Charlie's Cafe — Restaurant in City of Elmira

Not "Fine Dining" at all. As pretentious as it is, I must say the portions were of good size, This was my first visit and I don't know of any reason to return. The owners were there but couldn't bother to nod or smile as our eyes met. We were the first customers of the day, half an hour after opening, yet the kitchen was not ready yet. Having been a fine dining chef for 25 years I find being the only customers and waiting better than half an hour for a sandwich unacceptable. I also noticed they are Sysco customers. Sysco is great but does not spell fine dining. Fine dining is far more than something printed in an ad or on the menu. It is the nth degree of care and attention to detail -- and the customer. Such as not serving tap water. Spring water or filtered water is expected; never straight tap water. Ice buckets on the floor caused me alarm. Vegeterian lasagna was tough and lackluster with a bland bechemel sauce served on too small a plate. Thankfully there...

Dropped in for lunch with my 80 year old mother this past Friday. Nothing too exciting on the menu, so we both opted for the wait persons recited special of a roast beef sandwich with tomatoe, spinach and maybe a gorgonzola sauce on marbled bread. My mother didn't say much about it, but I had one bite of this sandwich and was surprised at how awful it tasted. I opened the sandwich and found the meat to be chunks of grizzly, fatty,well done something or other. Needless to say I had the included fries and pickle for my lunch. Our waiter seemed a bit put off when he asked if I'd like a box for the sandwich when I passed on it and mentioned the sandwich sucked and wouldn't be taking it home. I've been there before and had a great meal, but they won't be seeing me...

Very few people were there when we arrived, around 6:45 on a Friday evening. Dining room was quaint but chilly. The waitress was friendly. My mixed drink was good. Menu had a range of offerings, just not a lot that appealed to me that weren't over $20. We had to wait a little longer than expected for our food, salad and pizza (even though there were few people there). Our order came back with a mistake, but we just went with it. The pizzas were small, overcooked, and kind of bland. This was my first visit, and I am not sure that I will be back again for dinner. Maybe will try again sometime for a beverage and appetizer. Again, not terrible but not great. They have some other reviews that are very good, so maybe we just caught them on a...