Charlie's Kitchen
Thanks to Seth for suggesting we all head to Charlie’s Kitchen. The neon sign on the outside proclaims Charlie’s as the Double Cheeseburger King, not once, but twice. Once I walked in the door, I realized that I’d been before. It was more than just deja vu, but a group of us ended up getting food at Charlie’s during JScott’s bachelor party weekend several years back.
Goblet of Leviathan
The upstairs bar area was packed out on this particular Sunday night because it was trivia night. So, we headed back downstairs which was much more like a diner with several booths and counter seating. While Charlie’s Kitchen is a diner, it is a full-service bar with a fairly extensive tap and bottle list. I ended up getting a glass of Harpoon’s Leviathan, a slightly sweet, fairly smooth-hopped double IPA.
Double Cheeseburger
Charlie’s Kitchen has several burger options on the menu. I debated between getting something a little more exotic and the standard double cheese. I decided to go with the standard double cheese and got it with a side of house-made waffle fries.
Inside the Double Cheese
The burger did arrive with quite a lot of cheese melted on to both patties and was served on a lightly toasted sesame seed bun, open-faced style with lettuce, tomato, and pickle on the side for self-burger assembly. The fresh beef griddled patties were lightly seasoned with a slight char and were served slightly more towards medium than the medium rare I ordered. I added mustard and ketchup to the burger in addition to the lettuce, tomato, and pickle. It was a decent burger, nothing incredibly amazing, but better than what you might get at an average diner. Not quite as juicy as I’d hoped for, either.
There is a Guinness double cheeseburger on the menu with the patties cooked in Guinness beer. That did sound quite intriguing and am wondering how good the specialty burger would have been.
The crispy house made waffle fries were a decent side, but probably served in a skimpy portion for the price. There were probably half a dozen fries or so on the plate. That was fine, but more would have obviously have been better.
Jessica ended up getting one of the evening specials, a pulled pork quesadilla. This was a fairly massive quesadilla and not all of the sections could fit properly on the plate. It was filled with pulled pork and cheese and the combination worked well, better than I expected it to be. It was fine, again, great for diner food, but nothing life changing.
Charlie’s also has a double lobster roll on the menu that is supposed to be a somewhat affordable and delicious sandwich to try, though no one at the table went for it.
Overall, Charlie’s Kitchen is a slightly divey diner bar. The beer list was fairly good and the food decent, as well, but not mind-blowing. Not a bad visit, but definitely not a must eat destination. I am baffled by spots, like Charlie’s Kitchen, that don’t have websites at all in 2009. How hard is it to get a WordPress or Blogspot page with your menu and tap list, anyhow?
The Third Dimension
Verdict: Charlie’s Kitchen is serving above average diner food with a decent burger and beer list.
Tags: beer, boston, hamburgers, waffle fries
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