Charcoal Pit — Restaurant in Wilmington

I visited Charcoal Pit a couple times already and I very much enjoyed both visits. I was recommended to come here from a coworker and at that point I was looking for something different on a Lenten Friday. I happened to notice that they have a crab cake sandwich so for a change of pace I gave Charcoal Pit a try. This diner has a bit of history to it, running for several decades and does its best to preserve as much of the retro 50's/60's vibe as possible. Thematically this is one of the better diners I've been to; many of the booths have jukeboxes, some of the original windows are still present and you can be seated right up at the counter overlooking the ice cream stations. If you are in a hurry and just want some ice cream, they do have a separate counter separate from the dining area for that. I haven't used that yet but if you're just looking for ice cream that would be a useful option. This is good as both times I've visited the Charcoal Pit, while not busy, certainly gets good business. As mentioned, for my first visit there I had the crabcake sandwich. It was decently favorable and done well. The fries were just right for me; just enough crisp and where nice and fresh. And as a plus the fries were not oversalted. They use some very good buns and they do toast them a bit and they hold up well to what they load on their sandwiches. I also had a sundae for my first visit. Chocolate ice cream with hot fudge. It is pricey if you're used to fast-food ice cream but that two-scoop sundae is pretty big and very generous with the toppings. The ice cream they use is very good and they do have some rotating flavors on their menu as well. My only critique is that maybe not to hot fudge and chocolate together as the chocolate ice cream is a tad rich for the fudge. Then for my second visit, I tried the Pit Special. This is their basic burger and comes in both a 4 oz and (if I recall) an 8 oz patty and your choice of cheese if you like cheese on your burger. I had the 8 oz patty with cheddar. Again, the buns were prepared perfectly and that was probably one of the best burger patties I've had. It was cooked just right and just enough flavoring. The only thing to note is that if you order cheddar, it will likely be shredded and not in a slice. Next time I go, I will definitely try it with Provolone. The price is awesome as well so it's a great value for a diner burger. They definitely also have the other diner usuals as well including open-faced sandwiches, chili and so on so there's plenty to choose from. The service on both visits was excellent as well. The servers were attentive and ensured my glass was filled and my order taken care of in a timely fashion. They also happily answered any questions I had on the menu items as well. If you like an old-time styled diner with some history as well as some very good burgers, definitely give Charcoal...

The Charcoal Pit seems like a greasy spoon with a nostalgic appeal that draws people in. Unfortunately, coming in once is more than enough.

There were no real positive highlights to the experience. The walls have peeling paint (or maybe wallpaper) and random patches missing. The trim around the booths is stained and dirty.

The milkshake was okay. I'd put it on par with a poor convenience store milkshake. If they make their ice cream in house, this would be a gold star, but buying some ice cream & owning a blender doesn't really mean much. You'll get a much better milkshake at burger places and ice cream parlors.

The food was forgettable. Basically everything tasted like it was cooked from frozen on a dirty grill.

The onion rings really only tasted like grease. My wife's burger was shockingly bland. Basically the only flavor coming through was ash and charcoal, and while I appreciate honoring the namesake of the restaurant, charcoal really shouldn't be the only note of flavor in a burger. My cheesesteak was also nothing special, although they did charge me extra for having cheese on the cheesesteak, which wasn't noted on the menu in any noticeable way and 50¢ for a slice of Kraft "plastic cheese" is ridiculous even if it was listed. The meat tasted how I imagine Steak-Ums taste. I did ask for peppers/onion on it as well (a listed menu option), but they were of course not put on it.

Service was poor all around. Even water refills were too much to expect from service.

I gave it 2 stars only because people tend to discount and ignore 1 star reviews. But make no mistake, the Charcoal Pit...

I’m not one to leave reviews, but this experience was so bad that I’m making an exception—it’s actually my first ever.

This place was an absolute disaster from start to finish. We were seated at the counter because they couldn’t accommodate our party of three (fine, no big deal). However, we were completely ignored for a solid 25 minutes—no greeting, no drinks, nothing. We had to ask who our server was before we could even place an order. (3 burgers, 3 waters) Then, a couple comes in 10 minutes after we ordered and, after being ignored for 10 minutes, had to ask for service too.

We waited a full 30 minutes before asking the manager where our food was—AFTER the other couple had already gotten their food. I explained the situation to the manager (he was kind and explained that the kitchen was all messed up tonight) , and we were still forced to wait another 20 minutes for our meals to arrive.

The table behind us was turned over twice before we even got our food

The worst part? No one checked in on us during the entire ordeal. Our “server” wouldn’t even look us in the eye, muttering under his breath that he was “done” (don’t work in a customer-facing role if you can’t handle it). And to top it off, the manager didn’t even bother to approach us after we finished our meal. Not a word of apology, no offer to make things right, and no attempt to make up for the awful service.

It’s honestly shocking how bad the service was—completely uninterested and unprofessional. Absolutely no effort to make us feel valued as customers. I’ll...