Charlie Jewell's

Bar, Eatery

1 E State St
Redlands, California, 92373-4729
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.74
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
9
pDev:
9.09%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by Allpe45:
Photo of Allpe45
Reviewed by Allpe45 from Arizona

4.05/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Judging from previous reviews, I went at the perfect time, because the place was empty aside from 1 or 2 people at the bar. It was pretty dark in there, with an Opeth album playing on the jukebox and plenty of credits. Music was audible, but not too loud that it would interfere with conversation at our table.

This place has a "cheap" feel as far as the decor, but I don't mind, I came for the beer.

One thing that bugs me about a lot of bars is the lack of an up to date beer list.
I did not have that problem during my visit. There was only one item they had run out of.

Food/service were pretty quick, probably because we were the only ones there. They don't always have the right glass for each style.

The tap list was quite impressive, with styles ranging from oatmeal stout to barleywine, double IPA to wheat wine, even a belgian quad. The bottle list was also pretty good, with some Russian River sours, Firestone Walker 14th and Abacus, various Stone releases including IRS and VE 07-10.

Normal bar food, enjoyable but not amazing.
The prices were very good. $6 drafts for whatever they have on tap, or $6 flights of four 4oz pours. The bottles are only a few dollars more than store prices.
Mar 21, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of UCLABrewN84
Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California

3.74/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
I stopped in at Charlie Jewell's recently pretty late at night. I was one of only 3 people in the place. For some reason, this seems like a pretty depressing spot with an outdated feel to it. They have about 20 taps going and some bottles for sale as well. They have a lot of local taps from the likes of Hangar 24, Ritual, and Craft. They offer full pours and flights here. Prices were reasonable for everything. The service was pretty good but the bartender was engaged in a lengthy conversation with another patron the whole time I was there. I would say this place is worth a stop but don't come here looking to be too impressed.
Apr 21, 2013
Photo of Retsinis
Reviewed by Retsinis from Arizona

4.4/5  rDev +17.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Just got back from a recent trip, during which a large group of SoCal BA's I know, and some new ones that I didn't, went to the 2012 Pugachev's Cobra release @ Hangar 24, followed by dinner & drinks at Charlie Jewel's.

Atmosphere: Corner location on a old town like street, with large glass windows where the intersection of the town are clearly visible. The bar is square, and in the middle of the room, so you can walk around it entirely, sort of like in "Cheers". Some brewania posters, some old European ones, beer signage, neon, etc. Comfortable, chill.

Quality: Pours were served in the proper glassware and temperature, clean, and pricing was cheap to fair for most pours.

Service: Place was not busy, as we were there from 4-9 p.m. So service was always prompt, and polite.

Selection: Didn't count, but over 24 taps, probably closer to 36 though I think. Selections was great, Locals like Ritual (4 taps) Hangar 24 taps, 2010 Alesmith Speedway, La Folio, and a lot more.

Food: The sweet potato Fries, and mozzarella sticks were good, but fairly straight forward. The Quesadilla with Grilled Veggies added however, was quite tasty. Really hit the spot.

Value: Excellent. The bar allowed us to have a bottle share in the side room, complete with buckets with ice, tulip provided glass ware, couches, as well as dump buckets. Truly epic. Something you would pay through the nose for at Lounge w/ bottle service.

Overall, we had an awesome time at Charlie Jewel's, wish it was my local, but sadly I live 2 hours away. However, I intend to come here often the next time I'm in Redlands, and hope other BA's can join me.
Dec 10, 2012
Photo of Hershdawg
Reviewed by Hershdawg from California

3.88/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5
Charlie Jewell's of downtown Redlands, somewhat affectionately called Chuck's Nuts by some, has an impressive amount of tap handles when you walk in. Each one of the tap handles rotates so the selection changes frequently.

The atmosphere during certain hours of the day is nice as few people will be inside the restaurant or at the bar. However if you show up at late night it turns into a "bro" bar, with DJ and plenty of college age kids.

Except about two bartenders majority of their staff knows little to nothing about their taps. The ones that don't know their beer make good cocktails though. For a bar with so many taps its unfortunate that they don't know anything about them.

The selection of beers goes from the ever common Guinness to rarities such as Older Viscosity. They will pour a pint of anyone of them for $6 or you can get a sample flight of 4 beers for the same. They sell bottled beer to go and carry some rare ones such as Abacus at an up charge.

The food is decent but not world class. Go to the bar for the taps not the environment.

Great taps, mostly clueless staff but good stuff anyway.
Aug 28, 2011
Photo of PStevens
Reviewed by PStevens from California

3.26/5  rDev -12.8%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4
Just found this place. Been there four times. May give it one more chance. My pals and I think they have great beer but don't know what to do with it or they don't know what they have- real jewels! Attended the Lost Abbey night and it was really cheap for an offering. Are they crazy? CHEAP! The night crowd has seemed to be a just a bunch of infants/bros same thing right. Either CJ's are just pricing themselves low to get people in or they don't know what they have. Have never seen the gems so low! Haven't figured it out yet. We only found that only one guy knows his stuff there out of all of our visits. We go there when we eat at a quaint place around the corner. Have yet to try the food. WTH is with the pricing there anyways? A sierra is as much as a way better beer! NOT picking the sierra for the same price as a seasonal or way better beer than sierra that's for sure. Maybe they think they are going to get stuck with the good stuff? Works for me.
Jul 09, 2010
Photo of tombcrypt
Reviewed by tombcrypt from California

3.95/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 2 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3
Charlie Jewell's is located in downtown Redlands, not far from where I live. They have a good selection of beer on draft, between 30 and 40, and also a good selection of bottles which are very reasonably priced(a bottle of Abyss is $15 while at La Bodega in Riverside it's about $20.) The draft beers are all $6 a pour, which is kinda weird because Sam Adams and Avery's Reverend are obviously not equal value. I was really psyched when I went there after they had a Lost Abbey event and Angel's Share Bourbon Barrel was six bucks for a pour. What a deal. They taps also change relatively often.

The only downside is that after about 7 pm the place turns into a total bro/sports bar with boring dj music, which is cool if your'e into that, but not my idea of a place I'd like to enjoy a fine craft beer. I haven't had the food there, so I have no idea of what it's like.
Jul 02, 2010
Photo of tycoon912
Reviewed by tycoon912 from California

3.46/5  rDev -7.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5
I make it to this place maybe once a month. They have a decent amount brews on tap - probably 35-40. It is right in downtown Redlands, on the corner of State Street and Orange St. The establishment itself is very inviting. The entire portion that faces the street is glass, so you can see virtually the entire inside before entering. The bar resides in the middle of the space, and wraps around the modest array of beer taps with multiple TV's above each side, and there is seating room all along the outside of the bar, although its not a very large capacity. This plays becomes standing room only Friday and Saturday nights. The service is average, or at least in my experiences inconsistent - sometimes it is great, sometimes it is poor. Most importantly, the beer! As I said, the selection is a modest one. Available are selections from various brewers in California, Oregon and Alaska (Stone/Deschutes/Bear Republic for examples, which cant all be found in most of the pubs and bars in the Redlands area). The prices are a bit steep, which is exaggerated further due to no happy hour. If getting commonly served drinks (like Guinness or Sam Adams) you'd be better off just going to a TGI Fridays or something like that. However if you're going for the craft brew, I haven't noticed any location within a 20 minute drive of this one that has a better selection of brews on tap. Its definitely worth stopping by if you are in the area.
Jan 26, 2009
Photo of DoubleJ
Reviewed by DoubleJ from Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -6.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Charlie Jewell's is located across the street from the Redlands mall on a street corner. There seemed to be a lot of open space when I walked in this afternoon and only a couple patrons at the bar, which sits in the middle of it all. Attractive bar area, I'll give them that, ditto the nostalgic beer signs on the walls of this place.

At the bar rest over 35 taps, at least when I counted. A fair portion is macro or "craft-macro", but also found in this bunch are some surprises. I found a tap from Victory, Alaskan, Rogue, Chimay, Köstritzer, and Bear Republic, and multiple taps from Stone, Deschutes, New Belgium and locally produced Hangar 24.

I ordered Hangar 24 Helles, killed the keg of the helles, and got whatever was left from it (about 10 ounces) for free. Since they didn't have any more helles, I switched gears towards Hangar 24 Pale Ale. Funny this is I'm not complaining too much since I got a taste two of that breweries beers for the price of one.

Two small things bugged me about the place. First, the beers cost a little more; Hanger 24 is brewed in the same city as this place, yet they still charged me $6 for the pint I payed for. The other criticism was the icy glass that served my beer. I enjoy cold beer, but not icy glassware. I did see some New Belgium goblets hanging above the bar and another type of beer glassware, so I wonder if some of the beers get different glassware?

Those two drawbacks are minimal and shouldn't stop you from enjoying this place. Good beer on draft in the heart of Redlands...more places like this would be accepted with open arms by beer lovers in the Inland Empire.
Dec 27, 2008
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Reviewed by Floydster from California

3.45/5  rDev -7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
I used to go this place quite a bit during college out in Redlands, this place has gotten better as the years have gone by and is by far the best bar in the area, they now carry the local Hangar 24 brews which is a plus, when I went a few weeks back I had a Chimay and Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA, I think both pints were around five dollars, also got a burger which was ten bucks but it was damn good, they have close to thirty taps including a few Alaskans, what I mentioned above, Drop Top Amber, Moose Drowl, Stone Arrogant Bastard and IPA, and several other SoCal microbrews, not much macro in year, only about three or four, this place is on the corner of Orange and State St., there are big open glass windows that let you see right in, there is a lot of open space in there which is good on weekends for when the place fills up, younger crowd can be expected then, but it varies with sports games, holidays, etc., place is clean and well kept, nice TVs, service is usually good but can be worse depending on the amount of people in there, sometimes they do not have enough staff to keep up, expect to pay a little more for food but beer prices are not too bad, not beer geek paradise but a place to get a good beer where there are not too many around, will be going back when I go and visit friends, worth checking out if you are in the area
Nov 04, 2008
Charlie Jewell's in Redlands, CA
Place rating: 3.74 out of 5 with 9 ratings