Jordyn's Soul Cafe — Restaurant in Hyde Park Township

I want to begin by acknowledging that our waiter was absolutely wonderful—attentive, kind, and the highlight of our visit. His service added a much-needed positive touch to our evening. However, I would not choose to dine at this establishment again due to several unfortunate aspects of our overall experience.

We arrived at 8:29 p.m. for an 8:30 reservation. There was a party ahead of us being assisted, but once they moved along, the hostess initially failed to acknowledge us. When she finally did, she looked up and said, “Oh sh*t, my bad,” which was unprofessional. She then quickly walked away after confirming our reservation. We stood waiting at the host stand for approximately 15 minutes before being led to our table. While en route, the hostess stopped assisting us to respond to another guest, leaving us unsure where to go.

As we approached our table, it was still being cleaned. I immediately smelled bleach and asked the staff member if bleach had been used, as I have a severe allergy. Her response was dismissive, stating, “It’s not that much bleach,” which was concerning. When I requested napkins, she pointed at the table and walked away without further assistance.

Although the table was not thoroughly cleaned, I refrained from complaining further. We also were not provided with menus and had to locate an outdated version online. This led to confusion when ordering drinks, as the drink we requested was no longer available or properly listed. We settled on amaretto sours, but when they arrived, they were undrinkable. Our server was honest and informed us that the bartender was new and many customers had sent drinks back. He did try to get the charge removed, which we appreciated, and ultimately, the drinks were taken off the bill.

We then ordered lemonades, but they were extremely watered down and lacked any flavor. When our entrées arrived, we were informed—only at that moment—that cabbage, which we both ordered as a side, was unavailable. I asked if receiving an alternative like greens would take as long as our initial order, and a woman who seemed to be a manager responded with, “Oh hell no,” which felt inappropriate and unprofessional for a dining establishment.

She did return with greens, and I requested salt and pepper since our table did not have any, though others did. It took some time, but eventually both the manager and our waiter brought us some from nearby tables. The manager also brought a small ceramic container of seasoning and said, “I’m not trying to be ghetto, but this is all I have,” which again came across as unprofessional and unnecessary.

The food itself was decent, but the overall environment detracted from the experience. The ambiance was disrupted by music frequently cutting off in awkward moments to play birthday songs, which felt chaotic rather than celebratory.

While I appreciate the effort of our server, the lack of organization, communication, and professionalism from other staff members made for a...

I generally dont write bad reviews so you know it was bad!

The location and atmosphere is nice. My husband and I are visiting Chicago, in town for an event and heard of this black own soul food spot and wanted to patronize. Our experience was terrible. We had reservations but when we got there had to wait 15 minutes. Normally I dont mind waiting that time but I watched a party of the same size without reservations get seated before me. I said something to the hostess and she apologized and got us seated at the bar about 5 minutes later. It was only one woman working the bar. The lady sitting next to me warned me and said she had been waiting on her food for over an hour. That shouldve been my warning sign to walk away but we stayed to get our own experience.

When the bartender came we asked for water. I asked if the kitchen was backed up and if it would really take an hour for food, as we are traveling back home tonight. She said, no it will not and the other ladys experience was due to a kitchen mix up. Well 15 mins after ordering. I asked for that same water I asked for to start with and she got it. About another 15 mins my food came out (not my husbands). My husbands came shortly after (only 30 min wait which we felt was reasonable), BUT, our appetizer we ordered never came. My husband told the waitress we never got the appetizers then they came out.

The food was just okay. The fish was overcooked and taste like it was fried in old cooking oil. The soul rolls had the same old oil after taste. As I was eating, I asked the bartender for more water, to go box, and check and she never gave it to me. Making me wait 10/15 to pay is crazy! She started doin other stuff and forgot. I asked another woman who cam behind the bar and she literally looked at me and walked to the back. This is when I got pissed and was really ready to go. It took a ask of a third person to get water which I really needed I may add. The third lady saw I was frustrated at that point, so much so that I was ready to leave immediately and she got my box and check although she wasnt my waitress. The man next to me (different from when I first came) was complaining because he asked for sauce for his tacos 3x and was waiting to eat them. He was still waiting when I left and it was well over ten minutes. I do not like speaking poorly about any establishment but my experience was unacceptable and honestly shocking. 20% gratuity was automatically added which I dont mind but they didng give me 20% service. I recommend the owner pay closer attention to the service their staff provide because tonight was complete trash and not worth my time or money. The poor service and lact of regard for customer service prompted...

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY!

This is about to be a lengthy review, but trust me—you need to read every word before deciding to spend a dime here.

I love and support Black-owned businesses, and there are some incredible ones in this area. But THIS? This is NOT one of them!

At first, everything seemed fine. We had a reservation for three—my friend, my son, and me. They had us wait in the back, but we were seated fairly quickly. It wasn’t even crowded, and it looked like they had a good system for spacing out reservations. But oh, were we wrong.

I wish I could tell you how the food tasted… but after TWO AND A HALF HOURS, we wouldn’t know! The ONLY thing that made it to our table was my son’s chicken Alfredo—nothing else!

Here’s what we ordered: • My friend: Egg rolls and shrimp tacos • Me: Egg rolls, fried chicken wings, mac & cheese, and yams • My son: Chicken Alfredo (which, shocker, was the only thing they actually managed to serve)

Let me break this down: • We sat down, and it took 20 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us. • Our waitress never checked on us—not even once! We had to flag people down just to get water. • We asked two different staff members about our food, and all we got was excuses. • After two and a half hours, we were fed up and asked for the check—only to see they charged us for EVERYTHING, including food we NEVER received!

I demanded to speak with the manager. The waitress disappeared. Ten minutes later—still no manager. I asked another employee, and at least she had the decency to ask why. I explained the situation—how we had been waiting for over two hours, only received half our order, and were still being charged. Her response? “The kitchen is swamped, we’re short-staffed, and the manager is overwhelmed.”

You know what that sounds like? A business that shouldn’t even be open.

On top of all that: • The egg rolls we DID get? Burnt to a crisp. • The waitress? Rude and completely inattentive. • My 7-year-old son came back from the bathroom disgusted. If a child is saying it’s that nasty, imagine how bad it really is.

And after all this, do you think they even had the decency to apologize? To comp our meal for the absolute disaster of an experience we had? NOPE!

Oh, but they sure made sure to charge gratuity—as if they actually deserved it!

Save yourself the headache. Do not come here. I wouldn’t go back if they paid ME...