It's been over three years since I first found Chez Charlie's and gave it a four star review.
Since that time, I have been there at all times of day with all types of crowds and it still remains one of my favorite places to have a drink in Kansas City. I have hung with the hipsters, the day drinkers, the after workers and the early birders. I have heard the DJ's, played the dart boards and read the Playboys. I have drank, talked and laughed in this dark and unassuming bar.
So here's an upgrade to five long overdue stars Chez Charlie's because, as I said in 2010, if you like a little dive in your bars, it's a place you shouldn't miss.
We weren't sure we were at the right place because they don't have a sign out front. Â We weren't sure what to expect as we sat down and wondered what kind of clientele we might find in this hole-in-the-wall. Â
But the reviews don't lie. Â The bartender turned on the jukebox, and it put us at ease.
It's definitely an old dive bar that's been around forever. Â It has the comfort of a local bar. CC has beer and liquor and a couple of bar snacks for purchase like peanuts and chips. Â The bartender was a cool guy to chat with, content to visit while we waited but not hovering if we were talking with our friend. Â We got there fairly early in the evening, and he said the place really picks up around 9 or 10. Â There is a DJ some nights, while on other special nights, the owner makes tasty things to share in a crockpot. There are several TVs -- a couple of them were playing the football game, while others were playing non-sports things like Law & Order and a black-and-white movie.
I thought the graffiti in the ladies' room was entertaining rather than raunchy. Â I giggled at a sketch of "no-shave November" and a couple of inspirational drunken quotes, the usual phone numbers and "[girl's name] was here" scribbles not found.
Our friend, who suggested the place, loves Chez Charlie and it's his favorite low-key bar. Seems like a fun place, a business we're looking forward to going back to.
THE dive bar. Great atmosphere.. whether it's packed & jumpin' with an eclectic DJ spinnin' soul, pop & more on the weekends or if it's chill & quiet on a weeknight. The bartenders know what they're doing & they've got all the yard beers you're ever gonna need. It's a great place to make friends with perfect strangers or meet up with old friends. People seem to mix & mingle here effortlessly.
Review Source:Chez Charlie is a pretty simple place and can be explained by asking two questions. Â What do you want to drink and how cold do you want it?
The room is small and a little plain, but does have enough room for a dart board and good amount of tables. Â The crowd is about half and half with regulars and bue collar neighborhood folks. Â They're friendly, but also can tend to keep to themselves. Â The bar tenders have been around for a bit and know how to pour a nice strong drink.
If you're in the neighborhood feel free to pull up a chair to the bar.
There is a small parking lot in the back because parking on Broadway can sometimes be a little tough.
Note: it should be Chez Charlie (no apostrophe S), but I have a strong feeling that Charlie doesn't give a f*ck about proper French.
So:
You've got triple D: dark, divey, dicey,
You've got cheap, strong drinks.
You've got a pretty mixed crowd (hipsters mix with old men who tell stories mix with ladies who wear white sweatshirts and sneakers and dance... note: there is of course no dance floor).
You've got lots of random trophies and plaques all over the room.
You've got wood paneling and vinyl banquets/barstools.
You've got darts.
You've got... *that smell*
You've got yourself a dive bar. This is for real.
A friend once said, "I couldn't find it...there's no sign out front..."
Whether there is, or not, is inconsequential.  A bar like this doesn't need a sign to be a beacon. And a beacon doesn't need to be bright and shining; sometimes it's better to be a glowing presence in other ways, better to attract the barflies and beer-buddies with the promise to be  sheltered, rather than out in the open...
And isn't that why you want to "escape" to a bar like this, anyway? Â It's not to "be seen". Â I remember places like this from the outside, down on San Pablo Blvd in the East Bay, growing up. Â I did, and still do, call them "Old Man Bars"; the places where only the pros went, the working men and women, the ones who maybe only had the scratch for a pour and not much more...but someone would hopefully buy the next round.
I love meeting my pals here. Â We start our irregular "Guy's Nights Out" here. Â I've heard confessions and observations and shared stories about life, good and bad, here. Â Talked music, art, religion, politics, and women there, on the barstools and big tuck-and-roll benches. It's the kind of place where you want to add your voice to the air, and tack your story up on the wall like the yellowed newspaper and dart-tourney plaques that make up the history of the place. Â You want to be the history of the place.
Or, you just want a drink. Â Need a drink, maybe, be it Hamm's or a Highball, you're in good hands, and within earshot of someone who's willing to raise a toast to you, that girl, the ballgame, or whatever ancient weeper is on the incredible (and real) juekbox.
Oh, and sometimes you can get a hotdog. Â Or a bag of chips. And smoke on the patio out back, listening to the sounds of Midtown in all it's tragic, storied glory.
If you find charm in that, you'll find charm in Chez Charlie's. Â If not, you'll never see it there, anyway...
There is a certain majestic quality that this local bar produces. I don't know if it the 60's feel emitted by the decor or the friendly bartenders that are genuine people trying to make a living.
The place isn't massive and you can always count on a good game of darts and excellent music. I like the Tuesday night scene because they have a great DJ playing both kinds of music, Country and Western. That's a joke btw
The beer is always ice cold and the mixed drinks are a little heavier here than other places. The location is tough because there is limited parking in the lot and on the street though you can park in the Walgreen's parking lot. There is an excessive amount of hipsters here some nights but everyone is very nice and always makes you feel welcome. Cheers to Chez Charlie's!
I love this bar!
It's dark, cheap and conversations are plentiful. Â Plus they have darts, plenty of TVs to catch a game and cool way old-school music. Â If I had a "rec room" or what is now called a "finished basement" I would model it after this bar.
My one complaint is the womens restroom. Â I hear the mens is literally papered with Playboy centerfolds but the womens has a lame watercolor painting. Â How about something more interesting for women? Â Maybe drink recipes, gossip pages from US and People or the latest shoe styles? Â It's just a suggestion. Â Otherwise, it's ok, they don't need to change a thing.
My girlfriends and I stopped by here a couple of months ago on my birthday. Â We walked in (we always go out early) and were the only ones there. Â The bartender was pulling out pages from Playboy. Â He said he was "redecorating" the men's room. Â I found this rather entertaining. Â And yes he does scoff at you if you ask what the specials are or if you order anything mixed or light beer (which I did not). Â Still I've always liked this place. Â I wish I could be a regular here myself but alas my husband does not drink so I don't frequent bars as much as I used to.
Review Source:There is a fine line in the world of dive bars. You can have the cool punk rock, fixie, record collector, underground crowd or the low life and homeless crowd (yes there is a 3rd type, but I'll save that for later). The cool kids (not the rap duo unfortunately) of Buzzard Beach evacuated to Chez Charlie's and you can guess where Buzzard went.
I went to Charlie's on a warm Saturday night with a few friends and the reviews are right - it didn't dissapoint: old soul 7" being spun by a DJ, free darts, cheap beer, and a relaxed crowd, what more do you need?
I like drinking fancy pants beer as much as the next guy who tries to pretend to know about beer, not just get drunk.Though I will always hold every beer I drink to the high standards of Budweiser. This is only natural for someone from MO, isn't it? For this reason, I will always love a good bar that serves cheap domestic beer, and isn't trying to be in any way hip or cool while doing so. This bar really deserves the dive bar label. They were at one point a swanky bar for the people who were in the know. Most of the people who "knew" have been dead for a while, but Chez Charlies still shows glimpses of its once regal traditions. This is important to note, because I feel there is a definite sense of history that a bar needs in order for me to want to give it the "Dive" label. I don't want a five year old bar that hasn't been taken care of, I want a thirty year old bar that hasn't been taken care of, in order to carry the moniker of "Dive".
Unlike other bars in the area, this place has retained its history, and can appear a little run down as a result. But the beauty, and history behind the dirt, and torn vinyl, cannot be denied. The place was, is and always will be known for darts. I am a danger to anyone near me when I throw darts, and for this reason I just watch, and in the process keep all of my surrounding companions safe. That's not to say that I don't offer up a plethora of advice and chiding remarks. It's easy to be condescending when you're not partaking in the activity that you are being so critical of.
I don't go here often, my friends used to, but I'm not sure they do anymore. This place is tiny, but a lot of fun. It would be easy to turn this into your "go to" bar for like six months, then never go back. But really isn't that what Yelp is all about, finding fresh, different, new, sometimes clean establishments?
The magic of Chez charlie's  is ultimately channeled into one night: Friday night. An unassuming dive bar hidden just north of Big Dude's music city (at night you can park in their parking lot). Everything that Charlie's represents seems to culminate into a perfect frenzy on Friday night. Charlie's has it's charm on it's own, a dive, who's specialty is darts, with tiny tables accenting quilted  "pleather" seating along the wall. This was once a contender of one of the smokiest bars in town but, despite smokers being forced outside, hasn't lost it's allure. Then Friday night arrives & Superwolf pulls wonderful gems from his 45 collection to make everyone happy to dance & drink & laugh. It's the kind of place that you may stay all night or may just drop in for a drink but being there & seeing everyone enjoying themselves just makes it worth stopping in. No-one is a stranger here, thanks to a very young & relaxed clientele. The bartender is rumored to be somewhat surly on occasion only to add to the allure of a dive bar. There hasn't been a visit to Charlie's on Friday night that I haven't met someone new & interesting. Don't sit a home bored & alone on Friday go to Charlie's & make some friends.
Review Source:One of the finest dive bars I have ever been to.
I don't even think there's a sign outside. They serve PBR in cans. The music is usually the bartenders old vinyl collection, set up on a table in the corner. When it's not him its an old push button jukebox with old browned labels and the newest thing on it is probably over ten years old.
Sometime in the evening, maybe only on weekends only, they have crock pot queso and chips. Serve yourself.
Whenever  we go, we double the number of people in the place. They have stacks of old playboys and old sports illustrateds. My wife likes to look at all the playboy covers and try to find the hidden bunny logos. I like to read the old Rick Reilly articles out of the back of the SI's. This is hours of pleasure.
Numerous real dartboards that are free to play. This place was obviously a dart bar from back when darts were much cooler than they are now, because I've never seen a soul besides us playing on a Friday or Saturday night. Maybe they have leagues some night during the week? This place certainly doesn't have a website for you to find out for sure.
Go here at 11:30, after you've been to that other place you wanted to go to. This is the perfect venue to wind down your night at. It's a place with good music where you can actually have a conversation with your friends and hear them.
It has been on my radar for a while. Â I finally pulled the trigger last Thursday night., or at Chez Charlie's- dart night.
Nerds, old farts and women with road map faces all getting down on the dart games. Â At the bar, a younger crowd pop's the top on cans of PBR. Â The bartender addresses the incoming customers by name and everyone seems to know each other.
You might wonder why I am a fan. I might still be wondering too. Â It was raw, strangely charming and refreshingly unpretentious. Â There is a special vibe here.
Dark, old and sketchy, it is all dive bar and all good.
Now we're talkin! THIS is a dive bar! Went really late on a Saturday, well, if 11 pm is late, which I guess it is here. I'm wondering if the 6 people that were in there besides us made it a crowded night? This place gets a plus for having more room than it first appears, so you could probably hang out with a group. Which is why I don't understand this lady who was squeezing up on me and rubbing my arm with her arm for an hour. I'm used to packed bars, and I was engrossed in a kaleidescope of conversation, so I didn't really think about it until I turned around and realized that there was no one on the OTHER side of her scraggly bearded date and for some reason she just wanted to be all up in my space. Whatever.
The bartender was really apathetic. He was there to make drinks and smoke cigarettes with you, that was all. Okay, cool, we all have jobs. Then he pulled "Last Call" (still getting used to that one) and we paid cash for our tab. The catch is that I had also given him my debit card. And he didn't give it back. Even after he said something about it while giving us change from our cash. So my bad, I walked out without it and the next day was Sunday when nothing's open. So I went back today to get it, and the lady this evening was really cool. Only two sad looking sods in the bar, during what should be a happy hour, like homeless people outside of Disneyland.
Truth be told, the place almost got 3 stars just because the music was completely cool and unaverage. But I can't be such a starwhore.
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