Charlie’s L’Etoile Verte

Went on June 9^th for our Anniversary. Wonderful food & Excellant Service. Had a glass of Champagne in the bar with Jeff, the bartender (Happy Hour – wine is ½ price!) & met very friendly patrons there. Delicious, FRESH fish (Grouper for me, Flounder for hubby). If you like after dinner drinks, I recommend «L’Orangerie».

Excellent food, with service to match. Pricey, but great for special occasions (with tip and drinks you should expect $ 60-​$ 75 a person).
The restaurant menu is written daily, with 10 – 12 entrée choices. Entrees include a small salad, potato and vegetable. I had the grouper with wild mushroom sauce, and sampled scallops with a hoisin sauce, and also the duck breast with a raspberry glaze. All were delicious! All 8 members of our party were equally impressed. The soup and appetizers were excellent (escargot, grouper chowder, gazpacho, crab salad, and tomato mozzarella with pesto were our tables choices). The bread choices were really outstanding, and the desserts, amazing (caramel cake, chocolate mousse cake with lady finger crust, chocolate pave, and carrot cake).
Our server, Scott, was well informed, friendly and attentive. This was a most memorable meal!

Excellent cocktails. Great wine list. Fresh fish and delicious desserts. Receptionist was friendly. Waitress was attentive. Can’t say enough about this restaurant. If you are on Hilton Head Island you should go here for dinner.

Lovely lunch! The flounder was fresh and succulent… the piece de resistance, the Sailor’s Trifle.

NUT ALLERGIES? RUN. DO NOT EAT HERE! THEY DON’T CARE!!!
It’s taken a couple of months to lose my anger to write this review. We went in February for what should have been a lovely meal at a well reviewed restaurant.
The meal was, frankly, unexceptional from start to finish. Most memorable (and not in a good way) were the Tomatoe/​Mozz/​BASIL Pesto appetizer and the scallops with a spicy BBQ sauce on it. It struck me as an odd choice, but was convinced to try it by the waitress who raved about it. (See below for this)
I will get back to the food below, but first, the nut issue. Our daughter is HIGHLY ALLERGIC to pecans and walnuts, and we told the waitress this and asked what the Basil Pesto was made with. She adamantly assured us it was pine nuts (no allergy to those). We still made her ask the chef, and she came back and confirmed absolutely that they were made with pine nuts and triple checking, we thanked her for checking and replied so you’re sure there are NO OTHER NUTS? She said that was correct.
Well, thankfully, my wife split the appetizer with my daughter, for as soon as we got back to our room, my daughter felt sick and then threw up her entire stomach contents (thankfully!). I immediately called the restaurant, and at least three people (including our waitress) re-​confirmed it was only pine nuts. Until 5 minute later, an apologetic call noting there were pecans in the pesto. Thankfully, she got rid of enough so that benedryl took care of it and we didn’t have to give her an epipen and go to the er!!!
Next day, NO CALL from the manager! So, I called at 6pm and she began to apologize for the «miscommunication», which stunned me, given the specificity and repeat challenges we made! She then went on to say how surprised she was at the wrong information, since their pesto has been made with ONLY PECANS (yup, 0% Pine Nuts; 100% Pecans) for 2 – 3 YEARS (waitress was a long-​time employee!!!)??? OMG, how stupid and reckless???
THEY PUT MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IN DANGER THROUGH SHEER CALLOUS DISREGARD!
So, dine at your own risk!
Now, back to the food — which again, was really not that good!
The scallops — So, the sauce completely overwhelmed the scallops — could not taste them at all. Had to scrape the sauce off completely to even begin to taste the scallops. Perhaps this could have been remedied if anyone had bothered to come by and check on us. But, no one did, and as it had already taken over 30 minutes to get our entrees, two of us ate them with great disappointment. My wife’s swordfish was good; perhaps the highlight of the evening, and my daughter had another fish dish that was good, but not exceptional.
And as regards the final service issue, when the waitress finally did manage to come by, it was to press us hard to order dessert. It was too late, my daughter was falling asleep and we declined, whcih is when she blamed us for taking too long to order. Now, the extra 5 – 10 minutes we took doesn’t exactly explain the 30 minutes between clearing the apps and bringing the entrée, at least in my book.
There are way too many wonderful places to dine in Hilton Head — avoid this one!!!

Fine service, fine food, fine wine, fine atmosphere. Can’t go wrong here. Upscale. Monday is half off bottles of wine under 100 dollars.

Charlie’s is my favorite place to eat dinner in HH. The food is excellent the service is great. They have several nice fish dishes to chose from. Each prepared very tasty. We ate there twice this trip. Couldn’t get enough!

We’ve been going to Charlie’s for many years, and I think our most recent visit this past week was by far our best. The service is always out of this world, and the food is excellent. Not too many changes in the menu, beyond a nightly special, over the years so you come to know what to expect. That’s not a bad thing at all, but you won’t see too much deviation from the menu year after year.
We did stop coming to Charlie’s a few years ago after a ‘poor’ experience when we came with a large family group — including two young children. While the children were behaved, some of the clientele made comments to staff about being near the children (one, admittedly, did have a minor tantrum for a minute. The father of the child went outside with him so the rest of the diners would not be inconvenienced. Upon return, everyone was happy and the child was well behaved the rest of the meal). We found it a bit insulting to have the staff come to us after the father/​child returned and we were well into our meal with no crying, tantrums, etc. Especially with the loud volume of the rest of the guests/​large parties near us. Perhaps it was because it was ‘half bottle wine night’ that the other group could be so loud and then become upset when their volume made a child cry. But, that is under the bridge…
We’ve since made a point to only come as a couple when we visit Charlie’s and not to come as a large group with our inlaws or their children. Overall, it has made the experience much better. For those evenings where our sister/​brother-​in-​law want to go out we all tend to find another spot just to be safe.
Back to this past week: the food was exceptional as was the service. If you’re looking for a nice, romantic (couple’s) meal I would definitely put Charlie’s on the list.

Charlie’s is one of the best restaurants on Hilton Head Island. The food, wine and service are all excellent, especially the local caught Swordfish (outstanding).
Go on Monday for half-​price wine under $ 100 bottle.
Ask to sit in Michele’s section — she’s the best.

Love Charlie’s lounge. Enjoy sitting on the couch and having food served on the coffee table. The staff is always upbeat.

Hard to find anything to fault in this place. Service, food quality, atmosphere were all excellent. This is one of the great HHI places to dine.

I’ve eaten here twice in the last two weeks with different groups of people. Each time we were all very happy with our selections, particularly the seafood, and the wait staff. I would recommend you call to get a reservation although they may not always be necessary. Lovely ambience and lovely experience.

Charlie’s is INCREDIBLE! In the last 3 days we’ve eaten there twice! Our party of four started with drinks in the lounge served by Jeff the incredibly friendly bartender. We then went into the restaurant where we were greeted by Anthony our server he was incredibly attentive. We had smoked salmon and escargot appetizers. Escargot was very good but the salmon was even better. I would highly recommend it. Anthony made several recommendations for entrées and they were spot on. Between the four of us we had flounder triggerfish and snapper. All three were incredibly well prepared and delicious. We closed with a triple layer chocolate ice cream cake and caramel cake. The caramel cake was a hit. We have already made reservations for Monday night dinner again! You cannot go wrong with anything at Charlie’s.

I, along with three friends, meet at Hilton Head once a year for several days. We make it a rule to eat at Charlie’s at least twice while we are there. Great food, great service, great prices. Love it.

5 out of 5 on everything. The atmosphere is warm and friendly, and the service was exceptional. In addition to our main server, multiple people including the hostess doing double duty attended every need. Our entrees were delivered hot hot hot. I had flounder with fresh seasonal veggies, and the light lemon wine sauce was a perfect touch for this very generous portion of fish. The fresh grouper was also perfectly cooked. The chef knows how to prepare the perfect plate.

Blackened trout, Copper river salmon, Yellowfin tuna — All amazing. Desserts were too — Caramel cake especially!

I went with my friend to celebrate our birthdays. The food wad fabulous (i had fish and she had lamb) and we had bread pudding and crème caramel for dessert. They have a great wine list too. I also line that you get a salad with your dinner. So many places want to charge you $ 12 for a plate of lettuce. Love it here.

Excellent French cuisine from start to finish. Nice blend of Southern and French. The only exceptions were positives: Very quick service (neither French nor Southern). Very friendly (Southern but not French). The potato side dish is amazing!

A can’t be missed fine dining experience. Five star service with a unbelievable wine list. Fresh seafood ! Loved the duck and steak. The deserts are just AMAZING. We will be back every time we come back to HH.

What a great spot! My mom, my sisters, and I were looking for a nice spot to get lunch this week and found ourselves here on Monday.
Go on Monday. It’s half price bottle of wine day (bottles under $ 100) and that’s just a great deal. I’ll start with talking about how much of a value this place is even though the food was really the star. Because it’s easy to find a great meal while on vacation but it’s not always easy to find a great deal. The entrees are amazing and range in price from about $ 10 – 12. After two half priced bottles of wine (don’t judge!), our total bill was about $ 85 for four people.
And that’s great and all but I’m coming back for the food and décor. The restaurant is lovely with fabric stars across the ceiling and fun things on the walls — very french bistro. It was a lovely spot for Ladies who Lunch or a great spot for a couple or double date.
Alright the food. So I went to a French bistro and ordered a burger. Once again, I feel your judgement and I just don’t care. It’s a filet mignon burger. Tender, juicy, and topped with Boursin cheese on a soft ciabbata roll. One of the best burgers I have ever had. It was served with pasta salad and fresh fruit. Delish!
Head on over to Charlie’s, friends! You won’t regret it.