Charlie's Bar & Grille

Really good food and large menu. The entire staff was friendly and helpful. The plates came out fast.

We had such a great time at Charlie’s Bar and Grill on Plainfield! Jody and Tara were absolutely fantastic—super responsive, quick on their feet, and made the whole experience fun from start to finish. They kept the laughs coming with their jokes, tossed in compliments and even some recommendations along the way. Their generosity and upbeat energy made us feel right at home. Service like that is hard to come by, and it really made the night memorable. We’ll definitely be back!

Ordered take out for the first time I work nearby and wanted to try them out pretty solid to me got the buffalo chicken wrap can’t go wrong there and tried there mozzarella sticks and those were delicious whatever seasoning/prep they do to them was very tasty, I’m thinking a burger next 😁😋

It was our first time eating there. It was incredible! The food was piping hot. Our waitress, Angela, went above and beyond. She was so friendly and checked on us constantly. We will definitely be going back.

Loved charlies. Great food, and wonderful drink selection. Met the owner and several regulars. Definitely on my list to return asap.

Waitresses were wonderful, friendly, and attentive to their tables! Food was good, hot out of the kitchen, and would highly recommend trying their blue cheese dressing and mashed potatoes. Kitchen was a little slow and we waited a bit to get seated as well as receiving our orders, but waitresses made sure to continue checking in and refilling our drinks. Would recommend going here!

It was so delicious it didn’t matter to me, but they tell you, you can get your burgers cooked to order; It was not even slightly medium rare, was fully cooked and seemed to be lesser quality ground beef. The house made mozzarella sticks were seriously amazing. Delicious fries. Busy place no matter when you go. Parking is limited. Great local spot!

It's a bar with bar food. Service to our big table was excellent. I enjoyed the most unique olive burger and tots. Their olive sauce was unusual and delicious. The hubs enjoyed fish and chips - he loved it. I wasn't impressed with the glass of wine I ordered - shouldn't order wine at a bar and grill anyway. Everything was reasonably priced. When we return - I'm getting the burrito - that looked amazing!

This is like a Cheers type of place, where everybody knows your name. Or if they don't, they will by the time you leave. My aunt and uncle have been regulars at Charlie's for years and when I mentioned them to our server, she was so delighted and even had the owner (Charlie) come over to talk to us. Charlie's menu is huge and everything I've had is good. The prices are great and don't seem to have been affected too much over the years, which is amazing and hard to come by these days. I'd been seeing this photo of their scallop dinner on some local foodie Facebook groups, so I knew I wanted to try it. The dinner comes with a side salad, seasonal veggie, red skinned potatoes, and four large scallops. Nate got the Fabulous burger, which is their olive burger. Our food took a little bit to come out but everything was SO good. This is the best food you'll find at a divey bar in town. The scallops were cooked perfectly and were so tasty. I loved the potatoes and green beans and I got a side Caesar salad. They make their own Caesar dressing and it's really yummy. I loved Nate's burger - it was perfectly cooked (medium as requested) and seasoned well. They have the beer battered fries that are so delicious. We had several people stop by our table to chat which was fun. Service is super friendly and kind, a little bit slow at times, but we were enjoying a relaxing dinner. Other items we've had include their burritos (they are massive) and their grilled cheese sandwiches (they have a whole section of them on the menu). Like I said, everything we've eaten at Charlie's has been good! I will say that the parking lot is a total disaster - it's full of pot holes and it can get kind of chaotic as there aren't any clearly designated spots in the back. That being said, I think it's totally worth it.

A friend introduced me to this place, and I'm so glad she did. We had the famous house made mozzarella sticks, potato skins for app. I ordered a gin and tonic that doesn't skimp on the G and walleye sandwich. My guys and had the wet burrito. Both were really good. We had to go back a few weeks later to bring our kids. The menu is expansive with Mexican dishes, burgers, seafood (shrimp basket, scallop entree, etc), flatbreads, and an array of sandwiches and main entree. My son had the best grilled cheese with bacon, and my daughter got chicken tenders. This time I ordered thr French dip (yum!), and my husband enjoyed the burger. You can't beat the prices and the made from scratch quality food. I'm not a ranch fan, but their homemade dressing was delicious with the mozz sticks. Not fancy, just good food, friendly service at this old bar and grill institution.

Finally made it to Charlie's for the first time and was totally CHARMED by the warm welcome from the staff, including Charlie herself! Went on a early afternoon Valentine's Day lunch date and enjoyed the excellent scratch-made fare, including the 1/2 Bang Bang 1/2 Firecracker Shrimp appetizer, a Caesar salad, the Wet Burrito, and the absolutely scrumptious Pan-Seared Sea Scallop Appetizer. I immediately fell in love with the come-as-you-are, old-school 80s interior and music playlist, which inspired some fun singalongs from the floor and bar workers. It was apparent that they have a lot of pride in and enthusiasm for the establishment and truly enjoy working there. Our server Tracy was friendly and fun, gave great recommendations, and saw to our every need. I chose Charlie's specifically after seeing a picture of the sea scallops posted in a local foodie group and I can say, without a doubt, that they exceeded my expectations! And it was truly a "white tablecloth" entree for 1/2 of what it might cost at local seafood restaurants. Charlie's is the quintessential hidden gem AND a good old fashioned watering hole in one :)

This is a neighborhood favorite. It's always packed and the menu is huge. You could go here over and over not eat the same thing twice. I ordered Charlie wet burrito. It's huge and I had lunch the next day. My sister had the steak special with potatoes and green beans. They have a full bar and the drinks are so good. Come in grab a chair and enjoy the night

Great menu, lots of options. They just need to make it clear on the menu that there are FULL anchovies in the caesar wrap. I understand its in the dressing - very rarely are their full anchovies in caesars, if there are it needs to say that. Waitress confirmed that yes there are, but was very kind and took care of it from there.

Looking for a different place for lunch, we decided to go to Charlies Bar and Grill. As far as I can tell, Charlies has been here forever and I've driven past it countless times but have never stopped in. Today we did. First thing that amazed me was the huge menu. The second thing was the reasonable prices. In fact, I thought pricing would dictate quality. I was wrong. I ordered a French Dip and my wife had the "No Name" Ham and Swiss with tomato soup. To say we both loved our choices is an understatement. Service was excellent as well. Given the extensive menu and our first great experience here, we will absolutely be back soon. Another great find! What took me so long?

Great Ambiance and a classic dive bar feel with upscale food. The staff made me feel very comfortable and at home.

Charlie's never disappoints. If you're looking for a family friendly, cozy neighborhood spot with an extensive menu and it's all great! Bar food to entrees, you can't go wrong.

Can't get a burger cooked to order. Meaning just cook it to the temp and not med well all day

The staff is always kind and friendly. Food is always good Charlie is a bright spot of sweet sunshine when she walks around checking on tables.

We went out for charlie's bar and grill great steak dinner special on Thursday. We were more than disappointed. We order steak, red potatoes and broccoli and a salad. Waitress was great . Our meals came ,we started eating ... well the steak was warm,looked like they were cookie cutter steaks so tuff you couldn't cut it .I stared eating my potatoes and they were warm the butter almost melted,then I found a hair under my potatoes. Everyone at the table was having a tuff time cutting their steaks, so I said nothing about the hair. Went to eat.my broccoli but the butter hadn't even melted. Worst meal ever. We won't go there again. I am so angry I wrote this,,,letter

Great food mostly homemade that matches the service you will get here. Never been disappointed!

Probably my favorite bar/restaurant in the area. Food & service is always on point & they mix a mighty nice cocktail. Sort of the hidden gem of Plainfield.

We're new to the area and thought the food sounded decent so I called here to place a takeout order on a Wednesday at 7pm and the lady put me on hold, when she came back she told me the chef said "not right now bc we're REALLY busy. I've worked in multiple different restaurants and have never said this to someone before, why not just say it's going to be a wait or something, just throwing away business? Maybe the food is good, I'll never know lol

Long wait on a Friday night but the food was bery good albeit slown, but due to the crowd fair. Our waitress Tracy was busy but made sure we were token care and and didn't want for anything. Great over all experience.

Charlie's is an excellent restaurant. It's extensive menu has something for everyone; the servings are enormous and the food is always served hot! Prime rib, enchiladas, bang bang shrimp, burgers or fettuccini already with chicken - Charlies has it all, along with a full bar, exceptional service, and friendly atmosphere. Charlie herself is there every evening, and her hospitality is genuine. Do yourself a favor - go to Charlie's with your family and friends. You won't be disappointed.

Wonderful dinks and friendly staff . Charlie the owner is a very pleasant gal, and will make you feel right at home.

Great neighborhood location with good unique food offerings! I love to support local businesses.

I'd never come here without a recommendation from a friend. It's as local as they come. I'm betting the exterior and dining area haven't been updated in 30 years. I had the Buffalo chicken wrap and it was actually really good! The chicken was perfect, fresh veggies, Buffalo was likely Frank's red hot and pretty good ranch. The fries were pretty bad. Soft, not crispy at all, no salt. The best part of Charlie's is easily the service. Server was excellent, attentive, quick with the refills. Charlie's clearly shines at serving locals. Probably half the people who walked in were greeted by name. It's clean, friendly and decent food. If they fixed up the outside (parking lot is awful!), got better fries and gave the interior a facelift it'd be perfect ratings from me, but maybe that would take away from the charm? You be the judge. I'll try them again I'm sure if not simply because sometimes you just want a friendly face.

Been here many, many times. I love it more each time. Charlie, I am pretty sure she is always here. I love she is so invested. She may sleep here, I don't know for certain. Super friendly staff, great drinks and I usually choose between three things. Mr Fabulous burger, Charlie's choice or nachos. My hubby and I usually split something and it works out great! Great local spot, though I bring all out of towners here or recommend those to try here.

Great menu and friendly staff. Loved the space. Can't wait to go back and try more off their giant menu.

They have some terrible people that work there one server in particular has an attitude other people I've talked to knows about this she's actually incredibly rude and acts like she's doing you a favor by waiting on you. The food is definitely not as good as it used to be there.

Second visit was just as great as the first! The homemade tomato soup is my absolute favorite and is soo flavorful with nice chunks of tomato, a must try!! The no name ham and Swiss was delicious too. Nobody liked the Buffalo chicken wrap because it was spicy but my dinner mates should have known that lol! Great hometown place to visit!

Charlie's is consistently good! Food is homemade and service is quick and super friendly! Mozzarella sticks are homemade and a must have!

Great food, friendly and personal service. Greeted personally. Felt like a throwback to a time when restaurant staff really wanted you to be there and took pride in the food they prepare.

My husband and I were we're up for the Michigan high school state track meet. Looking for a nice little quiet place to have some drinks and snacks came up pun Charlie's bar and Grill and if we weren't looking we would've passed it right by. Let me say it was a great time! Bartenders excellent drinks are a good pour customer Gary at the bar was a real hoot! He recommended what we should eat and he was spot on we had such a great time and it made our long day very enjoyable! Thank you guys very much!

A trip to Grand Rapids is not complete until you stop in and have a drink with Charlie!

I went for lunch and had chili that didn't taste like midwestern chili ( a beef stew). This had just enough sad pice and substance My lunch partner had ribs as tasty as flat landers used to serve. A neighborhood at and grill with a friendly staff maKes me want to come back soon.

We were here so many years ago and it doesn't look like it changed a bit from what I remember. I think at least half the patrons in the place are regulars. Bartender and our server were very friendly. Quick to get our drinks. After mulling over the menu for quite some time, I decided on the shrimp basket. My wife ordered the same, it just didn't take her as long to decide. The food came promptly and was nice and hot. 8 pieces of batter fried butterfly shrimp and some fries. Shrimp was decent size and crispy. Fries a little to greasy for me, but they were go enough to eat. Also came with coleslaw. The good thing was that it wasn't to tart, bad thing was it was a little to bland. Will I come here again? Yes. It wasn't a bad experience, just not a great one.

Love Charlie's bar and Grille! Charlie herself is the sweetest. Love the atmosphere and the staff. Feel like family whenever I go in there. Have never had any bad food there - definitely recommend the mozzarella sticks! My goal is to make it through the menu lol

Great local place, been here over 25 years and everything from scratch!!! Charlie's a woman btw, sweet as can be! Our server was Tracey, she's awesome too!!!

I have driven past this place for 25 years. A friend of mine said "Charlie's is awesome". Just checked it out 3 weeks ago. We have been there twice a week since. The menu is huge, however they pull it off with no issues. In fact they use fresh ingredients and make most food with those fresh ingredients in house. The owner is a pleasure to talk to. Her daughter is a chip off the old block and will keep this business running for a long time! So sorry we missed out by just driving by for years.

This is another one of those hidden gems. No frills but amazing food and service. We always enjoy having a meal & drinks here because it is awesome as well as reasonable. Always leave with a smile on our face. No matter who I take there, something on the menu for everyone.

I've been here a few times now. The food is great, the owner is very friendly, and drinks are strong. Low star rating due to the service. There has always been something wrong with our order (simple things, like no onion) and the servers have zero fire in them. This evening, we watched our server stand at the bar talking while we waited over 40 minutes for our dinner order to be taken. At this point, we chose not to order dinner and go elsewhere. I will say that when we attempted to pay for our app and first drink, we were apologized to and told our drinks and app were on the house. More staff may be needed at this establishment during the dinner rush.

Have been here before, was pretty decent the first few times. The last two times we waited over 20 minutes for assistance and today we waited 40 minutes just to see our waitress to order dinner. I won't fault them for their food but I'm not sure I've ever had such long waits at a table. It's unfortunate because it's a great environment.

Waitresses are great. Bartender is horrible. Will no longer serve drinks in glasses. It has nothing to do with weight of glasses since they are still serving pitchers. I also went up with my waitress so I could carry the glass myself and bartender refused... If I'm going to get served like a dive bar- it's not wrong to expect dive bar prices.

First of all...we have been coming here for a long time! It used to be very well managed and the service and food was great! For the last year and a half...it has been horrible. We keep giving them another chance, but we are done. Yuck! And ugh!

Great place. Couldn't get a seat at the bar so had to grab a table just myself. Got loaded tors with a fried egg on top that were pretty righteous. Only had two beers because the waitresses looked like they were a little short staffed that night.

Stopped in on a whim Monday night (after YEARS of driving by and hardly noticing this place) after checking out YELP and figuring, WHY NOT!? This place is next to some sketchy little shops on Plainfield (Cirilla's, a smoke shop, laundromat, etc) and not a ton of parking up front but more in the back (dirt lot). When you walk in you feel like you are stepping back in time.. maybe to Village Inn 1992? Hubs Inn 1995? It's dark with minimal lighting, dark colored, leather booths, cement floor, and random tables. It was decently busy for a Monday night at 530ish but we were able to grab a seat in the middle of the restraint. Greeted pretty quickly and had our drink order taken and menus brought over. Small draft list, but they did have a few craft and I went with Perrin Black. The menu was pretty impressive! Lots of apps, sandwiches, burgers, GRILLED CHEESES!, mexican, salads, dinners (Kielbasa Plate!), and soups (homemade Tomoto Bisque). Nightly specials, too: Monday was $5 mini burritos (that did NOT look mini) and a meatball dinner. Tuesday is $5 burger and beer! (Lunch menu seemed big and cheap!) We both decided on the Charlie's Choice burger (which sounded more like a melt). I got mine without a bun and a cole slaw instead of chips. Hubby got his with fries for an upcharge. Beers were cold and big! Food came out quickly, too. No frills, good greasy burger. Cheese, olives, sauteed onions (still a little crispy) with a side of mayo (because mine had no bun). Coleslaw seemed homemade, too. No complaints- good bar burger! Second round of beers took a lot longer and we got them after we were finished, but that was not a huge deal. we hung out and watched the Kino board and chatted while we drank. Bill took a little while, too. Waitress seemed busy by the time we were cashing out since the restaurant got busier. Again, not a big deal. She was super friendly and apologetic. Fun little hole in the wall that would be good for a beer or a decent bar meal (step UP from bar food, honestly). Friendly service, decent prices, and quick (ish) service. If we are in the area, we may stop in again.

I absolutely love this place. Amazing food and drinks. You would never expect the type of food to come out of a "bar". A must try!!!?

We had dinner here on August 23, 2019. The service and the food was outstanding and we had an opportunity to meet Charlie, the woman who opened the restaurant in 1996. Tara, our server was excellent, and made sure we were well taken care of. We live 40 miles away in Holland, MI, but we going to make a trip just to have dinner. One thing I noticed, the Men's room was immaculately clean which is a good judge of restaurant cleanliness.

I ordered the smelt and a cheeseburger. The smelt had a nice thin lite batter and there was plenty of them. They were pretty darn good. As for the Cheeseburger it was mediocre, I'm pretty sure it was pre-frozen, wasn't bad and it wasn't great. The place was real dark just like old bars use to be, not very modern. If your looking to go back in time this is the place for you. I like modern bright bar and grills, but everyone is different.

For a bar, they had quite an extensive menu, and some of the selections were pretty unusual. For someone who doesn't eat meat and tries not to eat cheese, however, the pickings were pretty slim. I ended up with the veggie burger and it was good, but nothing special. The kids with us were allowed to order salads instead of whatever came with their chicken strips, which was nice. My husband ordered a steak and said it was pretty good. The waitress was friendly, but when our food was brought (we seemed to be waited on by at least three different people), she put it down and immediately left without asking if we needed anything else. We had to flag her down for catsup and mustard. Then we never saw anyone again to refill our water or bring us anything until we were done and ready to leave. Friends of mine go here every week for dinner and enjoy it, so I'd give it another try, but it would be nice to have more than one vegan item on the menu.

Went here because I bought a Groupon for it. The restaurant has been a North end fixture for many years. The place is not fancy but clean and friendly. Quite an extensive menu. It is a restaurant with a bar. The bar is small near the front of the building. Hand full of bar seats and four or five booths. Pretty cozy. The food was good but not outstanding. Certainly worth a visit for dinner from time to time.

Food was hot and tasty. Carrie our server was on it. I highly recommend this local restaurant!

I'd like this to be a regular place for food and/or drinks. I've been able to count on the food. But the friendliness of the bartenders is inconsistent. (Sit at the bar.) Not sure what that's all about but hoping it improves. We're moving to that side of town soon, would be nice to feel comfortable whether alone or with other folks. Although, Charley herself has always been warm n friendly. She definitely makes you feel welcome!

Don't know why I never think of this place because I drive by a couple of times a day. We wanted to run out for a quick bite and a drink and Charlie's was a home run. I got the impression that many of the customers were regulars as some seemed to know each other and the servers seemed to know everyone. Our waitperson was super friendly and seemed to find loads of time to answer our questions even though she seemed very busy. She did not make us feel we were an imposition. Our meal was very good (for the price). served promptly and hot. I had a pasta dish and Sally a steak. Mine was the winner!

This place is great. Food is solid. Wet burritos are better than most Mexican restaurants. They make excellent margaritas as well. Prices are really food. Option of fries, tots, or chips for sides with sandwiches. And their burgers are also very good. Feels "divey" but that is half the appeal. This is my go-to for sure.

I love Charlie's! This place has the most wonderful staff, and they NEVER mess up my food. The food is always picture perfect and not too expensive either! The only reason I'm not giving this establishment 5 stars is because of their credit card system. It's back by the kitchen so it takes forever to cash out most of the time