Charlotte Cafe

I gave 4 stars because you can’t give ½ stars (otherwise 3.5). For what it is (an old-​fashioned, simple diner) it seems very average. We did take out, and the hostess was super friendly. The Jimmy’s Super Chef salad was HUGE!.. and very good… typical iceberg lettuce style. The Chef Salad Wrap was something new, and we all thought it was a tasty twist on a classic salad. The gyro was good for a non-​Greek restaurant, and the crinkle fries were crisp and tasty. The stewed apples were perfect and not all syrupy or thick like other places (Cracker Barrel)…they just looked like some apples that were cooked, which meant they were nice and fresh. They do Groupons, so look for one to try the place out. Oh, and if you dine in, you WILL be the youngest one there… unless you are over 70!

My small group dined at Charlotte Café on a Friday at noon. This is your meat and two place with the normal grilled and fried items and sandwiches. I cannot say there was much about this restaurant that will inspire me to return. The food was OK, the service was inattentive. We had to go and look for the waiter twice for refills. There are many good restaurants in the Park Road Shopping Center area that provide competition for this café.

Hidden gem — frozen in time — in the crack of Park Road Shopping Center. This place has been around for more than 20 years. It’s Charlotte’s version of a ‘meat and three’ with dozens of kinds of vegetables offered. The service is old school and friendly, the sort of place where after you go a few times everyone will know your name.

Classic American diner in an iconic shopping plaza. Charlotte Café has everything going for them: space, parking, seating, outdoor dining, and traditional fare. So why are they not knocking it outta the park?
I’ve eaten here several times over the years with happy results, but lately something is off. The staff seems tense and smiles appear rarely; morever, the espirit de corps is lacking with each going about their business while protecting their turf. IMO this is a management issue. My server today, Tamara, did a fine job and I’ll likely return.
I just long for the clink, clatter and bustle of a diner hitting on all cylinders. Charlotte Café needs a tune-​up if they’re to compete especially if Amelie’s takes up residence in Park Road Shopping Plaza.

Average at best.
Have been wanting to try for some time, stopped in a little after 2:00 pm for lunch. Dining room was clean with 4 tables of customers eating. Greeting from the wait staff was cold. Waited over 20 mins for the cheeseburger and Mac and cheese that I ordered. Mac and cheese was bland, with very little cheese flavor. Cheeseburger was surprisingly small in size, only slightly larger than a McDonald’s or Burger King burger. Appeared to be a frozen patty and no real flavor.

I had a creepy feeling when I walked into this restaurant but decided to stay nonetheless. The restaurant is deep rather than wide, hence the weird layout and creepy, damp feeling my co worker and I got. When we sat down, the server was nice but we kind of felt rushed. I don’t know why, It was 3pm there was no crowd. Anyway, I ordered the Daily Special of Southern Fried Chicken w/​collards and fried okra and he ordered the Grilled chicken Breast w/​stewed squash and collards. Simple choices right?
It took about 10 minutes for the food to come out, I was indirectly chastised for ordering a breast and leg (it’s either dark or white in that establishment) which kind of put me off. I started with the fried okra, it tasted like every frozen bag of fried okra from Bi-​Lo. Then on to the collards, someone must be salt happy because there was enough salt for a Morton’s factory. My co worker’s stewed squash was crunchy… why is stewed squash crunchy? He didn’t eat enough to find out and we didn’t finish our food. I probably should have gone with my creepy feeling and walked out. Always trust your first mind!

If you are on the fence about going here just check out their most recent inspection and I’m sure you will make up your mind real quick. «Rotted/​molded potatoes stored in plastic container near cooler with maggots» was enough for me.

Let me start by saying I love places like this. Unsuspecting family owned diner that’s been around forever and has a lot of regulars. Hell, they even have livermush on the menu and, for me, that’s an extra gold star! (If you live in Charlotte and don’t know what livermush is you must be a transplant). We were seated right away but waited at least five minutes for our server to arrive. I can forgive that. I ordered the western omelette with grits and a biscuit and my husband had a Philly cheesesteak sub with fries. Food was good… no complaints there. The biscuits are homemade and the coffee was decent. My complaints are primarily service oriented. We had never been here before but it is obvious that there are a lot of regulars and they are catered to, as they should be, but you can’t neglect new patrons as a result! I felt left out and our service suffered. We sat with empty coffees and teas on the edge of the table for about 10 – 15 minutes while servers walked by our booth at least 20 times. A middle aged woman (owner or manager) chatted up the guests sitting behind us (regulars I assume) the entire time we were waiting for our server to return with refills. We were directly across from the tea and coffee machine. We were close enough that she could have gotten us refills without even having to pause her convo with the table behind us. Frustrating. When our food came, we waited another 7 minutes for our server to «find» ketchup for my husband’s fries (there were multiple bottles under the drink station directly across the aisle from our booth in plain view.) I told our server that it was our first time and she almost seemed embarrassed of the first impression. She mentioned that Sundays at diners get crazy but it was 1:30 in the afternoon and the place was not packed. (They serve breakfast til 2.) She couldn’t have had more than 2 tables. The place is tiny and there were two other servers there. Either way… we paid about $ 25 for our tab which seemed reasonable. Also worth mentioning… as we were paying at the front I noticed the sanitation score was 84. Yikes. I work in a restaurant and 84 is unheard of. Will I come back? Maybe for a hangover breakfast… but I might still need to be a little drunk when I get there.

Imagine an old diner. GrOwing up in the north east that’s the closest comparison I have!
So just give it a shot! You’ll have a good meal! (Just not gourmet or healthy)
Don’t have high expectations. This place is simple but good. Nothing fancy, plate presentation is as simple as it comes. décor is dated.
Only good service comes from Dan and Anna. They are great!!! Like really great. So sweet and extremely attentive This is an old charlotte spot so it’s Not trendy and not updated. Mostly white haired guests tucked in the booths talking too loud with heavy accents complaining about something.
I come about twice a week. I love their veggie plate. They have the Biggest selection in charlotte. If you are feeling like a fatty order the cheese sticks, they are really good they have a big menu, so options for everyone.
Also they are always Great for breakfast on the weekend. There’s Never a wait.

I have been coming here for years for good olé home cooking. The food is good and the staff friendly. Unfortunately the prices are out of hand. I had a western omelet, side of bacon and a coffee for $ 18.75 before tip! At that price it needs to be over the top not just typical diner food.

When I walked in the placed seem more like a country diner than a café, which there is nothing wrong with but it seemed a bit out of place there on park road. The service was good and my server did what was expected even after she was chewed out by an older, grumpier patron. She handled the situation well which says a lot because this guy was rude and you could tell that he just wanted to complain about something. I ordered a greek salad with olive oil as dressing and my server bought out a light colored oil which I found out was soybean oil. The lady at the front informed me that they do not have olive oil and I found that odd. After finding that out I didn’t even want to bother with trying their coffee.

We come for southern comfort the grilled cheese and bowl of chilli is an awesome dinner. The veggies are great and the service is always good. I have never been here and not walked away empty.

Second visit (last was over 3 years ago) — same lousy service for overpriced, cold food.
Clearly — the older, «regulars» are attended to — others ignored. Three servers — one gal watched TV, our server went missing and the dude (Owner) ignored my plea for a drink refill. Had they been busy — that may have been an excuse — but this was at 6:30pm on a weeknight — the place was not even half full!
Thanks for eliminating this joint from future consideration.

Unremarkable food. Nothing tastes like something I couldn’t make at home. We ordered pancakes & scrambled eggs for the kids, hubby had eggs benedict and I had the jimmy cristo. Hmm. Just ok. Pricey for the food quality and we noticed a sanitation rating of 84 posted by the door. We won’t be going back.

This place had horrible service. Waited over a hour for my food and it came out cold. Never even got my check to leave… if there was a negative star option this place would have it.

My family loves this place. They have the daily specials by heart as well as all the staff’s names. This is a place I want to hate but just can’t cause it’s too good. The meatloaf, blt, pork chops, macaroni and cheese, and all southern style veggies are good. The service is great in terms of refills and help. The prices are dirt cheap and there is even a 10% lenient senior discount. Take your parents and I’m sure they’ll love it.

Very friendly people. We really enjoy Maria. Food is excellent especially for breakfast. We come for the fresh biscuits. Night time specials are good and reasonably priced. Parking is plentiful. Good room available for parties or meetings.

A decent option for breakfast or lunch while visiting the shops in Park Road shopping center. Actually this was our second choice… first was Flying Biscuit Café but on a Sunday morning, the line is out the door. Didn’t feel like waiting an hour so we skipped down to the Charlotte Café. While not as good as Flying Biscuit, we DID have a very nice breakfast, good quality and service for a reasonable price. And, we got in and out relatively quickly.
Recommend you save your dessert for Va Da Vie Gelato in the middle of the Center… this is NOT an indictment of Charlotte Café’s desserts mind you, it’s just that Va Da Vie’s Gelato is SOOOOOOOOOO good. Keep that in mind.

I like this throwback kind of place. I went for a lunch time meal the other day and was very happy to see that they were still serving lunch. By the way, they were packed which is telling to me that people really enjoy the food here. Always a good sign.
The omelet I had was delicious and the sides of bacon and ham were cooked perfectly. The waitress was super friendly and very attentive. The décor is nothing to write home about but you don’t come here for the atmosphere, just the food.
Parking is a little tough as is with anything in Park Road Shopping Center. Be patient.

No good! Unless you are grandpa or grandma with a low sodium diet this restaurant is not for you! Very dated!
Walked and sat immediately which was nice. However no fountain drink option really stinks especially if this place is a staple.
Ordered drinks and had the broccoli soul, pretty much tasted like cream gravy with white broccoli chunks thrown in.
Next our main courses came. I ordered the chicken salad sandwich, grilled with cheese, what I ended up getting was cold chicken salad on toasted white plain bread, and no cheese. Not to mention the chicken salad had dark meat (gross) and eggs in it! Yuck! I do not normally send items back I did this time.
Other guest ordered tuna melt and got a chicken salad melt.
Save your money and time and don’t go.