Charlies Restaurant
| Address: | 22315 Harper Ave, St Clair Shores, MI 48080, USA |
| Phone: | +1 586-285-5381 |
| Site: | charliesrestaurant.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
MI
mike m
I would like to write an HONEST review. Im certainly no food snob and I know what to expect when I go into a place like Charlies. I have been there around 20 to 25 times and only at lunch time as I work nearby. I certainly wouldnt go out of my way to visit Charlies. First...understand that the bread and butter (pardon the pun) for Charlies is the senior citizens. Their is a non-stop revolving door. They must receive a 10% discount or something like that. You know the places. Over sized orders of spaghetti to the older folk so they can take home a little bag of pasta for dinner. Charlies is definitely focused on the seniors so if youre not retired and walking with assistance, you dont rank at the top for Charlies and their staff. I do recommend breakfast as it is pretty difficult to screw up a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, dont special order anything like onions in the hash browns because you will get a pile of half cooked onions dumped on top of a burnt pile of shredded potatoes. Not a lot of pride goes into the food over there. Thats why its good that most of the food is processed and frozen before it ever gets to Charlies and before they pull it from the freezer to prepare. I would say that with the exception of breakfast...NOTHING is made fresh. The "cooks" at Charlies dont have the opportunity to mess it up any more than the processed food taste already does. I hear many compliments about the "Chicken Rice Soup". Ive had it and its okay. No different than the Chicken Rice Soup I get at any Greek Family Restaurant or a local Coney Island...but again. How do you mess up a bowl of pre-cooked soup that has simply been simmered to serving temperature. Some reviews have said "Great Food" and I cant help but laugh. Nothing is "GREAT" and nothing is "TERRIBLE". The food is "just okay". The waitstaff is also "just okay". However, my expectation when I place my lunch order is not to make besties with the girl bringing my soup. I just want what I ordered and I want it not to suck. My biggest problem with Charlies is when I get food that is disappointing. The waitstaff, management, ownership, etc... do absolutely NOTHING to correct or resolve the situation. They DO HOWEVER, make excuses. "Yeah, its busy in here today!" or "Our kitchen is short staffed." There is never any type of concessions to the customer who receives an overcooked hamburger or cold soup or a dry and tasteless turkey sandwich. Ive given in several times and told myself that my money is too precious to give to a restaurant that couldnt give two shakes about me. I would never go back to Charlies again.
JO
John Doe
Charlies is an overall really great place to have a good meal. There are some mixed reviews. And I would bet that some of the less complimentary reviews are probably coming during their busiest hours. We do try to go during their off-peak hours and when we get one of the veteran waitresses we rarely have a problem. But there have been occasions when we have come in during their busy times, have gotten a new waitress, and may have had an issue. I would recommend that for dinner you come before or after the rush and you will have great service and great food! It really is a great family-owned restaurant and the owner takes a lot of pride in his building, his food, and the service that is offered to his guests. Their spinach pie is huge and tastes great! Their stir fry is also another great tasting dish that is a challenge to finish in one sitting! Lastly, its an odd thing to compliment, but their coleslaw is just out of this world!
JE
Jeff Stokes
Does this place serve anything that isnt from the freezer locker? The menu will take you a week to get through, its cumbersome and borderline ridiculous. Makes you wonder how they have all those ingredients on hand fresh to make their multitude of recipes, wait, we went over this already...the freezer. The food was as to be expected. Not horrible but nothing good either. I dont know why anybody who orders meat specifies how they want it, its apparently going come one of two ways no matter what, well done or raw. Our service was negligible and at one point rude. Honestly our all around experience was among the worst Ive had. A real shame. This place is a glorified diner, period so dont expect anything more and you wont be disappointed. The sooner this place closes and a real restaurant opens there the better.
BR
BreAnna Rickard
Charlies of Saint Clair shores has hands down got to be the worst place Ive not only eaten at but also the worst building Ive ever set foot in. The cooks are so loud that you can hear them from any where you sit in the restaurant. I heard them complain about customers who sent their food back because of the cooks mistakes and I heard them talk about things that they do outside of work. Things that probably shouldnt be talked about so loudly let alone in a work setting at all. The hostess was the worst part of my experience. She was rude as she sat us at our table that night we came in and was rude and rolled her eyes as we paid our bill. Our waitress Sarah was also a snob and it is probably because of her poor and unprofessional service that my family and I will never be back again.
AL
Alyssa L
-Asked for coke or Pepsi, she says "is Pepsi okay?" I say yes. She brings me mountain dew. - boyfriend wants a tuna melt... they dont make them. They make patty melts and grilled cheese. But wont do a tuna melt. She asked if he wanted a tuna sandwich with cheese. - I ordered a burger with a side salad. She says shell have to "charge, charge, charge" basically talking me out of getting a side salad. - ordered Ranchero cheese fries. $6.99 for like nothing. Had to ask for ranch. - ordered a burger, no tomatoes. She sets down the burger and says no tomatoes. I lift up the top, tomatoes. We went here for breakfast a few days ago and it was great. Might have been the waitress, Im not going to point fingers. The Charlies on 12 and Campbell is so much better.
SE
Sermon Library
Ice Water, I drank some, and then my best friends points out some sort of meat pieces circling in the water. My 1st visit there. I complained and the manager was cool. Water removed. Waitress #40 was the best. My Michigan Dried Cherry Salad came and I was about 1/5 into it and then I saw hair in the food and on the plate... and Im bald. We were so grossed out that we went to the carrier, was charged full priced, tipped the great waitress $6.00 and then left sick to our stomach. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER going back to such a filthy place. And I was charged full price, paid it with no fuss, told them I was Never coming back, and left. REPEAT I PAID FULL PRICE because I just wanted to go home and throw up. Friday - 3/18/2016 - 7:10 PM
VI
Victoria Kraus
I have been satisfied with the service and food, in the past, but our waitress, and one of the other women workers, I talked to there werent very friendly this time, and I didnt notice until I was already getting ready to leave that, I didnt get my vegetable with my dinner, so I had to get it to go. I got the fishermans platter, the taste was ok, but there were still scales on the perch, as well as bones in the perch. I got the chicken lemon rice soup, which is usually very good, but this time, I was kind of disappointed with it, and it was lukewarm. Also, not sure why, but a little while after eating there, I felt upset to my stomach, and still felt this way the next morning. Needless to say, I may not be going back there anytime soon.
