Char Steakhouse — Local services in Scotch Plains

My mother-in-law had just picked us up from Newark Airport, and we selected Char Steakhouse on Route 22. From the moment we entered the restaurant, we were warmly greeted and immediately seated to a lovely and comfortable booth and beautiful decor.

Samantha was our server, and she was most gracious, helpful, and attentive to our dining needs. We were made to feel welcomed and valued customers, and she was attentive to our dining needs and set a standard by which emotes elegance and grace...

The staff were busy, and the managers were present and nicely engaged in the going gs on within the establishment, and from their interaction, I could tell that time, attention and training went into the selection of staff by way of how everything flowed so effortlessly and balanced.

I caught the attention of a male manager and expressed our satisfaction with Samantha, the service, our meal, and recommendations, pointing out that such service is comparable to what we experience from fine dining.

I noted that such service, in our view, is a testament of great leadership and thanked him for his service.

Afterward, Marie stopped by our table to day hello. This was followed by a visit from one of the chefs, who, by the way, I had spotted earlier, and we exchanged complimentary nod.

A round of applause to the entire staff at Char Steakhouse. Thank you for a pleasant dining experience and a fond and memorable way to return...

I was really looking forward to dining at this location, especially after having a fantastic experience the night before during a business meeting. I’ve been a loyal customer of the Raritan location, so I was excited to try this one. My first visit was excellent—the service was outstanding, and everything exceeded expectations.

However, my experience the following night with my family was completely different and beyond disappointing. We sat at the bar, ordered drinks, and before we even had time to enjoy ourselves, an employee came over to check a family member’s ID—which was fine. But then, two different general managers came over separately to check the ID again, making it a total of three times. I understand the importance of verifying IDs, but this was excessive, uncoordinated, and frankly, insulting. One time is reasonable. But having three different people—including two general managers—come up, one after another, and then try to cover it up with compliments afterward? Completely unprofessional. It showed a total lack of communication among the staff and made us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

What could have been another great dining experience was ruined by this unnecessary and frustrating ordeal. I won’t be returning to this location, and I’d caution others to be aware of the inconsistent service. A little organization and respect go a long way—unfortunately, that was...

This is not the Char experience, yet. First, the staff seems nice and is trying their best but at the moment the food and the ambiance falls well short of a high end steak house. Had to ask for bread twice. Long wait time to receive drinks. We ordered two appetizers got one the other one never came, even after we asked about it. They apologized and took it off the bill. The cheesy potato side dish was not edible for some reason it was 1000 times spicier than normal and the weird thing is that it wasn't supposed to be spicy. Also, it was only partially warm. The waitress apologized and swapped it out for okay mash potatoes (bland) The filet mignon was okay, could have a better sear and grill on it. The cowboy cut was fatty (expected) but cooked in a way that all you tasted after a few bites was grease. At the end they forgot to refund me for the potato dish so had to wait while they voided and fixed the bill. The wine selection was at least good. Also, they need to install some sound damping screens because the place used to be a bar and grill and it still has those awful acoustics, so loud with background chatter that it is near impossible to hear your waitress. We have been to many steak places especially like the Char in Raritan but this place has a long way to go to meet the high standards of a good...