Charcoal Pit

I used to love these places as a kid. Burgers were always great. Not anymore. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the dirty floors. Then all of the staff has dirty clothes. We ordered cherry cokes and they were horrible. We ordered burgers made the same, we’ll done. Mine was burnt and the other was bloody. Apparently this place is run by a kid without a clue. We won’t be going back to this location. $ 30 for 2 people eating crappy food wasn’t really enjoyable.

Great milk shakes! there salads are good and always has great Great service! Would go there again.

My husband and I have come here a bunch of times but have to say this was the worst food. Our food was very bland and had no flavor. The prepackaged sauces and dips need to go. These things are cheaper to make and they will be so much better. I got the fried shrimp and it wasnt bad but had nothing to dip it in due to the sauces being gross. I also had twice baked potato and green beans, both were gross. My husband fried haddock and he also liked that but fries were bland and cheese was gross. My only good thing to say is our server was awesome. He was very polite and he was upset that we were disappointed and paid for us to have dessert. So if you want ice cream, come see Rod.

The food was ok/​good and there was good service. But the place had a funny smell, not a bad smell but a funny smell-.

This is a 1950’s style diner, clearly considered historically important in the Wilmington area. I went here with my fiancée on a Sunday afternoon in June 2015.
Their menu has all the standard diner fare, but says that their burgers have been legendary in Delaware for over 50 years, so we both ordered burgers.
I ordered mine medium well. It came overcooked. The burgers are served on hard buns, which unfortunately reinforce all the worst aspects of an overcooked burger. My fiancée ordered hers medium and she seemed to enjoy it greatly. Perhaps order one level below how cooked you want your burger to be, as other reviews indicate an overcooking problem too.
We also split a vanilla shake. It was great. They have a bunch of sundaes on the menu named for local high schools and something called «the kitchen sink» which is 20 scoops of ice cream plus toppings for $ 19.95. The prices are reasonable we did $ 21 for two burgers, fries, a soda, and a shake. Soda is served in fountain cups so you cam take your leftover soda home with you.
Maybe this is more of a sundae place that serves burgers. Maybe I am being too harsh on it for overcooking my burger. But if you make burgers the highlight of your menu, you can’t overcook them.

So so… it was all Sysco frozen food, nothing special. The service was pretty good, the food, not so much. The pre-​packaged cocktail sauce and tartar sauce… cold french fries… burned burgers, etc.
Nothing to write home about. Even though I live nearby, we wont be back. Based on the other ratings for this place… they are pretty consistently average at best.
Time to step it up, Charcoal Pit !!

Basic burger & fries — ordered rare — got well done — sent back and it finally returned — waitress said she was not feeling well — wearing her jacket because she was cold — perhaps she should not be waiting tables — hope my resistance is up — I will see how I feel tomorrow

This place went down hill I could not even finish my burger. Fries were cold and greasy wife’s chicken was undercooked and smelled bad I will not be coming back shame this place use to be the place to be

Place is okay. Milkshakes =GREAT! The Home Run Burger = basic. The burger patty was definitely charcoal and tasted like lighter fluid. Not impressed. Onion rings = good.
Service was good. We came here to watch the football game and it definitely wasn’t as crowded as other places which was nice. TVS are small flat screens though (5 screens). But they do have every game on every tv.
I’d come here again to watch the game but not for the burgers.

Although I’ve been to the Pike Creek location more than this one, I’m reviewing this one since that location has closed. I’ve been coming to Charcoal Pit since I was a kid, and it’s always been an enjoyable experience. The ambiance is reminiscent of a 1950’s diner, and the food is consistent with it, consisting mainly of American classics – mainly burgers and ice cream. I can’t comment on the burgers since I don’t eat beef, but I’ve ordered other food here including the chicken cheesesteak and the cod with fries, and it’s been okay, but nothing too special. The ice cream, on the other hand, is consistently good. The sundaes and shakes are always a delight, and I recommend the hot fudge cake in particular. One caveat: Order items with hot fudge at your own risk – I suspect it may sit out too long sometimes as I’ve encountered some digestive problems on occasion after eating it. It is delicious, however, so I tend to risk it anyway! This is a great place to bring kids – the menu is extremely child-​friendly – and it’s one of the more unique eateries in DE, even if it doesn’t necessarily have the most unique food in town. Just order some ice cream, and you can’t go wrong – at least, not while you’re eating it!
EDIT: This just in: Apparently President Obama deemed the Charcoal Pit worthy of a visit – though I believe he went to the Concord Pike location – and the media couldn’t get the name right (Charcoal Grill? WTH?).

I like Charcoal Pit because of its dive atmosphere and delicious food and snacks. I love their burgers because they are juicy and cooked perfectly. The menu is interesting. I mainly come here for the shakes, because they are so good. THey have many flavors, ranging from vanilla to cherry. I really like this place.

Had lunch here yesterday and it is doubtful we will return. Here is how our experience went.
Upon seating us, the gentleman attempted to put us into the back sunroom which was so stuffy I could not breathe in there so immediately I politely asked if we could no be seated in the main room. Without saying a word, he did an about face walked into the main dining area and threw the menus down on the table at a booth with a slight attitude. I let it go.
For drinks, my cousin ordered an iced tea which after one sip, she pushed to the side because it tasted stale, as if it had been sitting for a long time. When bringing this to the waitress’ attention she said «Really?» Uh Yes Really! While that was a bit perturbing, again, we let it go.
A few minutes later I watched as two waitresses took the iced tea dispensing containers, one sweetened and one unsweetend, pour what was left in the one dispenser, into the other one, and then remove the iced tea pouches from the bottom of the dispenser and pour the remaining tea into a pitcher and put it over by a serving station! They then proceeded to place the one dispensing container underneath a hot water brewer without even rinsing it or washing it and proceed to brew more tea into it. Eeeww! That is disgusting. My cousin wanted to leave at this point but we had already placed our food order.
My cousin ordered the buffalo chicken sandwhich but instead of breaded chicken she asked if she could get it grilled instead — no problem. We were advised it did not come with fries — that is fine she did not want them anyway. I ordered the clam strips but did not want coleslaw so I asked what could be substituted — our waitress had to check, Applesauce — only applesauce could be substituted — ok fine. Not really happy about having applesauce with clam strips but ok — no biggie.
When lunch was brought out, we were both shocked at the tiny grilled chicken breast that was on a bun comparable to a McDonalds cheeseburger bun with one wilted piece of bib lettuce and nothing else on the plate — not even a pickle! No chips, no pickle, no cheese and no tomato for EIGHT BUCKS!!! WHAT??? You have got to be kidding me! We could have gotten a bigger grilled chicken sandwhich at Wendy’s, McD’s, KFC, BK, or anywhere else for that matter for a whole lot less than $ 7.95. So we looked at their menu once more thinking we must have been mistaken — nope — $ 7.95 but get this. HAD she ordered the grilled chicken sandwhich that comes with lettuce, tomato, cheese and fries for the same price! So because she wanted buffalo sauce it was the same price without all the extras? Since when is hot sauce so expensive? At this point we felt robbed and the waitress should have addressed this with us upon ordering.
So now its gets interesting. When questioning the waitress about what was supposed to come on this sandwhich she said «nothing but lettuce». So we showed her the menu and explained we were not happy about being charged $ 8 for a tiny sandwhich with nothing on it and nothing else on the plate when had we could have had the grilled chicken sandwhich on the menu for the same price which came with so much more — she argued with us! Instead of trying to look into this for us with a manager, she tried to justify it! She was not comprehending our point nor did she care to so now she made us angry.
Thankfully, the manager knew how to handle the situation. She apologized for the oversight, agreed with us about the pricing, and took that completely off the bill. Were it not for her handling the situation correctly, I would have rated this place a one star. But the manager did try to make an effort to explain what happened, realized that the waitress should have informed us better and not argued with us, and said she would bring it to upper management’s attention.
On a side note… My clam strips were actually very good — the biggest and best I’ve had. In fact I could not believe how big and tender they were but $ 13.95 was also a tad high, especially since the applesauce was served to me in a plastic cup — one of those individual serving cups of Mott’s you can buy at the grocery store! Unreal. They did not even put it in a bowl or cup. I felt like I was eating a school lunch.
Even though the manager did the right thing to improve the situation, I wrote this review because the owner (s) need to know that they cannot charge restaurant pricing and deliver less than fast food quality. The value for the money is just not here. The service was horrible so much so, that the ladies behind us also commented to us how horrible the waitress is and they never let her wait on them — I cannot believe they patronize that place somewhat regularly.
Word of mouth business is very important in this economy especially with restaurants as it is a highly competitive industry. If the Charcoal Pit wants to charge inflated prices for the crap they are serving with bad service, it will continue to stay empty.

Wasn’t impressed with this place, when you walk in it looks very nice. The place wasn’t busy at all for a Sunday; BTW the parking is very small for a place that size. The waitresses were unfriendly, we did have a large group, but it seemed like we were a bother to them. The fish was not fresh it tasted like it came out of a box, as well as the 2 baked potatoes. They have some kind of water leakage problem from rain, we had to walk thru wet carpet to get to our table and some of the carpets in that room were wet, how gross. We will not be going back.

Growing up in this area, the Charcoal Pit is a staple for a burger and ice cream. The location on Concord Pike holds up the tradition nicely. This Charcoal Pit however is an embarrassment. The food is borderline inedible. How can you mess up a burger and fries? But worse than the food is the building itself. The back room, which can be rented for parties, is literally crumbling, and has stains dripping down the walls. There is also an unidentifiable odor, that was disgusting. Do not waste your money here. I can for see this place being closed down for health violations at any time.

I went to this restaurant once, that was enough because the hostess seated us and we waited about 30 minutes before a waitress came to take our order. Took a while for the food to come, the waitress kept forgetting stuff. It was very bad service.

Ordered burger and fries. The fries were white, limp and cold. When I asked why, they said if I wanted them cooked I had to ask for them well done. Who orders fries well done? Service is less than mediocre. Their wait staff would fare better at Waffle House. Won’t be returning.

I love the burgers At this place. The home run burger is probably one of the best burgers I have ever had. I am a big fan of their fries as well. Outside of burgers the menu is quite good, I’ve even have had corned beef and cabbage there on St. patty’s and it was very tasty… I miss when they would do all you can eat on corned beef on St. patty’s but I guess oinkers like me who had three helpings made it less cost effective.
One warning, while this place is great, not all Charcoal Pits are the same. See my other reviews for more info on individual franchises of this chain.

Have been a fan of Charcoal Pit for lots of years — always for the basic burger and shake. There’s something special about the taste of their burgers — not like Jake’s or Five Guys — they have a real beef, not greasy flavor. Like their fries too which are old school deep fried crispy on the outside, soft on the inside style.
Service is always attentive and friendly. On a visit today, I ordered a chocolate milkshake but forgot to say I wanted vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. They happily re-​made the shake after delivering the chocolate chocolatae shake to the table.

Suburban Delaware… ahh, not exactly the destination for Haute Cuisine, is it? (full disclosure, I lived in Delaware for quite a few years and really, really good dining is hard to find — trust me)
But what the state lacks in gourmet, it makes up for it with a lot of offerings for standard American fare. Like Grotto’s Pizza (another Delaware-​born chain with similar appeal), Charcoal Pit has been around for over 60 years and is a local family favorite. It’s the kind of super child-​friendly and inexpensive place where you bring your grandparents to for your weekly lunch; the whole extended family for burgers and the kids from the soccer team for sundaes. It’s a wholesome commercial-​feel-​good-​kraft-​american-​singles-​vanilla-​shake-​fried appetizer-​a-​plenty menu.
This chain has four locations, and this is the only one with a sports bar. They offer draft specials and 40 cent wings whenever there’s a game on.
Charcoal Pit calls itself the ‘home of the ¼ pound hamburger’, and the burgers they offer are cheap and good for what you pay for. You have a choice of either a 4oz or 8 oz burger (4 oz is plenty!) and the most expensive burger is the 8 ounce’r with the works, the «Pit Special» (cheeseburger with lettuce, onion, tomato and fries) costing you a measly $ 6.79. Maybe I’ve been living in Philly too long, but that’s a mighty good deal.
Ice cream galore and Sundaes are another reason people show up here, it’s Lactose intolerance central and the portions are ridiculously huge.
Food is okay here, but forgettable. Not worth a major detour, unless you got tons of kids in tow, or you’re nearby and fancying yourself a quick burger and a ridiculously affordable meal.

This Charcoal Pit is just off Kirkwood Highway. It’s not a bad burger joint, although I actually ordered seafood when I went there. I was in a group of more than 40 people. We used the party room at the back of the restaurant and our servers had no problems handling all our orders. So service is good. I thought the food was pretty decent too, although I’ll have to come back more to try other items on the menu to get a fuller picture of their range of dishes.