A Tavern Built for Straight Talk

Not every good meal needs somebody hovering over your shoulder telling you what it’s supposed to mean. Some places just let the conversation do the work and get out of the way. That’s the whole idea behind Truth Be Told, a tavern inside The Study at University of Chicago on 60th Street, right along the Midway Plaisance.

It’s easy to walk past if you’re not looking for it. The Midway has always been a corridor people cut through, connecting Hyde Park to Woodlawn, past the University of Chicago’s campus. Truth Be Told sits right in that flow, close enough to catch faculty grabbing lunch between classes, close enough to the neighborhood to become a regular stop for people who live blocks away. It’s not trying to recreate England for the sake of a theme, and it’s not a campus dining hall or a tourist stop. It’s the kind of place that ends up in somebody’s weekly rotation without them ever deciding that’s what it would become.

The Name Isn’t Decoration

Ask why it’s called Truth Be Told and you’ll get more than a shrug. The name stands for intelligence, vulnerability, and candidness. Their own manifesto goes further, framing the whole restaurant around one idea: humans have been chasing “the truth” since before we had words for it, and it still refuses to sit still long enough to get pinned down into one clean definition.

Their take on it: the truth is grey, forever human, forever fluid, but living. Sometimes it looks like a hearty meal shared with friends over a pint and good stories. Sometimes it’s a book that takes you somewhere new. Sometimes it’s just a stray comment someone didn’t plan on saying out loud until they were sitting across from you with a plate between you both.

That’s not typical restaurant branding. It’s a genuine attempt to give people a reason to slow down and actually talk to each other, in a neighborhood full of people moving fast between classes, shifts, and appointments.

What to Order, and When

• Weekends bring a full brunch menu, Saturday and Sunday, 7am to 3pm, blending classic American and English dishes with mimosas on the side. 
• Monday through Thursday, Happy Hour runs 3 to 5pm, the kind of window built for unwinding after work with someone you haven’t caught up with in a while. 
• On game days, the bar runs Match-Time Specials, $8 draughts and $10 bar snacks, so nobody has to choose between watching the match and flagging down a server.

Off the traditional pub menu, the Red Beet Steak has quietly built its own following, strong enough that even regulars who don’t usually order vegetarian keep coming back for it. The British Grilled Steak Sandwich gets recommended by staff more than almost anything else on the menu, the kind of dish that becomes a running inside joke between server and regular.

More Than a Meal

Ask around and people don’t talk about Truth Be Told like it’s just a restaurant. They talk about the fireplace on a cold Chicago night. The bar area where a match might be playing low in the background. The Sunday afternoons that stretch two hours longer than planned because nobody’s rushing anybody out the door.

It’s built for the kind of repeat visit that turns into a habit without anyone deciding it would. Breakfast crowd shows up early. By evening, the whole room settles into something slower, the lighting drops, and conversations start running long.

Straight From the People

“This was the third time my wife and I have eaten here in the last two months. We’ve really enjoyed it each time. I love the cocktails. We loved the food including the beet steak. My non-veggie meals were great as were the cocktails I ordered. We also thought the service was great. We’ll be back.”
— Alan

“I’m always on the hunt for a new breakfast spot, and finding a good local place nearby is even better. I had heard about this spot before but finally got around to trying it with my family, and we really enjoyed it.”
— Jemrya

“Excellent experience! The food was great and I had the steak sandwich which was recommended by my server. The server was very attentive and knowledgeable of the menu. We definitely will be back and tell our friends.”
— Donovan

Open All Day, On Purpose

Truth Be Told doesn’t box itself into one kind of visit. Open daily from 7am to 10pm, it works for an early breakfast before class, a lunch meeting between errands, dinner after a walk through Hyde Park, or a late drink to close out the night.

It hasn’t been around for a century like some of Woodlawn’s oldest institutions. It doesn’t need to be, to matter to the people already building it into their week. Between the Sunday Roast crowd, the weekend brunch regulars, and the standing Happy Hour rotation, Truth Be Told is doing the quiet work every good neighborhood spot eventually does: becoming the place people mean when they say, “let’s just meet up and talk.”

Photo Credit: Truth Be Told Tavern

Visit Truth Be Told

Address: 1227 E 60th Street, Chicago, IL
Hours: Open daily, 7am to 10pm
Phone: 872.315.1319
Email address: truthbetold@studyhotels.com
Website: truthbetoldtavern.com
Social Media
Instagram: @TruthBeToldTavern
Facebook: truthbetoldtavern