This is my go-to spot whenever I’m in town, and it never disappoints! The atmosphere is always inviting, the food is consistently delicious, and the wait staff are all amazing — truly some of the most friendly and attentive I’ve experienced anywhere.
I don’t know everyone’s names, but every single person I’ve interacted with here has been great. That said, I have to give a special shout-out to Andrea Dalman. She has such a warm, welcoming personality and a great sense of humor, and she always takes the time to recommend something on the menu I might not think to order myself — and without fail, it ends up being my favorite dish of the night. She really goes above and beyond to make guests feel taken care of.
If you’re looking for excellent service, a team that clearly loves what they do, and food that’s worth coming back for again and again, this is the place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fredrick Bates
Adjoining the Study Hotel on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park is a restaurant named Truth Be Told (“TBT”). Our recent visit was deeply disappointing. Upon arrival, there was no greeter and no clear view of the dining room, leading to an awkward and unnecessary wait. Service was extremely slow—25 minutes for water, over an hour for food, and long delays for both black coffee (15 minutes) and a cappuccino (20 minutes). The open kitchen revealed chefs without hairnets, raising concerns about hygiene.
Most disturbing was the loud obnoxious waitress, who adopted a performative, stereotyped persona with us as a Black couple—behavior she noticeably toned down when serving the white woman next to us. Her inappropriate comments about her “Black baby daddy” were offensive and unprofessional — no kidding she thought it was okay to chat us up like that!
There was a positive— Spinach & English Cheddar Quiche: Egg Custard, spinach, English cheddar cheese, shallot, garlic, served with a mixed green salad. The pastry puff the quiche was prepared in was a huge surprise (not described on the menu) and it made for an outstanding unique quiche, but also resulted in an hour long wait for our meal. Our waitress did not think to tell us the dish took an hour to prepare when we ordered it. When it was finally ready the other routine breakfast had not been prepared! (“Study Breakfast” — Two eggs, sausage, home fries, wheat toast). Even when they finally brought the food out it was short the side of bacon that I ordered! The oysters were served with a magnificent pickled beetroot and champagne mignonette, but were tiny in size and definitely not worth $5 an oyster! BTW $5 for a cup of simple black coffee is downtown prices — $2.95 at Salonica’s a few blocks away!
Jasmine Y. “Very disappointing experience,” Elaine H. “Slow service,” and MATT T. “Our dinner experience … was poor and disappointing” all describe my experience which is in stark contrast to that of one reviewer who stated that he can’t say enough about his positive experience at TBT. I will not likely return for breakfast—maybe a cocktail at the bar.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
C Parks
The fish and chips caused the food rating to be so low. The chips were delicious, but the fish was not. The drinks were worth the wait. The atmosphere is for family and friends and would be perfect for a date night. It's not a first date place, though. It was a little expensive but a very interesting idea. A slice of London in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago. I will go back and try something else next time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Liz A
I dined here today, and it was a great experience. I was greeted and sat quickly. Emily was a such a great server; she was very kind and patient. Andrea was also great; she was attentive and upbeat. I ordered the roasted salmon, which was delicious. Definitely planning to return!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Aaron Mallory
Excellent service by Andrea food was dynamite and extremely delicious!!! Clean and kept neat
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rocky Blackmon
Unique dishes. Transporting atmosphere. Somewhat pricey. Easy parking. Recommend trying at least once.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Kim J
Burger was fire!
Food: 5
Katherine “KT” Boicourt
TDLR; worst hotel restaurant I’ve had in ages
For pub food I never expect fish fish. It’s always been a fish(?) But for shepherds pie. It definitely isn’t soup. 😭 let alone without cheese. Lights are so dim the moment 8pm happens. It adds to the /Club/ vibes. And prices. A simple side of fries is still clawing about $9. If you’ve got choices; I’d still pick anywhere else.
To top it off. Absolutely understaffed. One man and his busser tackling a whole room. He was absolutely phenomenal for how overworked he was. There should have absolutely been a second server.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 3
Arrogant Haze
TL;DR: Kind waitstaff are under staffed for dinner service and their menu is wrong on how a 3 piece fish and chips is a huge burt mess. Hard pass save your money hungry people.
Trendy and you know what that means. Drinks were good enough for campus prices. The food however has much to improve. The fish and chips was a massacre. Chips were okay, but seasoning is a mystery to the kitchen. The fish was a good cut, but it was fried in one huge chunk, not the three pieces that the menu listed. So what do we do to make sure the fish is cooked properly? Cook your fish until it turns dark brown? So we have a burnt shell, mushy uncooked breading under it, and steamy hot white fish. I ate the protein because $27 was principal levels of struggle. But I could not bring myself to eat any of that breading. The kicker, it’s served on a wooden board so all of your breading mess is all over the table like I was a toddler again. Now I came in on a Thursday evening around 8pm. One man, one single beautiful human was working our side of the restaurant. (Not the bar) our water was refilled once for a table of 3. The waiter was kind and wonderful. The drinks I could have made at home, and the food I could have definitely made at home.
Don’t eat here for bar food. Go to a real pub.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
kimyatta lyda
Best server ever cici love the energy and Andrea was awesome 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
Very good breakfast (bagel) and amazing service by Andrea! She was funny, friendly and helping.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brandon Schatt
Our server was very nice but seemed like she had too many tables. Perhaps someone called off, probably not her fault but everything was slow. Did her best to communicate though and checked in to let us know how long things might take. The big windows are nice, and inside is cozy. They turned off the overhead lights almost entirely for half of dinner which was odd since it was getting darker outside. Appetizers were all good. Probably helped that I was very hungry. Fried cheese curds, olives, & cashew hummus. Cucumber martini was so lime forward that it was more a margarita than martini to me. Others really liked their espresso martinis. Lamb shepherd’e pie was very small for an entree, but tasted good. Wish it had come with a side or something considering the portion. Linguine & crab was bad. Crab chunks were decent but whole thing was way overly salty, even for a seafood dish. I would say overall bang for buck is meh. I expected based on the overall vibe it would be a bit pricey so if the food and service speed were better I wouldn’t have cared as much. Just not really worth it considering how many good restaurants are in Chicago.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Jasper Scelsi
Andrea, my waitress, was so kind and helpful! I got the avocado toast with a poached egg, which was a perfect combination of tastes and textures! Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
James Becknell
I don't know how to describe this spot other than saying that it is a little bit magical! The atmosphere is super chill. The menu is decadent in all the right ways. You won't regret checking this place out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rovetta M
My server was Andrea, she was so friendly and attentive, which was quite impressive seeing as so she was the only server on the floor. The food is great. Will definitely come back.
This is my go-to spot whenever I’m in town, and it never disappoints! The atmosphere is always inviting, the food is consistently delicious, and the wait staff are all amazing — truly some of the most friendly and attentive I’ve experienced anywhere.
I don’t know everyone’s names, but every single person I’ve interacted with here has been great. That said, I have to give a special shout-out to Andrea Dalman. She has such a warm, welcoming personality and a great sense of humor, and she always takes the time to recommend something on the menu I might not think to order myself — and without fail, it ends up being my favorite dish of the night. She really goes above and beyond to make guests feel taken care of.
If you’re looking for excellent service, a team that clearly loves what they do, and food that’s worth coming back for again and again, this is the place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Adjoining the Study Hotel on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park is a restaurant named Truth Be Told (“TBT”). Our recent visit was deeply disappointing. Upon arrival, there was no greeter and no clear view of the dining room, leading to an awkward and unnecessary wait. Service was extremely slow—25 minutes for water, over an hour for food, and long delays for both black coffee (15 minutes) and a cappuccino (20 minutes). The open kitchen revealed chefs without hairnets, raising concerns about hygiene.
Most disturbing was the loud obnoxious waitress, who adopted a performative, stereotyped persona with us as a Black couple—behavior she noticeably toned down when serving the white woman next to us. Her inappropriate comments about her “Black baby daddy” were offensive and unprofessional — no kidding she thought it was okay to chat us up like that!
There was a positive— Spinach & English Cheddar Quiche: Egg Custard, spinach, English cheddar cheese, shallot, garlic, served with a mixed green salad. The pastry puff the quiche was prepared in was a huge surprise (not described on the menu) and it made for an outstanding unique quiche, but also resulted in an hour long wait for our meal. Our waitress did not think to tell us the dish took an hour to prepare when we ordered it. When it was finally ready the other routine breakfast had not been prepared! (“Study Breakfast” — Two eggs, sausage, home fries, wheat toast). Even when they finally brought the food out it was short the side of bacon that I ordered! The oysters were served with a magnificent pickled beetroot and champagne mignonette, but were tiny in size and definitely not worth $5 an oyster! BTW $5 for a cup of simple black coffee is downtown prices — $2.95 at Salonica’s a few blocks away!
Jasmine Y. “Very disappointing experience,”
Elaine H. “Slow service,” and MATT T. “Our dinner experience … was poor and disappointing” all describe my experience which is in stark contrast to that of one reviewer who stated that he can’t say enough about his positive experience at TBT. I will not likely return for breakfast—maybe a cocktail at the bar.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
The fish and chips caused the food rating to be so low. The chips were delicious, but the fish was not. The drinks were worth the wait. The atmosphere is for family and friends and would be perfect for a date night. It's not a first date place, though. It was a little expensive but a very interesting idea. A slice of London in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago. I will go back and try something else next time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
I dined here today, and it was a great experience. I was greeted and sat quickly. Emily was a such a great server; she was very kind and patient. Andrea was also great; she was attentive and upbeat. I ordered the roasted salmon, which was delicious. Definitely planning to return!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent service by Andrea food was dynamite and extremely delicious!!! Clean and kept neat
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Unique dishes. Transporting atmosphere. Somewhat pricey. Easy parking. Recommend trying at least once.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Burger was fire!
Food: 5
TDLR; worst hotel restaurant I’ve had in ages
For pub food I never expect fish fish. It’s always been a fish(?) But for shepherds pie. It definitely isn’t soup. 😭 let alone without cheese.
Lights are so dim the moment 8pm happens. It adds to the /Club/ vibes. And prices. A simple side of fries is still clawing about $9.
If you’ve got choices; I’d still pick anywhere else.
To top it off. Absolutely understaffed. One man and his busser tackling a whole room.
He was absolutely phenomenal for how overworked he was. There should have absolutely been a second server.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 3
TL;DR: Kind waitstaff are under staffed for dinner service and their menu is wrong on how a 3 piece fish and chips is a huge burt mess. Hard pass save your money hungry people.
Trendy and you know what that means. Drinks were good enough for campus prices. The food however has much to improve. The fish and chips was a massacre. Chips were okay, but seasoning is a mystery to the kitchen. The fish was a good cut, but it was fried in one huge chunk, not the three pieces that the menu listed. So what do we do to make sure the fish is cooked properly? Cook your fish until it turns dark brown? So we have a burnt shell, mushy uncooked breading under it, and steamy hot white fish. I ate the protein because $27 was principal levels of struggle. But I could not bring myself to eat any of that breading. The kicker, it’s served on a wooden board so all of your breading mess is all over the table like I was a toddler again. Now I came in on a Thursday evening around 8pm. One man, one single beautiful human was working our side of the restaurant. (Not the bar) our water was refilled once for a table of 3. The waiter was kind and wonderful. The drinks I could have made at home, and the food I could have definitely made at home.
Don’t eat here for bar food. Go to a real pub.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Best server ever cici love the energy and Andrea was awesome 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
Restaurantji Recommends
Very good breakfast (bagel) and amazing service by Andrea! She was funny, friendly and helping.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Our server was very nice but seemed like she had too many tables. Perhaps someone called off, probably not her fault but everything was slow. Did her best to communicate though and checked in to let us know how long things might take.
The big windows are nice, and inside is cozy. They turned off the overhead lights almost entirely for half of dinner which was odd since it was getting darker outside.
Appetizers were all good. Probably helped that I was very hungry. Fried cheese curds, olives, & cashew hummus. Cucumber martini was so lime forward that it was more a margarita than martini to me. Others really liked their espresso martinis. Lamb shepherd’e pie was very small for an entree, but tasted good. Wish it had come with a side or something considering the portion. Linguine & crab was bad. Crab chunks were decent but whole thing was way overly salty, even for a seafood dish.
I would say overall bang for buck is meh. I expected based on the overall vibe it would be a bit pricey so if the food and service speed were better I wouldn’t have cared as much. Just not really worth it considering how many good restaurants are in Chicago.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Andrea, my waitress, was so kind and helpful! I got the avocado toast with a poached egg, which was a perfect combination of tastes and textures! Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I don't know how to describe this spot other than saying that it is a little bit magical! The atmosphere is super chill. The menu is decadent in all the right ways. You won't regret checking this place out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My server was Andrea, she was so friendly and attentive, which was quite impressive seeing as so she was the only server on the floor. The food is great. Will definitely come back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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