Charlie’s Deli

Just eat at Charlie’s, but it was more than that, I just experience Charlie’s. I walked in wanting a turkey sandwich and Charlie himself recommended an off menu specialty. It was a spicy combination of BLT and Turkey Ciabatta. IT WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD! Hands down the best sandwich I have ever eaten! My new favorite spot in Portland!

OMG, The Vegan Tofu sandwich is just to die for and it’s truly amazing. The experience at Charlie’s is just too awesome to not pass up. Wi-​fi to share your experience and the staff is super-​duper-​zuper friendly and they will treat you all as if you have known you for years. That is just my kind of business I would like to come to all the time and just eat and relax. Music here is just perfect and pleasant. You would have to be insane to not come and stop by and just try it yourself. If the food isn’t great you can kick me in the butt. Promise, Oh wait didn’t I tell you that they used Pearl barkey for their bread. Gluten-​free options

How did I miss this place for so long? Maybe because it’s three or four blocks west of my usual routes. Great great pork sandwiche, fine cookie ($ 1 for a chocolate chip cookie? I bought six to share w/​friends later), good coleslaw. I’ll be back.

Daddy like. Had the brisket sandwich with a tasty complimentary cup of pesto pasta and an orange Sanpellegrino. Very filling. The sandwich was juicy with a slight kick of spice. Service was excellent and fast. I will be back for more.

OK… returning customer here and brought a friend visiting from Texas (where they smoke EVERYTHING)…we ordered the Prime Rib sandwich with the coleslaw side… talk about tender prime rib… OMG! and had it on the bun instead of the usual sliced sourdough… and had aus jus (or however you spell that word for juice)…dipped my heart out! Still dreaming and looking forward to going back yet again and again… gotta try EVERYTHING that looks great on that menu! I would eat there everyday if I could… my friend from Texas is wanting to go back often while he’s here too! …and he’s a «let’s eat at home» kind of a guy most of the time… so this is a real compliment coming from him!!! Thank you Allie and Charlie… and crew… ya’ll make deli in Portland a good thing… no…a GrEaT tHInG!

Super nice people. Food was outstanding. If you want a simple meal with a sweet vibe, this is the place, even the music was chill.
I had the tomato soup and philly per suggestion by owner, who again was super nice!
I will be back!

I really like the BLT! You know when you crave one menu on the item at a place because it’s so good you wonder if it’s got a drug in it to make you come back? That’s this BLT. Everyone there is wonderful and courteous, and genuinely happy to see you. I really wish they would work on aesthetics a bit more. Charlie’s is kind of a dump. The last time I was there they were playing some Beastie Boys DVD so loudly that I couldn’t hold a conversation with my dining partner.
Five stars on the food, a very generous two stars on the ambiance.

So today I tried the Cuban Sandwich. Why is it that I have never tried this delectable sandwich? This was the bomb diggity! ‘Nuff said!

Charlie’s has a very good cannoli. There aren’t too many places in town that I can say that about. Take it from this former east coaster. The cannoli here is legitimate. The sandwiches aren’t half bad either.

Ok I’m ashamed it’s taken me so long in getting back to following up on my last review — now that I’ve been a loyal customer since they opened, I see that a once-​off experience should not define such incredibly tasty sandwiches. I of course have my go-​tos: The Rachel (pesto pasta side) and The Cuban (cole-​slaw side) but this week I took a daring leap into the Strawberry Fields — and it was beyond-​imagination delicious. Stack of dark meat (my fave) and heaps of crumbled bacon with their strawberry-​pepper jam. It took me over 30 minutes to eat it, as every bite was so delicious I had to savor and enjoy it. Truly a religious experience.

Holy hell these sandwiches are fantastic. I’ll be back a million times. You manage to have the nicest people and the best food. If you weren’t right near my place I would still travel so far just to get to that Cuban sandwhich!

Was looking for a Deli, and I found THE DELI. If you want good Deli food stop reading this and order something. SHUT UP AND GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY.

Charlie runs the register with a fast smile and handshakes, the first thing you see when you walk in is a good vibe, and great smells.
This means you have to brave the neighborhood, sometimes a bit of a challenge. Don’t let that stop you from stopping down to enjoy fantastic specials and dedicated fan club program to reward repeat visitors. This is clearly a long-​running business location, as the interior shows a bit of use. But the menu should aleive you of any concern, as artfully prepared sandwiches are just a moment away. You’ll have to check the menu for your favorite, but I had a fantastic BLTone day and a club of some sort the other. Nomnomnom delicious. Charlie will thank you

Review long overdue I was here during spring break and this was one of my favorite spots I ate while I was up here I am from socal for your info. The sandwich was great I got the Charlies pastrami sandwhich on rye. The bread they use is on point plus it taste so fresh not to mention the side you get along with it. It’s a family feel deli and I enjoyed that about this place. The potato side was good as well and I will defiantly come back whenever I am back in portland. Owner made you feel welcomed and convinced us to come and try this place over that Chinese food next door and it’s a decision I do not regret till this day. Must try don’t listen to the negative comments give it a try you will like it trust me and I am picky with food.

In Portland finding good tofu isn’t that hard, but good tofu at a sandwich place, now that’s an amazing find!
I ordered the Seasoned Tofu sandwich. You get two options; teriyaki or bbq. I went for the teriyaki and man was I happy! By far some of the best teriyaki tofu I’ve ever had. The portion sizes are big, so you may want to think about doing a half sandwich. I ordered a full and definitely felt stuffed after I was finished. It was just too good, I couldn’t stop.
The side was vegetarian pesto salad. Great compliment to my sandwich!
The location is a block into China town on 4^th. If you know Portland, you should know this is not a great area. This is typically the area the street hobos hang out on, but honestly they won’t bother you. I’ve never had any trouble. I should also mention the interior. Straight out of the 90’s and also amazing. The floors are standard issue checkered, the tables and chairs don’t match and there appeared boxes of stuff just hanging about.
If you’re a true Portlander, you’ll enjoy the weirdness of Charlie’s. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Love this place — I’m a sandwich lover and this is a great sandwich shop. Awesome that they use pearl bakery bread and wholesome meat cuts. Cool owners! Love the real
Ham sandwich and the pork shoulder.
Side note: vegetarian girlfriend wishes they had more veggie options for a cold sub, and maybe a Sriracha mayo!

The first time I tried to go to Charlies, it was around 12:30 PM on a Monday… they were closed.
Today when I was looking for something to eat on my lunch break, they were open, so I decided to try it out. I got The Italian Job. It was mediocre. They toast it after they make it so the outside is hard (and the bottom was a little burnt), and the inside is cold. The cheese wasn’t even melted.
There were loaves of bread sitting in a paper bag in the seat across from me. Were these loaves they were going to use? Were they garbage? Your guess is as good as mine.

Based on some good word of mouth reviews, my wife and I had lunch at Charlie’s Deli today. The experience was so bad, it inspired me to create a Unilocal account. This is my first review.
First, the place was quite dirty and very shabby. The bathrooms were dirty. The open kitchen was a chaotic looking mess. Based on the disarray, I have a hard time imagining it was clean. Seriously, if you’re going to have an open kitchen, keep it neat and clean. I suppose they are going for the ‘shabby chic’ look, which can be great. But this was just shabby with random piles of crap lying around. Piles of empty boxes and huge coleman coolers aren’t chic; they’re just a disorganized mess.
The Sriracha bottle was so nasty that sauce wouldn’t squeeze out. The Tapatio bottle was no better — it was disgustingly greasy. Seriously, you can’t even wipe bottles down?
The food was mediocre at best, and way over-​priced. I had half of the prime rib Philly. It was a 4“x4″ puck of grease on something that vaguely resembled a baguette. Not a pepper to be found. It tasted like salt, that’s it. It was no way to treat prime rib (assuming, of course, that it was actually prime rib). The coleslaw was off-​colored, bitter, and otherwise flavorless.
My wife’s BLT had browned lettuce and no flavor. Based on its greasy, flattened appearance, I had no desire whatsoever to try a bite. Her coleslaw was similarly gnarly looking.
Seriously, incredibly uninspired preparation and presentation. For a $ 20+ lunch, I’d like to feel that the person preparing it cared (even a little bit). But nothing about Charlie’s (not the food, cleanliness, nor décor) suggests that anyone gives a rip about that place.
On the plus side, the staff was courteous.

Very good sandwiches and a decent size. If you’re looking for monster sandwiches, then move along. Charlie’s serves normal portion sized sandwiches with outstanding quality. Some of the best corned beef I have had in a long time (I ordered the Reuben). Sandwich was very well made without any soggy bread which is brownie points in my book. I also tried their tiramisu and it is pretty tasty as well. Would recommend and will be back to try more.
Just tried the cubano and it was pretty damn good as well. Not the best I’ve had but pretty good. Can’t wait to try more. Also not too fond of the potato salad.

Charlies Deli — so nice to have a down to earth, simple and delicious deli so close to home. No frilly knick knacks on site, just a couple stools and some room to wait. I should have known better than to show up at noon on a Friday.
We ordered a Charlie’s Reuben and a Charlie’s Rachel. Both were delicious. The smoked cheese and marbled rye add something that most shops just don’t understand. The kraut is also a very nice touch, where most add too much — Charlie’s gets the right amount. The meat was flavorful, well cut, cured and layered. The sides are quite nice too: (1) German Potato Salad, which has a nice vinegar bite and (2) Pesto Pasta, nicely cooked noodles and pesto — simple, but good.
They will deliver within a large area, but not much to the south past Burnside. I wish they would come further downtown, I would order it for lunch more often. Though, as they deliver on BIKE, I can understand why they set their boundaries.
Staff were fantastic, knowledgeable, friendly and quick to answer any questions and make suggestions. Pretty sure we even met Charlie who was getting ready to head out on the bike to make deliveries.