Charlton Service Plaza

I gave 4 stars because there are tons of bathroom and tables and they are pretty clean from what I can see.
Lost a star because of D’Angelo employees. We ordered steak number 9, chicken teriyaki, and kid meal ham sandwich without cheese because my daughter doesn’t like it. They took forever to make while we were the only customer at the time. A lady ordered after us got her order first. When we finally got ours, two of them were wrong but we didn’t want to waste our time because we knew it would take them forever to fix. Instead of chicken teriyaki we got chicken number 9 and my 3 years old daughter ham-​ONLY-​no cheese-​sandwich came with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Like my toddler would eat it. Luckily, they got my steak number 9 right.
Either way the rest stop are nice over all ;)

A nice stop for a meal on the way upta Maine. A McDonalds meca. They have McDonalds, McCafe, Fresh City (McDonalds with wraps & salads). Also have Auntie Anne’s, Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo. Bathrooms and eating area always clean. Would love it if they had a Starbucks. Guess that’s the trade off of having McDonalds pretty much operate the whole place. Gas pumps relatively quick too.

Out of all the Mass Pike Service Plazas, I have to say that I like the Charlton plaza the best.
Every time we travel the Mass Pike we usually have to stop along the way to use the restroom. If that is the case, then this plaza is the one we prefer.
The bathrooms here are always clean, the plaza has a few different food shops (McDonald’s, D’Angelo, Papa Gino’s) which are great If you need a snack on the road.
Overall, this is a great service plaza, but try to fuel up elsewhere if possible because the gas prices here are pretty high.

Even though as I type this, Unilocal lists it as a Mass Turnpike Authority, all the reviews and check-​ins are actually for the Charlton Travel Plaza eastbound just past Exit 9 on the Pike, and hopefully this Unilocal entry can be changed to match.
I try to avoid this plaza on weekends, because it can feel to me more crowded than subways, airports, and baseball stadiums. That’s because it is the only full-​service travel plaza, and a convenient midpoint, for folks traveling from NY/​NJ/​CT to NH and ME, especially if you’re going from I-​84 to I-​290 or I-​495.
As most likely the busiest travel plaza on the Pike eastbound, it should be the best maintained, and in general it is. It has a slightly more upscale and comfortable feel and layout. It has many booths plus additional moveable tables. The rest rooms were in great shape.
Your dining options are pretty typical for the Pike. You’ve got your McDonald’s franchise (McDonald’s, McCafe, and Fresh City), Papa Gino’s and the associated D’Angelo’s, and Auntie Anne’s pretzels.
Gas prices vary. Today they were competitive versus other plazas on the pike. But I have seen gas here as much as 6 cents a gallon higher than the plazas in Ludlow, the previous plaza when traveling east.

Tons of bathrooms, 24 hour McDonalds (via drive thru) gas (diesel too) a couple different fast food options inside, a dog run, and a fruit stand by the entrance of the parking lot. What’s not to like? I also saw a group of 5 middle aged guys pounding beers behind their car at 8:00 am, so there’s that.

Decent rest stop. Fresh city, McDonald’s, Pappa Ginos, Annas Pretzels, and a convinience store. 100% cleaner than any NJ or NY rest stops.

Not a bad travel plaza as these things go. Fairly well updated with some food options that weren’t too scary. A well stocked convenience store and of course, clean restrooms and gasoline. All in all, slightly better than average for a travel plaza.

You know traveling, you just can’t wait to get home sweet home !!
Boston to Indiana
Indiana to Boston !!
Can’t wait to see our beautiful city !!