O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar

We stopped here on the way to visit family for Christmas. We just needed a quick nosh on Christmas Eve.
We were seated promptly and were well cared for by the staff. Our server was having a rough day with other customers (unwarranted by what I saw), but she provided us with impeccable service.
The food was pretty good. We enjoyed everything we ordered.
What is it with their honey mustard? It makes me want to believe in god.

Great new atmosphere, friendly service, and good pie and great rolls! Love the holiday décor right now too, very festive!

I used to love going to O’Charley’s but not anymore. I had all but stopped going because it was so disappointing. We stopped by tonight Wednesday September 30^th. By looking at the place you would have thought they had just finished a huge party or something because the floors and tables were trashed. The hostess actually sat us at a table with trash all over the floor. I was about to get upset as we sat for about 5 minutes before we got greeted and you could see servers and staff everywhere just hanging out. Once our server came along the service was good. I don’t know what happened to the bread but it used to rock now it seems as if it is just dried out bread they take out of a bag and throw on a plate. Same with the butter. It used to be a better kind as well. So we ordered our food and I opted for the appetizer sampler where you get tenders, cheese sticks and potato skins. The potato skins were pretty good and the tenders were only 3 and so tiny you could eat them with one bite. The cheese sticks while still better than most restaurants this is another item that used to set them apart from the competition. They used to have a more liquid type cheese that you had to be really careful because it would be like lava coming out of the wedges no it is some thick mess that is not nearly as good as it used to be. Today was free pie day so we got ours to go. I hate to say it but I get more excited about Cheddar’s now than I do for O’charleys and that is a shame. The manager walked around talking to the other staff like they were just hanging out instead of working. Not once did he ever visit any of the tables to see how dinner was going. That is always a bad sign. You should never dine out and not have a member of management visit your table. That is a sign of poor leadership if they do not. It also sends a clear signal that they could care less if you were there or not. So for those reasons and a few others we will just drive across the street next time to one of the other dozen restaurants in the area.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. My family and I went on a Sunday around 1:30 p.m. We’ve never been to an O’Charley’s before, but we wanted to try something different and we were incredibly hungry. Initially it took our waitress about 5 minutes to get to us which wasn’t a problem, she took our drinks, and didn’t come back for another 10 minutes. We thought that was a long time to wait first simple drinks, but we thought the restaurant looked a little busy so we were fine to wait. When she came back, she only brought one drink. I don’t know why it was so difficult to get water but it was a little frustrating. So she took our order and then then she left. I also noticed she took the order of the table behind us afterwards. After about 20 minutes the table that she took the order after us got their food. They ordered steak too, while my entire family ordered soup and salad. This was a little confusing to me, but I was still okay to wait. After about another 20 minutes my family and I were kind of confused as to why we hadn”t received our food yet. The table that ordered after us even sent back a steak that was cooked incorrectly and received it before we got our food. The general manager stopped by and we told him that we had been waiting a long time for our food but he offered absolutely no help. All he was concerned about was trying to tell whether my sister or I was older. By this point we were pretty upset, and we’re about to leave. Then our food finally arrived only for our soups to be cold. The waitress was apologetic but came back with soup that had obviously been microwaved. We then asked to talk to the manager again about how disappointing this experience was he never came.
Overall this restaurant has no idea what it’s doing. The general manager obviously does not care about his customers. The food is definitely not worth 50 dollars when it comes out cold. Don’t go to this location. Bad service and bad food. My family and I will not be returning.

Uh oh. It’s happened. My worst fears have been realized! The change in logo also meant a change in what happens in the restaurant.
O’Charley’s was the only chain I actually looked forward to going to once in a while. I had resisted going back, because their new logo has lost every bit of the personality the old logo had. I had a feeling the corporate overlords were going to change it from O’Charley’s to «any restaurant USA.» I was right. They can still do some things well, but the consistency is gone, and so is the personality.
The Bloomington location had one cool and unique feature when it opened. There was a mural that stretched across the wall over the kitchen area. It used to celebrate Bloomington history, depicting everything from Hoagy Carmichael to IU Basketball. Gone. It’s been wallpapered over.
In terms of the food, my last visit was a serious letdown. My girlfriend had a salad, baked potato, and chicken tenders. Her tenders looked the way I remembered, although the portion seemed smaller. Mine, on the other hand, looked like they came from the bottom of the bag. They were overcooked and some of them were roughly half the size of the ones on her plate. I’m actually glad I was able to find them. I ordered the chicken tender/​house chips combo, and the chips absolutely dominated the plate. It was pretty pathetic.
The service wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great.
On the plus side, the cheese wedges still rock, and the rolls are still really good.
If I’m on the west side and plan on going to a chain, I will definitely choose either Texas Roadhouse or Cheddar’s next time. O’Charley’s definitely is not what it used to be.

One of my family’s favorites. Their food is yummy and their service is great. We are never disappointed.

The service is consistently good and the food is well prepared. Great margaritas! Love what a good job that did on the Remodeling.

I eat here on a regular basis and the food is always good and the service is great. Bill, one of the managers, is always great to talk to and is a lot of fun. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes a variety of food. The Louisiana Sirloin is always good!

We came for dinner. The entire part was satisfied.
Drinks were great– we also tried their cotton candy Shirley temple which everyone agreed was delicious even though it was very very sugary.
I liked the fish and chips, but I felt really sick later– be warned it is very greasy!
My boyfriend liked his prime rib pasta, my friends tried the ribs, and a salad, and they seemed satisfied. We all shared some artichoke spinach dip which was pretty good.
I do not suggest the caramel pie– it is literally just a was of caramel with whip cream. It’s not bad it’s just… It’s literally pure caramel it was too much in my opinion.
We came pretty late, our service was pretty good considering.
I feel like the food and service were above average, but not outstanding. I would return.

Apparently we showed up on the grand re-​opening day. The place has been cleaned up, freshly painted, etc. The food was OK, reminded me of Chili’s or a chain restaurant like that.

For chain restaurants this is one of the best. In particular this may be best managed and friendliest staff in Bloomington. Have eaten there for years and you always know that you will leave there having eaten a good meal and feel like your business was appreciated.

The food and the service was excellent. I enjoyed the shrimp and grits with a wedge salad.
The service was okay but my wife’s I order was all goofed up. Ordered fish and shrimp got shrimp no fish. Ordered broccoli casserole got broccoli.
If it would have been busy, I would have understood but it was slow. But we will try again.

O’Charleys. Interchangeable with Applebees, Chili’s, TGI Friday’s, etc. It’s a fern bar. But their food is better, and for just about the same price. On Wednesdays, in what can only be described as marketing genius.. .. FREE PIE! (And they box it up to send home, so no worries about having room for dessert)
There isn’t much to be said for O’Charley’s other than decent food for this type of restaurant, good atmosphere and service.

Wow — a restaurant with good food open and serving until 11 pm in Bloomington! This was such a nice surprise two weeks ago that we tried it again last week, only to find that it is open until 11 Fri and Sat, but only 10 on Sunday — that still worked for us.
The $ 11 specials that one can add a full salad and dessert to for only 3.99 are winners.
Tilapia was a bit spicy, which I loved and ordered both times. Husband had steak the first time and a burger the next. Even though this is a chain, the quality and flavor of the food was exceptional and the friendliness and efficiency of the staff exceptional, both times. The amount of food was overwhelming! We showed up toward the end of the evening both times and did not feel pressured to hurry, etc. Servers were great about adjusting items we requested, etc.
Years ago, I had been to this chain in Indy, and the service and quality of food was ok — this must be owned by a different franchise group or has a good manager (s).

Great rolls. Who doesnt like yeast rolls slathered in butter? My chicken breast was tough and rubbery. My wife’s salad that had chicken looked and tasted like lunch meat. Will not be coming back. The one and two star reviews pretty much should tell people what this place is about.

Love their homemade strawberry lemonade! It’s the BEST!

I really like O’Charley’s. I have been there a few times. Every time the food was good, and not too expensive. The steak is always exactly the way I order it and the waiter has every one cut into to make sure it is way you ordered. It is very family friendly too, which is a must for me because I have a big family. I can tell that I will be a repeat customer!

This is a terrible place to go for a vegetarian. The have burgers but don’t bother having veggie burgers. A place with great burgers can’t bother to offer veggie burgers? That doesn’t make sense.
They have meat, chicken or fish on every entre. I ended up with a side salad with dressing and a baked potato. Not much for dinner.
They can’t even whip up a pasta primavera.
I’ll never go there again

Crappy food, and terrible service. It has been a few years since I visited there. I had the waiter argue with me over what kind of steak he served me. I know steak, and he was way off. One of two places ever that I did not leave a tip (I was paying for the entire group of seven, and I usually tip well). Why eat at this mediocre chain restaurant when there are so many excellent restaurants in Bloomington? I really hope this place has changed, but I will never return.
I guess I will leave a positive note, the rolls were good.

It’s a nice family chain restaurant. The food was pretty good,
I enjoyed my burger and me and my friend got a kick out
of our cotton candy drink. YUM!
Everyone liked their meals and our server was attentive
and friendly. I’d go back when I’m in the area again.