Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse

First, I must be honest: we avoid chain restaurants like root canal. As chefs, we choose the independent restaurants, the ones that struggle without corporate funding, the ones you see with Space Available signs all too often.
It happened that we were meeting our nieces and their parents for brunch last Sunday, and while scanning my phone for anything other than a Diner (yeah yeah yeah I know we have the best diners in the world… not the point) I came across a notice that Charlie Brown’s has Sunday Brunch. I called the Hamburg Turnpike location to make sure they were participating in this Brunch thing and made our reservations. (note here: Brunch will be starting at 10:30 a.m. beginning Sunday, February 14^th)
There are picky eaters on that side of our family and when I mentioned Charlie Brown’s there was concern all wouldn’t be able to find something they wanted.
There was no need to worry. The Brunch menu is varied, and very reasonable. The kids got Belgian waffles, a couple had pancakes, another had a Breakfast Burger with a fried egg on top (niiiiice) and I had a Egg Nests. Allow me to explain: Hash Browns formed into ‘nests’, with a baked egg and hollandaise sauce… need I go on??? Crispy potatoes, tender inside the nest, the yolks runny but the whites set. They were so good.
Let me say here that our server, Christina was divine, and very patient as we pondered our options.
I had a Bloody Mary and it was good — not sure if they used their own mix, or a pre-​made, but it was very nice — and came with my daily requirement of veggies.
It was very pleasant conversing with Mike, the Assistant GM (I think that’s his title, I know they mean a lot in corporate entities, so I apologize if I didn’t get the title totally correct, Mike). He’s a teddy bear of a guy who happened to be arranging things behind the bar when I passed thru to thank the bartender for the drinks. Mike was happy to hear we had a great meal and I told him we would be back, because we are already planning a return Brunch day. I told him they really ought to advertise more about this Brunch deal.
Charlie Brown’s Sunday Brunch — plan on going soon. It was a nice little surprise.

We sat in a «booth pod» which felt awkward since there was another couple there… felt like community dining.
It took about 7 plates to find a clean one at the salad bar. The bar was a mess and looked like it had been sitting for a long time.
The food was meh, average. Service was good. Wine was gross. Place needs a good cleaning.

Go for the salad bar only. Priced at $ 9.99 for all you can eat. It’s a bargain. Fresh ingredients and replenished frequently. My entrée were the crab cakes. Barely warm, not much crab and salty. My guest had a sirloin that was cooked to his liking but still tough which means they’re not buying top quality meat. Our waiter Tom was great.

Place may have remodeled on the outside but the inside is what needs the overhaul, and not only the dated décor but the entire menu. The bjg draw is the salad bar because it comes with most meals and is extensive, but lets not forget were discussing leaves about being the big attraction. Ordered a 12 oz ny strip med rare. Friday night, no ones here, 40 min passes, comes out welldone, no red or pink center to be found. Said forget sending it back based on how poor the service was to begin. Havent been back in about a year, wont be back.

I came here yesterday and had a good meal. Their salad bar is amazing, so I got the crab cakes with sauteed spinach and the salad bar. The meal was pretty small, but that’s fine because the salad bar has so many good things on it. It’s really a meal in itself, and you can do that salad bar alone for $ 9.99, but I wanted to try the crab cakes too. I liked the crab cakes because they were made of mostly crab and not a lot of filler, but they were small. Next time I think I will just get the salad bar and a french onion soup or something. I would definitely go back!

We ate dinner here on Veteran’s Day. Many restaurants in Jersey had discounts for Veterans but this was the best. As an added bonus the food was excellent. My prime rib dinner and salad bar was free and delicious. They kept up with the influx of customers as best as anyone could and got the food out promptly. Other area restaurants had a $ 15 cap on the discount or, as in one case, an e-​mail that screamed «Free» and then in very small letters on the bottom said «half off».

Salad bar was good. Meatloaf was not. Very dry. Maybe more gravy and it would have been edible. Hamburgers were delicious, but fry portion was skimpy. I would come back for lunch. Better value for the money.

Our server Amanda was AMAZING! Salad bar good but missing our favorite marinated mushrooms! Great prime ribs and coconut shrimp! Good food, great service!

Went on a Thursday night for all you can eat ribs. First portion that came out had just ok flavor and was a bit dry. Generous portion but all miss matched. Pieces were not from the same rack. Asked for seconds and was brought out tiny little riblets. Totally embarrassing for Charlie Browns to do this. Come on. Really. Bring a few full sized ribs out not these miniature things they call ribs. Go for the salad bar and a steak. Avoid the ribs.

The salad bar is A-​OK. It is a decent, fresh selection clean and nice. There are many reviewers unhappy with the salad bar. I am here to say that it is pretty good and we liked the salad bar.
I am writing a review because I am ticked off mostly because of my bad beer experiences. So… I went there a half year ago, and my beer had a weird taste– sour (like dirty draft beer lines?). I went back months later, and ordered a beer again hoping for a normal beer. Yuck! It was awful– weird sour taste. Really over poweringly bad– not subtle bad, but like Wow! I cannot remember ever getting a beer with such a disgusting aftertaste. I have no idea what it was– maybe glassware cleaning detergent. Anyhow I went back with my family visiting in town last week, which was like a half a year later, since the last time I was there, and decided not to have a beer. My family enjoyed the salad bar, and the shrimp. Then I tonight with friends from work, and I very clear ordered an IPA. The waitress brought me the wrong beer (a summer ale), and made a joke about being confused. If you work in a bar and serve beer you should know what an IPA is. The beer was fine in that it did not have a weird disgusting contaminated after taste. We all tried different happy hour appetizers. They were mostly good. Some of the food orders and billing was clearly screwed up, but our waitress was very blonde, so that is probably her modus operandi to screw up with every table she serves (blonde jokes aside– she was not a capable waitress). …Potato skins were burnt, hard, and badly made. Our work crew ordered two different plates at different times, and we tried eating a few, and gave up. How can someone screw up potato skins???- even if they were not way over cooked they still would have awful as there was not much on them, and they were way, way, way over salted. Yes you expect potatoes to be salty, but at some point enough is enough, and way too much salt is awful. We boxed up both plates of potato skins as there were inedible, I took them home, and fed my dogs.
Overall the place is OK. Probably the best bar in Woodbury, New Jersey (like there are any to choose from). Most of the food is good. The salad bar was good. The place gets busy– mostly seniors, but again it’s Woodbury.
I live short walking distance away, and really wish I had had better experiences. If some of our food tonight had not been inedible, and our simple food and drink orders had not been screwed up, and our bill hand not over charged us I might consider going there occasionally. As it is I am done with it, and have no desire to go back.

Love going here for more of a special occasion type dinner because the prices are a little steep but all in all this is a really great place. Love their steaks and just about all of the appetizers on the menu!

Mother’s Day! They had a Special Menu and a $ 15 return gift card for Moms
Food was great and plentiful, Service is friendly, quick and helpful. Can’t wait for Father’s Day!

I’ve been to this location several times and each time I have an excellent experience. The waitstaff is super accommodating and nice!
The food has always been incredibly delicious. Last time I went I got meatloaf and salad bar. Meatloaf and garlic mashed were so yummy! Salad bar was super fresh. My boyfriend ordered garlic bistro and french onion soup and was extremely happy with how tender and flavorful everything was. The décor is so cozy and the booths are incredibly comfortable!

Was there a few years ago and thought it was ok. Was driving by today hungry and decided to stop in and try again. SO GLAD WE DID! Had lunch the service and food were excellent. Our server was Jordan he was very attentive. Drinks were always filled and no dirty dishes left sitting on our table (which is a pet peeve of mine). Food came out quick and was delicious. The manager on duty was Mike who also came by to make sure we were happy with everything he even refilled our drinks (I’ve never had a manager do that before). Looks like we found a new spot to eat. Yummy!

Their food is ordinary and overpriced.

The food was great. The mussels in garlic butter. we’re YUMMY! The salad bar was well stocked and clean… nice clean quite booth. we enjoyed our dinner. We can’t wait to go back. The price was ok.

Tonight I met some friends for a drink and a bite to eat, this Charlie Browns just happened to be the most convenient location for all of us, and I sure am glad it was. The service was top notch! Even though the kitchen was near closing time, all the food was brought out in a timely manner, and was hot and delicious. The staff was on top of their game, the refills were brought out fast, and everyone from the server to the bartender and manager were all polite friendly and very accommodating.
For my friends and I this place will surely become a regular meeting point from here on out.

Tonight we dined at the Charlie browns in wayne and had a great time. The server was on top of everything and the bartender had our drinks out in seconds. The prime rib was tender, perfectly cooked and salad bar was amazing. I highly recommend this Charlie browns. I will be back next week.

You can immediately tell the food is shipped to them frozen. I’ve experienced better salad bars, this one was mediocre. I’d never order the steak based on only the look of the place… outdated, gross carpet, sticky tables and… blech.
Food is full, overflowing, with preservatives and you can taste it. The awful taste stayed with me hours after.
Go elsewhere if you can.

RIP Charlie Brown :(
5 Years ago, this place was IT!!!
The food was amazing, the salad bar was the best, place was clean, staff nice!
NOW–
Food is subpar, salad bar is old, crummy, dirty, staff is slow.
You can throw Foursquare /​Yelp offers, but it won’t help, fix the business bring it back to the way it was, this applies to ALL locations.