My first trip to the Crystal was in 1958, not much more than a flashing yellow light back then. After many fishing trips up and down the coast and much water under the bridge,Crystal River is my favorite. Helping to make it a pleasure is dining a Charlies. Their service is great and the food is fresh. I have read... more

The parking is a little tight, but the atmosphere, food and service are more than adequate. It's a bit noisy and my only beef is -- you have to stand in line to pay a cashier. more

Terrible is too nice. We were visiting Crystal River on our annual Florida vacation and I have to tell you this restaurant can only be surviving because if it's location. The food and service were both real bad. We have 5 people in our party and three of our meals had to be sent back and replaced with just as... more

Charlie's is a regular stop on our way through Crystal River. I've tried almost everything on the menu, but I always come back to the grouper sandwich. If it's grouper season, do yourself a favor and get their sandwich. It's the best I've ever tasted! more

Beautiful setting and simple food..pretty much all fried or broiled. No great but not terrible. VERY lightly seasoned...not lots of flavor (We had fried oysters, fried grouper, oyster stew) We did have good service and the cheese grits were outstanding! more

We just tried Charlies this evening and had a great experience. Our waitress was excellent and made sure we were happy, our glasses were full, and was very knowledgable about the menu. We ordered cheese sticks and conch fritters for appetizers. Both were good. At our table we ordered the shrimp, shrimp sandwich, scallops and the blackened seafood platter. The... more

I went to lunch with my mother and fiance's mother. We shared a stone crab claw appetizer which included 5 claws and drawn butter. We each ordered the scallop lunch entree which came with 2 sides and a side salad. My mom got the blue cheese and it was more like mayo with chunks of cheese in it; it had... more

We live in the area and we have been here many times. It is not the best food in the world nor the worst. Their potato salad is not your typical type-we dislikeed it. Yes, the baked potatoes seem like a day old or microwaved. The fish sometimes is really good, then other times seem frozen and fishy tasting. You... more

Our manatee tour guide, a very nice interesting fellow, summed up this restaurant perfectly. He said it attracted folks his age (retired), not our age (40s). Well that was sooooo perfect. I thought the food was BORING with a capital B. It was not what you would expect to be sitting on docks. Our children wouldn't even eat the french... more