Bistros...they for skinny hoes...I can't eat a full meal at one of those ... you need to eat at the Tempo...F$ck it up at the Tempo! Pancakes! Strawberry French toast! Omelets in a skillet! Perfectly cooked bacon! Coffee flowing!!! Cholula at my fingertips. This place is the best for a gorgeous breakfast. read more

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I love this place so much. It's exactly what it claims to be -- a diner with a range of options (including some tasty healthy choices), hot good quality coffee, and excellent, often sassy service. Please don't ever change. read more

The location is optimal! Great spot to sit outside and people watch on a Saturday afternoon. The food was good, nothing blew me out of the water but I also wasn't disappointed. So solid. They are very attentive and you will never have an empty coffee cup if you're someone who needs more than one cup in the morning. read more

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

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I used to live near Tempo! Love the staff! Love how Tempo makes an oasis in a large city like Chicago. I just paid $30+ dollars to have a turkey club delivered. No potato wedges aka French fries were included. Furthermore- The spoonful of slaw was an insult Also I received a salad that I NEVER ordered and paid for it!!! I think the worst part was the burned bread on the Turkey Club-completely was scraping your mouth!!!! This used to be a great place- read more

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The food and service are excellent! A great value in the city in the Gold Coast area. Super good for breakfast. Good at all mealtimes-a great traditional diner and worth a visit. Outdoor patio is a great amenity. Excellent price performer, especially for the area. read more

Excellent food here! Service was fairly swift despite how busy it was. (We went Saturday around 11:30am, very busy) if you go around this time be sure to join the waitlist early, we waited an hour to be seated. Be aware a lot of the food is a la carte, pancakes not included as a side. Sat inside, nothing special as far as decore. Was a little loud inside but not too bad. Server was nice and quick. read more

Tempo Cafe - Scrambler skillet, Short Stack, Steak and Eggs - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We got apple pancakes ($13), a side of scrambled eggs ($4), a bacon, cheddar, and pepper scramble ($13), and a side of plain pancakes ($11), along with coffee ($3.25). Coffee was bitter but good with cream. The star of the show was the pancakes! So yummy and full of vanilla. I didn't even use syrup. Our server, Eli, was so sweet and attentive! She refilled our coffee quickly and without being asked even though the restaurant was packed. read more

Tempo Cafe - Apple pancakes, side of eggs, pancakes, scramble - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is a very casual brunch place. It's often crowded so that explains its popularity. They have tons of seating. This place reminds you of an old school American diner. The servers are very friendly. They always have great recommendations and are extremely sweet. We tried the avocado toast, spinach omelette, hot tea and latte. All were great with huge portion sizes and a typical American diner style preparation. I'll highly recommend this place, especially for a casual brunch. read more

Service was great-appropriately funny wait staff. Food was ok (too much hollandaise on eggs Benedict), generous coffee, welcoming atmosphere. read more

Tempo is very consistent. Always enough food for a fair price. Omelette are huge and fluffy. BLTs are the best in the city.

I met a friend for breakfast the other weekday and was glad to see a bustling restaurant. This classic diner offers great breakfast options and terrific lunch choices. Portion size is alway generous - enough for a second meal at home. I love the veggie omelette that sits on a bed of potatoes. There is always a ton of veggies and the potatoes are cooked to perfection. This visit I ordered the veggie skillet. The veggies were cooked into the potatoes with scrambled eggs on top. The same tasty ingredients just rearranged a little. Sometimes after work, I'll stop in for a side salad with the homemade red wine vinaigrette and a side of steak fries. Yum! Service is fantastic. I'm always greeted as soon as I walk in. The ladies who assist me are friendly, efficient and professional. I always feel well cared for during my meals. The prices are on point for great diner food in the heart of the Gold Coast and is my go to stop for casual meals. read more

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

The service was great fast and friendly. The ambiance was relaxing and get place to meet friend for a quick brunch. Breakfast is served all day. The food was full of flavor . I will go again. read more

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Great service and good selection of food! Fresh squeezed OJ was delicious. The homemade salsa was fresh and flavorful. read more

Tempo Cafe - Huevos rancheros with homemade salsa! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Clean restaurant, Quick service, Delicious Breakfast skillets. Large and plentiful, full of flavor, fresh crisp vegetables delicious protein options, eat half today and enjoy the leftovers tomorrow morning for breakfast. I'm sure you will enjoy your meal. Bon appétit. read more

If you give a review on size, quantity, bodaciousnes [sic], capacity or portions of food you order, Tempo Cafe would get an 8 Star review. I'm not kidding, the amount of food these generous people give you goes by "Tonnage"! None of us four souls could finish the lunch meals we ordered. My lamb Gyro, my wife's stuffed avocado with tuna, our friends chicken livers and chopped salad could have fed eight - easily! When dishing out this quantity of food, I'm thinking (maybe) quality gets left behind. Don't get me wrong, this food wasn't bad. It just wasn't great. It was certainly, good. The restaurant itself was immaculate. The service was very good and the ambience / noise level was great. The outdoor seating was a nice touch which we all appreciated. I think, if these nice Tempo Cafe people concentrated on their food, instead of their serving sizes, they would have a stone cold winner! read more

Great service and good food at this nice little diner like restaurant. My hubby had a very fluffy egg skillet dish, Well, I enjoyed a a club sandwich on gluten-free bread. I had the sides of coleslaw, which was creamy, and just had a pinch of sweetness to it. Although it was not my number one favorite coleslaw, it was very good. Great service. read more

Good food! Large portions, good vibes ¨ Server was nice, despite how busy it was. I got the skillet which was great! read more

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Tempo Cafe is the best breakfast restaurant in the city of chicago. No frills just dang good food. The diner vibe in Gold Coast is honestly refreshing. It's always packed but you can add your name to the waitlist before you head that direction. Be careful though! They just yell out your name so it is easy to be skipped if you're not near by. The skillet is the best thing in the world. My mom loves the waffle and my roommate loves the ample gluten free options! 10/10 would recommend. read more

Tempo Cafe - Golden Brown Waffle - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Honestly surprised that this place has even one bad review! I come here all the time with friends and family (even though I live over two miles away), and it's hands down one of the most reliable breakfast/brunch spots in Chicago. They also have tons of other classic diner food too, so it's a go to for any time of day. There's loads of options, even for plant based eaters, but I recommend getting the Belgian waffle no matter what else you order with it. Best waffle in the city!! Servers are lovely here, always. Coffee's great too, especially for the price. Overall classic, good food you can go wrong with. read more

Tempo Cafe - Golden Brown Waffle with fresh fruit, Spinach and Feta Omelette, Greek toast - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Service was okay and food was okay. I felt like it needed a lot of salt and pepper that's for sure. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and it was just breakfast nothing to be like oh I'll come back again because I will not revisit. read more

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

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From service to atmosphere to price, this is a perfect place to grab breakfast! It was steps from our hotel and wow it did not disappoint. The food was scrumptious and the staff are well oiled machines to get everything to the table, coffee poured and cleanup. Loved it here read more

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

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Gluten free waffle was good. Wouldn't order anything else though. Wasn't good and friend had to send their food back. Bad service. Not worth the trouble to find parking here. read more

Food is horrible! Tempo you could do better! Only thing I ate was cole slaw which they prob buy from somewhere. read more

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

This was a great surprise! GF options! Healthy portions! Delicious and fresh! Highly recommend! read more

Tempo Cafe - Chicken livers, build your own omelette, side of avo and gf toast! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great food & customer service My husband & I come alot here to eat . You get the best food for your buck !! read more

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

The food was really good. The restaurant got busy quick so get there early! Highly recommend!!!!! read more

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

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Best egg scramble ever!! Staff was super nice and the service was quick. The food was also delicious and gave HUGE portions. Also loved the outside seating. Will be back ! EDIT- SADLY I spoke too soon. I have to take it down from 5 stars to 2 stars due to the fact I was SO sick after eating here... read more

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A girlfriend and I met here for Sunday brunch at 11AM. We joined the Yelp waitlist ahead of getting to the restaurant. I HIGHLY recommend doing this! Especially if you have a group of 4 or larger; this place gets busy and we saw a lot of parties standing around and waiting. I ordered the Omni omelette. When they say those omelettes are 5 eggs, they aren't joking! Mine was HUGE! Our waitress joked when she passed by that it looked like I hadn't eaten any of it because I made such a small dent. It was hearty and hit me in my brunch cravings. I really liked the browned parts on the potatoes - they were so crispy! Another thing I really liked was they give you orange marmalade in a little container that you can spread on your toast. Pretty sure it's made in house. Yum! Lots of orange pieces in it. Service was great~ our lady was always close by when we looked for her. Also my omelette was only $17.90 (subbed wheat toast which was an extra charge). For that price and amount of food in River North that's a great deal! I highly recommend checking this place out! I loved Tempo Cafe and would definitely go again. read more

This restaurant is excellent for breakfast. When we walked into this please, We were going to sit inside, because the weather was a little bit chilly but inside it was a busy. The dinner tables are really close to each other so we decided to sit outside and it was the best decision, we had a nice view of the street strip and it was sunny so it all worked out. I ordered the morning glory waffles this has been the best waffles I have ever tasted so far, highly recommend it. The service was a little slow, our waitress was an old lady she kept on forgetting to bring milk for the coffee, straws, napkins etc. When the food was coming to the table she make sure we had everything we needed. I will definitely come back to try what else is in menu, but are you if you are in Chicago this is a must try restaurant. I do have to mention that eating outside the only bad thing is that there is a lot of bees around and they will sit on your plates and if you are allergic to bees or just have phobia it can get a little bit annoying. read more

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Really mediocre and expensive breakfast food but lucky for them I like mediocre breakfast food

The service is amazing !! The food is wonderful and has fabulous taste!! The syrup is always warm and the marinade is home made!! Ivalways love the waffles and the chocolate chip pancakes is to die for the skillets arw also favorite the steak skillet has a rumble of flavor !! They also have a new ideam call the Mexican rancheros it comes with fresh daily rice and beans and the he made salsa and tortillas!! Yummy!! The place is always clean the booths are nice to sit in !! Sigh in on line during the weekends!! But now the weather is nice they have the patio open !!"when you arecin goldcoast stop in and try glitter taste of home cooking !! read more

Stopped by for breakfast and it didn't disappoint! Our server was friendly and quick. Food came out fresh and fast. I forgot to take a picture but we even had leftovers to take back to the hotel. We tried 4 different items and loved them all! read more

I ordered breakfast on Uber Eats and I got the morning glory waffles. I love that it was a cute flower shape and it also tasted really good! read more

Tempo Cafe - Morning Glory Waffle - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tempo cafe is a generic yet tasty diner. I frequent this place a lot due to proximity of my apartment, but it's nothing overly special. It used to be 24 hours pre Covid which was a nice touch. The scramblers are HUGE and definitely enough to share. I always get those when I'm in a breakfast mood. read more

Came downtown for an appointment and saw this restaurant next door and got a recommendation from the owner if the business I was at to get a bite to eat here. I chose to eat inside because it was raining out as well as loud out and this place is freezing cold inside. When my friend asked if we could be seated elsewhere because we were under a vent we were told anywhere we would sit would be just as cold as he pointed to the ceiling, which we could tell wasn't true. We moved seats anyway and the seat we picked was much warmer. -- A group of 3 people came in and were seated in the same spot we had just left and immediately asked to be seated elsewhere and they tried to tell them the same thing and they insisted to be seated elsewhere and they found warmer seats someplace else as well... -- as the employee walked away we heard him complain to the other employees that we were being a pain wanting to change seats that it wasn't going to make any difference now that we were at a different table. Not sure if it was a fluke or what but the waffle that I ordered tasted off but because of the waiter I was intimated to say anything & I didn't see any other staff members walking around to be able to get anyone else's attention to say anything to anyone so I ate it. And I should have just said something because I ended up sick for 2 days because I ended up eating it. No waffle & a side of bacon should result in that. The person I was with didn't seem to have any problem with their meal so that was good at least. Unfortunately based on my experience I can't say I'd recommend it. read more

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Quick service and cozy atmosphere for breakfast or lunch. Located in the Gold Coast area of Chestnut and State. We had a late breakfast and the food was great. Check out the dessert display inside next to the cashier and try the moist chocolate cake to die for ! read more

Went here for breakfast and had the scrabbled egg skillet and was not disappointed! Very large portion and very tasty and cooked perfectly! Didn't love the vanilla latte but was a 6/10 for taste. Service was friendly and quick. read more

Tempo Cafe - Scrambler Skillet with bacon feta and tomatoes ( very large omelette in the background) - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Some places do quantity as quality is not there. This one of those as while the 3 egg scrambler is big I did not finish and I am over six feet tall and weight over 200 pounds . I also did mot finish as not good as eggs were tasteless, potatoes had no crisp or seasoning. If they boiled them more salt was needed and need more time on grill or on skillet as no char. My oj was okay but hard to tell if bad oranges that were squeezed or premade oj made to look like fresh squeezed. I always find it hard for breakfast as have three places, the places with a small things like pastries and egg sandwiches, fancy places that do good breakfast buy are pricey and places like this bust do huge sizes but not good tasting food. read more

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

Chicago, you can do better then this... Eggs Benedict with some barely poached eggs. Lox bagel with no cream cheese served on a bed of old brown lettuce. What they lacked in cream cheese on the bagel, they made up for with mayonnaise on the club sandwich - wow there was a a freaking ton of mayo on that puppy. And last but not least, those aren't hash browns - those are boiled saltless potatoes. read more

Was craving a grilled cheese so I got a grilled cheese. Interior is cute and clean. Patio-seating outside. Good for a quick bite. read more

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