Charleston's Bar & Grill

Charleston's Bar & GrillCharleston's Bar & Grill
Charleston's Bar & GrillCharleston's Bar & Grill
Bar, Eatery

2101 Calistoga Dr
New Lenox, Illinois, 60451-4826
United States

// CLOSED //

Sunday - Thursday: 11:00am - 1:00am
Friday - Saturday: 11:00am - 2:00pm
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.96
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
5
pDev:
10.86%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of emerge077
Reviewed by emerge077 from Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 2 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Strip mall chain bar in the middle of undeveloped fields, next to a Berkot's grocery store. The building façades on one side were all mismatched to look like a facsimile of a small town main street, with a 2006 cornerstone and a clock tower on the dentist office. Huh.

Past the revolving door, inside it's pretty cavernous, a big open space with high vaulted ceilings with several auxlliary side rooms not in use. Far from cozy. Granite bar top, no rail. Lame music piped in that seemed more appropriate for an under 18 club (at 2 in the afternoon). A group of early 20's guys came in for a round of carbombs and left. Whee.

Lots of taps behind the bar, and bottles in the cooler. They had a draft list but no bottle list. Selection wise they had 4 Summit taps (fresh Saga), 2 Wild Onion, Reissdorf, Abita, Lagunitas IPA, Bells Double Cream, and a few others. In bottles, Deschutes, O'so Lupulin Maximus, and a bunch of doors full of macros.

Service was ok, two bartenders were running around the whole time. One bartender mentioned she brought in the Pipeworks Raspberry Truffle bottle that was decorating a top shelf of the bar (no Pipeworks here oddly, though there were 10 varieties next door at Berkot's).

Beer selection here was good, though the sterile vibe left lots to be desired.
Jun 30, 2013
Photo of AleWatcher
Reviewed by AleWatcher from Illinois

3.49/5  rDev -11.9%
vibe: 1 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
So this place is tucked into the corner of a strip mall and is quite easy to miss if you aren't told in advance that it is "in the Berkot's plaza."
So the beer is pretty decent-- especially for the area... The part I really dislike is the atmosphere. I felt like one of the Butabi Brothers would be jumping up and begin grinding on my wife whilst "baby don't hurt me, no more!" played at bass-thumping levels.
I'm just not the "drink jaeger bombs and wear my shirts unbuttoned to show off my fake tan and real gold necklace" type.

The waitresses were friendly and respectably knowledgeable all things considered.

Overall-- take it or leave it... If you're 22, live in the area, and want to go out, this is the Dirty Nellies of the area. Sadly, I'm 30 and more interested in sitting down to relax than I am in some local DJ.
Aug 19, 2011
Photo of redjameskidd
Reviewed by redjameskidd from Illinois

3.7/5  rDev -6.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This place is rather out of the way for me, living in Homer Glen. Takes about a half hour to get here, mostly because there are no highways to take and it's a lot of smallish, inefficient roads.

That said, the reason I'd be going there is because it's pretty much the only place in all of these Southwest suburbs that one can go and have craft beer on tap. I consider that something less than a compliment for Charleston's and perhaps more of an indictment of all the other bars. Seriously. There is a dearth of craft beer on tap out here. I am eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, which will have 40 taps, apparently. That opens in a few days.

But back to Charlestons. It's a pretty small place. I like the layout of the bar with the double rows of bar-height tables. Selection is decent. It's hard to know what will be there at any given time because they don't bother updating the beer list online.

Some of the reviews have said that the staff was very knowledgeable, but that hasn't been the case for me. Of all the times I've been there, it's been girls behind the bar who don't like beer, much less want to discuss it.

I've only had the food a few times but liked everything I've gotten. They have excellent onion rings that are cheap ($4).

They also have a good special on Tuesday for three-dollar pints of anything.

Overall, this is a place that I will go to get craft beer, but I don't really have a choice. Compared to some of the places in Champaign that I am used to, this place can't compare. I also think it will suffer from defections after the opening of the new Tribes.
Nov 28, 2009
Photo of cagocubs
Reviewed by cagocubs from Illinois

4.7/5  rDev +18.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
I have been to Charleston's many times. The place appeals to multiple crowds as I have been there surrounded by both younger and older audiences.

The inside of Charlestons is cozy with a good amount of bar seating in two rows and tables. Part of the inside is decorated with Eastern Illinois University memorabilia (bar named after town the school is at). There is an outside patio area available where you can play bags and sit.

What brings me to Charlestons is their craft beer selection. The bar has several quality beers on tap including popular seasonal beers. There selection of bottled craft beer is also impressive. There selection is considered superior compared to other local bars.

The service is my favorite part of Charlestons. Each time I go I talk to one of waiters in depth about their selection and he is extremely knowledgeable and polite. The service is quick and the prices are more than fair (about $5 for a bottle of craft beer).

Have not had their food.
Nov 16, 2009
Photo of spointon
Reviewed by spointon from Illinois

4.18/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I have visited this place several times over the past six months and thought it was time to add it here!

Charleston's is located a bit off the beaten path, to the south of New Lenox. It is in a strip mall development with Berkott's grocery and a few other stores/restaurants. There is loads of convenient parking.

While the interior is decent, form definitely follows function. The bar is basically just a section within the main dining room. With the no smoking laws in effect, there seems little reason for more of a separation. It is basically a big space, with lots of brick and stonework (and a bit of concrete and painted steel), albeit with a few warming touches like a long wood bar, nice chairs, etc. There are a bunch of large, flat panel TVs scattered throughout the bar and dining area, making this a great place to watch sporting events.

The staff are very nice and the bar staff are very knowledgable of the beers they serve. On average, I would say they have about 12-14 taps featuring a lot of local/regional brews plus a Belgian or two. On my last visit they had offerings from Bell's, Founder's, Goose Island, Bear Republic, DFH, Rogue, and Three Floyds as well as Hoegaarten, Delirium Tremens, Smithwicks, Stell Artois, and Guinness on tap. The bottle selection isn't huge but it has about 40 craft brews and quality imports. Beyond all that, they have the usual range of domestic and import macro selections, which their menu calls "Wanna-Be Beers".

I always have a great time here as the food is all good to above average, the service is knowledgable and attentive, and the prices are very fair for what you are getting. Highly recommended!
Nov 30, 2008
Charleston's Bar & Grill in New Lenox, IL
Place rating: 3.96 out of 5 with 5 ratings