Chuck's Trading Post — Restaurant in Baltimore

Long story short, this restaurant has three star quality food but should be avoided by anyone concerned about food preparation and contamination.

My review used to be 5 stars but I can no longer justify that score after several rough experiences. The service quality is a solid 3 to 5 stars depending on when you go, which is completely understandable. The food quality used to be 4 to 5 stars but has now fallen into 2 to 4 star territory.

If you order a skillet, expect average to good quality diner food cooked on a griddle then placed in a cast iron skillet for presentation purposes. You don't get any flavors melding together because they were cooked in a skillet. If you're lucky and the person manning the griddle isn't overworked, you will probably have a decent meal. Otherwise, you will probably have slightly rubbery diner food. Not a big deal, just know what you're going in for.

There is no consistency in the side dishers. I'm a huge fan of cornbread and ordering Chuck's cornbread is like playing a game of culinary Russian Roulette. It is either going to taste slightly sweet and honey like, or it is going to sap all of the moisture out of your mouth and taste weirdly like someone dumped pumpkin pie seasoning into the batter. The tap water supply to the building also tastes distinctly metallic and it doesn't seem like they filter the water before using it in their coffee and mixed drinks, so weaker drinks also take on a slightly metallic taste. Almost definitely not harmful, but it is unpleasant and odd, so go in knowing that might be an issue.

The last area of concern, which some people might not mind, is the way the restaurant is currently packing in customers. Chuck's places cooked food on the bar behind the griddle where dishes often sit for minutes before going to the tables. The issue for me is that Chuck's sits customers on the bar seats immediately adjacent to where they place the cooked food, with nothing at all separating the customers at the bar and the food sitting on the bar. I personally sat on the bar seat immediately next to where they placed the cooked food and I don't think there was a single minute of my experience where I wasn't 1-3 feet away from half a dozen cooked meals about to go out to customers. I sped ate my food like a crazy person because I felt uncomfortable breathing on half a dozen peoples' food, which is something that is 100% unavoidable as a customer because of where they are placing both customers and food at the bar. Don't take my word for it, walk inside and look. You will see tons of uncovered, cooked dishes sitting within arms reach of the customers waiting to eat at the bar.

I used to be a fan of this place, but after several bland meals in a row, a couple of bafflingly awful dishes, and my first hand experience watching how the food is handled before it gets to customers, I can't justify going back here. If you want brunch in Hampden, go to one of the dozens of other options. Three stars is generous but fair considering how good the food and...

My Best Friend introduced me too Chucks.. I loved everything about the Restaurant, Food is Delicious😋 and typically the Customer Service has been even better. However, today was Different. As my niece and I entered “Brea” pleasantly greeted and welcomed us and instructed we could sit anywhere. We chose a table by the door, then “Brea” helped us with ordering a Hot Coffee drink with alcohol(😋). Alonzo(name might be wrong) came to take our order. After waiting maybe about 15-20 minutes the food was dropped off and the person left, both our French Toast orders were cold, however we ate them and they were Delicious😋. As we were finishing our food, we captured Brea attention and waved her to the table , we explained the food was Great even though our French Toast was cold. We were not asking for refund nor were we complaining as I stated the Food was Delicious, just a follow up on our experience. Well, Brea was not having it, she became rude, dissmissive and extremely short and uncaring.. rolling her eyes and looking up at the ceiling.. she did a sis(hard exhale) and stated, “well I’ll discount the food anything else..” I did a double take and replied, “no, we are not looking/asking for a discount or refund just giving feed back.. see we ate everything.” She was just not having it, I asked for the owner, Brea uncaringly called the owner over. We explained everything to the owner and was completely shocked by the reply from the Owner whom stated, “She(Brea) is not use to getting negative feed back”…I was flabbergasted, fit to be tied and sat on Fire. Again, we enjoyed our Food(especially the cold French Toast).. however, I have concerns with deflection and the lack of taking ownership. This was a teachable moment gone wrong.

BTW: I still Tipped!!!! And as we were leaving Brea sarcastically yelled walking from the back area, “BYE”.. I replied, “Brea have a safe and pleasant day.” I just did not understand as we did not exchange bad words, just gave a honest review of our experience which was not bad. However, Brea, you win I won’t ever return nor will I encourage anyone else to visit there.

Regretfully yours, CFT-Cold...

August 27 & 28 / 2025 -

Chuck A Cheesesteak Sandwich & Korean Bulgogi Sandwich - both weren't good

Turkey BALT - This sandwich is good with extras like more Chipotle Mayo, bacon, tomatoes, and arugula.

BLT - This sandwich is very good as well with extra spread. Their sandwich makers seem to dislike cover the sl8ces of bread with any spreads.

Plain Pancake - Delicious! No bready taste here. Pancakes aren't dry either. Unfortunately, they don't go the extra mile and make Blueberry Pancakes. I'd be hooked for their breakfast if they served them.

Outstanding customer service as remembered back in 2023.

I gave a rating of 3 because of the drink and the salad greens. Yes, the salad greens were that good.

The Elderflower Spritzer $13 was refreshingly good.

July 2023 - We both ordered the STEAK 'N EGGS, which was supposed to be a 6 oz bavette steak. It was topped with chimichurri, which was too oily. The awful tough cut of steak was served on top a beautiful bed of greens in a delicious vinaigrette with hash, which are simple diced potatoes with onions, which are better than most American caucasian breakfast potatoes.

My husband said that the grits & cheese were outstanding. Cheers to this.

The rye toast was appreciated being that rye toast isn't easy to get at most restaurants.

The best part of the entire meal were the salad greens. If you don't know what a bavette steak is TRUST us you don't ever want to eat it. It's tasteless, rubbery, and tough as a tire. It costs $17 and the dish is only worth $10. We would had been more than happy to pay $25-$30 for a REAL QUALITY 6oz filet mignon. This crap was really a shame.

We also ordered a glass of the red house wine for the day, which was like simply drinking watered down grape...