Charley's

This was our first trip to Boston. We got in late and looking for a place for dinner, ended up at Charley's. What a pleasant surprise. The food was great and the staff was awesome. \r \r We were informed when we ordered, that the food is made from scratch, so if there is a change you want to make, they can help.\r \r Not knowing Boston, we took a chance on Charley's our first night there. We were very pleased and made it our last stop, before we headed home to Texas. Highly recommended! more

Great location, the food was amazing (Chowder) and the management was great......I left my debit card and they sent it to me via FEDEX...I cannot say enought good things about Charley's.... more

Once springtime is here, I love heading to Charley's for brunch. Despite being a chain restaurant, I think that Charley's serves solid quality brunch and has one of the best patios on Newbury Street. Plus, they offer the most awesome mini muffins in their complimentary bread basket and if you order brunch, they always include a complimentary mimosa or my favorite, a Bloody Mary. Although I come here 99% of the time for brunch, their dinner is also outstanding and you can also eat outdoors with their sparkling lights and heat lamps. Pros: Awesome complimentary Bloody Mary's with brunch, patio Cons: Service can be all over the place more

I love this place for brunch on the weekends. The brunch is very good and very reasonably priced. A couple of the brunch options also include a free bloody mary, mimosa, beer or glass of champagne! Pros: Great brunch more

I love bread and butter (I know, I'm working on changing that) and it is amazing at Charley's. The patio is beautiful on a nice Boston day. There are trees providing shade, as well as a home for little brown birds looking for a bite of your food. For brunch, the food isn't extraordinary or anything, but it's good and affordable. A girl at the other table was drinking a blueberry lemonade cocktail that I will definitely order next time. Pros: Location on Newbury Cons: Tiny birds whizzing by your head more

When I first moved to Boston and found myself roaming up and down Newbury Street feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the choices, I called a friend and asked if he had any recommendations. He referred me to Charley's and I was not disappointed. It was a gorgeous Saturday night in September, which made for perfect outdoor dining weather. Charley's outside dinning area is accompanied by beautifully lit trees which make for a wonderful ambiance. We did have a 15 minute, but that is generally to be expected on a Saturday night on Newbury Street. You can roam the street for a few minutes or have a seat at the bar while you wait. The service was fine and the food was great. I had the chicken broccoli ziti and was very pleased (which says a lot, because I'm a native of the NYC metro-area and I'm fairly picky when it comes to pasta). I think the food took a bit longer than usual to come out, but, once again, it was a Saturday night and the restaurant was quite busy. I will definitely dine there again. My mother is coming to visit this weekend and I'm planning on taking here there. Overall, I would definitely recommend Charley's. Pros: Great outdoor dining ambiance. Cons: Usually a bit of a wait to be seated, but it's worth it. more

While we were on vacation in Boston we decided that we would focus on dining at a variety of local dining in the area. We decided that we would have brunch at this restaurant. When we arrived at this restaurant we were one of the first seated however we were one of the last to receive our food. This only after we complained about how many people came after us and was served before us. My party contained 2 adults and 2 children, so the size of our party was not an issue. The coffee we received was not hot, it was lukewarm. The mini-muffins we received were good though I thought the corn muffins were a little dry. When our meal finally came, I could not eat the french toast that I was given it was cold. I asked others at my table and the kids said they were really hungry so they did not care, and my companion did not think his food was very good. I refused to eat my food and asked for a check so I could go elsewhere. The manager was very condescending in his attitude towards me and offered to give me eggs or some muffins because he felt bad. I have visited a lot of restaurants in Boston and this was one of the worst, especially for the price we paid. This restaurant left a bad taste in my mouth. Pros: outdoor dining Cons: poor food quality, poor service more

I have dined at Charley's for quite a long time now and I definately enjoy everything whenever I go there, however, after all of my experiences dining there, here are the key elements that guarantee you a perfect meal. Either go to dinner early or late night in order to get a prime outdoor seating spot for great people watching and luminescent lighting. The waitstaff should bring you over bread, but if they do not please ask for it, it is out of this world. Fresh from the oven, cripsy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, and the homemade butter makes everything melt in your mouth! Also, for wine I highly reccommend a glass of Moon Mountain's Cabernet Sauvignon. Incredible flavor, Sonoma Valley vineyard, and hard to come by in the New England area. I would then order a garden salad, I believe it is an extra $1.99 when ordering an entree, with the House Creamy Italian dressing. The salad is not anything outstanding but the dressing is incedible, you will lick the plate. Now for the drum roll, the reason I come here, a dish I have made my own version of just to satisfy the craving, the Angelhair Primavera with Chicken! This dish is highly flavorful, the matchstick vegetables are cooked perfectly and with grated parmesean cheese on top and a couple dashes of their Bull's Hot Sauce, you are good to go for an incredible burst of flavor in your mouth! I usually skip dessert because I have no room left in my stomach, but the entree is tasty enough that will leave you wanting to come back for more. Pros: Angelhair Primavera, Moon Mountain Cabernat, & Outdoor Dining Cons: Can't think of one more

The cheese pizza (margherita) is horrible. It is salty, has no flavor other than salt, cheese has no flavor, sauce has no flavor and 5 shriveled bits of basil were lame. It was the worst meal I've ever had anywhere. My husband had a burger that was over flavored, spicy and horrible. Even the meager fries were bad. This place is horrible, please save your money and go to one of the other nicer places on Newbury St. Steve's Greek is good, tons of other places are good. Please search elsewhere, this is not a good place to eat. Pros: Location, Nice interior Cons: Horrible food more

Had an excellent dining experience here last night. It was ""pretty busy"" for a Sunday night. However, as great as my dining experience is concerned, it was something else that I noticed that really impressed me. It centers around the fact that the servers seemed to be really cooperating with each other regarding a large party of about 11 or 12 people. Their cooperation seemed to be reflected in the fact that everyone in that party seemed to be really enjoying themselves.\r \r You should also try the Charles River pie when (not if) you visit this Newbury Street option. Pros: Price; Service; Newbury Street location Cons: Small bathroom more

Friends and I went for dinner last night and got to Charley's around 8:10. We put our name in and were told the wait was 20 minutes. After waiting 40 minutes, I went in to check on our reservation and was told it would only be another few minutes. We ended up waiting another 20 (not to mention while other people were walking right in and being seated). After all that we decided to go to dinner elsewhere. more

Just thought I would weigh in... I was a server at Charley's for a few months many many moons ago. To the person who complained that asking a customer to cut in to his/her steak is akin to saying ""we don't know what we're doing"" - actually, the idea behind that is to make sure, before walking away, that the steak is cooked to the customer's liking, and if not, to have it fixed. That said... Charley's is a strange beast. The menu is really outdated and the food quality is questionable. When I worked there, there were always 304 waitstaff too many at each shift (hence the group ""hanging around talking"" during dinner). Charley's was (is?) the bastion of the Back Bay Restaurant Group, which owned (owns?) Legal Sea Foods, among others. When I worked there, I was convinced that the only reason it existed was to cater lunches for the BBRG execs, and maybe score some good stuff for the customers and staff. Now, I don't know. more

i went here on tuesday with my boyfriend and his sister just for a quick dinner. when we sat in our booth, our tablecloth almost fell off because it was so long. getting in and out of the booth was a hassle bc we had to make sure the tablecloth would not slide out. our waiter was very young and seemed new. he didn't know how to pour our wine, he didn't twist the bottle at the end in order to prevent dripping and it dripped all over the menus. don't they at least train their waiters in wine etiquette? He told me they had bernaise sauce with the filet, which i ordered and then came back later and told me they didnt, that they only had 3 bottles of sauce (a1, worcestershire and some chili sauce). I was disappointed. My boyfriend was not impressed with the mahi mahi. We had to ask for water twice before he would re fill it. I had two glasses of wine and was feeling it, when my boyfriend's dessert came. He put it down in the center, so I went to pull it towards him when i realized how hot the plate was. My arm flung out and knocked part of my glass, to which the waiter said ""enjoying the wine, are we?"" very unprofessional. there was a waitress walking around in a jacket, and there were servers congregating near the front desk just talking throughout our meal. i dont think i will ever come here again. the waiter seemed nice enough, but the restaurant pretended to be upscale with its prices, with very poor service. Pros: cheap for newbury, nice looking place Cons: service, food, no valet more

My wife and I had the worst experience at Charleys last evening. Let's start at the bar. We went over to the bar as we had about a twenty minute wait, which was fine. We approached the bar and after we ordered our first drink the bartender gave us our check and never asked us if we wanted another drink. So then we were seated and the fun did not stop there. I ordered supposedly one of the specialty dinners the original baked chicken with stuffing and mashed potatoes. The dinner came out and the food was unbelievably cold. The mashed potatoes were cold and the stuffing tasted not just cold but like scooped out of the refridgerator cold. So I asked then if they could heat it up and was cold. The food was brought back and it was still almost exactly the same. At this point I asked the waitress if she could just take it back and I was all set. She said no problem and told me that the manager would be right over. I did not ask for the manager she was just doing her job which was nice. This was the best part, the manager never came over and the waitress came by a few times and I asked so where is the manager, and she said he was tied up for a while. My wife and I have both worked in the restauraunt industry for years and we both were amazed at how bad the service and food was. I can understand the other bad reviews on here. Stay away from this place on Newbury at all costs or you will end up having a horrible time. Hope I can save a few more headaches. Cons: Just about everything more

I've been to Charley's numerous times and have always been satisfied with my meal and service...and frankly, I've always found the Managers very attentive. Occassionally the waitstaff seems a little green (in comparison to some of the older, more professional servers in the Back Bay), but if you get your panties in a bunch over small things (like waiting a bit for an entree) you have no business going to a busy Newbury St. restaurant. I live and work in the Back Bay, so I've been to pretty much every restaurant in the area...there are always so many new ones popping up...and have found Charley's to have a relaxed atmosphere, good food, and cheap prices. more

Reading the reviews worried me, but our group had decided and it was too late to change. It was as bad or worse. Slow service was the worst part. Every part. Ordering, food/drink delivery, check was ridiculous. We watched another couple leave after 30mins without menus (and that was after complaining!) Drinks took so long that the ice in $8.75 rum drinks melted, watering them down. Some were missing. Overcooked buffalo tenders were bland and served without bleu cheese. $17 steak tips ordered medium with onion rings and mashed potatoes arrived cold, well-done, heavily-marbled and dried out, with 2 small onion rings. We retrieved our own ketchup and steak sauce. Finally the single-capacity bathrooms in this large restaurant meant waiting even for that. This place is not worth the time or money. Go elsewhere (and judging by the empty tables on Friday night, others did). I wish we had. Cons: Bad service, Poor food more

Sometimes the restaurant has a distinct nasty smell to it... I've heard customers question what it is. The food is ok, but there always seems to be a problem at every table. I guess if you want to go somewhere cheap you are going to the right place. At Charley's you get what you pay for. more

No matter if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, if you're dining at Charley's something will go wrong. Eggs benedict without hollandaise, wilted greens on a sandwich, and the most frequent - poorly cooked meats. Seldom has a steak or burger been cooked the way ordered. I've even had a server ask me to cut into my steak to see how it was cooked. That's like saying, ""Hey, we don't really know what we're doing, can you check for us?"" With the exception of a few competent servers, the waitstaff there is a mess. Once, after nearly finishing my entree without being asked how it was, my waiter returned reeking of cigarettes. Even the managers, pardon me - supervisors, seem unhappy. So if you're looking for cheap, go to Charleys, if you're looking for value, don't bother. Spend the money and get a decent dining experience elsewhere. Pros: cheap menu, outdoor dining Cons: cheap quality, inconsistent service, bad kitchen/grillwork more

they managed to botch my ENTIRE takeout order on a relatively calm evening. Every order item was wrong and it took 20 minutes longer than what they said it would. The poeple in the front and on the phones are beyond dumb. And then when I called to get the order fixed, they put me on hold and then act unbelieveably rude to me!!! NEVER AGAIN! Cons: dumb employees, order items wrong, are rude to patrons more

The food is great and you will never leave hungry...and that's it! more