The primary reason someone goes to a restaurant is the food itself. That having been said, I don't care how great the service or ambiance is, if the food is sub par then it is not a great experience. Therefore I would have to say that my dinner with my wife at Grindstones Charley's last evening was at a level far below great. My wife's sirloin was cooked perfectly with the exception of the seasoning which rendered the steak offensively salty! She had me try it and I concurred with her opinion. The overall temperature of her entree was lukewarm at best. Now for myself, I ordered a loaded baked potato which was the entirety of my order. It had melted cheese, green onion, and a few bacon bits on it along with sour cream and margarine on the side. The potato obviously had been sitting for some time after the cheese had melted which was evidenced by the fact that the margarine would not melt when placed on the potato. Having in the past had negative experiences with sending food back, we chose not to. Had the server at anytime inquired about our food, we would not have hesitated to share our opinions with him. Probably just easier for the servers not to ask so they don't have to deal with customer dissatisfaction, getting the manager, etc.! I am sure at some point in the future that I will allow this Grindstone Charlie's the opportunity to redeem themselves but it might be a while before I do... read more

Just ordered the prime rib and the Wee Mac. Best place for prime rib and We Mac in Kokomo. read more

Grindstone Charley's - American Near Me - Kokomo, Indiana

I always enjoy Grindstone Charlie's but tonight was impossible to enjoy because the A/C was cranked down so low we absolutely froze! The staff didn't care that we were all freezing! Brrrrr read more

I've had the catfish and it was good. They also serve good salads. If you order mashed potatoes sometimes they are not hot temperature wise.

We had a large group of 30 (baseball team) and they accommodated on a Saturday evening. We were very appreciative of that and the staff did an outstanding job. Thank you! read more

It's ok and well food was just ok . Service was ok and price was a little overboard for just ok.

Great place! They have it all. Ambiance, great waitstaff (shout out to Jerrica!), and delicious food. You will not be disappointed.

Very good food and service have the best tenderloins in town would recommend them for lunch and dinner

I was passing through Kokomo and stopped here with a friend. It's a traditional American restaurant so I wasn't expecting too too much. It was really good though. We sat at the bar and were greeted by the bartender who was so great. The service was great. I was really surprised to see all the local stuff they had at the bar. Even seeing Hotel Tango's vodka there was a nice surprise. We got the appetizer sampler to share and it was pretty delish. read more

Grindstone Charley's - American Near Me - Kokomo, Indiana

Stopped here for the first time on our way home from vacation. Made the reservation online with extreme ease 30 minutes prior to arrival. All the staff were very friendly. We had the best server we've had in a very long time! Jon was absolutely fantastic! Especially after a long car ride with kiddos. He was kind, funny, and efficient! He interacted with all of the kiddos and had everyone laughing at the table. Truly a wonderful dining experience because of Jon. The food was fantastic as well! We had the best stuffed mushrooms ever, unlike any we've ever had. The restaurant was clean with a nice ambiance. We will definitely be back because of Jon and the wonderful experience he provided our family. read more

Burnt Fried Green Tomatoes all the while lacking the dipping sauce....they even missed the mayo I ordered on the side . The French onion soup bowl was a cup at best but that was just the first encounter with my order. Upon approaching the already incorrect order I noticed the non-melted cheese and the bread so soggy I thought it was either part of the broth or an e.coli red flag. Grindstone Charley's has really done a good job in grinding their stone. They've done an incredible job to wear the metal right down to where the only joy seems to be in the sparklers left behind. Starting to feel like I clearly held the stick too long.....only to endure the annoying 2nd burn in-between the fingers I used to hand over my money prior to the learning where and where/not I will be letting that happen again. Hope this helps.....PS: the burns are still healing and would like to thank my medical team for that. read more

This resturant was one of the best resturant ever! It's Buffalo chicken sandwich is really good, and my family loved their food also! I 10/10 would recommend eating here if you like chicken and steak read more

Had not been in a Grindstone Charlie's in years. We were passing thru Kokomo and decided to stop in. Super friendly server. The interior was very nicely kept up. It looked and smelled very clean. Food we ordered was Awsome. Drinks were never empty. We were even told to have a safe trip home. Next time passing thru we will have to stop in again. read more

Grindstone Charley's - American Near Me - Kokomo, Indiana

I love this place. Great food and good prices. The staff are friendly and attentive. The Bacon Chedder burger is fantastic, and they cook it the way you order it. The manager during the day is awesome, she is always asking how things are going with a smile. I have been here many times and have not been disappointed. read more

Gia was the best!!! Service was excellent, was seated immediately and food was very prompt and good

Great service by Jon at grindstone charleys it was really refreshing how customer service is still alive and well with this server. Thank you Jon. Food was good everything came out as it should I would give another half star. Yelp ap problems. read more

Grindstone Charley's was a staple eatery of my childhood. While passing through Kokomo we saw this location and stopped. The staff was pleasant and our waitress was fantastic. However, the prime rib was just okay. Not as good as we expected or as I remembered it from my childhood. The prime rib was relatively tender, but not seasoned well. The au jus sauce was very French Onion soup flavor and fell short of what I think they were going for. The side dishes were decent. Service is excellent, but the food just needs a little work. By all means if you are hungry it fits the bill, but just didn't blow us away. read more

After moving to the area and not knowing what a tenderloin sandwich was, I was told I needed to try one and Grindstone Charley's had some of the best in town. I gave it a go and I wasn't disappointed. The seasoning of the breading was so delicious. The meat was moist and the sandwich was huge. It looked comical on such a small bun. I had to take half of it home as it was too much food. I had it with the waffle fries which were also good. The waitress was friendly and we had good service. I would come back. read more

We had a large party here on Friday Night at 5:30PM. I have had the bourbon steak in the past but elected to try the salmon and vegetables with a side of sautéed mushrooms. The salmon was seasoned perfectly and was flaky and moist. We had one waitress for the eleven of us and she did a good job, no complaints there and she was very friendly. The only down side was the prime rib. My wife gave me a bite of her's and I felt it was a little under cooked and luke warm at best. I would recommend ordering a grilled steak instead of the prime rib if you are hungry for some beef. Additionally, I'm surprised to see a complaint about service because every time I have been here, the dining manager has every time addressed the table for how things are going and will fix any issue immediately. Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Kokomo. read more

My family and I went here last night (4-9-21). When we went inside, we weren't greeted. No big deal. However, when we went up to the hostess, she didn't say anything. She just stared at us. So I let her know we needed seats for 2 adults, and we also needed a booster seat and a sling for my daughters car seat. We followed someone back to our booth. She then asked if we needed a sling for our daughter. I told her yes and a booster. We sat down, and we didn't hear from anyone for over 10 minutes! The waiter that was supposed to take care of us was never informed he was taking care of us. He also never went out of his way to ask if we'd been helped. So finally we got ahold of a waitress. She did her best to make the situation better. She ended up taking care of us, and She offered a free appetizer. So we ordered our drinks and food right away. I let her know I needed my sons food out right away (it was getting late and he was hungry), and she even offered to get him applesauce. So we got his food right away, and all seemed to be going alright. Well my son finished his food, and we still hadn't gotten our food or our salads. So we waited for another half hour and finally our salads came out. At this point, we had to leave. Our son (who is 2) needed to go home and go to bed. He had been sitting in this restaurant for an hour and a half. So I let her know our main food would have to be bagged as we had to leave. We hurried to eat our salads, and finally came out our food. I looked at the receipt and noticed the appetizer wasn't even free. I still paid a dollar. Whatever, it's a dollar. However, after the service we had, we at least deserved a completely free appetizer. I'm not sure who came to our table to apologize, but it was a very insincere apology right before we were about to leave. On our way out the hostess also gave a very insincere apology and said "hey sorry about that". All in all, it was the worst dining experience I have ever had. We weren't valued at all, the apologies were so insincere. The service was extremely slow, and unorganized. The reviews I see seem to be good, so I hope this was just a fluke! read more

Well... the food was ok. However, here's my real problem. Ice tea - $2.75.... Pepsi $2.75 Our server was a host, server, and a busser! She was so busy that I never got a refill. Neither did my wife. For the two of us to eat and our kid to have grilled cheese... $40... Very disappointing. The bathroom looks like a raccoon ate through the ceiling tiles in multiple spots. I would never let anyone use the bathroom. It's embarrassing. We never saw a manager walking the floor checking in staff and customers. The wife and I are home now and both have stomach aches. In short. We will not be returning. read more

The service was AWSOME they had very good pizza and fries also mashed potatoes. But there prices are ridiculous the rib-eye was 34 dollars

Nothing exciting. Like the wall hangings. Everyone at a very slow pace. Onion rings not done inside. Flash frying will do that. Chicken and tenderloin same way. read more

I have been here a few times and the food has always been ok. The waiters and waitresses have always been really nice and the food has usually been pretty quick. But you can tell that a lot of the food isn't fresh and most of it has been heated up. Not a bad place to go a little overpriced but overall not impressed. read more

We had no intention of being in Kokomo last night, but happily we found GrindstoneCharlie's!! Our server Braden was attentive, fun and turned what had been a disastrous evening to that point into one we will always remember. All 6 entrees we tried we're delicious and the portions were better than any chain if their type. We may have to trip back to Kokomo (4 hours) just to try other things on the menu! Thanks Grindstone and Braden for opening our eyes to Kokomo! read more

I've been here many times in the last couple of months and I don't understand what's wrong with these peoples taste buds when they say the food is bland. The fries are seasoned and delicious and all the food is full of flavor perfectly cooked with large portions. The wait time can be long but they'll give you a free appetizer of some sort if you have to wait too long. The only gripe I have are the alcoholic drinks are very expensive to have such a junior sized glass full of ice and they taste very watered down. read more

Very disappointed with our most recent visit to Grindstone Charley's. It will be our last. I ordered the steak with a side salad to start. The lettuce of the salad was basically white, though the rest of the vegetables were OK. The ranch dressing was quite good, and the waitress said it was house made. I believe her. Things degraded from here. This was the worst steak I've ever eaten, and I'm old. What the menu described and what arrived on my plate could not have been more different. I ordered the steak medium well. What arrived at the table was not only well done, but also so overly cooked, that I had trouble cutting it. Next, it came covered in a sort of gravy, which the menu did not describe and I was not expecting. It reminded me of the gravy served in elementary school over those nasty meatballs. To make matters worse, the gravy had congealed on the top of the steak so that it had lost its shine. Honestly, it looked like a pretend rubber steak that comes with a set of toys. The texture of a rubber toy was pretty accurate, though. The scattering of onions described in the menu, was a pile of deep-fried thin onion straws that were cold, and when I ate one, left a film of grease on the roof of my mouth. The fries were good, I admit. They serve no vegetarian "hamburger" options, so my husband ordered just onion rings. He thought they were good, but we were both disappointed that the restaurant didn't offer any sort of vegetarian sandwich. Offering a vegetarian hamburger is becoming pretty common nowadays, and when the waitress told us that they do not offer a vegetarian hamburger "anymore," it appears they removed it from the menu. For this reason and so many others, we won't go back. read more

I am new to this restaurant, went with my hubby on a date, and we were SO pleasantly surprised! Food was much better than anticipated, and the portions were decent, even for appetizers. The decor was very nice, and the air was friendly. Both our meals were cooked thoroughly and the plate was very appeasing to the eye. Phone was dead or I would have taken pictures. Our server was excellent and patient with us as we, being new, weren't sure what to order at first. The dessert options looked soo good, but I couldn't even finish what was on my plate! I was too full and satisfied to finish and settled with taking the rest home. read more

There's a reason this place only has 3 stars... I feel like people typically like a place or they don't and it's obvious more people dislike this place than not. The service was just off, nobody was that friendly except the bartender who delivered a drink to our table. Our server promptly waited on us and delivered salads but oddly enough after a significant amount of time told us our food order never made it to the kitchen and it was going to be a bit longer. When the food came out an hour after we placed our order it was not easy on the eyes..half of our dishes looked like they threw them on the floor, picked them back up, plated them and called it a day. After waiting so long you'd think your food would be fresh but a few of our dishes were cold and the others look like they'd been double baked sitting under the warmer. My water tasted like soap, refills were few and far between for the others at our table. Everything was just unnecessarily slow, forgotten & dirty. This place just isn't good. They're in dire need of better service and kitchen management.. Read reviews before you visit and trust the stars! read more

Hostess lied about wait time even with specific requests of timeline. We did not expect to get in sooner but expected organization around it. She lied about wait time and then blamed other staff. read more

The meal in general was just okay. The biggest problem was the waitress had little clue about the food or how it was prepared. So a couple of people in our party didn't get what they expected. I asked for the rib sauce on the side and my ribs came with the sauce on them. We came here because we were meeting friends for lunch and figured we'd try a new place. Won't bother in the future to come here. read more

One of the better chains in town. Extensive menu and I've never had anything less than decent, but I stick with the weekday lunch specials as they are CRAZY cheap (like fast food value meal cheap). My favorite is the chicken fried steak- the best I've had in this area. Service can be a bit touch and go but more often than not the wait staff are above average and they are kid friendly. They seem to support local fundraisers/community groups so that earns extra points in my book. read more

Had a very bad experience order ribs and my wife ordered cheeseburger, when the food arrived the cheeseburger tasted odd had a bad taste, sent the cheeseburger back and when the second cheeseburger arrived same thing not good finally had to order chicken. The waitress was great, management wasn't, hope we don't get sick! Will Not Be Back read more

I love their margaritas. However - expect to spend about 1.5 hours here if you go at lunchtime. I go there often and they are never overly busy, but somehow they manage to take FOREVER! read more

So. How frustrating is it to be shoulder to shoulder waiting for a table and look into the dinning room and see open tables? This place is joke! Sorry Charlie but you will get no more business from me and my crew ! Which is sad because I love the rolls but your service was pitiful! So the teenage waitress calls for a table of sixteen and seats 4 meanwhile 40 people wait! Ridiculous read more

Great atmosphere, friendly staff and very good food. Had a delicious prime rib for dinner with friends and an excellent burger for lunch with family. Service was fast and attentive - heard lots of good things about several items on the menu and looking forward to trying many of them. read more

We had the ribs tonight--and they were wonderful. They were lean and fell right off the bone. We had the Ceasar salad. Hubby had baked potato; I had cole slaw. We will definitely be back! read more

Went there this evening and had a pretty nice meal after a long military weekend with my boss. Overall, the atmosphere was pleasant and clean. The food was prepped well and was pretty good. Downsides: my fries were not completely done, the wait staff did far too much standing around and talking in the main dining area, we had too many servers come by our table to see if we were good (interrupted conversation at the table), and my boss did not originally get the side item he ordered. read more

I went here for the first time and it was nothing like I had expected. The stuffed mushrooms were disgusting, the shrimp I had was undercooked but somehow over cooked at the same time to where it was inedible. The only decent food I had was the mashed potatoes and gravy and the potato soup. Our waiter was very kind, but very busy and didn't have a great attention span. My fiancé and I had both gotten food poisoning when that was the only thing we had eaten all day. Wouldn't not recommend or consider eating there again. read more

My wife and I eat here every Friday night. The menu has variety for my wife. I eat the prime rib and it's the best in town. We love the staff and we love our server Angela. We always request her no matter what area she is working. Prices are the best in town. read more