Charlie’s Seafood

I was going between a 4 and a 5 for this iconic Lynn Seafood place and decided because of the variety of options in the plates and the quality of the food to give it a 5. Outside of going to Essex or Gloucester, this is the best seafood around. The pieces of haddock are just huge. The Jumbo Haddocks are perfect for 2 people to share and be full. The prices are competitive to any other seafood place. Its an institution in Lynn! And after not going there for a few years it was the same quality as I remember so I don’t think its declined.

We had the pleasure of getting take out yesterday. We enjoyed two lobster rolls and a large chicken finger. While the food was incredibly delicious the quantity was not very much and the prices were quite high. The total bill was $ 85.00. We got the lobster roll meal, so it came with fries and coleslaw. It was an extra $ 4 but it did complete the meal. The lobster roll was full of chunks of meat and mayo. No lettuce filler on the roll. The chicken finger was four small pieces of chicken and fries for $ 9. This was fine for my daughter. I’ve always said quality over quantity. Best lobster roll I’ve had in a while.

The people are awesome BUT The food wasn’t up to par (very bland) especially because the prices were way too high…

Charlie’s has always been really well-​known for having great fried seafood. I used to come here much more often, but the ever-​growing prices have scared me away for the most part. From the sound of most of these reviews, it sounds like their food is going downhill, too. Really such a shame, this place used to have a great reputation.

When I want the best shrimp in Lynn I’ll drive 2 hours from CT for a quick bite and a walk on the beach!

Tuesday June 29
Decided to make annual trip to Charlie’s Sea Food for the junior fried clam/​scallop plate. I been going to Charlie’s for more than 30 years and can usually count on decent food.
I first inquired about the stuffed clams in the display cooler, asking… are those Matlaws? Yes was the reply. Question: why would a quality seafood place even sell a grocery store item?
I then ordered a small clam chowder, a bottle of water, and a junior combo plate (at $ 29.00)… Total for one person, junior plate, chowder, water…$ 37.+… Uggggh. An entire fisherman’s platter at Legal is several dollars less.
Since I was eating in, the nice server brought my chowder out. A microwaved tiny serving in a flat plastic container with cover ‘clam” written in magic marker. Impossible to serve something less appealing, even worse it was barely room temp.
A few minutes later, the 29 dollars junior plate of French fries with clams and scallops was delivered. The seafood was OK, but lacked freshness, and high quality taste and high quantity that Charlie’s is famous for. There were plenty of fries, but at 29 bucks, it was half a serving for what you would get foe less at both legal and the Porthole. Adding to mediocrity, all the ketchup bottles were on their last inch…
I only live a mile away, but prob made my last visit. Over priced and not good enough (no more) to justify the cost
Ps… Tartar sauce was outstanding

Hidden away in Lynn with parking lot huge portions of seafood perfection. Cosmo X and i split a triple combo of shrimp, scallops, and clams. Fries and onion rings as well and i have to say everything was great. Glad i came here will return again.

Very clean & bright here, pleasant staff. But the price is too high for the amount of food you get. The haddock tasted fresh, the scallops & shrimp tasted frozen, the chicken fingers were very good. But definitely not enough food for 2 hungry adults & a «starving» 10 year old at the price we paid.
We hadn’t been here for quite awhile & most likely won’t rush back.

With the price I was paying I expected a lot more food. $ 12 for a drink, 3 chicken fingers, and a handful of fries is the biggest rip off. And the food isn’t anything to brag about. But give them the benefit of doubt and still give them a shot. I know I won’t go back but that’s my opinion.

Super expensive for small portions. Roast beef was over cooked. Chicken fingers are half the size of most places that you order a basket.

Onion rings have no flavor and it’s a little expensive for take out but the quality and quantity of the food was worth it.

Went hear tonight with Cindy had the fisherman’s platter got a cheeseburger to go with french fries and onion rings for Ernest, this place is very clean and the staff is very helpful, Cindy And I place a outer by phone it was piping hot when we got there they had it was delicious and very thick portion I’ll be back

I can’t believe I spent 26 dollars here, such a mistake.
I ordered a flounder basket for myself; 3 floppy, flavorless, fried lumps of ‘flounder’ over literally a handful of fries. 12 dollars plus tax.
My girlfriend had a chicken finger basket. It was 5 of the smallest, cheapest chicken fingers over the same laughable amount of french fries. 9 dollars plus tax.
The mac and cheese bites were good, I will give them that. 5 bucks ish.
I noticed that the prices were high when I walked in, I was expecting some low quality fried food, but I at least wanted it to fill me up. I could have easily eaten two flounder baskets myself, and I am a small guy. I am not hard to impress at all, but this food was so bad that I feel like I have been scammed. Do not go here.

I have been a visitor of Charlie’s seafood for over 10 years. Over the years, I have noticed the quality of food has changed, the portion sizes have gotten smaller, and the prices have increased tremendously. I very much understand that over the years prices are due to increase, however, the customer service, and quality of food should remain the same. The french fries are always hot but the seafood is luke warm or even cold. The portion sizes are small and they charge for the condiments (such as cheese) on a sandwich. I do not suggest Charlie’s seafood to anyone.

Thanks for making me look like an a**hole! I don’t even eat seafood but I referred you very heavily to a colleague. Well she got a scallop/​clam combo delivered to her home, $ 40 later it turned out to be «the most expensive French fry» plate she ever had. The little bit of scallops/​clams were tastey she said but it was no were near the amount worth $ 40. So not cool!

Seafood orders were very small and didn’t taste good, the décor was clean and good. Location doesn’t help.

Okay. I made a Unilocal account just to write this review. This is by far the worst $ 14 sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life. I drove up to Marblehead for work from the city and on my way back I thought I would get some seafood. I looked on Unilocal and saw a lot of people raving about this place so I thought id stop in and try some shrimp. Boy was that a mistake… it’s not too often I think to myself «wow I regret eating that» but I sure did today. If McDonald’s could make a shrimp sandwich it would taste like this. take your money elsewhere.

My boys decided they wanted to have a fish platter last night for dinner. Charlie’s is two blocks away from my house so I decided to try them out. Showed up about 4:45 PM on a Friday and ordered a jumbo combo platter and 4 pieces of corn on the cob. Seemed they were making it fresh as I waited for the food to be done. I approached the counter, as the man that came in after me received his food first, and watched the girl take my corn out of the microwave. Didn’t think anything of it at the time.
Got home and got the plates out. Gave the boys their corn and opened the combo platter. I was confronted with cold seafood. The only food that appeared to be hot were the fries. The fish was cold, clams were cold, scallops were cold. You name it and it was cold — but not the fries. Leaves me wondering if the seafood was prepared for me. Impossible for it to have become freezing cold in two blocks.
In reference to the food, not only was it cold but not was also not very good. But cold food never really is. Love scallops and is the main reason I wanted the combo. Unfortunately, there is the equivalent to about 1 ½ sea scallops on the plate as they dice their scallops into ½ inch cubes. To appear there are more than there actually are?
For $ 50, I expect a lot higher quality food. I could have taken my boys to a sit down restaurant for the price of the food at Charlie’s and it would have definitely been more worth it.

I was not impressed with either the price or quality of food. The price was very expensive. The quality of the food was awful. It had no bellies on the clams beside Very small ones. The breading was tough and I could barely eat it

Clean place, clean oil, no grease, no frills old school! Yummy good! I shall return!