Charkoal BBQ — Restaurant in Berkeley Heights

Amazing Fresh Portuguese BBQ – A Must-Try!

Charcoal BBQ in Berkeley Heights is an absolute gem! It’s a small, cozy restaurant located right by the train station—literally, the train runs right behind it! My mom and I discovered this place through the To Good To Go app, where you can get discounted food. The photos looked great, so we decided to give it a try.

From the moment we arrived, we were hit with the most incredible aroma—you could smell the delicious BBQ cooking from outside. The restaurant itself is very cute and welcoming, though it does have a large step at the entrance, so it's not wheelchair accessible.

The owner, who also cooks and serves the food, was incredibly kind and hospitable. For To Good To Go, they offer a set meal of half a chicken with rice and veggies, and it was absolutely delicious! We arrived 10 minutes early, and they were still cooking our meal fresh right in front of us. Everything was hot, flavorful, and perfectly prepared.

We loved the food so much that we ordered again the very next day—and it was just as amazing! The menu offers a great variety of dishes and desserts, with prices ranging from about $5 to $33. There’s also a selection of drinks and coffee. One of the highlights was the fresh-cut fries—she chopped the potatoes right in front of us, fried them, and salted them to perfection.

The service was friendly, the food was fresh, and the flavors were incredible. I highly recommend Charcoal BBQ and will definitely be coming...

EXTREMELY horrible experience. I use Too Good to Go to try new places and feed my son who seems to be perpetuity starving. I decided to try this establishment that's 20 minutes from my house. The service was atrocious. Upon entry I was ignored, no greeting. The customer in front of me had an issue with his order, so I waited to be served. When the woman behind the counter finally gave him his order after almost 10 minutes of apologies, she also gave him what I can only assume was my order as a courtesy, "here have this To Go order too". After he left, she continued to ignore me, doing other things and talking to the cook for 2 more minutes. She finally says very matter of factly..."can I help you"? When she realized why I was there, she said, "he make your fries," motioning toward the cook who had been standing close to her the whole time trying to avoid eye contact with me while she helped the first customer. This is a very tiny place. There is no way I was not seen. No conversation while I waited, no smiles...horrible energy. I just left. There was no way I was eating whatever was thrown together at that point as an afterthought. I would never patronize this shop again, even for a $6 Too...

Well my Dad and son planned on ordering from here for the first time tonight and it erked us that the paper menu we had at home had NO PRICES! So my Dad decided to take a quick ride to check out the prices and why they're not advertised... I know why, they know their ridiculously high prices will scare people away! 🏃🏻 Now we are the furthest from cheap, especially when ordering out but, c'mon, IT'S RICE AND CHICKEN OR BEEF! It costs practically nothing to begin with!! 🤦🏻 Plus, after reading the reviews, I was definitely turned off at that point. I've heard good things from a few friends, which is why we inquired tonight but anything more than 3 or 4 bad reviews at a local restaurant, I'm done, especially regarding bad service, I have to question it. I consider myself a veteran when it comes to superior service, hospitality and EXCELLENT customer service after working in pretty strict restaurants for over 20 years, so reading that customers were treated poorly, especially when charging such astronomical and ridiculous prices, Charkoal should have included mani/pedis AND a massage with every meal!! Lol...