Charlie's Middle Eastern Cuisine

Charlie's Middle Eastern Cuisine opened quietly on the date of November 19th and was billed by one source as "The first upscale Kosher Meditarranean restaurant in town."It took over the spot formerly occupied by Charlie's Cafe in a building that was first built in 1904. It was originally a Victorian style home that later became a confectionary and then later became the diner that was Charlie's Cafe.It is stationed at the corner of 18th & Granby Street and adjacent to the Old Point National Bank. On street parking is available on Granby Street and a few spots can be found on 18th Street. The adjacent parking lot is reserved for bank customers only.The restaurant is under the supervision of a group of local Rabbis. A letter of Kosher Certification is posted on their wall inside from Vaad Hakashrus of Tidewater. Their executive chef is Yogev Karmisi, who is very friendly and passionate about his cooking.A friendly greeting awaits you as you walk in. Their main dining area is the indoor patio in the rear, which was added on to the original Charlie's Cafe. They still appear to be tweaking their menu. They only had one menu during my first visit. During my next two visits, I was given their Lunch menu, which runs until 5 pm. You can still order from their Dinner menu on request.Some of the menu items listed during my first visit are no longer being served. These include the Tataki Tuna, Carpaccio Salmon, and their Hummus from the Nishnushim (Appetizers) section of their menu. I am hoping that their Hummus will make a return.After three lunch time visits, I have tried the following:PITA BREAD: A warm and tender serving of Pita Bread, topped with a delicious Olive Oil Tapenade, came with each order. My Rating: 5 Stars.SIDE SALADS: These came with each order as well. The assortment was awesome, and they were all too numerous to name. My Rating: 5 Stars.CHARLIE'S SHAWARMA: I ordered this one from the main dish Plates Menu during my first visit, but it now appears to be listed on their Dinner Menu only. You can still order it for Lunch on request.The Shawarma meat was Chicken. It was served with Grilled Onion, Tomato, and a Jalapeno Pepper, layered over Pita Bread. It came with your choice of a side, and I chose the Rice.All the flavors and textures came through beautifully. The Pita Bread layered underneath had become a bit dry. My Rating: 4.5 Stars.MOROCCAN CIGARS: This was an entry from the Nishnushim (Appetizers) section of their menu and was ordered during my second visit. The "Cigars" consisted of a homemade ground beef mix wrapped inside a delicately crispy wrapping. They are served with two different sauces, each one with their own distinctive flavor. My Rating: 5 Stars.HOT DOG: I wasn't very hungry for my third visit, so I ordered this entry from the Kids Menu. This one came with two dogs without buns, and grilled onions on the side. It also came with your choice of one side, and mine was the Rice.The dogs lacked the "snap" and flavor I was hoping for. The Rice was a Yellow Rice that was fluffy and delicious. My Rating: 3.5 Stars.LEMONANA: This was listed under the Beverage section of their menu. It was served in an ice cold slushie form with fresh lemon and mint whose flavors came through powerfully. My Rating 5 Stars.MALABI: Ordered from their Dessert menu, this one is a Smooth Middle Eastern Milk Pudding with Rose Water and a Drizzle of Fruit Syrup. It is believed to have first originated with Arab cuisine during the 7th century. Their version was profoundly delicious. My Rating: 5 Stars.My service has been excellent with each visit. My composite food rating came out to about 4.7 Stars, which rounds up easily to my 5 Star rating. I will be looking forward to my future visits.

Great experience! I felt like I was at home. The people there are really nice great environment. The food was amazing everything we tried there tasted fresh and cooked to perfection 10/10 will be back soon!

Delicious food! Lots of options and great customer service. Love going here with all of our friends

Fantastic middle eastern restaurant! The service 10/10! The food 10/10! I did not get a chance to take a picture of our food before eating as we were so excited to try everything on our table. We started with the complimentary bread and salads which were delicious. Our actual appetizer was recommended to us by our waitress which turned out super tasty (would definitely recommend anyone new to the restaurant to try the arayes). I ordered the chicken skewers and my boyfriend ordered the chicken shawarma; both us thoroughly enjoyed our meals. We did not intend of getting dessert, but our waitress brought us this beautiful dessert pudding which may have been the highlight of our meal. In short, this restaurant is incredibly good with even better hospitality. Will be sure to return when in the area and will recommend to others too!

A great addition to the Nordolk dining scene! The food was fresh and delicious and service was attentive and friendly. We had a steak pita and Israeli salad and the cauliflower appetizer. All of it was amazing. They also served us two pitas that were among the best I've had, with a sampling of some of their salads and sides....hummus, carrot salad, baba ghanoush, a corn salad and more. Looking forward to a return visit.

Tasty food, good amount of food served, nice service, community atmosphere. Real Middle Eastern Cuisine!