higher than the average review. Their feta and spinach omelette was wonderful. I had an amazing one in maybe 1998, then a couple I genuinely regretted so I don't order them any more. My friend and I were splitting food so we ordered that, with mushrooms. I'm so happy to have had another delicious one, and they're open 24-7 so I can come back any time for more. It was served on top of the "hash browns" which were sliced skillet cooked potatoes, good but just a bit under-done. We also had the raspberry french toast, the raspberries were good but didn't combine well with the syrup. They had brought a small container of their homemade marmalade with my toast and that was great addition to the french toast. I had their juice blend of orange, canteloupe and something else. It was pretty good, but a little warm. I was asked if I wanted it on ice and said yes, but it came without ice. Perhaps they blended it with ice then it all melted before I got it? It was brought about halfway through the meal. Initially I wanted to order their huevos rancheros, even though I worry when it's not made at a Mexican restaurant. The menu says they make their own salsa so that was a promising sign. Despite them having something like 8 options for toast, they don't have tortillas for their huevos. No no no. The service was fine, a little slow for how uncrowded they were on a Friday morning (we ran out of water and we don't drink that much water). The food was also a little slow in arriving. But overall I liked it quite well and would go again. read more

BLT Club is very good. It's nice to find a restaurant that can make a simple sandwich so well. Service is friendly and efficient.

Friendly service. The waffles was so good. My husband got the strawberry waffles and pork sausage and he enjoyed it. I had the sampler with bacon, onions, and mozzarella cheese, which was good. I also enjoyed their fresh squeeze orange juice. Everything was good. read more

Tempo Cafe - Fresh Strawberry Waffle - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Close to hotels - very clean/safe - fast service - the scrambler was really good. Nice diner feel w/o being overdone. Will come back read more

Tempo Cafe - Scrambler - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Our party of seven was so hungry that no one took photos of the magnificent poached eggs & lox hollandaise, 5 egg omelettes, chocolate chip pancakes, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs, or their magnificent skillet scrambles! Each served with Greek toast and hash browns. Definitely a go-to location for delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner... family-owned and economical! read more

Tempo Cafe - Just had the best brunch with friends at Tempo. This family owned place is my go-to for every meal! Owner Stelio Kontos is a great host! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place was pretty packed on a Saturday morning as expected. The service was fast, and food was in our tables in about 20mins. We all had waffles with different toppings, really good! read more

It's near to where I live, so my roommates and I like to have brunch here. Services are good. The food also taste good. The only thing is that during the meal they will brought a coffee pot and ask you whether you'd like coffee. But then we see the bill, we found out the coffee cost $5. I think it's better to told the customers the price when provide the offer. The worst thing is when I see other reviews, I found out that the coffee should be $2.5. Why it cost $5 of me and my roommate per person???!!!!! read more

Tempo Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Here from Florida! Fast service great breakfast. So much food! Definitely will come back. Yummy read more

Tempo Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great spot for a quick breakfast. Good fast service. I had the veggie skillet way to big to finish. My friend had apple pancakes. Reasonable prices. read more

Not bad for a 24 hour cafe. Our server Vicky was very attentive. Breakfast food is decent- I had the corn beef hash with eggs and potatoes. My selection turned out OK, waffle came out really tasty. read more

Tempo Cafe - Corn beef hash with scrambled eggs - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great food! Love picking up breakfast here! They have the folding doors open, so you can walk in and out without touching any doors.

One of the few places open last midnight. I think of this as sort of a Denny's. I got the steak and eggs which was super pricy about $18. The steak was pretty good. It was cooked well. I like it medium rare but the eggs were over saturated with butter to the point that I just couldn't eat it. It also comes with country style potato which was cooked decently. It was crispy and had less butter than the eggs thankfully. Service was good. Overall, come only if you're looking for food after midnight. read more

Terrible service. Walked in and asked if we could sit outside. She said grab a table, I'll be right with you. Never came back. Even walked past us three times and made eye contact. After she walked past us and gave menus to a table that arrived many minutes after we did, that was the last straw. We walked out. read more

We arrived to a crowd pouring out into the street on a Friday morning and expected a huge wait, so we were happily surprised to hear it would only be 15 minutes. True to their word, we were seated at a patio table a bit under 20 minutes later. The large menu is slightly overwhelming, just like the portions--which is my main complaint with Tempo! I understand they're trying to provide value, but my 3-Egg Mexican Omelette (with egg whites subbed in for whole eggs) filled half of a skillet. Hashbrowns, which I left untouched, filled the other half, plus, this came with toast! One egg-based order would easily feed two adults. Come hungry or try to plan ahead for a time when you can take your boxed-up meal home. The breakfast was tasty; it was nice to see that quantity didn't supersede quality. Next time, I'd love to try one of the sweet options, like (half of) the Morning Glory Pancakes! read more

Tempo Cafe - 3-egg (white) Mexican omelette - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The rating for Tempo depends on the time of day. For breakfast, Tempo offers good, hearty breakfasts for a decent price. The omelets and scramblers are quite good. Other than the fact it's popular and crowded on weekend mornings, I'd give Tempo a four-star rating for breakfasts. But dinners don't quite live up to breakfast. Tempo offers a typical diner-style selection of sandwiches and dinners (such as Greek Chicken and Chicken Livers Dinner). My wife's patty melt was mediocre, as was the salad it came with. I enjoyed the Chicken and Rice soup, but the Tempo Club sandwich was average--at an inch-and-a-half thick, it at first looks impressive, but then you realize two-thirds of the height is lettuce. Dinner was two stars. I'll be back for breakfasts but will skip the place for dinners. read more

Very good food, good service, friendly place. A nice place to eat and enjoy your food. Great rice pudding.

3/13/16 Stopped in for breakfast. As usual, the place was packed but we were seated in less than 10 min. I had the ham and cheddar omelette. There's no way these omelettes are three eggs because they're huge! I could not finish my meal, there was so much food. This place seems to be a staple spot for me whenever I'm I the city so I'm sure I'll be back in the future. read more

Recommended by a local, did not disappoint. Friday morning 815 am, no wait, clean bright inside seating and offers outdoor dining area as well. Savings for the breakfast are large enough for 2 people. The staff friendly and quick to keep the coffee and water refills coming. Fresh orange wedge and prune for an "orange wedgie" to keep you regular. The marmalade was amazingly bright and tastey on toast. A great find....we are not from the are but would come back for another meal while in town. read more

Tempo Cafe - Recommendations from locals, nice clean friendly place. Great coffee and an "orange wedgie" - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is a comfortable all-night diner in the midst of the Gold Coast. I suppose even tourists and upper middle class residents need a place to have standard fare like sandwiches, omelets and waffles without having to go to a greasy dive. The place has a neat appearance, and its outdoor cafe gets crowded. read more

Tempo Cafe - Tempo Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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It was fun eating breakfast here with the bustling atmosphere and all. Loved the skillet omelette. I've noticed other reviews griping about this or that. Word to the wise: Just come here for breakfast. At least that is what I heard they do best before visiting. Too bad some of the other people didn't have that intel. Oh well, better luck next time. read more

Tempo Cafe isn't really much more than a Denny's. Bright lighting, an around-the-clock breakfast menu and drunk customers. I had the chicken breast sandwich, which was supposed to have been marinated in something. I'm guessing they just marinated the chicken in lukewarm water because it tasted like nothing. Disappointing. And it wouldn't have killed them to have toasted the bun. But my fries were good. Big, thick steak fries. Service was also attentive. And I had an orange cream smoothie that was delightful. This shouldn't be your first resort for food, but as a stop-gap emergency place, it might do the trick. Warning: They only take cash. read more

I thought this place was just for late night...but I was wrong. It's a no frills brunch, cash only, stern service, but the omelets are amazing, lights fluffy and come on top of hash browns in a skillet! Love it. Also the portions are ridiculous. Ate my omelet for 2 days afterwards. read more

Great in and out, with good food! read more

Tempo Cafe - Feta spinach nd canadian bacon scramble was excellent ! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Fabulous omelets. Service was slow but sitting with friends made it tolerable. Must have cash. If going on Sunday morning try 10:00, much later is more difficult. read more

Atmosphere was clean but a tad loud considering there was only one full table in the joint... I can only imagine what a busy place would sound like. The service wasn't spectacularly friendly or welcoming but they got the job done. My friend ordered the steak and eggs breakfast. Was expensive (about $18) but she made it last three meals so it was worth it. I took a taste and thought I could cook better so I wasn't too impressed. Still it hits the spot and I'd recommend going here if you need a late night something something. read more

Tempo Cafe - Steak and Eggs - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is open 24hrs and was referred to me as a hole in the wall diner. With that in mind I expected just a little better food quality since diner usually has plentiful and can't finish but some portions were large and some not very inconsistent. My eggs Benedict was fair price $11 so not bad but would I crave this place again probably not . Long line to get in because of New Year's Day but seating in 15 min and waitress was a doll. Unfortunately too many other good restaurants around the block! read more

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This place was our go to after bar hopping on Division & the Triangle in the 90's. Today I am an adult and it's hard to stay up past 10pm and I like my omelettes during the daytime lol. My absolute fav is egg whites with artichokes & mozzarella dry. The staff here gets the term "dry" and don't soak the omelette in cooking oil. Hey, if you are doing egg whites how much oil do you need or want? Is the staff warm & fuzzy? Only if you are a regular. Other than that they are very professional and polite. Which makes sense as they get super busy because they have a great location, reasonable prices and good food. read more

Went there 2 years ago in the middle of a covid -19 lockdown. Amazing breakfast, great service. Going back end of the week and being close to Tempo was a factor in choosing where to stay. Looking forward to breakfast. read more

Easy to get in line, saturdays definitely are rush days! But don't blame them, the food is worth it! Great service, all super nice and friendly. Feels like a small hometown diner in the middle of the city! read more

Tempo is hands down the best breakfast restaurant I have tried in Chicago. Now, I know, I know most of those from Chicago will pick Lou Mitchell's as the best. Sorry, but sometimes I think reputation trumps the reality of what is truly a better meal. Tempo has a much better atmosphere, service and my god do they have wonderful skillets and breakfast plates! Just look at the pictures of the omelet I had. There are potatoes under that omelet, but the omelet is so huge, they had to put them on the bottom! The prices are great and it has a bit of a European feel - maybe a little French or Canadian French. Nice place and nice service. I have eaten here a number of times and love it. I have never been disappointed and would recommend this as my number 1 pick for breakfast in Chicago. read more

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I ordered a chicken sandwich and it was good. Even the complimentary soup was good, but good requires a three star rating and that's what this restaurant gets. It was inexpensive food for a semi-quick meal for my wife and I. read more

Typical greek food. Service is not good. Waitress was just rude and didn't seem like she even wanted to be there. Best part of the meal was my toast. The scrambler was dry. Hubs ordered the Artemis omelet and it came out as a skillet. He just ate it. Coffee bad. Lenny the bus boy was super friendly and happy. Owner/manager was walking around yelling at his staff. Interesting breakfast. read more

Perfect low key high quality breakfast. Just what I needed! In Chicago on business, (and a bit of play!), Danny the doorman advised me to have breakfast here. The locals know! I was shocked at how good the salsa was, had me a pile of browns with my breakfast, asked for salsa with low expectations. Turns out, it's made fresh right here and was well beyond my expectations! Being born and raised in Tucson AZ, I've had plenty of salsa concoctions, most miss, a few nail it. This one nailed it!! Anyway, breakfast was cooked to perfection, server was welcoming and efficient. Great experience! Will be back after my wife joins me tomorrow. read more

I have only been living in Chicago for about a month now and Tempo is easily one of my favorite places to eat at. Tempo is in the Gold Coast, meaning that it is very close to downtown and all of that. It is in a great location and it is always an easy and quick meal. I have never had to wait for a table here and that is amazing, since it is usually crowded. In addition to always getting a table here, I have picked up food from here before it has never taken more than 15 minutes. So eating here or picking up is always an easy process. Tempo is very similar to a diner, meaning that it is a very comfy and casual place. You can dress very casually here and the environment is very homey. Some of my favorite things to eat here are the oatmeal with sliced banana on top, the spinach and feta omelette with egg whites, and the buckwheat pancakes...they are to die! There is also amazing coffee here! Overall, Tempo is great for every meal and you can't go wrong here! read more