Charlie’s On Broadway

My first visit to the new Charlie’s was on a sunny Thursday afternoon for lunch at 1:00. The place was basically empty except for a couple of folks drinking at the bar. That wasn’t a good sign. I was offered seating by a server fast enough and sat in a booth where I could see the kitchen. Having been a cook in my youth, I liked to get a peek at the kitchen. I was given a menu and chose the prime rib dip with a side salad to substitute for fries. The server whose name was John was hard to talk to because he kept interrupting me as I attempted to place my order. When the order came I found the au jus to be too salty. He hadn’t asked if I wanted water, nor did he return at any time to check on me, although I was the only one eating lunch in the place. Typically when the dip is too salty I just ask for some hot water to dilute it with. Because I was famished, I ate the sandwich, but the salad was a pre-​bagged limp pile of mixed greens with a very runny ranch dressing that looked like yesterday’s bad news. When the server brought the tab, I asked him if he’d like a little feedback. He didn’t display any interest in that, being so hurried with an empty house, so I made gentle reference to very salty food and no water, at which he interrupted me again with a lengthy tirade about company policy to only bring water when expressly requested by a customer, and that he had in fact checked on me and witnessed me actually eating my sandwich. He seemed irritated and his manner was rude, dismissive and hostile. I am 73 years old, so have had ample experience with good manners and good service and this was neither. This was appalling. Should John’s conduct be any indication of the new Charlie’s, I can tell you the place won’t last very long. I know I won’t be back.

Lame. The remodel ruined Charlie’s. They tried to go for big open room space with bar in the front and now it feels like a half-​assed version of all the other «trendy» pubs and restaurants opening up for the mainstream Amazon newbies who don’t know any better. Whoever owns Charlie’s, you’re a follower with no vision of your own and ruined a unique mom and pop restaurant with character. And your staff have as much personality as your echoey cafeteria room you call a restaurant. Another one bites the dust. R.I.P Charlie’s.

Not the same as the old Charlie’s. For starters it was not welcoming. After a while of standing at the entrance we are told we can seat ourselves by the bartender so we chose the very first bench seats. The menu has significantly shrunk but we order familiar items such as the special of the day which was spaghetti, the Monte Cristo, buffalo wings and a house salad. After receiving our drinks (which are much smaller than before), a lady walks in with her dog and takes a seat at the bar about 2.5 feet away from us. Apparently they allow pets here? I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to restaurants to dine with people’s pets. We were then brought out the salad which is also significantly smaller now and after, we got our entrees BEFORE our appetizer buffalo wings. The monte cristo came by itself, no sides. The spaghetti was awful and served with fettuccini noodles and the wings were dry and flavorless as if the were re-​fried from earlier then Tabasco sauce was added. They are lucky I am 9 months pregnant and was starving and had no patience to complain and wait for food all over again. I finished my beverage and it was a while before we got checked on and we had to ask for water, which should NEVER be the case especially if you are going to serve drinks that small with so much ice. Service was LAME. NEVER GOING BACK. They’re lucky I have to give 1 star. We ate what we could stomach and choke down and didn’t bother to take the leftovers. It sucks they took one of what used to be my favorite places to eat and made it the exact opposite. It’s atmosphere has changed quite a bit and is VERY BORING and unwelcoming.

I was delighted to see that the menu was unchanged. My husband and I frequented this place for years before the renovation. Post renovation, this was our first visit. The interior is more open from the street entrance. If you enter from the alley way, at first glance, the restaurant appears the same. Heads up — there is an odd steep ramp covering the stairs at the back entrance. My final verdict about the renovation is that I miss the intimate vintage look that the restaurant had before. However, I see why the business made the decision to open it up and make it appear more modern. Enough about the décor.
The food was just as amazing as it was the first time I visited 8 years ago. I had a tomato soup and the Monte Cristo and it was fire, flames, seriously on point! I had a glass of red wine with it and that was fine. I would definitely recommend this place and not be afraid to come back because there have been renovations. It seems like the menu is unchanged and you’ll still get the same great Charlie’s experience!

Was craving breakfast for dinner one night, and oh boy was I stoked to find out that Charlie’s had re-​opened! Since they’re still pretty freshly opened, I’m assuming that’s where these harsh one star-​ers came from last month. But when I got my monte cristo, it was perfectly golden brown, hot enough, and even served with a side of freezer jam (yum…). Our sweetheart of a server Haley even asked when I ordered it what flavor of jam I would like, which I thought was nice (: My dude got the prime rib dip with some tots. Delicioso!
The manager even came over to chit chat and make sure everything was tasty. The renovation has opened up the place quite a bit! Although I really loved the décor of old Charlie’s, its much less stuffy now and a similar charm remains. We will be back for you one of these mornings for a pitcher of mimosas!!!

I was pretty happy when I saw Charlie’s was open for business again. I finally got a chance to go in there on a slow Thursday morning when I had a hankering for chicken and waffles. The food was good, pretty much exactly I was looking for while nursing a weekday hangover. The ambience is still airy yet dim, even if the charming kitsch is gone. My mimosa was strong and fairly generous. Everyone there was friendly; granted, given the time of day, it’s not like there was a ton to do.
I don’t really get the hate. My waffles were lightly crispy on the outside, and the chicken was plentiful and juicy. The conversation with the guy who waited on my table and made my drinks was pleasant. I think that, while Charlie’s 2.0 has some bugs to work out, they’re still a fine neighborhood spot for those of us looking for an honest drink and decent diner fare. Sometimes you gotta change to stay the same.

Like the other reviewers here, I loved the old Charlie’s and was excited to give the new Charlie’s a shot. (I was also excited that the space was thoroughly renovated and cleaned, as the last two times I’d been to the old Charlie’s I’d spotted a cockroach and a mouse, respectively.)
First time at the new space my friend and I ordered the tater tots, fried macaroni and cheese balls, and one other appetizer-​type dish I can’t recall. They all arrived lukewarm (bordering on cold) and were almost entirely flavorless. This was only a few days after the restaurant opened, though, so I was willing to give them another shot, figuring they might need a while to find their feet.
The next time I went, we ordered mozzarella sticks, fried mac and cheese balls, and nachos. The mac and cheese balls were at least warm in the center this time. The mozzarella sticks looked like the old ones but were flavorless and the cheese was hard (not gooey). I didn’t try the nachos but my friend was deeply disappointed in them.
The third time I went I just had a drink at the bar, no food. The atmosphere is nice, the bartender was nice, but if neo-Charlie’s can’t figure out how to do simple greasy bar food right (or any food right. It doesn’t have to stick to the old Charlie’s style of food, it just has to make food that humans would want to eat) then I can’t imagine it lasting long. I know I won’t be back until I start hearing reports that the food has vastly improved.

It’s especially sad to write such a poor review of a former institution given that we all went in such a good mood to support the ‘Hawks and just wanted to have some beers and lunch and have a good time. Not only is service here exceptionally slow and unprofessional, but I believe one of the servers was a racist, classist, unkind, disrespectful person with no control over his emotions or political opinions. If the food were any good this still might have been forgivable but it wasn’t.
The story starts with one of our party, an unassuming guy who has been vegetarian his whole life, asking whether there were vegetarian options. The server said «no.» Not «sorry, we don’t,» or «how about trying this creative thing,» just «No.» Then, after five minutes of prodding, when she *did* say «hey, why don’t you just order from somewhere else and eat it here?» (Actual thing she said), we did — still consuming beers and bloody marys to make sure we were contributing to the bar.
When the food arrived, a separate server, styling himself like a manager but (it later became clear) NOT a manager took it, held apart from us almost like someone playing keep away — it was that ridiculous — and practically screamed «you can’t have this here.» When we protested, with calm voices, that his colleague has suggested he do it, he literally swung OUR food further from us and started yelling at us. He claimed it was against «the Seattle health code» (which isn’t a real thing), and when I looked it up and suggested that it wasn’t (I have Google too), he told me I could «fucking leave right now» and that «fucking Amazon is ruining Capital Hill.» Per our friends who were at the table next to us, he subsequently followed us out (although I was long gone, having taken him up on his offer) threatening to fight us (are you kidding me?)
It’s worth noting that my friend — the vegetarian who just wanted to eat lunch — is South Asian. That is *the only possible* clue this waiter might’ve had that we «work at Amazon» since I personally am a hippie looking Latino guy with a beard and *I DON’T WORK FOR AMAZON.* I think out of our whole party of ten, maybe one person did. He was putting his problems in life on a party of people who had nothing to do with his problems in life. It was rude, racist, and I will not ever return to a restaurant where the staff can hide their incompetency and disrespect behind the veil of their political grievances — especially when our city is already so divided around these issues. Anyone who patronizes this store is perpetuating racism, classism and general bad human behavior.

Went in with a group of 5 friends. We were seated immediately but waiting 40 mins for food is ridiculous. Our coffee was refilled about 30 mins after mugs were empty. When the food was brought to the table. My Eggs Benedict was way over cooked. Hash browns were borderline burnt. Charlie’s should just have stayed closed.

I went for dinner at Charlie’s on Wednesday night having such high hopes for everything given that I’d been going there since 2003 and it was a Capitol Hill staple, however I was supremely disappointed. I got the blackened chicken fettuccine as that was one of my favorite Charlie’s dishes from the old menu and now it was absolutely awful. It was very obviously prepared in a microwave, way too salty, there was nothing blackened about the chicken, it came out cold, and overall I was completely disappointed. The drinks were terrible also, my dining partner got one of the worst Bloody Marys he’d ever had, my drink was massively too sweet and very weak as I guess they do measured shots now vs letting the bartender do their job.
The service was absolutely terrible also, after our food was brought out our server just stopped coming to our table to check if we needed anything, and after waiting at least 45 minutes I had to go up to the counter to pay my tab.
Overall the atmosphere feels like some crappy generic sports bar that belongs out in the suburbs, and I’d have had a better experience at an Applebee’s because the magic that was the old Charlies is no more. So unless the new owners read this and take some steps to make their new charlies stop sucking and be more like the old charlies, I won’t set foot in there again.

Tragic. I work across the street and I was so sad to see the old Charlie’s go. It was like the death of an old dear friend. If you love good pub and café food, as I do, the old Charlie’s massive menu and comfortable (if a bit faded) atmosphere always hit the spot. The old Charlie’s knew what they were doing and had some wonderful menu items: their buffalo wings were phenomenal, their bistro style fries were amazing, their club sandwich and fettuccine dish was actually quite excellent, the mozzarella sticks were always marvelous and their prime rib special was one of the best values on the hill.
I did a happy dance when I saw that someone was reviving Charlie’s. I dreamed of biting into my beloved buffalo wings once again. The physical renovation is pretty good. They managed to keep some of the charm of the old place but it feels fresh and updated.
Unfortunately that is as far as the new ownership went. The cruel joke is that they list many of the same items but they are completely different. And their replacements are a vile substitute to the original. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not overly attached to the old menu. They did a good job. But I was ready to try a new take on the old classics. But these are not new takes — they are all fumbles.
Casualties:
The Buffalo Wings: the old Charlie’s always did an amazing job with this dish. The chicken wings were perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside — the buffalo sauce was delicious the classic red pepper sauce (and you could adjust the spice level). The new wings have a tangy sauce (not too bad but not buffalo sauce). Unfortunately they come as the whole wing including the rubbery inedible wing tip. So, you have to pull them apart (essentially do your own butchering) at the table. The new wings are covered in sticky sauce and by the time you break the wings apart to an edible level the sauce is on your hands, not the wings. This is a prime example that the kitchen has no idea what they are doing. Café food should be easy to eat. An appetizer like wings needs to be cut down to manageable pieces. Epic fail.
The Nachos: the old Charlie’s did a great job with their Nachos. But, really, that’s not saying a lot. How do you fuck up Nachos? How? Well, the new Charlie’s has given me an education. A recipe, if you will, on just how you make the WORST NACHOS EVER. First, you bake flavorless tortilla chips, don’t bother with any vegetables, maybe five onion pieces, a bare sprinkle of cheese, no salsa and garnish with huge slices of uncooked, un-​roasted jalapeños on top. Add chicken you say? Yeah, I did. I got a vile, wet canned chicken sprinkled sparingly over the top (like it was crabmeat) which made my friend literally gag it was so bad.
The Reuben: Could be good. This dish has potential. The corned beef tasted fresh. But, correct me if I am wrong, a Reuben sandwich should have sauerkraut on it. Mine lacked this key ingredient. The fries are okay — basically standard. This one dish was edible but nothing like the old Charlie’s Reuben.
The Mozzarella sticks: I don’t even have the heart to describe how terrible these were. Safe to say best not to order these. The kitchen team does not even know how to get this right.
The service: The first time I went with a co-​worker. The Host told us he had no seats for at least thirty minutes or we could sit at the bar. My co-​worker and I blinked as the entire front room was empty. We motioned to the empty dining room. He rolled his eyes. «Those are reserved.» Alright. «You can sit in the bar.» They told us the kitchen was delayed at least twenty minutes before food would arrive. We sat there with drinks for an hour and 10 minutes before the shitty nachos arrived. We saw customers leave in frustration all around us. But we were devoted fans until the nachos arrived. Btw when we left the dining room was still empty.
I should not have gone back after the first time. But I was hoping. I told myself just to consider that this is a new restaurant and I should not lay the old expectations on this one. Since then the snotty host has not been back (or I’m not going in on his shift) and has been replaced with a much friendlier guy and my servers were all good, if not a bit sad as I am sure they have heard the screams of agony from some very unhappy old Charlie’s customers.

New Charlies kicks Ass ! I was bummed about seeing the old one go, but the new renovation is in tact with the nostalgic theme. Other than that everything has improved. Bar is stocked with nice whiskies, great beers on tap, and a courteous staff. The food is similar but slightly different but certainly of good quality. Definitely recommend checking (or re-​checking) it out. I was impressed fer sure.

Food was okay, but not great. :(
However, the remodel is stunning and Charlie’s is needed and wanted. Service by Alex was awesome, but for the price-​point and history, I challenge the chef and owner to elevate the food, please!!! Your competitors like Stout and Jimmy’s off Broadway have an awesome breakfast for the same price. Your customers deserve better and we’ll keep coming back. Thank you!!!

I feel bad for this. I want this place to be awesome.
MESSAGE TO OWNERS
Your menu selection is not good. The food quality is bad. Improve the menu and the food quality and you will draw bigger crowds. This needs to be fixed SOON.
Service is miss and meh. I think this is just related to «we’re new» and isn’t a fatal flaw. The menu /​food quality is a fatal flaw. You are still my go to as you are the closest place to my front door. Wishing you the best. But we did bug out tonight to try Bills off Broadway. Their menu looks alright. Hope yours branches out.
First visit opening night:
Service — great! Got a refill on my beer whenever I needed it even though I was at an offbeat table and they became busy.
Second visit Sunday night:
Good service. Fries were good. We mysteriously got breaded fried meatballs (not on the menu. Actually good!) instead of fried Mac n cheese balls. They took them back and gave us the Mac n cheese balls. The Mac n cheese balls were frozen in the center. I understand they were probably trying to rush them out because the initial screw up and they are a new kitchen. Didn’t bother me at all and the staff was great about it.
Third visit Monday night:
Fail. Didn’t come over for twenty minutes. Finally asked for a menu. Five minutes later they took our beer and food order. Got the beer and food at a normal pace. They forgot our fries. Friends raspberry lemonade was actually raspberry iced tea. Waitress /​bartender is nice though. Don’t know if it is a staffing issue. Will update.
Update. Our friend got a meatloaf slider. As had we an hour earlier. Seriously she got 4x more meat. We got a few morsels she got a slice of meatloaf. Ours was less than half a golf ball. Hers was huge.
Visit 1 and 2 — 4 stars. Visit 3 — 1 star
Bumping it from 2 to 3 for giving us happy hour prices on the sliders. We would have technically gotten it if we didn’t wait 20 minutes at first. But the gesture means a lot.
Subsequent beer and fry only visits. 2.5 to 3 stars.
p. s. I’ve dug the music when I’ve been here. A lot of throwbacks.
2016-​01-​17 Update — Breakfast is good. Better than the evening food. And when everywhere else was packed with no seats this place had plenty of room for watching the Seahawks. Server was new but still good. In fact service was excellent this time

Nothing like seeing a waiter plunging the toilet in the restroom. Lmao! At least it wasn’t our waiter.
I think people are right about it feeling like you’re at a TGI Fridays in some strip mall. Of all the things that needed to be updated, they left the bathrooms exactly the same except for the sinks. They even still smell like urinal cakes and piss. Yay!
The only thing I can say about the food is, how do you fuck up tater tots!?? I was so exhausted with trying to remember which items were 86’d that I just gave up.
The service was good. Our waiter was on top of things and we had a good time but this is definitely not a destination on nights out.
Especially if they make waitstaff clean the toilets during their shift. =) sick!

Charlie’s flamed out after a long and wonderful run, and this was allegedly the revival — instead, at least at this point, the so-​called revival is a bit of a bust.
Took the Mom-​unit on a test-​run of the new incarnation as we’d both liked the old, and gee whiz…
On arrival, the parking not out back is now a paid lot. Joy. Free parking was one of the things that bought Old Charlie’s a certain amount of forgiveness when things went sideways, and made it worth a trip from W. Seattle.
Still, all was not yet lost.
On entry, however, things went rapidly downhill. The new décor was apparently dreamed up by a post-​millenial hipster with delusions of creativity — the same décor we’ve seen in a thousand different hipster bars in a thousand disappointing culinary experiences. A vast echoing barn like space with hard walls, a hardwood floor and the ability to drop a dime and have the year it was issued heard on the other side of what looked like a badly updated english pub hung with the entrails with the Charlie’s of old.
Still, all was not yet lost.
I heard the waitress — the sole highlight of the evening — explain that while the name was the same, that everything else should be considered a new and separate restaurant. This turned out to be true.
The smoked chicken and sausage fettucine is, according to the new managing chef, forever gone as the recipe (no matter how yummy) does not meet his standards.
I, of course, tend more towards the view that if folks are eagerly ordering an item — shut up and swallow your pride and take their money with smile. Apparently I was the fourth to inquire after the dish today.
Nonetheless, Mom-​unit and I tried alternatives. She ordered the meatloaf, telling me that aside from the cold and lumpy mashed potatoes and flavorless gravy (I believe she said «it was kind of like grease that someone had given a dirty look») the meatloaf itself was quite good — once you got past the charred bits.
I, cautiously, had ordered an alleged hold-​over from Old Charlie’s, the Monte Cristo. Oh, in the days of old, a three inch tall golden tower of meat, cheese, dijon mustartd and a blessed sprinkling of powdered sugar… reduced to a greasy inch-​high glorified grilled ham’n’cheese sandwich with a pinch of powdered sugar somewhere in the broad general vicinity.
Still, all was not yet lost.
In desperation, and to burn sad memories from my palate, I ordered what I was promised were the mozzarella sticks of old — that turned up over breaded and, if taste was any indicator, cooked in stale grease and with a rather depressing alleged marinara that I’d bet was out of either a can or a recipe from someone with a dreadfully mellow palate.
Paid up. For perhaps the third time in my life stopped for Second Dinner on my way home with the specific intent of burning traumatic culinary memories from my palate.
Allegedly the team at Charlie’s is going to listen to customers and eventually bring back items in particular demand.
This was strike one. I am unsure I have the patience to wade through two more strikes.
That said — wonderful waitress. Long wait for food, but that is a kitchen problem not wait staff. Food was. unfortunate — but kitchen, not wait staff.
Very disappointed.

Someone has stolen Charlie’s from us and now masquerades about with its name. Charlie’s was the first place I had a drink upon moving to Seattle back in ’04. That night and beyond it was my go-​to bar for anything from Ma’s first Seattle visit to 12:30am whiskey sours while the LSD wears off. I was so bummed when the closure was announced and elated to hear it would be reopening… tonight’s experience dampened my spirits like a bucket of ice water. Read on.
At first glance upon entry, it looked like they’d done some great things: more space, a snazzy bar in the front room, that kind of action. I grabbed a table and waited for my pal and pumped myself up for the menu. Would it be he same? Better? The suspense was terrible but it didn’t last.
My friend and I asked to start with fried mozzarella only to learn it was 86’d. No big thing, let’s go with the mac ‘n’ cheese balls and two fried chicken plates for the main event. So we wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Finally, the server asks how our Dr. Peppers are and suddenly remembers to check for our food.
We got everything at once. It was evident that the apps had sat in the window for a while, they were almost cool by the time we got into them. They weren’t bad but I’ll bet they’re dynamite when served hot. First thing I noticed about the fried chicken is each plate has two pieces even though the menu said there’d be three. Server comes back with a story about the portions being changed but the menu not being updated yet. (after being open for three days? odd.)
$ 14 a plate gets you two pieces of chicken with breading so bland it’s like eating wall paper paste fried around mass-​farmed wings and drums. An ice cream scoop’s worth of mashed potatoes and a few lonely green beans rounded out this treat, with a side of country gravy that had cooled to the point of congealment by the time it was served to us. After so much paste batter, we had little room for dessert… lucky us.
I get that Charlie’s has always been greasy-​spoonish pub grub but at least it was GOOD before the re-​opening. Sheesh!
And the service was **atrocious**! It was amateur night, big time. Having grown up working in my family’s restaurant I see service industry workers as my people and almost never leave a bare minimum tip, but the service tonight won barely 15%. The server was nice enough but she was in over her head with four whole tables.
I won’t be back. A once-​quintessential part of my Seattle reality is croaked and buried. Rest in peace Charlie, valar morghulis.

First off, I beat Doug to be the first review.
Came in for the grand re-​opening and they’ve done a good job on the renovations. The stained glass at the back bar is gone and they’ve changed the sinks in the bathrooms and built a front bar. Other then that the architectural is the same. Same chotchies on the walls, manikin riding a bicycle is still hanging.
The chicken pot pie is yummy. Reminds me of schools turkey a-​la King. I will have it again.
Clare, our bartender was fantastic too. Come!!! Keep Charlie’s alive.

Nachos: terrible. No salsa! And basically no cheese. Do these really count as nachos? This is my biggest gripe. How do you mess up nachos?
Fish and chips: the fish is pretty good. The fries are pretty good.
Beer selection: good
Vibe: slightly TGIFridays
Prices: middle of the road
Happy hour: good deals on appetizers. Small discount on drinks (but not beer)
Location: great

This is a bar in the location that Charlie’s used to be in, but it’s not Charlie’s.
We were stoked to rush over because we missed the tall booths, the regulars, the giant menu with something for everyone. None of that is here anymore and there’s a major suburban/​chain feel. You literally feel like you stepped right into some kind of strip mall.
I hope to update this once they’ve hit their stride. I hope it doesn’t stay like this. :-(