Jack & Charlie’s

I’ve been having a hard time finding farm to table places in the Central Valley that aren’t overpriced for what is being served. Jack & Charlie’s splits the difference — while the food lacks the wow factor I’ve gotten used to on the east coast, the portion sizes make up for the price.
The food at Jack and Charlie’s is probably good for the area, which is to say, if you’re in the area, by all means head here. But I wouldn’t make it my entire purpose for coming to Visalia. The portions — even the small plates and salads — are large, clarify with the server before ordering. Unless you’ve been wandering around in the wilderness all day, you can probably get away with two «small» plates and call it a meal. The flavors were on point but not innovative, and if the portions had been smaller, I would have been disappointed with the price point.
Jack and Charlie’s is a solid choice for something off the chain restaurant and brew pub path.

Normally I would give this restaurant higher marks, but my experience this weekend was a tad disappointing. First, cocktails were different. We always order Banditos and Sazeracs but both were inexpertly made. The Sazerac was served room temperature in a highball glass which is a big mistake. Bandito was too dry. Second the wedge salad had a dill dressing and barley — not the bleu cheese and bacon listed on the menu. It was pretty awful. On a good note the bread was excellent as always, stroganoff was great, and the beef marrow perfect. We had a $ 33 bottle of Malbec that was delicious — great value! We have been going here for quite a while and have always been satisfied if not delighted. What is going on?

Probably my favorite restaurant in Visalia. The menu is constantly changing and is creative using locally grown products. The staff knows there stuff, they can answer and question you have and make great recommendations… my only hope is they bring back the 4 and 5 course tasting menu instead of just the 3 course.

This restaurant used to be my favorite. The last time I went there I had a fly in my wine soaking. It was disgusting and my fiancé an I had to walk out. It’s a bummer because the ambiance is cool but I will never go there again.

Amazing! Kayla was amazing to us and friendly. The three course meal was so worth it, everything cooked perfectly, presented perfect and tastes amazing! We are already looking forward to our next visit.

Ordered rockfish, wedge salad with added blue cheese, and the sea bass. This is the order it came in. First out rockfish by itself, there were several bones, and the cannellini beans were crunchy in the middle, they had been cooked long enough, but not soaked long enough. 22 minutes later the wedge salad and sea bass came out, (not sure why we couldn’t eat the fish together), no blue cheese, asked 2x and gave up. The sea bass was cooked well, but nothing to get too excited about. After those plates were cleared they brought the bread and asked about desserts… had asked for bread 3x during the meal. The bar seemed to get the most focus. Disappointing to say the least.

Always incredible food/​drinks.
The Brussels sprouts are incredible, but sadly, they didn’t have them tonight since they are out of season. The ricotta + pork meatballs are great, and the macaroni & cheese is even better.
For dessert, the bread pudding is always a good choice. I also tried the butterscotch pudding this evening, and it’s my new favorite.

Best kept secret of Visalia. If you are looking for a cute, quiet, sophisticated, and romantic ambiance… look no further. Try their deviled eggs. They are a must.

The cocktails here are great. Tate, the cocktail aficionado, knows how to make drinks. I trust him to make whatever fixtures he desires. He definitely knows how to make good drinks.

I will start my review with a statement: I really wanted to love this place but I didn’t.
The Good:
I started out with a strawberry basil martini what I had read about here on Unilocal.It was good — really good. So good, I had 2.
Their bread with butter was delish.
The service was very good and did all he could to make me happy.
The Not-​So-​Good:
I focused on small plates to try a few different things. Ordered the spicy potato chips. They weren’t bad but not anything I would rave about. It would have been much nicer if they served it with some type of dip. Then I ordered the Sea Bass Crudo. The minute he put it in front of me, it smelled really fishy. Like not good fishy. I took a small bite of one and it was warmer than room temp so I put it down and asked them to take it away. Fresh fish should not smell like that and it should be cold if its a crudo.
Next I ordered the polenta, which was ok but not great. It had good flavor but a little «gummy» in texture. Also ordered the bone marrow which had some herbs and onions on top. They must have cooked the marrow down so much that there really wasn’t a lot in there. It was like bone, a few scraps of marrow and all this greens. It was tasty (probably the best tasting dish I had) just wish there was more actual marrow. Last thing I ordered was the meatball dish. Good flavor but nothing to write home about.
I will definitely try this place one more time but will attempt a main dish next time. Maybe that’s what I was missing…

There is definitely a really fun atmosphere here. It feels underground and technically is. The service staff is very good; extremely knowledgeable. We got there very early (530pm) on a weekday so it was empty.
They serve a variety of drinks, everything between custom cocktails to beers in paper bags. The wine list is almost entirely European, mostly French.
The menu is diverse and extremely well thought out.
Overall, this place is stellar on paper. We had a good time with our friends, but at the end of the day I didn’t feel like we had a $ 300 dinner (which is what our bill cost) I’d go back for appetizers and drinks, or a light dinner and bring our own wine. It’s worth another shot.

My friend and I came here because she had a gift card. Service was horrible. We sat and waited for 20 minutes before being greeted and given a menu. Wait times were extended if they were ever followed thru with. The only good part of the meal was delivery of the meal itself. Upon finishing a course, the next one came. Water was not refilled. We asked for wine with dinner and 15 minutes later the watiress came to verify which wine. I’m amazed that people return here and pay their high prices when the food average and you are ignored the entire time. Amazing. Will not return.

This place seems to be confused about its identity. Wife and I came here for date night and were treated poorly to say the least. She ordered a strawberry basil martini which she has had in the past and it tasted watered down this time. I had a Negroni which was also weak in flavor. We both ordered the caviar sampler, which like many things in this restaurant was a rip off (trout, salmon and tobiko) and was so overpoweringly fish it was a gag reflex for both of us. Good caviar should NOT be fishy. We moved on to the brocolli bisque which tasted like brocolli puréed in a blender with maybe a little chicken stock. Not creamy like a bisque at all and zero other flavor beyond boiled brocolli. We then had a small plate of root vegetables which were terribly salty and burned. Next she had the duck which she liked but my beef stroganoff was terribly salty. Dessert was a train wreck. Her apple crisp had no «crisp» on it whatsoever and my custard was extremely grainy, overly thick (consistency of peanut butter) and tasted very burned. It took one spoonful to call it inedible. We tried to bring the soup to our servers attention and after she asked how everything was I said «to be honest it’s not great…» I was cutoff by her robotic «Enjoy!» Response… Either she was disinterested or didn’t hear me. Twice she reached clear across the table, once for the menus and once for a plate, neither time excusing herself and both times her armpit touched the rim or my wife’s water glass. Also throughout the meal she saw fit to slam the plates on the table and walk off without a word. This same server was also quick to imbibe after the table across from us poured her a glass of wine from their bottle. Not one to make a scene my wife just ordered another cocktail in lieu of drinking her newly armpit infused water, and it never came. The entire experience was appalling given the associated $ 224 price tag. It was surreal how terrible this night truly was.
To the owners/​mangers of the Vintage Press/​Jack and Charlie’s/ Depot group…
You need a server training program, if you have one, it’s broken.
Wash the walls, especially above the first booth behind the server station.
QA the menu vs. actual food. There are many words on there that are beyond the qualification of the food.
The early 90’s TVs are distracting and out of place.
Please don’t start a «fine dining» experience with complimentary overly salty (see a trend) greasy potato chips.
Your restaurant group is merely marketing vice providing a fine dining experience across all three establishments (which we have also dined at). Please realize fine dining is more than mediocre food with an exhorbitant price tag, well dressed but offensively performing staff and a menu laden with misrepresentative terms.

I was in town for a convention and a friend who had eaten here before recommended this restaurant. We had a large party and came an hour before they were closing but they welcomed us.
Pros The waiters were very professional even though most of our party was pretty fired up from cocktails in the bar before we got there.
The food which was a large selection of small plates was delicious.
We had the pâté and it was excellent.
The cheese platter was good.
I had the pork chop and it was delicious!
My husband had the steak and he said it was also excellent.
i looked at some of the other plates and they all looked beautiful and everyone else said there food was delicious.
I didn’t have any cocktails but other members of my party had some moscow mules and they said they were good.
I had the coffee and I am a coffee snob and it was delicious.
We had a great time and would definitely go back.
Cons The prices were a tad on the high side for the portions but the quality was certainly there so i guess they weren’t too out of line.

We came here to meet up with our new family (our kids are getting married this summer!) And it was the most amazing experience. At first we’d planned to just meet for drinks and then go to dinner somewhere else but our bartender Tate and Server Vanessa won us over with their personalized stellar service that we ended up staying right through dessert!
Tate is a magician when it comes to specialized drinks and mixed us some too good to be true adult beverages like none we’ve ever tasted. I took pics but changed phones in-​between our visit and have yet to transfer them. But I will come back and add them!
And the food! OMG! Literally everything was amazing. So unique and flavorful. We were advised to get the small plates and share and were so full by the end of dinner that I couldn’t eat another bite but when I think of that place, crave it all!
The service was five stars, the food and the drinks and the place made you feel that the Rat Pack was going to stroll in at any second! Such a great experience… And well sure, the company didn’t hurt! Love our new family!

Who knew that I could find an amazing meal in a town that’s not so known to many people from LA.
Let’s say, this was a very pleasant surprise and a must come to restaurant whether your driving through or staying.
They have an amazing mixologist so the drinks were spot on and priced perfectly. The menu and food was original and risky but very very good. The service was good as well. We were too full for desert but maybe next time.

(3.5 stars just rounded down till next visit) Came her just to see how the 1%ers do lunch. We arrived around 2 which was great because we had one other party to complete with for the waiters attention. He was attentive but was visibly put off by my lack off dressiness, i say this because he didnt make much eye contact and looked like he was going through the motions rather then being genuine when doing his shpeal, and in a monotone voice yet when helping the other table his voice inflection changed and was eagar to please. Maybe he felt he would get a bigger tip form them, btw i was in ripped jeans and a soccer jersey, not classy i know but i dont profess to be but would like to be treated the same.
Food: i ordered the duck tostada (18). Deep fries tostada (tortilla), layer of refried beans or past, piled high with shredded duck, lettuce, and a few other veggies you topically find on one. On top it is drizzled with a red sauce which i expected to add spice but instead was a bit sweet with crumbled cheese. I wish it was better put together, i looked thrown together, when you pay this much you expect more effort with presentation, It was good though, not great, to much of the red stuff. The duck had nice flavor and was tender, though the lettuce was soggy, this due to it being accompanied atop hot food and drenched in the sauce, i hoped it would hold up better, texture wise it wasnt pleasing. I did eat it all and was full. The comped bread and butter is good too.
I would go to jack and charlie’s again, when a special occasion merited it due to its classy feel and to try more dishes and cocktails but i wasnt blown away in the least.
Ps i did tip the waiter 20% because he was attentive and perkier after our initial encounter.

Jack & Charlie’s is an Old Soul kind of restaurant if that makes any sense? It has a classic ambience with 1920s — 1940s music playing in the background.
I ordered the three — course lunch of the day. Oh I’m fancy huh?! Every once in awhile… Chilled Summer Melon Soup — Grilled Wolfe Ranch Quail on Pappardelle with Sage and Sweet Corn — Trio of Sorbet
I’m not a fan of Melon. I just wanted to try it in soup version. I’ve never had Quail before so I was surprised when it was full of flavor and tender. It is small and a little difficult to get the sweet meat off of it! The Pappardelle was my favorite part of the entrée. It was divine goodness! The sorbet was a nice touch at the end of the meal. A simple palate refresher.

Worst seven and seven EVER!
The 7 and seven was nothing more than 7-​up on the rocks. Even when we mentioned it to the waiter he had the nerve to say that there was Seagrams 7 in he drink. Save your money and just buy a six pack of 7 up and a bottle of whisky from save-​mart.

Decided to stop in for a pre-Valentine’s Day meal.
I love that you get a quartino of wine not just a glass. And for the price, that makes me happy as the per quartino price is the same as getting a glass of wine in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, they were out of my first two choices so I had to keep looking. I hate
We started with the British Truffle Cheese plate which was delicious. I don’t know what they did with the apple that was on the plate but it was awesome. I moved on to a salmon dish and it was perfectly cooked.
It was definitely pricier than other restaurants but it was worth it and a great place for a special occasion.