Charlie’s Place — Restaurant in Fort Wayne

I am so glad we finally made it out to try Charlie's Place. The environment is warm and welcoming from the second you arrive. Our wait staff was timely and knowledgeable. There was plenty of seating available both inside and out. I appreciated the fact that each table was spaced out enough to allow for individual conversations to occur without distraction. The patio was well lit and a live band performed outdoors Saturday night which was enjoyable.

The drinks were both whimsical and refreshing. There was something to please everyone's taste from NA beverages to beer, wine and cocktails. I will say I appreciated finding my cocktail being mixed stronger than expected. For the price, the value was well worth it. Our server also informed us that Thursday is happy hour where drinks are %50 off.

The menu, while relatively small, still offered a pleasant variety of appetizers, entrees and sides. We were recommended the spinach and crab dip. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! The cheesy and creamy gouda base was LOADED with chunks of protein that was both sweet and succulent. This was by far my favorite menu item of the night. It is a must order item as far as I'm concerned.

The wings were more like fried chicken chunks. All white meat pieces of chicken were lightly breaded, seasoned, and fried until golden brown. They are then tossed in your choice of sauce. The wings were hearty, tender, and juicy. The honey mustard was good. The garlic parm sauce had a weird tanginess to it, and I won't be ordering that sauce again.

The salmon on the salad was both seasoned and cooked well. The greens and veggies were fresh and crisp, perfect for a lighter dinner option. The quesadilla came packed with juicy chicken and was accompanied by sour cream and salsa.

Not shown were the garlic parmesan fries that I ordered with the chicken wings. The aioli was delicious, however the fries themselves could have been more crispy. They would've benefited from either a longer cook time or even a double fry. Also not shown were the moscow and pineapple mules. Both were fantastic and perfectly mixed. In conclusion I definitely recommend Charlie's Place. i look forward to returning to sample more of their menu and take advantage of happy hour prices for beverages. Thanks for a...

This place is awful. They over charge to a disgusting amount. To the point where I asked for an itemized receipt, which I have never done before. They then returned with a receipt which did not detail what I was paying for, but just had instances of dollar amount and number of items paid for. Upon asking what I had actually paid for, the server I was talking to became irate. I asked to see the manager, who told me to take it up with my bank. I have never seen a place of business do such a thing. Again, all I am asking for is what I spent money on. Another server, who was actually nice, went threw the receipt with me. They do things like, "oh, you bought a $10 drink. Well if that's 1 $2 drink (which doesn't exist because they over charge) and 1 $8 drink in our order system." Yes as insane as that sounds I was told that by multiple people. I have never seen something so ridiculous. At the end there was $4 dollars surplus left over from what I had ordered. I had only bought drinks in multiples of 2 or more (it was a birthday). So the drink could be at most $2, which they had no drink that cost that little, when asked. I pointed this out, and rather than tell me what I was being charged for, the manager literally threw $5 dollars at me. I just accepted the over charge on top of their over charge, and the manager built $10 tip into the reprint of my bill without consulting me. I asked another server to remove this charge, which they did. I then paid my bill and gave the server who was actually helpful the $5 their manager threw at me, plus additional money cash to make sure they got it. Again, remember, all I asked was, what is my money being spent on, and they couldn't say. Instead they got aggressive. This place over charges to an insane degree. I am used to spending extra on craft beers and liquor, and flash backs shocked me. They are sleezy, and don't even know what they are charging you. There are much more deserving establiments, like 2 toms or jk's. Flash backs will rob you blind, and expect a "thank you" for doing so. Would give negative...

I’ve frequented Charlie’s place a number of times, and usually enjoyed it. The ambience is awesome, the drinks are usually pretty good, and the staff is nice. Food’s usually been solid, but this last time I went, it was just disappointing. We ordered the creamy jalapeño dip with tortilla chips first. The chips were stale, and clearly something out of a store bought bag. The dip was very mayo-heavy, with a subtle artichoke or avocado kind of taste. Not much in the way of jalapeño. Still tasted fine, though it was absolutely overpriced. Most of the appetizers cost about the same as an entree, for less food.

Our entrees came out later- a Caesar salad and a mushroom burger. The salad tasted like watery spinach with cheese, as if someone had mixed up vinaigrette and water in the kitchen. The mushroom burger was decent enough, but the garlic aioli wasn’t present, and the burger just tasted very plain. The fries it came with were also clearly frozen previously, because they tasted like it. To top it off, we waited 30-45 mins for our food, and it didn’t appear to be that busy in the restaurant (though I understand call outs and things happen, so I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here).

Staff was friendly, but that was about it. It was confusing as to who was waiting on which tables, as we had multiple people coming to our table through the evening.

All in all, this isn’t my usual experience here, so I’ll go back. But if this becomes the trend, then Charlie’s Place just won’t be one of my go-to’s anymore. I hope that...