Jessica Hammond and I went to Charlie's Grill to devour some delicious grub and catch up. I've known Jessica since my freshman year; We both were junior staff writers at The Daily Athenaeum. She moved on to bigger and better things eventually, and I remained at The Daily Athenaeum. You decide whether or not that's a good thing.

Charlie's Grill is located right in Westover, just past the Dairy Queen. I know the sign has changed hands quite a few times - The Aquarium, and others. The outside looks typical, but once you walk inside, it's a whole different story. As soon as we opened the doors, we were in this small waiting area. There were menus and doors on either side of us. After looking puzzled for a minute or so, a waitress asked if we'd like smoking or non-smoking. They have a bar, with a small smoking section; a non-smoking section adjoined to the bar area; and a separate non-smoking section. We opted for the area where the most people were, which happened to be the non-smoking area near the bar.


Inside, the decorations are quite elegant looking - black with silver accents. The menus were thick with plenty of options, and they were very nice quality. After browsing for a minute or so, Jessica said she had tried the "Lobster Stuffed Chicken" when the restaurant was under a previous name, and it was fantastic. Immediately, I decided on that entree along with a sweet baked potato. Jessica opted for the special, a salmon caesar salad.

We were soon served a loaf of bread with our choice of butter - we chose sweet. The bread was homemade, and the butter we used made it taste like a cinnamon roll. You can't argue with that.

Then, I was served my salad, a spinach salad with egg, bacon, and sweet and sour dressing. Even though this was just a started salad, it was absolutely divine. I wouldn't have minded having that as my entree alone. Everything was fresh and crisp, and the sweet and sour dressing wasn't overpowering - just the perfect amount of accent to the dish.

Finally, the main entrees came out. For the quality of food Charlie's Grill has, I assumed the portions would reflect that. AKA, they'd be minuscule. However, my dish consisted of two large chicken breasts, battered, with a lobster cream cheese mixture inside.

The sweet baked potato was large, wrapped in foil, and accompanied with more sweet butter. The chicken was tender, and blended well with the lobster cream cheese. The batter was flaky, buttery, garlicy - everything that says yum in calorie form. The baked potato was also cooked perfectly, I was able to scoop the inside out and eat it like a sweet potato pie. The food was exquisite. It was really all the greats of fine dining - excellent food and atmosphere - paired with the greats of casual dining - large portions and not large prices.

Jessica was thrilled with hers, as well, as she stated quite a few times how good it was.

Besides tasting amazing, it was like comfort food only amped up. I felt full, satisfied and happy when I left Charlie's Grill. I can't wait to go back.

Grade: A