When EatingOxford.com polled readers recently about what they wanted from Oxford restaurant offerings, one of the most requested types of restaurants was a good old-fashioned steak house.
Clint Boutwell, owner of Oxford’s Tacky Shack, is answering the call with The Char Grille Seafood & Steaks. The restaurant opens this Friday at 4:30 p.m. and will offer a full line-up of steaks and seafood, including ribeye, filet and flat iron steaks along with redfish, tuna, salmon, crabs and shrimp. Side items and appetizers include bacon-wrapped grilled shrimp; pulled pork egg rolls; fried button mushrooms; smoked gouda mac & cheese; sweet potato fritters and more. A selection of beers and wines will also be available.
Clint says he’s excited to pull out his chef whites and get back in the kitchen where he feels most at home.
Char Grille is located next door to Tacky Shack on Jackson Avenue and will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
For more information call 662-701-8285.
I just left your restaurant without even getting waited on.we sat their 20 minutes without anyone coming to our table.i even went and toldy concern with a waiter still to no avail.this was the worst experience at a restaurant ever. When I was leaving and told the waiter that I complained to je simply said ok!! I will never come back or recommend this restaurant to any one
Surely, as a chef, you don’t really believe Sysco supplies Kobe beef?!?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/04/12/foods-biggest-scam-the-great-kobe-beef-lie/
It’s funny you say ask me about Kobe beef! My name isn’t surely, but my Sysco salesman is Rodney and on July 16 I’m placing an order for American Kobe beef. Please visit us that following weekend for Kobe ribeye. (I’ll keep the Sysco bill for you!
)
Surely… The Chef
Don’t ever eat here. Unfriendly service….poor quality food.
Clint
My son and I ate the Char Grille last Saturday night around 9ish. We absolutely loved the food, we both got Filets and both steaks were cooked as requested!! The prices at your restaurant are more than reasonable. The service was excellent as well I am from New Orleans and I can tell you all about good food!! You by far have the best steaks in Oxford!!
We will see you soon!!
Lisa Wigginton
Let me tell you something. The food is superb! The service could be better, but, it is still better than most of the places in Oxford. Highly recommend it!
We went to The Char Grille with another couple on a week night this week. My observations:
The service was extremely slow – not well-paced, slow. There appeared to be only one waitress.
The salad was abysmal. The blue cheese dressing was below-average bottled dressing. I asked which dressings were made in-house and told there were none. Come on, Clint, make at least one dressing fresh, in-house. My salad fork was so hidden on the plate, I didn’t find it until I had taken a couple of bites with my dinner fork.
The fried green tomato appy was excellent! Fried green tomatoes topped with a dab of comeback and a couple of grilled shrimp per slice of tomato. Our table of 4 split one order. If I ever go again, that will likely be my entree.
I had the fried soft-shell crab. Although I didn’t care for the cornmeal batter, the crab was fried correctly and was not greasy. I took the second one home and had it the next day for lunch. The asparagus was good.
DH had the bacon-wrapped shrimp which he declared very good. Our friends split the grilled shrimp skewers and said they were very good, too.
Other friends came in while we were there. They had the redfish entree and small filet steak. All declared them to be excellent.
The portions were generous enough to split easily.
I’m sure we will give it another shot in a month or two. I hope by then some of the service issues will be smoothed out, and maybe a good salad dressing developed.
Char is a gem! My wife & I wanted to celebrate with a steak dinner yesterday, but did not know where to go. We’ve crossed off so many places serving tough, tasteless, overpriced steaks, but now have a new steakhouse that is value for money. The staff is friendly and efficient, and the food is superb. The red shrimp appetizer was delicious, and the salad & sides were perfectly prepared. With the Tacky Shack ajoining and owned by the same chef, the desserts are top-notch. While some might complain about corkage, wine lists, etc., Char basically serves the best steak in town, and the available wine selection is fine.
Joe and Ann – thanks for the review! I was wondering if anyone had eaten there yet. Seemed that alot of folks were just complaining about a place that they hadn’t even visited! My hubby and I will try it out soon!
Well we finally got to try Char last weekend. (We went the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and it was closed – no note on door or anything.) I have to say that I was very disappointed. I went expecting not steller service but very good food. This was not the case. The service was fine, our server was very good actually but her “helpers” were a little lacking. But overall it was fine.
Now, about my food. I ordered a medium rare small filet, sauteed mushrooms and fried green tomatoes. My steak was overcooked to the point of being medium well. The sauteed mushrooms were not whole mushrooms but pieces and while the fried green tomatoes looked delicious everything was SO SALTY that I had to send it all back.
The others in my party also experienced over cooked steaks – ordered more rare than medium rare and served almost medium; ordered medium rare and served medium – but theirs were not as salty as mine. Possibly due to the sauteed mushrooms?
I will give Char one more try and I’m hoping for better results.
My wife and I ate at Char Grille this week and we loved the food. The fried mushrooms were amazing and the steaks were great. I ate the 12 oz Ribeye and my wife had the filet. They were cooked exactly as we asked and they were tender and delicious. Great seasonings on the steak. Oh yeah, my wife had the sweet potato fritters and really bragged about them. You pay for what you get . . . we don’t mind the price when the food quality and taste are superb. Service was fantastic and Chef Clint Boutwell came out to greet us. We found him to be very pleasant and a knowledgeable chef with lots of experience. We plan to eat there often.
HOW WAS HIS WINE LIST AND DID HE HAVE NICE STEMWARE? I would love to have another restaurant that allowed you to brown bag and pay a corkage of 5, 10 or 15 dollars per bottle.
Too pricey for a West Jackson restaurant, especially being in that building. The way you attract customers in that environment is low pricing compared to other restaurants on the Sqaure. Oxford desperately needs a restaurant with reasonable prices for casual dining. Go outside anywhere in North Mississippi and their restaurant prices are 20-25% lower than Oxford’s, on average.
A $22 Ribeye is overpriced, and I assume my opinion is shared with many throughout Oxford too who aren’t “keeping up with the Jones’s.”
You can’t charge $20/plate at this location and expect to compete in Oxford. Sorry, just the truth. Hope they go down on the prices. I’ll give them a look if so.
Hey John,
I created The Char Grille to offer equally premium food to the square, but less priced. The avg. rent on the square ranges from $4000 to 12000 per month. And it wont change, This is top choice beef as close to prime as possible. Also this is not al a carte dinning. This price includes 2 sides of your choice. So…. pick 2 sides off my menu and deduct that from the ribeye. Asparagus with bearnaise is $4, mac & cheese $2.5ish, that leaves you with a 12oz Certified Angus Beef ribeye for $15.50. Take that to the square and get laughed at! This is steak, not burgers. Chili’s has everyone watching TV thinking that a “2 for $20″ is the best thing in the world! I’ve been in the restaurant business for 10 years, I watch food prices daily. I personally invite you to try out my restaurant before driving down Jackson Ave and passing judgement on something that my employees and I take lots of pride in. Also I created 5 jobs…..
Chef Clint Boutwell
Owner Tacky Shack & The Char Grille
Just as a comparison, I checked Rooster’s menu, since they do a lot of steak and also use Sysco. One item that is the same between the two restaurants is a 6 oz filet (with sides). Rooster’s, which is on the Square, charges $2 LESS than Char Grill.
Great response!! I have been wanting to stop in and check out your restaurant …just might be tonight…I like your frankness and honesty! Your food sounds delicious!
I like that the restaurant isn’t on the square. My family and I use to go to a local restaurant every week UNTIL it moved to the square and then we stopped going. We just got tired of driving around the square 50 times to look for somewhere to park. I don’t think that you should charge less just because you aren’t on the square. The quality of food should determine the price not the location. I’m excited to come try the food soon!
We ate at Char last Saturday. A few complaints were that there isn’t a good system of waiting…no where to sit to wait and if you step outside then you lose your spot in line. Service was slow…wait time on food was fine but took a long time to get items requested like silverwear, ticket, etc. However, the food was wonderful. We got the bacon wrapped shrimp, 6 oz filet, bone-in ribeye and redfish and all were really good. Will come back again soon!
I agree 100% with you, John.
John, I’d be interested to know which restaurants “anywhere in North Mississippi” you’re referring to when comparing Char Grill’s prices. I suspect you’re referring to the corporate chains, at most of which I would not pay $10 for a steak. I haven’t yet been to Char Grill, but I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume they serve a good steak. $22 is a very reasonable price for a ribeye regardless of the restaurant’s location.
Also, since I can’t seem to locate the reply button for Shanna’s comment, I’d like to say I do not know Clint and cannot read his mind but I’m certain he was not referring to Rooster’s. That place is a blues bar that happens to serve food. Just because they’re located on the square does not mean it’s reasonable comparison.
Surely that Wedge salad is more than just lettuce and blue cheese dressing (and balsamic drizzle). Where’s the bacon and tomatoes?
Interesting menu and pricing (prices look more like a “Square” restaurant), but I hope it makes it. Will definitely give a try soon, just not opening week.
Working on marinated tomatoes!
He should have gotten brown bag license but I will look at his wine list and try but I do not understand why Oxford restaurants want to invest in wine instead of charging a corkage of 5 or 10 dollars per bottle and allowing u to bring your own. I will try this next week. Hopefully he has a good source for his steaks
Everybody uses US Foodservice or Sysco. If they had anything else they would advertise it. There aren’t a lot of options here and when a restaurant actually uses a boutique or higher end source they will no doubt let you know about it on their menu.
You know, out at Olivia’s Corner Market, the chef is using locally raised beef. No hormones, no steroids, completely natural. Absolutely delicious. And they are brown Bag!!!!
Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Ribeyes, Buckhead everything else. Supply and demand, don’t want to be short handed waiting on a “local producer” to fill my order. Also major food service companies will back any problems, such as bad product. Years ago a customer in restaurant I managed chipped a tooth on a catfish filet with a bone. Sysco and the catfish producer called me directly and handled their dentist bill…. Sysco now carries Kobe beef, foie gras, live lobster etc…. they arent just a can of beans anymore! Ha!
Chef Meaty, have you ever heard of White Oak Pastures non hormone beef? They have been featured on Channel 99 over and over and use the serengetti (sp) method of fertilization in their pastures. Guess what? Sysco carries them.