Lovely restaurant attended by many locals for decades. Service could not be better!

Convenient location. Opens early. Pleasant atmosphere & friendly staff. Very tasty wholegrain pancakes, but be prepared that they are very huge. A real American style & music.

Foti, who works here, can "enlighten" you about anything on the menu. He's very knowledgeable. Service is lightning fast. Juices are all fresh. Try the apple/celery or strawberry/orange. They make their own orange marmalade. That alone is woth a visit. Coffee is perfect. I hadn't been in over 20 years. In my youth, this was 24 hours, and a lot of us musicians would go here after gigs. Tempo is wonderful. If you are fortunate to to have Foti as your server, you will be even more blessed.

I just want to review how amazing this waffle was. I ordered a side of fruit and turkey sausage as well and just threw everything on the plate because the tables on the patio are so small. But let me tell you about this waffle. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing and not only is cooked so perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. But the taste of it is like candy like with the bite of the crunch . I don't know what they put in this but I have never experienced a waffle like this before. I got the chocolate chip waffle. And it's not overly sweet with the syrup. It was such a wonderful experience. The service is top tier and the food is filling. Would definitely recommend tempo cafe to anyone.

Nice looking place. Menu is a bit odd with mostly create your own. I like to have creations 🤷‍♀️ portions are HUGE. Neither of us could finish our breakfast. We should have only gotten one. Food was okay. If it wasn’t for all the cheese in my scrambled platter I don’t think mine would have had much flavor. Service was good.

Absolutely delicious! Simple cafe in the heart of the Gold Coast. I’ve come here several times and the food is always great. Perfect egg skillet and pancakes every time. :). Also very cool Chicago Art.

Great location with okay food. We stopped by on a Tuesday morning and were seated outside in 10 minutes. Food was great. However,service could be better for sure. Tables are super small and us being 6 people on 2 small tables was a hustle. Price wise was affordable compared to surrounding restaurants. 4 stars but will be back soon so I will update for sure.

All day breakfast! Lots of “build your own” I guess since people always ask for substitutions just makes it easier to satisfy. Nice staff. Clean/bright atmosphere. Coffee is weak so if you like dark coffee for for espresso ☕️

Great place to visit for breakfast! We traveled from another state and wanted to visit some nice restaurants in Chicago. Tempo cafe is definitely a good choice! Food was excellent and the service is very quick and efficient

Amazing! This was a short walk from our hotel. We are so happy we came here. The poor man skillet was amazing! The banana nut pancakes tasted like warm banana nut bread so delicious! I can’t wait to come back to Chicago to eat here again!

There's a place in Wisconsin that does a great scrambler so when I saw it on the menu here I was all in. It did not disappoint. Good fresh veggies on a bed of potatoes. Will keep the hunger at bay all day. Came on a busy sat morning and wait was not on obnoxious. Friendly staff.

Decent, average food. Was disappointed with the food. The service is excellent and the kitchen is fast! We were able to get a seat right away after our flight around 8am. Unfortunately the food is bland, very surprised by the eggs. No way they were fresh. Hashbrown, mid. Chicken liver, okay. Pancakes, good! I heard a lot of great things, maybe we just came on a bad day or didn’t get the right items.

We absolutely LOVED our breakfast ! First time here and it won’t be the last. My husband had corned beef hash and eggs, I had steak and eggs. DELISH !!! Our server was spot on, can’t remember her name. Very attentive. Strongly recommend this place for breakfast !

It's a good spot to have brunch, we didn't wait long to be seated even though the place was quite busy. The food was ready soon after ordering. Both the avocado toast and gyros sandwich were delicious.

Amazing spot for breakfast. Food came quick and the service was also great. They have in house orange marmalade, and salsa as well. Definitely gonna come back here to try other things on their menu.

No complaints here. In my wife’s words it was “the best waffle she has ever had”. Food was good, service was great, and the atmosphere was decent. Just a nice chill spot to have breakfast or brunch at.

Spent 9 nights in Chicago and was advised by the hotel staff, I would get a good breakfast here, this was an unstatement to say the least. The food was fantastic, the staff were friendly and polite, I would highly recommend this place for anyone who lives nearby or if you are travelling through the city

Kind of old-school in the best sense. No "simple" coffee specialties like even an Americano, but the food was exceptional. Not too sweet, not greasy at all, very solid. Super busy on a Sunday morning, of course, but perfectly organized and great service. Restaurant and facilities are dated, which adds to the charm, in some ways, but I like that a place that doesn't look modern lofty for a change.

What an amazing restaurant! We got in at about 8 am and were seated right away (party of 2). Someone came around and gave us coffee and water immediately and a server came to take our orders. I ordered the omelette (cheddar and onion) and my partner ordered eggs Benedict. The eggs Benedict came with hashbrowns and a slice of cantaloupe, which I got because my partner doesn't like it, and my omelette came with white toast and hashbrowns under it. The omelette was delicious but MASSIVE! I could only eat a bit of it. But I suggest the marmalade for the toast. They make it in house and it is lovely- was my first time eating marmalade. Highly recommend!

The omelette I got was good. Nothing to write home about, but their hash browns are not my style. Their version is sliced boiled potatoes and letting a stack of them crisp one side then the other so it's not crispy throughout. Service was good though, the waiter noticed my order wasn't correct before bringing it out and had it fixed.

Went here with a small crowd and was seated and serviced almost immediately. Breakfast skillet and French toast were good choices. Not a big establishment but they make room, outdoor seating looked a little more spacious.

The food was amazing! Perfect portion sizes and great prices. The service was wonderful - our server was on top of things! I ordered the banana nut waffle and when it came out, there was no topping. I figured the banana nut was cooked into the waffle - I was wrong. As soon as our server noticed, she offered to put the topping on the waffle for me, but I declined because it tasted fabulous even without the topping. Great first time experience here, and will definitely be back!

Our visit to the Tempo Cafe for brunch was an absolute treat! We both had Scrambler Skillets - one Poor Man's and one with ham, mushrooms and cheese. Each portion was easily two meals! All of the staff were friendly, but our waiter, Forti, was an absolute gem of a human being. He was kind, friendly, attentive and made us feel like part of the family the entire time. The team knocks ir out of the park for flavor, variety, atmosphere and an all around amazing experience. We cannot wait to go back the next time we're in Chicago!!

Tasty, fresh, fast, and reasonably priced diner in the Gold Coast? Yes, please! This is a rare find in the area, especially because they open early. We ordered some simple plates and were very happy all around. The coffee is okay but it will definitely get things moving so don't go too far from a bathroom. I think the only thing I would do differently is try a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

Tempo Cafe was very busy, and it stays busy. Clearly it’s popular. The coffee was very good. The skillet could’ve been made to order better, I asked for eggs over easy and they came scrambled. The Eggs Benedict was great and made up for it. They forgot our chocolate chip pancakes, which is what knocked my rating down. 6.8/10

UPDATED REVIEW: I had originally given a one-star rating due to poor service, which the owner quickly addressed and offered to rectify. We went back around lunch time on a Tuesday to try the restaurant again. It was extremely busy, but we were seated in less than 5 minutes. We each got scramblers, which were delicious, and the portion sizes are very generous (we took about half home in to-go boxes). Our waitress was very sweet and on top of all of her tables. Thanks Tempo! Glad we stopped back by.

The food is good! This is an awesome spot! You can have no money or little money and still get a meal! Egg sandwiches are $6!!! I ordered the scrambler. The only thing that I didn’t like was pancakes were sold separately, no upgrading the toast! Besides that I love that! I will be back 😅😅

Ordered some breakfast and coffee to go on a Friday morning and was very happy. I had to request a rush and the restaurant did indeed help me with a fast order. The food, coffee and service were all good. They have a nice location with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Would surely recommend it if you are in Chicago and in the area.

Absolutely amazing breakfast. I had the avocado toast 😋 and my husband got the strawberry French toast. He said it was the best he'd had in years. Mine was super fresh. We also split a banana milkshake, yummy. Prices weren't crazy either. Good area, friendly staff. Will visit again next time in town.

Came across this cafe while walking around the city. They had an outdoor patio and indoor seating. We decided to dine in! The interior decor was a little dated but don’t let that discourage you. The service was good, quick, friendly and fresh. There were a lot of options to choose depending on your appetite.

Absolutely amazing breakfast!! It is that good we had breakfast EVERY morning of our city break. You must try the pancakes and the scrambler. Highly recommended

very good food. services was incredible. little noisy. it’s hard to have a conversation because everyone else is talking.