Charley's Waterfront Cafe — Restaurant in Farmville

UPDATE SPRING 2025 - We thought we would give Charley's a third chance and I am sorry to say they are operating on an old reputation. I won't return. The restaurant is antiquated BUT that does not mean it needs to have layers of dust on virtually everything except the table you eat off. It is disgusting to see the dust on things hanging above your table. As for service, our waitress had one speed - SLOW. There were 3 or 4 servers for maybe 8 filled tables and you would think they had to butcher the cow in order to serve a hamburger. The cheesecake tasted like the instant one that Jello put out in a box years ago. Atmosphere- dirty and dusty. Service - slow. Food - way below par. DO NO WASTE YOUR TIME! There are new and better places to go. Summer 2024- I was going to remove my original review as we decided to give Charley's another try and the food was much better , BUT I reached out to the owners about an issue, and they never responded. THEY DON'T CARE. All they care about is their profits, not their customers. It appears the chip reader in their credit card terminals are defective. It was very embarrassing to have your waitress announce "your card declined" not once, but twice on different cards. I was so upset, I first called my bank and when it was clear that the defect was on their side, I wrote the owners a letter expressing my concerns about their terminal rejecting cards on a regular basis looking for an apology for the unnecessary embarrassment, and they never responded. They do not care!

SO, it you want to play Russian roulette with whether your payment method works, try this establishment. If you don't have another way to pay, you might have a problem.

And because from Spring to Summer, the food and service was so different from bad to good, you are taking a chance on your meal too!

Really Sad that business owners don't value the very people that put money in their pockets.

Spring 2024 -We drove from Chesterfield to Farmville to specifically eat at Charley's Waterfront Cafe as we,as a family had fond memories of eating there in the past. We should have savored our memories and stayed in Chesterfield. The waitress was scatterbrained and forgot parts of our order. The food as a whole was ok, but not worth the hour trip we made. Crab dip was too cheesy, the soup was forgotten totally, and the food was cool, which meant it sat in the kitchen for awhile. They were not busy, so it made no sense that the service was hit and miss. The restaurant is running on their past reputation. Hopefully, they will turn it around before the doors...

Lovey setting. Hot food served cold. Unsymphatic service manager. Would not visit again. I never write negative reviews, but my experience at Charley's left me truly disappointed. After a lovely bike ride, we were excited to enjoy the outdoor seating by the stream on a beautiful fall day. We ordered the chicken sandwich and a grilled cheese, with fries and pickle, anticipating a delightful meal.

When the food arrived, I was dismayed to find that my grilled cheese was barely toasted and the interior was cold to the touch. I flagged down the waitress (who hadn’t checked on us) and politely asked if my sandwich could be heated, leaving me the fries to eat-hoping to salvage the meal while my partner enjoyed his lovely chicken sandwich. Waitress took both my sandwich and fries.

Unfortunately, after a ten-minute wait, I received just fries, and by the time my hot grilled cheese finally arrived, my partner had already finished his meal. I managed to eat half of my sandwich before requesting a to-go box. When the check arrived, there was no apology or acknowledgment of the mishap.

Feeling let down, I expressed my disappointment and expected some form of compensation, this was my first time ever asking for such a thing from any restaurant. The waitress went and checked with the manager, and then informed me the manager approved a 15% discount—but it turned out to be only on my sandwich, not the meal. $2 . I was shocked. After paying and tipping well, we decided to speak to the manager to share our experience, hoping for understanding. Instead, I was told that they had to account for food costs, and while I got to take half the sandwich home, that was somehow sufficient. I felt that a lack of empathy marked our experience. After pressing for a bit more acknowledgment, I was offered 20% off my sandwich, which came to a mere $3. I declined—not because of the money, but because of the overall lack of care for our experience.

In the past, I’ve seen other restaurants handle similar situations with grace and understanding, making an effort to retain their customers. After this experience, it’s clear that Charley’s will not be getting our future business. It’s unfortunate, as we were planning to return with a larger group...

Definitely not the Charlies of old. Hadn't been for a couple of years. I was in the mood for the crab soup. Ordered the "date night" package. Upgraded the salads to Greek salads specified that the soup and salad needed to be out before the entrée was served in which order didn't matter. Ordered 2 NY Strips and a bottle of pinot noir (they didn't have) settled for merlot. 20 minutes later the wine arrived I inquired about the salad and soup the waitress said neither was ready yet. Another 15 min passed and the soup arrived at room temp with a skim on top (it had been sitting in the bowl for a while to aquire that) I asked about some fresh pepper and bread the waitress stated she had been there 2 years and had never seen a pepper grinder and in that time they had never served table bread or bread with the soup. I said ok and asked about the salad, again was told not ready. Another 20min and here comes dinner with the greek salads with shredded parmesan and chicken??? On a Greek salad. So which do I eat 1st? Since the shrimp were scalding and the steak was room temp and the au gratin potatoes had also been sitting long enough that the cheese was no longer melted I started on the steak before it cooled any longer. I added the dressing a balsamic vinegarette which was 90% vinegar (extremely sour). At which point I politely asked for the manager. The manager arrived wearing a tshirt and asked how he could help and I explained everything above he looked at the ticket and said he had never seen a ticket like that (meaning the salads swapped or upgraded) and they were large and that's why they didn't come out prior to the meal. Wait what? He offered to knock off some of the bill which wasn't the point. I would have been happy with a little understanding and a fresh salad. But do yourself a favor just go for the drinks or band when available and forget the food. They literally are clueless and it's a shame because it used to be a really decent restaurant. I hope...