The Charles Restaurant & Bar

Completely disappointed with the service and inattentiveness of staff. The waitress was nice upon seating. The owner or a manger; I am assuming walked past our table several times and did not acknowledge us. Our drink cups and plates sat empty however she assisted with tables around us taking empty plates from their tables. Food took entirely too long to come out. Kid menu was friendly. First and last time coming to this restuarant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 2

I had a reservation for 4 for a Birthday celebration and the hostess wanted to seat us at an aisle table when there were better seating options at booths. She wouldn't give us the better seating option until a manager got involved and gave us the booth. Once seated our server was very thorough in explaining the menu and came back often to check on us. The food was outstanding!

I’ve always appreciated this restaurant for its excellent food and the warm presence of the owner. But during my last few visits, the service has been consistently disappointing. Despite only 3 to 7 customers being present, the wait was unusually long, and my drink order was forgotten multiple times—even while seated at the bar. There’s no excuse for that level of neglect with such a light crowd. The staff remained friendly, which I appreciate, but smiles alone don’t make up for poor service. I’m giving 2 stars—one for the food, one for the attitude—but the experience needs serious improvement.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 1

The Bourbon selection and staff are out of this world. Food is great too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The atmosphere and service was really great! The staff was very attentive. The food was good, the brunch potatoes was seasoned very well. It would be nice if their menu had a few vegan options, other than that I will be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The service was really bad. We only saw them when they seated us when they finally brought out the food after 20 minutes and when they brought the bill.. the food wasn’t good either… the burger was raw versus medium. The cheese butter biscuit was dry. Most of the food was so-so and very expensive for what it is. We went to the Sunday brunch. The gratuity was built in and the service reflected that. We will not be coming back here.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this restaurant! We recently hosted a 40th birthday celebration here, and they helped make the night absolutely perfect.

The staff was beyond amazing — attentive, warm, and so easy to work with from start to finish.

A special shoutout to the owner, Millian, who was truly awesome. He went above and beyond to make sure every detail was taken care of and made the entire experience stress-free and memorable. You can really feel the pride and care he puts into his business.

I would hands down recommend this place over and over again to all of my clients, friends, and family. If you’re looking for exceptional food, incredible service, and a team that genuinely cares, this is the spot. We’ll definitely be back! 💛🍽️✨

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Went to the Charles to celebrate my husband's birthday. I did make a reservation in advance. We were sat in an area where there was a large party of approximately 25 people, half of which were children. The noise level was so loud my family was unable to talk to each other without yelling. The waitress had difficulty hearing us. One entree was missing part of the order. Not sure if it's because the waitress couldn't hear us or if there was a kitchen error. Followed by a missing dessert that was ordered. Overall this was a lovely restaurant. The atmosphere and decor are well done. The food was VERY good.

Got a large size to-go order. Despite things being missing and having to return to pick up half our order, the restaurant has a nice ambiance, live music, and a respectable crowd.

This place prioritizes the aesthetic over the food and service. It’s mid-tier quality food at high-tier prices because they focus on doing some sort of table side presentation with a lot of their menu offerings. For example the crab soup, the waiter came out with a bowl with a little pile of crab in the middle and then poured the soup around it and put an eyedropper of sherry on top of that. I don’t need all the pomp and circumstance just give me a bowl of soup. The soup was delicious, but probably could knock a few dollars off the price if you cut out the tableside show. The interior design is reminiscent of a hotel or B&B restaurant with quirky wallpaper and velvet seating, but many of the chairs and parts of the booth had mysterious and very obvious stains on them which makes it feel like the place is dressing up as a classy joint rather than actually being a classy joint. The menu doesn’t paint an accurate picture of what you’re ordering, for example I ordered the “hot Charlie” which was just described as a hot apple cider, but 20 minutes later when it finally came to the table it had a whole sugar rim and toasted marshmallows looking like a fancy cocktail. On the other hand, I ordered the Charles burger which didn’t even come with standard lettuce and tomato, so sometimes you’re getting more than what’s described on the menu and sometimes you’re getting less. We came during lunch and in our short visit we had the water glasses on the table were dirty with obvious specks of gunk when we sat down, we had orders delivered to the wrong table despite the restaurant not being busy, our own server was inattentive leaving our drinks empty for most of the meal and was not even the one to deliver our food, and the food was resoundingly “just OK” for the cost.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 2

This is one of my favorite HAPPY HOUR & WEEKEND BRUNCH SPOTS in SOMD!!!
(Drinks are amazing and they update menu updated regularly 😉)

HAPPY HOUR is EVERYDAY even WEEKENDS!!!! They also have Jazz weekly and other events.

Friendly staff and great management !!!!

Definitely SOMD gem 💎 ✨️ 👌🏽

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I've only been here for Wednesday jazz, which is in the bar. Great way to spend a Wednesday evening: excellent food, great service, and fun atmosphere.

This was our second time at the restaurant and it was wonderful! We got the same thing again, which was short ribs, mashed potatoes & kung pow Brussels sprouts! OMG the food is delicious the service is great and the drinks are also Devine!

Great spot to kick and chill!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My wife and I went here for the first time today for brunch. We have lived in the area for 2 years and have never heard of this place before. After our experience today, we definitely wish we would have heard about this place sooner.

The restaurant is definitely bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. The ambiance and atmosphere is really nice on the inside. Our waiter was excellent! She was very friendly, attentive, patient, and constantly made sure we had everything we needed.

My wife and I both had a Peach Bellini which was really good and was only $7 each. I had the Cream of Crab Soup and it was delicious! For entrees, both my wife and I had the Hanger Steak & Eggs. We both had a medium cooked steak and our eggs were scrambled with cheese. This entree also came with breakfast potatoes. The entree itself was really good. The potatoes and eggs were really good and the sauce from the steak made the combination of both really flavorful. The steak itself was pretty good but could’ve been better as it was a little tough. Overall it was still good!

This is a great overall brunch spot and I definitely wish we would have found this sooner. Everything was good and very well priced. The ambiance is really nice and the service was excellent! We will definitely be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5