Charlie's Kitchen

I love Charlie's!  Lots of options here but I always get the same thing:  the veggie reuben.  It is un-fucking-believable.  That and a Chimay draft (yeah, it's $9 or $10, but whatever, it's delicious).  Several of my non-vegetarian friends also love the veggie reuben and it's the only thing they order, too (besides beer).  I've also heard the linguica mac & cheese is excellent, they have sweet potato fries, which always raises a place's value in my opinion, and there are lots of other options, from appetizers to burgers and sandwiches to seafood and poultry.

Charlie's has a great beer selection, fair prices, and fun surroundings - I almost always sit upstairs in a booth, but downstairs is kind of like an old-fashioned diner and they have a beer garden for the warm months (though it tends to get very crowded).  I think I partly love Charlie's for its nostalgic value ... I worked in Harvard Square for years and spent many fun evenings and lunches there ... but everyone I've brought loves it, too.  It's nothing fancy, but it's always reliably good.  They have trivia nights, a bunch of TVs, and a juke box, too.  The only thing is, if you put songs on the juke box, you need to ask the bartender FIRST to change the radio channel so you can hear your songs.  One time we put a bunch of money in the machine only to find this out after the fact, and we never heard our songs.  So sad.  

Anyway, you should go.  It's awesome.

Cheap drinks (for MA, as far as I could tell) but the food left a bit to be desired.

The beer garden area seemed to be where it was at so we sat inside because we're old and don't like crowds.  This bar is also near Harvard Square (I couldn't determine the exact proximity as it was dark and I wasn't familiar with this area at all).  The interior has a cool, diner type feel and service was friendly.  I had a Moscow mule for $5 which is cheap no matter where you are.  They also had Dale's Pale Ale on tap (a hometown favorite!)

The husband and I each ordered a black bean burger type thing and it really wasn't that awesome.  The patty itself was pretty good and seemed housemade, but it was on one of those super bready, dry, Orowheat type buns.  A nice brioche type bun would have done wonders for this burger.  It came with a side of chips and salsa and they were pretty bad.  The salsa was a step below Pace (probably the kind made in New York City.  New York City?!) and the chips were a bit stale.

Aside from that, I enjoyed my evening at Charlies.  It was happening, but not too much so.  I'd just skip the food and go for the mules/beer.

Dropped by Charlie's Kitchen for a drink with my wife in the tap room upstairs and ended up sampling several new beers over the next few hours under the expert guidance of the friendliest and most knowledgeable beer maiden ever! Stef recommended brews we would never have had the wherewithal to try on our own, and we were not disappointed. We will be back to sample more of Charlie's large beer selection--Stef will make beer connoisseurs out of us yet!