Charlie’s Fixtures

Forgive my rambling, its just that there are so many good things to say about Charlie’s Fixtures. I write this review with bittersweet thoughts as I had entered Charlie’s Fixtures yesterday I was flooded with bittersweet memories, I have been shopping at Charlie’s for years and knew Charlie personally and the passing of Charlie was very difficult for me.
However I was happy to see that Charlie’s family has continued to carry on his legacy, well to a certain extent they are not Charlie.
Charlie was a small man with a BIG, BIG Voice.
Charlie knew the art of customer service and he implemented it everyday with everyone that walked through the door when Charlie was there you never had to worry about being in line for a long time. He understood that business owners had to get back to work and he made sure that the customer service was not only personable but fast and efficient I certainly do miss Charlie.
I must say that his legacy does live on in the customer service that the company still provides. There are so many good things to be said about Charlie’s Fixtures, once upon a time there were several restaurant supply stores located on Washington Blvd, Venice Blvd, Pico Blvd and DTLA, however Charlie’s has stood the test of time and a lot of the other stores have fallen by the wayside.
Charlie’s has so much inventory his philosophy was that if you were an entrepreneur you would need to be able to come there and purchase whatever you needed as far as fixtures or serving utensils, or anything and everything Charlie provided for restaurants and caterers.
I can’t think of anything Charlie doesn’t have, to name a few whenever you are in need of serving bowls any type of serving utensils prepping equipment you will find it there.
Charlie has it all the Robot Coupe which is like a little army of helpers in the kitchen, he has equipment for slicing precision cuts, KitchenAid mixers in various sizes, coolers in various sizes, stoves, ovens (Wolf, truly the top of the line, in different sizes) commercial micro waves, etc.
Charlie starts at the bottom and works all the way up to the top anything that you would need to prepare your food in a professional and timely manner Charlie’s has it there, chalkboard signs, neon signs to put in your window or to have over your bar.
If you’re a bartender you can also go to Charlie’s and be provided with all of the things that mixologist are using today. Charlie has all of the commercial appliances and they deliver big ticket items. I can’t name all the items you will find there, I would just have to summarize it by saying it is a one stop shopping supply company for restaurants, caterer’s or food trucks.
I’ve never been disappointed when I had to go to Charlie’s to refresh my cooking spoons, knives, serving forks, chafing dishes, whatever I needed to refresh and Charlies always has different trendy items as. They always have a variety of whatever you’re looking for so you don’t have to settle for budget or top of the line you can go midway and and get whatever you’re looking for.
I enjoy shopping there, Charlie’s has a parking lot, accept all credit cards if you are a business and you pay cash he will give you a 15% discount if you are a business and you pay with a credit card you get a 10% discount on your purchases.
Over the many years that I’ve shopped there all of the sales reps are familiar with the inventory so they can tell you exactly where to go to get anything that you are looking for. And if there’s a trainee on the floor the trainee would know exactly who to go to to get someone to assist you in a timely manner.
I remember Charlie’s being the first to have square plates.
There is always someone there you can call to ask a question instead of wasting time going there and the item is sold out.
I would highly recommend them to anyone and have done so many, many times.
WOW, please over look any spelling errors as this review was done on my mobile phone.

Cindy in Sales is by far the most rude and inconsiderate person I’ve ever met. I was there to buy equipment for my restaurant. It took her 3 weeks to quote me for a walk-​in freezer. I asked her why it took so long and at the counter she said out loud «Well that’s just how it goes» in her cholita accent. While she was pulling up information I heard her say to another sales person «I don’t f-​ing care, I don’t want to do this anyway, I’m tired of this s – t.» OUT LOUD!!! What kind of place is this. Chef Toys and Surfas is waaay cleaner and cheaper without Ghetto sales staff. Good job on hiring chunti uneducated staff Charlie’s. Never again.

Best prices in town, excellent service,

I love Charlie’s. Every time I come here, they are super nice, helpful and patient. Whether you’re buying bulk or one item, they don’t care. Parking is fair, never had a problem. People are always coming and going so it’s shouldn’t be a problem.

I love Charlie’s! Nice selection and great prices. I bought a 40 quart stock pot for $ 32 for a lobster boil party I was throwing later that same day. I’ve bought all kinds of stuff here over the past few years and I’ve been very pleased.

This place doesn’t even deserve a star.
Both the ideas of customer service and professionalism totally miss these unfortunate folks. I’m surprised they’re still in business!
I reached out to Charlie’s Fixtures some time ago for a very simple request. Fifty forks. Not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination. Not only did it take someone weeks to give me a call back, when I finally did get someone on the phone (Rodney) he took another week to send me a quote/​invoice (all because he kept sending it to some random email address despite the fact that he and I had already been emailing back and forth). When he did finally send the invoice, it didn’t account for shipping and handling fees, so he ended up charging my card for a different amount than what was stated on the invoice! Unbelievable! Despite the discrepancy, we paid the invoice and he assured me that the forks would be delivered in under a week’s time — I told him this was of the utmost importance seeing as how I was hosting an event the following week and needed them before the event. Cut to two weeks later, I’m calling their office daily only to hear someone on the other line say «Rodney is with a customer, he’s busy and so is everyone else that might be able to help you». Long story short, the forks eventually came in waaaaay later than they told me they’d be delivered, and my charity ended up losing money because we ended up having to rent forks for my event. IF you’re in the position where you’re forced to order from Charlie’s Fixtures and they assign Rodney to your order… Do yourself a favor and ask for another sales manager.
If you are thinking about using Charlie’s Fixtures, I’d recommend checking these other businesses out first!
The Dish Factory
310 S. Los Angeles St.
Los Angeles, CA
213−687−9501
Chef’s Toys
2233 Sepulveda Bl.
West Los Angeles, CA
310−577−7107

They deserve a 0 the worst company in the world New equipment that does not work and they wont’ repair some of the company’s they buy from went out of business and they refuse to fix the new equipment Warning Warning you won’t be happy you will have to replace what you buy from them,

where to begin…
1. parking is a bitch, so good luck
2. service form the staff sucks, nobody seems to want to help out or ask if you need anything.
3. discounts are only upon request, so be prepared to haggle prices.
4. when you do haggle prices double check it elsewhere, they seem to mark it up so that once they «hook you up» with a discount its the same as everywhere else if not more expensive.
5. the owner is a cock grabbing asshole who spits on you if you don’t have cash???
aside from the sexual harassment I though money was good everywhere (obviously a shady establishment)
I’ve been there multiple times over the years hoping that things would be different over time… but the only thing that changed were the prices and staff…
I DO NOT RECOMEND THIS PLACE!!! STAY FAR FAR AWAY…

I bought a large commercial fridge that was VERY difficult to get into our kitchen but the team at Charlie’s, specifically Mirna, Luke and Ramon (our delivery guy) blew me away by their level of customer service. I feel like they went out of their way to make sure that we got our fridge despite the difficulty of getting it into our kitchen. I will be a loyal client forever! This is old school customer service that you can’t find with online retailers.

I love this place…
The best selection of restaurant supplies.
Great pricing and flexible return policy.
My only critique, know what you’re getting and how you are going to implement.
If you want health code speak w Desmond or Luke.

The best customer service I’ve had in a really long time. Every salesperson is extremely helpful. There’s no need to go to another restaurant equipment store again!

Why has it taken me so long to find such a great place. Anything you might need for a kitchen at a great price. half sheet trays are $ 3

What a wheeling and dealing good place to buy restaurant equipment.
I recommend dealing with Charlie himself if he’s available, as he will do what it takes to make a sale. I was looking for some expensive and specific parts for a 20 qt hobart mixer. I found them, and then I mentioned that I had seen them for much less $$$ online. He said «show me» and then BEAT the online price by $ 10. And I didn’t have to pay shipping or wait a week.
I will not shop anyplace else for kitchen stuff in LA, and they are open to the public, not just commercial accounts.
Note: This is not Sur La Tab. This is the real stuff 99% of pro kitchens use. It isn’t necessarily the frilly cute stuff, but it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost, and stands up to abuse that doesn’t happen in your kitchen at home.

I am a fellow business owner so I do not write a negative review lightly. In fact, the reason I am writing this review is so that others will know not to buy any large equipment from this place. Go to them for the small items but please do not buy large equipment. About a year ago I was warned by a contractor that this place was dishonest because they would sell used items as «new» and then not make good on it. (I do not KNOW that to be true but it wouldn’t surprise me.) Because of their low prices and the sales person I worked with was very helpful I bought all of my equipment from them. (Note: there is ONE helpful and friendly person here, the others are unhappy and service is not emphasized by the management there. In fact, I think you can always tell the tone of the owner by the tone of their employees. These employees move slowly, seem very unhappy and are not friendly.) I have had problems with 5 of the 9 pieces of equipment I bought from them. 3 of them broke within just a couple of months. I had to replace all of them direct through the manufacturer. I finally decided I could not afford to continue to replace these items and asked Charlies if I could exchange 2 (newly exchanged) of them for a better product. They would not honor this request because «Charlie doesn’t want the inventory». Any business should make good when they sell something that is not a good product. This group (at least the owner) is dishonest and unethical in their business dealings. Do not buy big equipment from them.

Great selection … Subpar customer service

It was the 23^rd of December and I arrived at 2:05. Who would know that they were closing that day at 2:00pm (It was a friday) for a company holiday party?
While most of the staff said «we’re closed», one dude (i’m determined to get his name up on this Unilocal review) said no problem and was very patient while I grabbed a lot of Carbon/​Blue steel pans — Paderno (Italian brand). I had a great experience at Charlie’s fixtures.
Sautéing is the best in these carbon steel pans; even better than All-​Clad.
Thanks for keeping the doors open after closing :)

Restaurant Kitchen stuff
I’m a fan of Sur La Table & William’s Sonoma, but why pay $ 20 for a spoon when you can get one here for $ 2?
Don’t expect any fancy gadgets, expect commercial quality stuff and lots of it.

I normally will not write a bad review of any place. Just because I had a bad experience, doesn’t mean it is always like that. But this place blows. I’ve been coming here for years. Initially, this was the only place I knew. Then later I kept coming back, hoping for change. Kind of like that person in the abusive relationship. Always hoping the vicious cycle will end. I will no longer ever come here again.
Every time I come here, the customer service (or should I say the lack of customer service) is non-​existent. Every time, and I do mean every time, I come here I feel like I am dealing with a Car Sales man. With their blown up prices, they act like giving you a 9% discount (and only if you ask for it) is a big thing. Trust me; going to other stores, Charlie’s prices are way too expensive.
I came into get a quote for a $ 14,000 product. I did my research online, and found the product for that same price. The sales men gave me a decent quote (after telling him, what I can get it for online), on paper. After a month, I came back to purchase the product. I showed him the quote he gave me. Like a car sales man, he kept going back and forth to his manager, trying to get a price. He said the price went up, and at that price he would not be making any profit (BS). He then went on to say the delivery charge will cost me $ 2000. I had to decline.
That’s when I went to Action Sales, and was treated like a customer. And got a better price, then what was offered by Charlie’s. I will NEVER go to Charlie’s for anything. And I will make sure to tell all my peers to never shop at Charlie’s.

A restaurant depot open to the public! Good hours and a great selection. I went for bus tubs and was impressed by everything they have, and the prices were closer to wholesale than to retail.
however, i also wanted to see if they have a reamer– a handy tool for juicing lemons and limes, and they did not.

One of the best places to get serving dishes, plates, silverware.
For all of the upcoming chefs and all of the wannabe chefs if you wanna step up your game in food presentation then this is where you wanna start. The right plate can always make your food look better.