O’Charley’s isn’t a restaurant we’d normally go to. I understand that it mainly functions as a steakhouse — which typically isn’t where you’d find a lot of fine vegetarian fare — but we had a gift card that we got for Christmas and a non-veg*n lunch guest — and so that is where we ended up.
The menu offerings were pretty sparse. If you’re just wanting an appetizer, there are three options — the spinach artichoke dip, the cheese sticks and these crazy cheese-loaded potato chip things. Other than that, there were no specifically meat-free dishes on the menu.
We got the cheese sticks appetizer. They were just okay — nothing particularly special about them. Aaron ordered a chicken salad, minus the chicken. It had strawberries and other things in it. They let him substitute a side of french fries for the chicken — at the same price. I ordered a side salad and onion rings for my “meal”.
First of all, I have to say — the side salad I ordered was $3.99 and contained nothing more than iceberg lettuce, a few shavings of cabbage, grated cheese, two cucumbers and two roma tomato slices. The onion rings were right around $3 because they consider them a “premium” side — but that included about half a dozen grease-soaked battered onion rings. The onions they used were pretty tasteless too. They tasted like deep-fried batter, nothing more. I should have gotten the baked potato. I would have spent a dollar less and gotten more food. Total, my “meal” was around $14 with a soft drink and a piece of key lime pie for dessert. With the appetizer, Aaron’s salad and drink and my dinner, drink and dessert, plus the tip and tax — our bill was around $40 for lunch. Aaron says he tipped 12% (the service was less than stellar).
It was a terrible value and crappy dining experience, honestly. I would not recommend this restaurant.
I wish the chain restaurants would realize that vegetarians do not want to sit down and order side dishes as meals. Nor do we want to pick and choose through salads. Nor do we want to pay the price for meat we ask to leave off our dishes. Offering one or two vegetarian options on a menu as vast as O’Charley’s doesn’t seem like that much to ask for — but apparently it is. Even though Aaron didn’t get chicken on his salad, he still paid $10 for it. I spent nearly as much for two tasteless sides. I can’t even recommend the appetizer we ordered because it just wasn’t very good (Gallo’s cheese sticks are about the same size and much tastier).
The key lime pie was pretty good.
The service was bad to mediocre. I know we’re not reviewing service, but I feel compelled to mention that. There are a few restaurants in town where I feel like excellent service is part of the dining experience, but this is not one of them.
So if you’re looking for veg*n options in Wayne County, don’t even bother with this restaurant. Nothing about eating here will leave a good taste in your mouth.
I think I need to point out that when we dine out, presuming the service is good (and by good, I mean somewhere between “transparent” and “pleasant” — I served tables for 5 years, I know the ropes), I will habitually tip 20%. I tip 15% for service I would deem “adequate” — so for me to go below 15% is saying something. (Incidentally, I used to be a server *AT* O’Charley’s, so I’m quite familiar with the inner-workings of this restaurant, and I agree with Mel’s assessment.)
Also — O’Charley’s is a terrific case example of why a restaurant with no affirmative stance on veg*n menu offerings is a bad choice for vegans: Typically, steakhouse restaurants like these nickel and dime the small sale items to encourage people to buy the medium-to-big ticket items (saves on food cost and increases check averages that way). The salad Melissa received was definitely NOT worth $4 — but if I had gotten an entree, I could have “added on” the exact same salad for only $2.49. That’s the rub.
Restaurants seem to assume that if a guest doesn’t want meat, they will just ask it to be left off — the problem is that either (a) there are no good substitutes to keep the meal nutritional, or (b) we end up overpaying since the substitute is worth less than the meat that was originally on the salad (this visit to O’Charley’s would be a “b” case).
Some restaurants, such as Chili’s offer some “meat substitute” items, which are terrific because we can have them substitute THAT for the meat items; the restaurant saves on food cost (since I bet anything that a black bean burger is cheaper than a chicken breast of equal volume), but I don’t get bilked on food value.
The salad I got, the California Chicken Salad, was very good, however. But I did not feel the dining experience was worth the $39.40 we spent on it.
O’Charley’s is absolutely my least favorite restaurant in Richmond. I’ve tried it a couple times, since Chris enjoys it. And I’ve walked out at least 3 times saying, “I will NEVER come back here.” But I love Chris…. I like the free bread, and it definitely tastes good, but it’s quite greasy and has no nutritional value (but plenty of sodium), so it does nothing to complete a vegetarian’s meal (it’s not vegan). I think the 3rd time was the charm!
Great review of a terribly unfriendly restaurant!
To clarify Anna Lisa’s comment
I think of O’Charley’s as an acceptable restaurant for occasional visiting when variety is needed in dining out, but I would agree that there is nothing here exciting or really worth coming for. And now that I’m eating less meat, I find it to be even less interesting.
I will say that my memory of eating at the original, non chainified O’Charley’s across from Vanderbilt University is an entirely positive one, and so perhaps I am willing to give it more leeway than I would be otherwise.
Also, I can’t believe that no one mentioned the scary mural up on the wall above the kitchen.
Re: the mural — since I worked there for 2+ years (since their opening even!), I happen to know the story behind it.
They get some company in Canada to do the murals — they send down their people to go around the community and take pictures of different things, and then they paint a mural and have the panels shipped in. It’s *supposed* to sort of “localize” the restaurant.
In the first year I worked there, I absolutely adored the food. It was very good quality, and I really stood behind the product when I would sell it to people. At some point though, the corporate opinion was that O’Charley’s needed to be more “family oriented”, so they changed the menu around, introduced low-dollar (low-quality) items, and told us to start singing at birthdays. That last part was the real killer for me… Part of the reason I (and even some of my patrons) liked coming to O’Charleys was because you *DIDN’T* have to hear any of those god-awful, half-assed birthday songs. “Just give me my damn chocolate cake and let me get back to my conversation, already!”
It is I who paint the murals for O’Charley’s. I never intend to create scary bits in my murals. Whimsey, odd maybe, even some subliminal stuff ( pleasant of coarse) but not scary….
Yes the murals are painted in my studio here in Toronto, Canada. It is one continuous piece of canvas (that one I think was approximately 5′X42′) that is rolled up on a large tube, not unlike a giant roll of wall paper. It is then shipped to site and I install it.
So far I have done over 225 o’Charley’s murals. Website: Blincstudios.com AB
Allan,
Thanks for the information and for stopping by!
One thing I always wanted to know when I worked there — is the main face you put up there (a girl’s face, in our case) someone you actually saw in town, or is it just kind of a composite / original creation?
I heard a lot of folklore about it, but thought it would be nice to know straight from the horse’s mouth.
Hi, the “horses mouth” here….very late but in response to your question……The faces are friends, family , associates and sometimes stock photos purchased….in each case, O’Charley’s as the client approves the suggested “happy face” as part of the proposed design.
There is a lot of folklore about my work and some very strange interpretations of what various viewers see in my murals. Always a pleasure to have my work analyzed, interpreted and misinterpreted.
Thank you for the interest AB