Charcoal Chef Sam-Mar’s Original

Reviews

• Maureen S.

  star star star star star 28 June 2026

  Omgosh everything about this place was awesome! Food and service were both excellent...priced very low...we go to different restaurants for breakfast every Friday with not a lot of repeats, we will definitely be back to the Charcoal Chef for breakfast in the near future!!!!!

• K D.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 27 June 2026

  Stopped in for breakfast yesterday and have to say we were very disappointed. This is the first time we've been here in a long time. I'm sorry to say it did not live up to what we experienced in the past.
  I had the black diamond steak medium and over medium eggs, asked for the potatoes to be well done. Eggs were at best over easy, the steak was underdone also and the potatoes were limp to say the least. By the time I got my toast buttered (the butter was cold) so was my breakfast.
  My husband had the rib eye medium rare and it was very fatty. His eggs and potatoes were no better than mine.
  I'm not sure that they are even cooking on charcoal the steaks looked and tasted grilled. I could be wrong about that, but we won't be going back to find out.
  I did mention my dissatisfaction to our waitress but nothing was done.
  I would say...don't waste your time.

• John M.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 26 June 2026

  I don't eat here often but when I go out for breakfast this is normally where I go because it's close.  However I've now caught them charging me for coffee I didn't have several different times.  It happened again this morning.  I can't drink coffee for health reasons.  Therefore I'm not happy about being charged for it every time I go to Effie's.  This is simple fraud.
  
  When I called them on it today their excuse was that it was force of habit.  That sounds like systematic fraud.

• Amber B.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 22 June 2026

  I should have known when we pulled in and the parking lot was empty. We have been there several times but not for a couple months. The waiter was very nice. I ordered the pork chop dinner that came with 3 sides. I had the salad mashed potatoes and the California mix. My fiance ordered lobster bisque and crab salad. They brought out his soup and my."salad" at the same time. My salad consisted of iceberg lettuce with mozzarella cheese on it that was it. He enjoyed his bisque. Although u can tell it was microwaved since it had a film around the bowl. Then our entrees came out my pork chops were sitting on half a piece of toast don't know why. When I cut into the first one it was difficult to cut into and it was still pink in the middle which isn't done enough for me to eat. Then I cut it to the next one and it wasn't pink so I did try a bite of it and it was chewy and had a gross taste to it so I put it in my napkin I couldn't even swallow it. My mashed potatoes were not good either. Not sure if they were boxes or just old. And finally I had the California mix. It was super soft and nasty. I decided not to eat any more. My fiance said his crab salad tasted like straight vinegar! He ate a couple bites but it was too nasty so we got up to leave. The waiter was at the front and asked if everything was ok. I said no and told him why. We were definitely embarrassed to tell him because he was so sweet. He rang us up and we paid the full amount. I didn't ask for free food or a discount. I know I should have. But lesson learned. We will not be going back there!

• J H.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 21 June 2026

  Total disappointment from what I remember of it years ago. When we walked in we weren't greeted. The server was nice but obviously overwhelmed. Waited nearly 40 minutes for two sandwiches. And one came out way before the other. Never again