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GO WEST FOR A GOOD BITE

By Alexandra Bates

Charlie West is a new restaurant in a new block of apartments for students at Mac. The inside is modern and clean: the floors are tiled in dark gray, and all of the regular tables have comfortable booth seating on one side. A number of flat screen televisions are mounted around the space for easy viewing of sports events. There are a few tall tables in the center of the space with high stools, and some seating at the stainless steel bar. There’s also a glassed–in patio area outside for those warm days that will hopefully arrive any day now.
One really good thing about Charlie West is the cost of the menu items. I ate at the restaurant twice for less than $50, including drinks. The eatery may be geared towards students, but there’s no reason us non–studenty types can’t also take advantage of the reasonable prices. The first time I visited was for a weekend lunch. The place was pretty empty, but it was mid–afternoon and there aren’t too many students around at this time of the year. We were told to choose our own seat by a friendly server. The lunch menu is pretty short, consisting of sandwiches, salads and pizza. I ordered a sandwich, the Mediterranean Delight ($6.99). There were several choices of bread: French stick, foccacia, or a wrap. I chose the foccacia, which was nice and fresh, with a hint of rosemary. It was topped with grilled chicken breast, sautéed onions, red peppers, black olives, feta cheese, sliced tomato, and tzatziki sauce. The ingredients were fresh, tasty and plentiful. There was one oversight, however: although the menu said the sandwiches are grilled in a panini press, mine clearly wasn’t, and I think it would have been better served warm. It came with a choice of salad, soup or fries on the side. I opted for the fries, which were crispy and excellent and there were tons of them.
My guest ordered a signature pizza ($8.79). There were six varieties to choose from: pesto chicken, pub style, Italian sausage, sundried tomato chicken, meat stack, margerita, and pepperoni. He opted for the meat stack. It came topped with four meats: pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, and bacon. He really enjoyed the thin crust and the decadent toppings. The second time I visited, I brought a different guest, and we had the “Market Lunch”, which is $7 a person. It’s offered weekdays between 11 am and 2 pm. (The regular lunch menu is also still available, and they promise that any dish you order will be on your table in 10 minutes or less. Great for workday breaks.) A server enthusiastically greeted us at the door and explained the concept: for your small investment, you get a walk through the buffet with a choice of whatever you’d like from a variety of cold and hot items. Coffee and dessert are also included. Some of the cold items available included thin crust pizza, wrap sandwiches, salad, and a cold soup. The hot buffet included mini burgers, ribs, wings, grilled fish, tofu, and rice. There were items available for virtually every palate and dietary requirement.

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