Charlie’s Cafe

It’s hard to complain when the food is free… But this cafeteria is a zoo. Especially at dinner time when people seem to bring their entire extended family. There are ton of food options housed in several ethnically based stations (mexican, asian street food, indian, pizza etc.). Everything’s generally pretty decent– for cafeteria food. (You get spoiled very quickly at Google). But given the other options on campus and the consistently long lines here, Charlie’s would probably be one of my last choices.

With the ridiculous selection — there is guaranteed to be something for anybody. Definitely a good place to bring picky guests.
Seating can be pretty rough, especially at peak lunch time. I suggest arriving early.
With their massive selection and huge volumes, I do feel as if the food quality suffers a bit. Pizza is okay, but there is better at other cafes. Have not been impressed with the Indian food yet. Burrito bar is not vegi friendly. Dessert selection is good. Fries and chips (along with salsa and guac) are a safe bet.
Overall a decent café, but if you know exactly what you want you can probably find it better elsewhere.

If I had to pick three words to describe Charlie’s at dinner around 7:00, I’d have a hard time choosing between «lots of selection» and «long long lines». Even though it’s after working hours, there are still many Google employees and visitors who stay to get dinner which half the cafes at Google are not open for. But in any case, free food!
My friends and I waited at the Chinese station which was serving chicken pieces, greens, and white rice. The Indian, Mexican, burrito, and American (pizza) stations were open as were salad and dessert bars, all with long lines in front of them. There were lots of drink selections, including a station where you can make your own Italian sodas. Got some vegetables and walked out of the busy interior.
With no tables available inside, we found a table outside near the main road going between the buildings and had a nice leisurely meal. However, when we went back inside for dessert, at 8 PM the doors closed with us still inside, so we had to take a side passage out. Those chocolate chip smores cupcakes were worth it though.

I come here often since my boyfriend works at Google. Great café with different varieties of food. They try to switch things around as often as possible but the stations are basically the same kinds of foods everyday so it can get old after a while, but hey, it’s free!
I love the miso soup and the spicy chicken that they have. It can get pretty crowded, especially during intern season, so be prepared to stand in lines! But they move at a pretty good pace.

One of my favorite cafes at Google — they have a lot of options, so you definitely will find something that you like. Japanese food, pizza, indian food, mexican food, it’s all good. :)

Unlimited free food from Google… it’s pretty much as amazing as it sounds. A TON of different lines you can go for food, including pizza, burgers, sushi, burritos, hot dogs, etc. Make no compromise, and get everything you want. All sorts of drinks too. Better tasting food exists, but for what is essentially a free buffet, you can’t complain!

Can’t beat free foods :) But yes, there are better Google cafes, too.

This place is great!
It is probably the biggest and most popular café at the GooglePlex. There are a number of stations and the menu changes every day.
Street Food — this is inspired by street food in Asia so they usually have stuff like banh mi sandwiches, kimchi tacos, chicken bowl over noodles, chow fun, etc.
Izakaya — inspired by Japanese food, there is usually sushi or sometimes other Asian treats such as boba tea, etc.
Chaat — Indian food. usually there is some roti + masala (e.g. chana masala), etc.
Chico’s — Mexican food such as nachos, al pastor, chicken, etc.
Southern — blacked catfish, shrimp po’ boy
Chuck’s Diner — burgers, fries, etc.
Burrito Bar — think chipotle
All cafes have a salad bar, dessert, etc.
I always brings guests here since there is the most variety. It does get tough to find a table though if you go too late but if it’s your first time dining at the GooglePlex, you should eat here.
For most Googlers, we don’t typically eat here that often. Most of us prefer the smaller cafes.

Welcome to the Google universe. This is where they have the legendary TGIF’s. This is where Sergej and Larry met for the first time. And this is where it started with the free food in tech companies.
Right, we’re here for the food. So what are we having? Chicken Teriyaki Bowl for breakfast? Or a Breakfast Burrito? Salmon bagels and orange juice? Fair choice.
Since we’re hungry and we’re here to eat, lunch is around the corner. A little bit of everything, that’d be alright. Lining up at the Burger station, heading on to the Indian and Japanese corner, and yes, dessert and drinks. My tray is pretty full now. So is my stomach after this heavenly feast.
Sergej and Larry, your bromance saved my day.

An utter Schmorgesborg of tasty delights.
I typically hit up the GOOGLE campus once a month to have lunch with my GF.
There are plenty of cafeteria’s to eat at, but this is the largest and most hectic.
However, Charlie’s always has a scrumptious variety of bomb food!
I always enjoy the Large Salad’s in the big glass bowls.
My last visit I devoured a few plates of the General Tso’s Chicken.
Got to Love the way GOOGLE provides free food for workers!

feels like the ultimate college cafeteria. in the sense that it’s a huge operation, pick up your plates, utensils, and trays and pace yourself, return to conveyor belt.
free food for employees like this has become an expected, almost take for granted perk now in the tech world.
menu: rotating stations for lunch, pizza (gourmet ingredients), southern chicken, grill items, izakaya (yakitori), asian station (lettuce wraps), indian (had a Pav Bhaji street food that was good), mexican, salad bar, ceviche, etc. spa water, italian soda station, nearby smoothie shop, etc. snack bars with color coded nutrition recs. this place could easily turn into a university with all its amenities and give out «google degrees.» it works because of the number of young people who work here.

It’s really hard to complain about the food when everything is free-​99.
If you really want to eat french fries for lunch and dinner, you can do so for free.

This place is a mad house. I felt like I was in a college cafeteria. I had high expectations but Charlie let me down. The crispy pork belly from the street food station actually gave me gag reflex. The tuna sashimi was good though. The dessert bar was also a bit of a dissapointment. No chocolate? How can that be? They had white chocolate macademia cookies which were good but the lemon bar and the fruit crisp was not worth the calories. I may have tried the wrong things but I was not super impressed… but hey… atleast it’s FREE!

No I don’t work here, but my husband does!
It’s been months since I’ve been able to visit for lunch, but Charlie’s is the place where Googlers like to take their lunch guests. It is big, centralized and has the most variety of any of the Google cafes with several different food stations from all over the world. This is not the best food on campus, but if you are only eating lunch once at Google, this is the place to go.
Food is good. Like I said, not the best Google food. But good. Something for everyone.

Charlie’s is one of the 20+ cafes on the Google campus and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Breakfast — assorted bakery items, fruit salads, yogurts, waffles, juices, milk, coffee
Lunch — you have different stations (pizza, meditteranean, chinese, japanese, indian, mexican, grill — for burgers/​hotdogs, burritos, salad bar, and desserts)
Dinner — a bit toned town than the lunch offerings but still the same amount of stations.
Size-​wise, there are now cafes bigger than Charlies and looking more modern and provides more ample seating, but I will still go back to Charlie’s for a few signature items —
— burgers at the grill
— general tso’s chicken
— oyakodon
— made-​to-​order burritos
All in all, Charlie’s is still a great café with a wide variety of offerings, made with fresh ingredients, and the chefs/​workers are absolutely amazing.

I was actually trying to check into Google proper, or even the specific café that I was visiting, Yoshka’s Café in Building 43, but it’s so new it doesn’t have a Unilocal check-​in spot yet! They were serving multiple proteins that night, including a fake chicken entrée that suffered in comparison to the REAL chicken. But what am I saying? All of the food is FREE and made fresh. To that, I say hat’s off to Google for feeding their employees healthy and delicious food AND using sustainable and organic ingredients while doing it. My only complaint about this café is the lack of seating.

Charlie’s will be closed during dinnertime for a while after ⁶⁄₂₈ for renovation so I’m glad I got to dine here before the construction started!
This particular eatery has the most variety out of all the campus cafes. I liked that all the workers are VERY efficient and quick with serving the food (Sammy the sushi chef, if you’re reading this, you were freaking awesome with the hand rolls). Last night they served phở for dinner, but I ate at another café so I missed out!
Charlie’s definitely reminds me of the dorms at UCLA. It was great to be able to relive a part of my college life through Google’s café. The food was delicious and very healthy. Each dish/​soup/​snack had all the ingredients printed out on cards nearby so you know exactly what you’re eating.
I had a wonderful time eating in this cafeteria and I hope to return after renovations are complete!

I rarely give 5 stars but for everything Google has to offer in their café I think they deserve this rating. This is not just because everything is free to employees and their guests but also because of the variety they offer and the quality of the ingredients. I like that they label every dish to show the ingredients as I like to know exactly what goes into my dish. I noticed they use «rice oil» to make a lot of dishes, which is interesting as I have never heard of «rice oil». I will have to Google about it.
If you have not eaten at any of the Google cafes, find a friend who works there and have them take you there for lunch or dinner.

GOOGLE LUNCH!
Finally, I’ve been initiated into Silicon Valley. Yes, I do consider eating at Google to be the official initiation. You ain’t South Bay till you get some of this foogle in your belly!
Anyway, my friend brought me to Charlie’s Café after I skimmed through all the menus of the day. I decided on Charlie’s mainly because of the choices they offer. I had a slice of pizza, some mac&cheese, salad, something from the sushi bar and Indian food. YUMYUMYUM.
I felt like I was at the Bellagio buffet — minus the crazy dessert section. The food was not gourmet or anything, but it was delicious, simple, satisfying, and most importantly FREE. AWESOME!

An unlimited supply of free, quality food to google employees, plus two of their family members every month? What more could you ask for?
Yes cheapskate brother, you have no excuse not to share more meals with me now.
They even had premade chicken burritos with google labels affixed. They had multiple salad bars and one soup bar, a dessert table, and various categories of food stops you could have a fresh order made for you. And tonsof ethnic cuisine choices. But I think I’m aiming for one of those monster-​size burritos next time.
It’s hard to find a table in the main adjoining room, but there are some smaller rooms with their own refreshments stations which include tea and coffee, among other beverages and snacks like Honest Tea, hummus, and cottage cheese.
I shoulda become a programmer too. Maybe I’ll just hit on a few here.