Charlie’s Pub

This place rocks. It wasn’t too crowded and they put the saints game on for me. Then, when my party was eating and I was still full from breakfast the bartender worked with me to order something light off-​menu that wouldn’t spoil in three hours. Would definitely come back here next time I’m in Philly, and would definitely recommend to friends. My friends tell me that the food is amazing and to order the cheesesteak eggrolls. The menu does look pretty mouthwatering.

yes yes yes and yes yes yes
yes: the red wall but no communist china. It’s a passion, sexy, hot holly hot red color. Seats are available on the bar or in a around chair/​tables cluster.
yes: good beer selection. Their must try is «Wild Hoe» which is blueberry wheat beer and Hoegaarden. If you like white Belgium beer, Duvel and La Fin du Monde are ready for you to snatch.
yes: cheapy cheap cheap in the prices but not in the quality and quantity
and
yes: the pool table in the back room if you love to use a stick to put a ball in a hole ;)
yes: nice services
yes: a straight bar without screamy horny crazy frat boys and girls on Saturday night? go to Charlie’s and you can skip all the drama

Charlies = just really weird.
Have you ever gone to a place and just could not figure it out? Were there too many things going on? That’s charlies’s. Nothing there seems to conform, or fit with anything else. décor meets beer meets cocktail meets pool hall?
I say, if your feeling a bit strange. Check it out.
Although. Drinks are way over priced.
What’s cool is the kitchen is open til 1

Bar with a chillax attitude.
An unassuming bar that we went to around midnight on a Friday. There was people but not crowded at all. We had a good time sitting back and yucking it up here. Good selection of beers. People we encounter was nice and decent service.
This place isn’t über nice or posh. It’s like a practical neighborhood spot to kick back at. A laid back vibe with cozy surroundings that made for a good place to lounge and drink with a group of friends. Next time, might go karaoking here. If you’re in the mood to go out a bit but don’t want to deal with the crowds and politics of nightlife. This may be your spot.

Do I love these old style pubs! There’s something about the atmosphere; old fixtures, a little beat up, almost but not quite shabby. Unassuming in many ways. You just feel comfortable when you’re patronizing them. Old City is loaded with them and that’s a good thing.
Charlie’s is a great example. It’s far enough off of Market so that it doesn’t get a lot of tourist attention. The outside is so understated it’s easy to walk right by it. That would be a mistake!
Charlie’s recipe has just the right ingredients. Atmosphere, good beer, friendly staff, and decent food blend together to make for a great time. I could walk a couple of blocks and visit a fancy GastroPub but Charlie’s just feels better!

Funday Sunday this week found me at Charlie’s…as we pre-​gamed before sitting down to write out Christmas cards. Happy hour all day on Sundays… or at least til 8 p.m. I think… not too shabby! $ 1 off draft beer, $ 4 wine, and $ 5 cosmos and champagne… I’m ok with this!
The food was ok, not the best ever, but better than your average bar food that’s for sure. I had mediterranean chicken skewers… with tahini (which they forgot to bring out and was only so-​so when it did come out) and hummus. The sweet potato fries were tasty though, and the dipping sauce was nice and spicy to go with them…
The booths were cozy, and it was nice and dark, as a good bar should be. Pretty slow in there, but at 2 on a Sunday that was a-​o-​k.

Even on a Saturday night, Charlie’s was still pretty quiet with maybe 15 – 20 people wandering through the bar, watching TV, and playing pool over the course of a couple hours. And that was perfect, because all I wanted to do was catch up with friends in a cozy booth, not get jostled and spilled on while yelling over thumping music.
The specialty cocktails were good — strong, but not overpoweringly so. The cajun fries were great — crispy on the outside, but soft on the outside with a nice seasoning. The waiter was really nice and attentive. I’ll be back!

I used to be pretty high on this place. In fact, there was a good 18 months where you would find my friends and I there on a regular basis. However… we don’t go there anymore. Last Friday we decided to give it another try and were dissappointed.
We sat in the back and were told that there was no waitress service back there. So some of us went up to get drinks, and as they came back the waitress came and was irritated that they had gone to get drinks.
We put our order in… 20 minutes later, the drinks came. Not that it was crowded… it just took 20 minutes. It might have been a bad night for the waitress, she seemed a little frazzled, but didn’t seem like she should have been irratated with us.
Despite this… none of the above reasons would cause us to write this place off. It was the bill that bothered us.
A friend of mine had two vodka cranberries… not all that strong, but they came in good sized glasses. The bill came with 3 charged drinks. But she only had two. We asked and the waitress said, «Well they were big glasses, so they were doubles. I only charged you for three, so it’s kinda of a deal.»
Sure… if they were ACTUALLY doubles. I don’t think there was double vokda in there. Maybe they didn’t have small glasses. Regardless… shouldn’t you ASK someone before you go and do that.
It wasn’t a big deal… but it was a deal breaker for us.
We’ll probably be back in 6 months. And I ‘m sure I will update this review.

I remember walking past Charlie’s Pub multiple times in the past, mostly during First Fridays. Basically it’s always been one of those bookmarks in my head that I never really intended to check out. But on the frigid evening of December 12, finding myself in the neighborhood with my boo, I remembered.
In we went. First impression: it’s not so much a pub as it is a sports bar. With about four gigantic flatscreens in the smallish bar and dining area, I would say our first impression was about right.
Service was friendly and bosomy. While drinking our beers, we decided on the lamb burger (for me) and the veggie burger (for him) — both were on a brioche, which I tend to be against, but good nonetheless. I don’t remember whether or not the meat was cooked to my liking, nor do I remember the toppings, nor can I picture what the fries looked like, which leads me to the conclusion that it wasn’t particularly memorable.
I was craving something sweet, so my gentleman ordered the brownie cubes for dessert. Said cubes were to come out with vanilla ice cream, which actually turned out to be caramel ice cream — way too sweet to accompany brownies, we agreed. The brownie cubes had a crunchy-​crispy exterior and were… GREASY! Holy mother of God, they had been deep-​fried! Might sound succulent to some of you, but I’m personally not a fan of deep-​fried sweets. Anyway, too sweet + greasy = horrible dessert.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad place. In the back area, where you can find a pool table or two, different music was playing — something like late 90’s alternative (gag). It was A-​Ok, but I don’t plan on returning.

I really liked the fact that this place offered warmth and beer during a snowstorm. Beyond that though — my calamari was basically atrocious. I am not really a picky bastard when it comes to fried food becuase most of the time you fry anything and immediately it’s delish. Not so the case at this place.
I may not go out of my way to come back

Frequent visitor of this place. It’s my equivalent of Cheers — where everyone knows your name.
Actually, I couldn’t care less if everyone there knew my name. I doubt most of them do. Their servers are friendly (and beautiful) and the food is fantastic. Their wings are the best this city has to offer and their cheesesteak egg rolls are arguably the best anti-​cheesesteak ever!
The place is clean and has the perfect vibe. It’s not too loud, despite serveral big screen TVs. It’s not faux-​fashion, despite the comfortable leather semi-​circle seats that border the wall. It’s everything I could want out of a local bar.

Exploring local restaurants on another work trip. We wandered through downtown Philly trying to find some good food.
A few key points:
— Charlie’s had some of the best crab dip I’ve ever tasted
— Killer pulled pork sliders
— Friendly
— Okay atmosphere
— Not impressed with the beer (wild devil)
Coming from Portland (best beer ever,) I can’t cut ‘em down for their beer selection. Nothing really compares to a PNW brew. The atmosphere was kind of «loungy», but cool.
5 stars because it was some of the best food I’ve had – and it was at a bar. I travel a lot for work, and eat all kinds of food at all kinds of places. Charlie’s is definitely in my top 10.

Decent unprententious place to grab a beer in old city. The beer selection is average, but I was thrilled to see Hoegarden on tap. Way more TVs than you can imagine if your idea of a night out is staring at a TV. We happened to go to watch the Phillies (unfortunately get beat) so were thrilled to see a TV in every corner. My friends were raving about the food– I tried the fries which were a little overcooked, but nice and greasy. Overall a nice change from the old city frat boy scene…

Reliable local pub. Comfy neighborhood feel, HD TV’s and respectable food (thumbs up for the sweet frittes and Charlie’s salad). Beer selection is pretty meh — they consider Guinness and Hoegaarden «premium» — but overall a good choice to watch a game or for a laid back night with friends.

I love Charlie’s. I love the food (Charlie’s salad, mac and cheese, any dessert), the staff is always friendly and laid back, and I love the atmosphere. For an area of town that has a rather pretentious reputation, Charlie’s is definitely a nice change of pace. I don’t think it’ll ever be the «it» spot in Olde City, but to be honest, I like that it’s a bit off the beaten path. The booths are nice and cozy in the front, and there’s more space with pool tables in the back.
Even if I stray for a while, I always find myself going back to Charlie’s.

Like Bill mentioned, this isn’t somewhere that first comes to mind when I frequent Olde City, but it is a solid deal. The couches in the front are really comfy, but the back with the pool tables is a little more spacious, until someone needs to get an interesting angle on a shot.
I got the calamari and it was really soft, so I enjoyed it. I knocked down a star because I feel a place like Charlie’s shouldn’t be charging so much for a cocktail, even if it is their special.

I moved to a location less than a block from here, and I was hoping that Charlie’s Pub would be a nice contrast to the trendy restaurants on Market between second and third. Alas, they are not.
It is dark, they are usually showing something awful on the TV, and the prices are way too high. The service is friendly, and the food is at worst decent, but they do not make up for the lame atmosphere and overblown prices.
It is worth walking the extra four blocks to go to North Third or five blocks to Standard Tap.

I’ve recently been here twice in two weeks and each time the quality of my interaction at this pub has been really great. How do I describe this place? Well the food would be something like Mexic-​Asian-​Mediterranean-​Fusion-​Philly cuisine. For example, you can get Cheesesteak Eggrolls or a Quesedilla sandwich… you get the idea. The burgers looks really juicy too, for straight American pub food.
Beers are not really expensive, contrary to someone else’s review. Cheap stuff may appear expensive, but I think it’s because they want you to buy the better stuff which is VERY reasonably price. I start with a draught 16oz Hefeweizen for $ 6.50. Is that really expensive? Try getting that a Monk’s for that price. And that is one of the more expensive beers. They have Victory on tap as well as other national micro-​brew beers. And yes, they will pour Irish Car Bombs and Jaeger shots.
The two bar tenders on Friday nights are very friendly and with the group that I go out with (the Philly N Crowd) have their orders ready without even asking.
There are a lot of HDTVs in this place and there are two pool tables in the back. No smoking and the décor is dark with a series of circular booths lining one wall. It’s a little bit in need of a cohesive theme, but the place is clean and fun.
It’s a little bit off the beaten path if you’re in Olde City, but a nice place to spend your late night if you don’t want to shout to hear one another and have a few more drinks and eat something interesting.

Poor Charlie’s. It’s true what the others are saying; it’s easy to forget it’s there. And that’s sad, because it’s a small, dark, cozy pub. The food is good, sort of a gastropub but quiet about that. It’s more expensive than a lot of pubs, but it’s a nice dining experience.
It’s easy to overlook Charlie’s when you walk past, but if you want a quiet place that is a bit more grown-​up, stop in for a pint or dinner.

Charlie’s is a pub that’s easy forget about. In fact it would have sit on the backburner of my brain untouched if I didn’t read Wallspro’s review. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that in the hustle of Old City National Mechanics, Sugar Mom’s and so much more stand out a lot more.
But sometimes you just want to chill with some good brews and play pool with your friends in a spot that isn’t as crowded. And for that Charlie’s delivers. it’s got good food of the gastropub variety, reasonable prices for beer ($ 4 for a lager as Wallspro says so go for other since it has plenty to offer), and friendly bartenders.
It will never be my first choice for a night on the town. But it will be a choice that always delivers when I need it too.