Charhouse Barbeque and Fried Chicken

Worse ribs I’ve ever had. and I have had a LOT of ribs. Not sure if it was just a bad batch, but I haven’t been back to try it again considering how bad everything else was. They did replace the ribs without hassle, but with a plate of equally disgusting ribs so A for effort, but FAIL for sub-​par quality ribs.
The pulled pork sandwich left much to be desired as well, but I tend to compare everything, especially pulled pork, to Okie Joes (not the sauce which I love, but the meat quality and smoke flavor). In fact, if I remember right, the Char House sauce was actually pretty good.
The sides were ok. I know mac & cheese gets cold fast, but it was cold the minute it was set down on our table, which is a mac and cheese sin, but the cheesy flavor was ok so it might be better when warm. Potato salad was ok, but nothing special.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back unless I get a free meal. Even then, I’d still be hesitant…

I really wanted to like this place but we will not be going back. We did carry out.
Hungry Mans Dinner
Sausage was over cooked. Ham was dry. Beef was pretty good until I got to the part with their BBQ sauce. Their BBQ was gross! It had a weird tangy bitter flavor to it. Baked beans were too tangy for my liking and the bacon was chewy. Potato salad was the worst we’ve ever had! Too much dill and sooooo runny. Mac & cheese was the only good thing about this Hungry Man dinner!
Fried chicken was pretty good but a little too greasy for me. Looked like they took it straight from the fryer to our to go box. There was a lot of grease! After dabbing all the grease off, the chicken had good flavor. Wish it was crispier, probably would have been crispy if it wasn’t drowned in grease! The mashed potato & gravy was not so great. The potato was dry dry dry. The white gravy was salty salty salty. Green beans were ok. Had bacon in it which is why I said it was ok. Corn bread was dry.

This was our second visit to Char House. The first time we were pleasantly surprised. My husband had a burnt-​end sandwich with jambalaya and baked beans on the side. I had the Frito Chili Cheese Char Burger. We enjoyed everything we had. Hubby said the jambalaya was really good. We were told later we could order it as an entrée even though it doesn’t appear on the menu that way.
Second trip was on a Saturday evening a little after 7 PM. We realize it was Saturday night but thought maybe by then it wouldn’t be quite so busy. The place was packed, both floors. After we sat down I noticed several tables in our area with no food. I mentioned it to the waitress and asked how long we might expect the wait to be. She checked in the kitchen and told us 15 minutes which I thought was pretty optimistic.
We waited … and waited some more. The table nearest us had a small child who cried off and on because he was hungry. Another table had three people … the lady was served her meal and was nearly finished with it before the two gentlemen got their food. It reminded me of Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen when he packs the restaurant to see if they can handle it … and they can’t.
After waiting 45 minutes and sipping water, we walked out. The table with the crying child had yet to receive any food. I would guess they had been there at least an hour. Sure wanted to try the jambalaya as an entrée but doubt if we return. I think there must have been one poor soul in the kitchen trying to manage all the orders. Maybe they hadn’t planned to do well enough to ever fill the place because they seemed really unprepared for the volume of customers.

I’ve had two meals here, both pretty poor. The first was a pulled pork sandwich. The bread was really warm and chewy — almost like it had been frozen and thawed out in the microwave. The pork was really really hot (temp hot) and super salty. I think both bun and meat were microwaved.
The 2^nd meal was «buffalo wings». They didn’t have much buffalo flavor at all, I had to add hot sauce to the wings.

This restaurant will be out of business within the next year or two. I say that because the building layout it terrible, the décor is tacky, and the food is horrible at best.
We came here for the barbeque and it was absolutely the worst barbeque I’ve ever had.
Let me begin by saying that the restaurant is downstairs, and not particularly easily accessible. I couldn’t bring my grandma and grandpa here, they wouldn’t make it down the stairs.
The girl behind the counter wasn’t very helpful, and the menu was decidedly difficult to decipher. It was poorly laid out and written in hard to read chalk colors. I’m no old woman, but if I can’t read the menu, then old man river can’t either.
We ordered a half slab of ribs, a pulled pork sandwich, mac and cheese, and potato salad. The sides were the only good thing about it.
The ribs I got were so fatty and disgusting, the meat would literally not come off the bone. I pulled a section of the meat up and it slapped back down on the bone like a rubber band. Unacceptable. I asked for another slab, and they brought it to me. These ribs were hotter and fattier. I couldn’t eat them, I was so grossed out. The mac and cheese was pretty good though.
And the bathrooms? Unacceptable. It was like a bathroom on a airplane, and I’m no large lady, but I felt cramped in there with a terrible reek of unclean toilet.
I will not ever be back here.

For Shawnee locals, do not drive by this place.
I have always loved the SITE of this restaurant because it is not in the cookie-​cutter chain restaurant mode. When Margarita’s was here it was always hopping, always saw people we knew there… even though Margarita’s may be the blandest «Mexican» restaurant on the planet.
I have always tried to support EVERY restaurant moving here since Margarita’s moved (to an old BURGER KING no less!) because there are no places with such a unique and local ambience anymore… and Char House, while not perfect, is the best of those who have followed.
DO order the chicken and BBQ… do NOT order burgers (ugh).

To give them some benefit of the doubt… our 1^st time was via carry out. I was leary from the start when order was taken over the phone. She was half involved with my order and answering questions from an employee on the floor in the restaraunt. She didn’t repeat order back nor did she seem to know any specials or offer suggestions. The order was wrong. Forgot a side. One of the sides was supposed to be doubled, and it wasn’t. The sauce was in small containers, not enough to go around. They seem to hide cornbread in all the boxes vs filling them w/​the side you ordered. And quite frankly, the food wasn’t really good, and the sauce wasn’t anything to jump up and down for. I will say, I’m sad. Really wanted to like this restaraunt because no venue seems to make it in this location, but in the end… I won’t go back. There are better places just as close to get barbeque and fried chicken.

I walked in and didn’t realize this place use to be the old Margarita’s I heard a lot about but never visited. I went in with a coupon I found online. I liked the reviews of a bbq and chicken place. I like bbq but roomie has to be «in the mood» to eat it (nearly never). She however likes chicken. Perfect!
I got a brisket sandwich (little too fatty) and jumbalaya (uh, NO!). I did enjoy mixing the sauces. Roomie got two piece (breast, wing) pan fried chicken and cornbread. She loved it and bought another helping for her dinner at work that night. She also got mash potatoes and liked it too. She gave me the wing and I also was not thrilled with it. However her chicken breast (very tender) was better, although still a little too bland in spices for me. As Clark stated the cornbread reminded me of Tippins and was great. Also really liked the waffle fries.
We usually go at the non busy hour, so we were the only ones there the whole time. The lady behind the counter was helpful and talkative. They have a picture of the menu on the website with prices included. However, walking in, I immediately noticed that the prices had increased. I mentioned it and was told they are still working on the website.
I would return for a chicken breast and waffle fries and cornbread.

All of their food is excellent. Everyone who lives in Kansas City, must put this on their «too try» list. I have been there about 5 times and I continue to get great service and incredible food. They are kid friendly with a kids menu. Char House has an 8 piece chicken dinner for a very reasonable amount. Move over Strouds… Char House is now the leader of fried chicken! Plus you don’t have to wait for an hour to get seated. The Hot wings are great. I am usually served within 5 minutes after ordering. The BBQ Ribs are excellent and the Hamburgers are just what Mom used to make. We brought 14 adults and 9 kids today and were served within a timely manner. They even have crayolas and activities for the kids. The prices are very reasonable and they have lunch and dinner specials. It’s an order at the counter which really speeds up the process. Go give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

If you like piling on the sauce and creating your own flavor you will enjoy Char House — there were no less than 8 sauces on the table to mix and match (3 varieties of tabasco — regular, garlic, habanaro; 3 varieties of barbecue sauce — original, pork, spicy; ketchup and mustard.) Also, you gotta love a place that will let you choose a cold brew as your drink option for the sandwich combo. However, while tasty the food did not stand-​out and with the stiff kc barbecue competition I’m a little worried about this new venture.