O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar

Party of 8 arrived and was told to wait for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes waiting, we were seated, I noticed there were several tables empty that can hold 8 people next to our tables. They don’t use those spaces but they had people waiting for tables. We ordered our meals and waited more than 45 minutes for our meals to arrive. To our surprise, all meals were cold because they were sitting waiting in the kitchen. My daughter’s buns for her burger were burnt black and my steak was burnt, I asked for medium, they burnt my steak! Horrible experience, will not come back again.

If I could do 2.5 stars it would be perfect. I called ahead as we had about 8 people in our party. They said not to worry about reservations, they could fit us in no problem. By the time we got there there was a 30 to 45 minute wait.
After about 50 minutes the manager came and apologized to us about the long wait and that our table had stragglers they were waiting on to leave before we could sit. Out of sheer stress my wife asked if we could put a table or something together for us and their solution was a booth and a table across the hall.
There was ample seating that could have easily sat us but when we inquired about it they said there was no server for that table… I know how they work tables can be complicated but it was literally two tables away. They finally worked out us being able to use those tables and we say comfortably.
The rolls which are normally amazing sucked and were squished like scones.
Our food was good as always and the waiter did a good job of bringing us drinks (when asked).
On the way out I walked into a smoke cloud at the entrance and a lady (I am assuming was a worker) thanks us for coming between puffs. She then noticed I was wearing shorts and began (albeit jokingly) telling me it was winter and to wear real pants. I explained to her my injuring which required me to wear shorts and her response was the F word along with some other expletives. Really classy environment you got there…

This is my cafeteria when I don’t know what to eat. Pay them and I never get disappointed. Food is very very consistent. When there is a one-​off, it is usually an out-​performed. Probably over 100 visits have completed since I moved to RVA in 2013.

Love coming to this Ocharleys! Cheq is the best bartender in town!!! She deserves some recognition!
#OCTheLittleThings #328 Cheq

I will apologize first for being negative and second to the regulars that frequent the bar. I wish this place was better, and I want to because the staff was nice, but…
The bar is quaint and the bartender was cordial and attentive. Seemed like he knew all of his customers — a lot of regulars, which speaks well for the bar service.
I ordered the loaded potato soup to start and the Tuscan chicken as the entrée. For whatever reason, my entrée came out first. I tried the chicken and it wasn’t bad, but parboiled chicken is more a survival technique of cooking and not what I thought I ordered. The pasta was gooey and soaked in what was supposed to be garlic butter but had the consistency and flavor of canola oil.
In defense of the bartender, he didn’t charge me for the soup. I will tell you that the soup is exactly like the Meal Ready to Eat potatoes au gratin. I tried a second and third time — yup — exactly like it and gave me indigestion just like the Army’s lab-​created tubers.
Sorry Charley… this place brings mediocre to an even lower level.

We are regulars at the bar because food is consistently good, bartenders are funny and friendly, and the customers all know each other now. Here’s our favorites :
Prime Rib, Salmon on cedar planks, Chicken Fried Steak, Prime Rib Pasta, Louisiana Sirloin with garlic butter, and Cobb Salad. We always have a fun experience at the bar and look forward to seeing our O’Charleys friends.

Service was very good. I will stop at this point. This chain has gone down hill in my opinion, kind of reminds me of Applebee’s. Portion size has decreased, doesn’t smell clean here.

I will not go back to this O’Charleys. To start with, we had to stand and wait despite the fact that the place was half empty and there were several employees in the area that did not even greet us. This would normally just be annoying but I was eating with my elderly parents and they have a hard time standing. Once we got seated, we had to beg for someone to wait on us. While we were waiting I looked over behind the booths to see a half dead plant in a sea of dust. I could only wonder what the kitchen looked like. After about 90 minutes we finally got our dinner salads and they were better than expected but certainly not worthy of the poor service, long wait and dirty restaurant. It was a disappointing and frustrating experience and despite the convenient location, I will drive on by until I hear that the restaurant has been cleaned and a new manager in place.

I would give service at this restaurant a zero if I could. We were seated and never even acknowledged by any waitress. Seems our table had no waitress. The manager came and took our order and then took off. We waited for 30 minutes for someone to come and take our drink order. When my steak came it was undercooked but too tired to complain. This was the worst service experience we have ever had. Don’t go here. We will never go back even though we live 5 minutes away. We will go the extra mile to Ruby Tuesday’s.

Well, service and quality has now declined well below acceptable levels. Servers are slow to arrive with drinks and to take orders. Make sure you’re ready to order when they stop by, or you won’t see them again for 20 minutes. A different person will actually bring your food out, totally unaware that half of the items were not prepared correctly and need to be sent back.
Our last visit even ended with two bouts of food poisoning for my wife and daughter. We’re done here. Plenty of other options in Short Pump. Keep driving.

Where does one go when Cracker Barrel’s parking lot is full beyond sensibility? Ocharley’s across the street, of course. We went for brunch on. Sunday, so I guess it was inevitable.
Anywho, the table we were sat at was dirty, with dust lining the window sill next to us.
Ick. Barf. No.
But we were there, we were short on time.
I ordered that humongous platter of food, the one that comes with everything a real breakfast meal should include, of course.
The waffle was soooo good. I didn’t think I could have good waffles at a chain… especially at an O’Charley’s. It had brown sugar dusting, some syrup on the side, and butter. All three somehow found their way on top of the waffle. Baffling! Does O’Charle’s food have legs?
Everything else was okay, but not great. The eggs weren’t salted, which worked out for me since I don’t salt my eggs. I wish they had offered toast with the platter, however. It would have been so good mopping up all that yolk off of my plate.
The waiter, however, MADE the place. Not just the meal, not just the day, but the place. I believe his name was John.
He refilled our drinks promptly, he even gave me a to-​go strawberry lemonade… without me asking!!! I didn’t even THINK about asking him for one, but he thought of it first.
This man needs a raise, pronto. Yesterday. Yesterday-​week. Is that even a word?
Coming here for the occasional breakfast ain’t bad. I’d do it again. See you sometime next month on a Sunday, y’all!

I can hardly begin to explain the ineptitude we experienced at Brunch today. 5 people. 11am. Server takes an unusually long time to approach the table to order drinks. Usually they bring bread to the table, but we had to ask. Entrees arrive but my wife’s country fried steak and eggs look nothing like the menu. Eggs overcooked steak is dried and gravy on it is also dried. Potatoes are oily. We send the entire plate back and ask for a redo. Server apologizes and takes the plate. She returns a few minutes later with the same plate (my wife had cut a small piece of the steak) except there are now runny eggs, new gravy poured over the old gravy on the same overcooked steak and some parmesan dust on the exposed potatoes. AND SHE BROUGHT IT BACK THAT WAY, KNOWING FULL WELL IT WASN’T WHAT WE ASKED FOR. I immediately asked to speak with the manager who approached the problem like a deer in headlights offering to make ANOTHER one. He offered pie. There’s enough restaurants. This one won’t get another try.

Good food and friendly service but their timing is off. Ordered appetizer soup and entrée and end up with all three on in front of us at once. Appetizer got cold and not eaten, entrée sat, aged, and cooled while eating soup. Not good

We had a very unpleasant meal this evening at O’Charley’s. We arrived at 6:30 and were seated in about 15 minutes. There were four of us including two children. They brought us children’s menus but no other table service. Our waiter was polite, very cheery and familiar with the menu.
The waiter was prompt with our drinks, but not long after we ordered he brought up a concern. Because of a shortage from earlier in the day it would take some time before he could bring us any rolls. This was just the start of what turned out to be a steadily downhill experience. Although the restaurant did not appear to be crowded it took quite a long time before we saw any food. When some rolls finally did arrive they were few and rather undersized (some sort of issue with proofing time). Soon after, the kitchen stopped providing any rolls at all.
Our meal, which also took quite a long time to arrive, was equally underwhelming. One steak lacked any flavor and the salmon was seasoned with a very heavy hand. One plate had a heaping pile of cold soggy fries while another plate had almost no fries at all (at least they were crisp). The dinner salad arrived with no dressing and included few additional salad items. One side salad didn’t arrive until the end of the meal and the ketchup we asked for never arrived at all.
During the meal or waiter did what he could to correct issues from the kitchen and it was his service that earned this review a second star. This ordeal, which dragged on for almost two hours, was not the end of our weekend we were hoping for.

My husband and I dined in today for brunch and we had an enjoyable experience. We sat at the bar and the only complaint is that the chairs need to be replaced. They are very wobbly and I feared my chair would break. We got the prime rib lovers for two and the prime rib could have been warmer along with the baked potato. So if the food was at the proper temperature and the chairs not so bad I would have given 5 stars.

I want to start by saying I usually enjoy meals at the O’Charley’s chain. However, this experience was not good. I started with tomato basil soup. It had an ¹⁄₈ inch of grease on top of it that I am still wondering which ingredient caused. My entrée was southern fried chicken with honey drizzle. This had a thick crunchy crust which was just like grandma used to make. (After grandma started to slip mentally and became confused on which container was flour and which was salt.) Thank goodness I had overcooked limp broccoli to swab the sodium off my tongue.
I took my piece of pecan pie with me because I started to feel nauseous. Whoever cut it must have had Parkinson’s but at least they got it in the box. (See photo.)

This is the 2^nd time at this restaurant, and the food is subpar. I ordered the Prime Rib special, medium well, and it looked good, but the meat was very chewy. I let the manager know and sent it back.
He came back with a more tender piece of meat, but it was paper thin. I looked at him and asked if they could have cut it a little thinner. He seemed to think it was funny.
I did not complain, I just decided that this is the last time I visit this restaurant.
The customer service was slow and bald headed manager was a joke.
I only gave it 2 stars, because the baked potatoes were delicious and my son did like the chicken strips.

Good varied menu. Sat in the bar area. Fast service. Warm yeast rolls to start. Fried pickles were pretty good. Cobb salad was great. Oh free pie Wednesday! Bonus!
This particular restaurant has lots of regulars — a good sign. Definitely exceeded expectations.

Stopped into O’Charley’s for an emergency Sunday brunch… meaning it wouldn’t normally be my choice, but I was hungry and it was there.
The menu was pretty limited, and everything was more breakfast than brunch. I ended up getting the California omelet, which has avocado, pico de gallo, mushrooms and sour cream. It wasn’t bad. Also came with 1 slice of toast, a single strawberry, an anorexic sliver of cantaloupe and fried potatoes. Still an okay portion of food.
Noted the all day drink specials… excellent prices.
Service was okay. Price was right. Good spot for no frills, affordable fare.

This is a great place to stop for dinner and drinks. I couldnt decide what I was in the mood for, and it was getting late. So I ended up here. And was pleasantly surprised at how good my meal was. I ordered grilled Tilapia… Baked potato. And a southern style margarita… The fish was cooked perfectly. I literally ate every bite. It reminded me of those days at the dinner table when your mother says… «and you better clean your plate» and I did just that. It had mango salsa on top. with rice pilaf below it. Together they blended well for a party in my mouth! The margarita was suggested by our overly eager to please server… She was on top of her job though so I cant complain. The margarita had huge chunks of fruit n top and was loaded with ice. So much that I spilled it three times just trying to pick it up. My only complaint was the ice. Otherwise it was perfect…