Clarke’s Diner

So the new owner asked me to write an honest review of the place, so I’ll try to hit as many areas of the diner as I can. I live down the street from Clarke’s and have eaten here more than enough times.
Food — 3.5 Stars
If I had to give this place a review just based on the food, I would give it 3.5 stars. Because it’s not an upscale restaurant whose food should be ranked top 10 in Chicago, I can’t, by any means, give it anything close to 5 stars. However, Clarke’s is one of the better diners I have been to. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served 24 hours a day, there are freshly made pastries, there is a turkey option, and the food is consistent. You can get 3 full course meals for under $ 30. Clarke’s is like an off-​brand IHOP with less pancake options, better tasting eggs, and burgers. The food quality is definitely on the better half of Chicago diners.
Service — .5 Stars… Yes I said POINT 5 stars
Before I talk about this, please note that from December until now, the service has been excellent. They’ve hired some new staff like O and this white guy (forgot his name) who have been outstanding waiters. However, for the sake of the new owners making changes, I’ll be writing this review for the time before December.
I’ve been to my fair share of diners and restaurants, and let me tell you, Clarke’s has some of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. When you first walk in, there’s no host… at all. I’ve lived in Hyde Park for 2 years now, and, until December 2015, I’ve never been greeted a the door. Usually, my girlfriend and I wait about 2 minutes, get irritated, grab a few menus, and find ourselves a table. Then begins the waiting game. The busser is always helping with refilling our water glasses, but he’s usually the only person we interact with for the first 5 – 10 minutes of stepping into the diner. Many times we’re sitting by the TVs which is right in front of the juice bar where the staff is usually. So we can clearly see the staff looking at us waiting to have our orders taken. During one experience, we had our waitress come by, take our orders, clock out without placing our orders, and then wait another 20 minutes before anyone realized that our waitress had left and our orders were never placed. During another fantastic experience, 3 waiters/​waitresses passed us by without taking our order. The white waiter (still can’t remember his name), who was actually about to leave since his shift was up, went out of his way to ask someone to take our order. However, when they «forgot», he took off his coat, put down his bag, and offered to stay an extra hour to make sure we got our food. As soon as we did, I tipped him $ 20, and told him to leave because he shouldn’t be burdened with his colleagues’ terrible service or management. Lastly, it take FOREVER to get the check.
Now, many are probably asking «Why do you keep going back if the service is so bad?» Well, considering I only live 5 minutes away walking, and it’s the only place (besides Subway) opened 24 hours in Hyde Park, there aren’t too many options after 10pm. Also, like a said, the food is actually pretty good. Since the beginning of December, I have seen some changes in personnel and the service has been soooo much better. I just hope the new owner can whip his manager into shape.
Rant over.

Went back last night for some good olé chicken wings and my favorite the Kobe burger. Seemed like some management changes have happened it seemed some what organized and it was super busy last night had to wait for only like 5 min. In general it’s still a solid pick for made to order fresh food
I’ve heard you guys are coming to Loyola campus in rogers park?
Keep up the good work I’ll definitely be spreading the word about new ownership

My third visit in three days with extraordinary service and no waits at all. Today for lunch my kids watched as a manager made freshly squeezed OJ and he passed my 3 year old the glass — for free. I’ve read all the negative reviews but I’ve not experienced any of that. Plus the whole front of the restaurant opens up to the street. Very nice place and I highly suggest a visit.

management was very rude when we told them that our food came out cold. Food was nasty and service was sloppy. Eating from a dumpster would be better.

If I could give this place no stars or even negative stars, I’d gladly do so. I have never had such terrible service at a diner in my entire history of having diner food. Diner food is never even that good to begin with, so to have this experience is really saying something.
We (a party of 10, but one wasn’t eating) arrived a little after noon and were seated quickly, which is good, but what was probably the one good thing that happened here.
From then it took our server/​waitress, at least 30 minutes to acknowledge us. Looked at our table a couple of times, but no one knew she worked there because she was dressed like she rolled out of bed after a real deep sleep and showed up in sleep clothes.
By the time she finally acknowledged us to take orders, she stood at one end of the table and basically said «who’s ready to order» in no particular order, not addressing anyone directly, in between orders she just says «anyone else?» Doing that is forcing us to shout our orders to you across the table. Good job for not taking 5 extra steps to move to the other side of the table to take orders. Maybe if you would have our orders would have been correct, but that must have been way too much to ask of a person we pay to provide a service.
So with all of the orders in, we continue to wait an OBNOXIOUSLY long time for our food. Now it’s understandable when you’re a very large, super busy restaurant who provides something a little more complicated that chicken noodle soup and omelets, but again… maybe these are complicated orders.
I think we waited, without further acknowledgement from anyone, for maybe close to an hour. To the point that we had to ask if we were forgotten. Maybe the order got lost, maybe they forgot and overlooked, but they assured us it’s being made and they’re busy so that’s why it was taking so long.
…I’ve seen busier places take care of our large group and still actually treat us like paying customers.
So our food comes out and… let me tell you, the food seemed like it was cooked and sat there on the counter for 20 minutes before someone remembered to bring it out to us, like an afterthought. We got rice (from the burrito) that was taken out of the fridge and served cold, an order of potatoes that seemed like it was cooked this morning and left under a slightly warm heat lamp to get soggy and slimy, an order of chicken noodle soup that came out very last, wrong orders, and missing food.
So yes, some of the people in our hungover and super hungry group, regrettably, ate what was remotely edible. Traded in then soggy potatoes for slightly less, but still soggy potatoes. We had them stick the rice in a microwave, cause rice isn’t normally supposed to be served cold, but afterwards it ended up tasting like sadness, anyway. Had rye bread for a blt, but was given white, which would have never happened if my friend didn’t have to shout across the table in an already not quiet diner to order it. Toast was ordered, but never dropped off. Now unless you were back there baking the bread from scratch, I don’t understand how an ordet of toast could take more than 3 minutes to make, let alone never making it to the table in the hour and a half we sat there waiting. Even after reminding our waitress /​server, it was still never brought out…
So we ask to speak to a manager, who comes out like «well it’s busy, the food is being brought out as it is being ready.» Really? We got half our meal at once, and not one thing was served hot. All room temp. So what were we waiting for, really? I find it hard to believe it took a blt just as long to be made as an omelet which takes the same amount of time as a burrito and they were all made simultaneously and came out at the exact same time. So she walks away without even letting us finish our complaints and goes to get some other guy, who knows who he is. He just walked up to us and says the same thing and they walk away. O… kay. lovely service that you can keep using that tired excuse, but not offer up any sort of apology or anything.
Avoid this place like the plague. Avoid it like you’d avoid your nasty stalker ex-​something.
Go across the street to Mello Yellow because, for a diner, they’ve always been solid in the service and food department.
I have never, received such terrible service from any place in the industry as i did with this waitress, manager, and whoever the guy was that never introduced himself.
I’d give this place a −10÷10, if I could.

I am really surprised by the bad ratings here. I have been many times, and never had a problem.
We’ve always come for dinner. Service isn’t always super quick, but I don’t think it’s ever been terrible. Everyone is always friendly and helpful.
This is like a typical America diner. They serve breakfast ²⁴⁄₇. They have great deserts. They have plenty of greasy tasty options. They have big comfy booths.
I have had a few of their salads, and I thought they were all good. I’m impressed by how large they are, and how much real food and vegetables are on the salads. I really like the Elk burgers here. It’s cool that you can add a fried egg to your burger for free. I always get sweet potato fries as a side, and they’re really good.
I am sad that they stopped serving the charlie brown brownie sundae, which was my husband’s favorite desert in the city. Last time they made us a sundae from a piece of chocolate cake, and that was good, but it wasn’t the same.
Overall I am really to have Clarke’s in Hyde Park. They’re open 24/​7, they have amazing deserts, you can come in and hang out with friends for a while, or come in with a laptop or a book and sit by yourself. You can get a huge variety of food, so everyone will be happy. They give you plenty of food for your money. This is a solid place.

My father, daughter, and I just cam from this restaurant for a late lunch. The only positive thing I have to say about this restaurant is the server Danielle was really polite. However, our food was cold and my fathers steak (he ordered steak and eggs) was over cooked. When we asked for the steak to be re done the cook (Julio I believe) told Danielle «that is medium». The steak actually appeared medium well. I ordered an omelette and my pancakes and grits were so cold that the butter (which was room temperature didn’t melt). My daughter had waffles and wings and the wings were extremely greasy. So while closing our check the owners of the restaurant walked in. Danielle mentioned to them that we would like to speak to them about the food and they told Danielle to tell us that they were in a meeting (although sitting in open view in the back of the restaurant). So my father and I approached the two men and expressed our distaste for the food. One of the men was very accusatory towards us has if we let our pancakes sit on the table for 10min prior to eating instead of being apologetic. We will never patronize this establishment again.

This place is a funky mess. It’s open 24 hours and was right up the block from our hotel so we decided to try it out. Big mistake. Started with a waiter that came back to our table 5 times to clarify our order (bad sign), the food took over 30 minutes to come out, a friend asked for egg whites and she did not get egg whites, but was still charged for it… the manager claimed they were egg whites but baked and that’s why they looked yellow. WTF! Never heard that one before. He argued with us about this, even though our waiter accidentally admitted that he saw «it did not look white.» Under omelets it says $ 1.50 for each additional topping, but they charged me double that and said it was because that was the price for onions and tomatoes, not turkey sausage. Whatever. Finally, the food was absolutely flavorless. It was not good. We’ll be staying by this hotel for 3 more days and we will make sure you never see another dime of our money. With bad food and horrendous service. I’m surprise you all have lasted this long.

Amoooo este lugar! Gran comida y me encanta que abran las 24 horas! The skillet eggs are delicious I recommend it to everyone that needs a cozy place

They serve breakfast 24 – 7! Is there anything better to say?
Skillet eggs are great.
It is also THE place to crave something in Hyde Park after 10pm.

Really terrible experience. There is no standard of appearance for the wait staff: our server was wearing yoga pants and you could see the top of her underwear. She also had dirt underneath her fingernails. She didn’t write anything down for our order, which made me side eye because we had a few substitutions that she messed up twice when reading the order back to us. I had to ask for a refill on my drink, she completely messed up my friend’s order, and referred to the chef in the back as «retarded.»
The food was okay, nothing special. Spinach and artichoke dip was super funny. Toward the kitchen were seated what I can only guess were employees either on break or completely off the clock. They were talking loudly and our server engaged them much more than she did us. Service was slow even though there were only two other customers in the restaurant.
I don’t suggest this restaurant.

I like the ambience here, very and quiet. Laid back even. The staff seemed a little delayed but friendly. I had the South of the Border breakfast skillet. Superb in looks and taste! The price was decent at 9.99. Another place coming highly recommended.

I work on 53^rd, I get breakfast across the street most days, the first time I got breakfast at Clarks, the service was slow and friendly (life story– it’s ok if you let me eat type). Eggs Benedict was average to below, very little hollandaise sauce. The second, third and fourth time I got there, usually 6:40am, I had to walk out without service.
Here’s why–
5 minutes for the empty room servers to put down the cell phone, walk over, and let me know «the cook is late», «the manager is not in yet», and today, «I’m actually off the clock waiting for the manager/​server so I can take your order but I will have to wait for them to arrive… And, it’s my last day working here.»
Seriously, it is the last time for me too.
It’s the laziest place I’ve ever experienced.

I’m starving, like stomach pains and I’ve had one to many bad experiences with this restaurant so I’d rather suffer the pain than waste another moment of my time here. The food is marginal at best and the service is worst. They don’t even seem to care that the service is horrid.

Terrible service. Terrible food. Terrible experience.
Truly a blight along the up-​and-​coming 53^rd street strip in Hyde Park. Hopefully new and existing joints will extend their hours later into the evening so everybody can avoid this disaster.

Uh. Well… it put food on my stomach.
I came to Clarke’s after I’d left from the Promontory seeing a comedian perform. If Promontory was still serving food, I would’ve stayed there. But since Clarke’s is a 24 hour spot, I decided to wander down the block there.
Got in and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to sit myself or wait for someone. There wasn’t anyone there. Eventually someone came to the front and said that I had the choice to sit where I wanted. Fine.
I sit.
After sitting there for about 15 mins one of the waitresses finally comes and asks have I been served. Noooooo… so she serves me. Water. That’s a start. Thanks. After like 15 more mins, she finally comes back to take my order. Now I’m thinking that since I ordered some dip for an appetizer and a turkey burger, it shouldn’t take that long.
Wrong.
After I started growing gray hairs, everything comes out together. *side eye* The dip was good but the burger. MEH!!! The turkey burger came with red and green peppers mixed in it which I wouldn’t mind but it just didn’t mesh well. I got through half of it. Waiting on my check was a whole nother hassle. Smh. I actually felt bad for the lady that was serving me because she was busting her butt alone pretty much. I won’t speak too negatively because I’m sure that during a different time of the day it may be better but late night wasn’t it. At all!!!

Last time I will ever order here again, honestly I would rather eat grade D meat at McDonalds.
Ordered pickup, showed up little after 5 mins they said the food would be ready, waited another 15 mins inside for it.
Ordered the same exact burger as last time, completely the same, so it should look at least relevant to last time.
That was not the case, a rare burger doesn’t have room temperature, sticky, mushy, raw ground beef In the middle. I could only take a couple bites around the edge of the burger before I was so disgusted and threw it away, it didn’t even have good flavor, meat is bland. Incredibly dissatisfied.
My friend’s tomato soup was outrageously sweet for some reason, just not good at all. Weird clear stuff that almost looks like rice throughout soup, very off putting and just not very tasty. That was also thrown away.
This was a last resort option for super late food, yet I’d rather stand inside the 7×10′ box and wait 20 mins for some greasy McDonalds.

I really hope management sees this but i doubt they would reach out. Clarkes is the only after hours dining option in hyde park and maybe that’s why they think they can get away with poor service. Who is training the servers? They do not possess an ounce of tact and grace. I came late night as I have before but this time instead of our food being out in minutes, it took nearly an hour. No one came to let us know service would be slower due to only one cook until our food came out. The waiter seemed nice just a little aloof.
And after waiting what seemed like forever for service our exit was no pleasant experience either. I’ve never been to a restaurant where you have to show proof of purchase before you leave. Not one time did our server mention that when we paid our tab, but a pretty aggressive «security » guard was adamant on seeing proof.
Communication people. That would have made this experience more bearable. I guess I’ll have to travel out the neighborhood for late night eats because Clarkes will NOT get my money anytime soon

If I were to only base this review solely on food, Clarke’s would receive three stars. But since service is so bad, they only get two stars. Service here is usually very slow; on multiple occasions, I have had to wait nearly 10 minutes for a waiter to take my order. Once they give you the check, you get to wait another 5 minutes before they pick up your payment.
The food here ranges from mediocre to pretty good. For example, the pancakes have always been really warm and filling. I would argue that the pancakes are a major redeeming feature of this restaurant! But overall, the food doesn’t seem well-​made and resembles nicely presented left-​overs (like the eggs Benedict).
Another redeeming value of Clarke’s would be that it’s open ²⁴⁄₇. But other than that, it’s a fairly mediocre restaurant.

2.5 stars
This is hilarious but normally I don’t read others reviews before I do my own, but I thought the food was actually terrible so I was really curious to see what others thought.
I should have check Unilocal before going here. I had wanted to go to Rajan Cajun, but my friend wasn’t feeling that type of food so we randomly walk in here. Now here is the funny part I see so many reviews claiming the service is terrible… and except for yes the slow wait to get food… I thought it was excellent! Our waiter was so friendly and he gave us various recommendations and was soooo patient with us (we were very indecisive)
Okay though service is nice and all but I want good food! I was all excited getting to have my breakfast fix for dinner and order the Mexicana omelette. I barely took 2 bites. very bland and eggs tasted nasty. The steak fries and pancakes were good. The waiter was so nice I felt bad saying no need for a box (I’m not trying to kill myself eating that at home) My friend got the fish (I know right I plan on checking on her later) and she said it was okay.
I won’t be back but I really appreciate the hospitality, but I’m broke broke :(and need my meal to be filling, cheap, and good.