Just got back home ate a Nexium. The Burger was pre cooked. They steamed the cheese to melt it. The fries were cold. The onion rings cold. The waitress didn't know she was alive. Will not go back. I am a native Wilmingtonian. Fair well Charcoal Pit. read more

You get what you see. Can't go wrong with the burger, fries and shakes. I wanted the steak to go but apparently they don't use very good quality what it's take out. read more

Pretty disappointing to see some of these negative reviews below..! Simply put, all these miserable haters just don't get what the Pit is about -- yes, this is a comfort-food restaurant that at this point is purely based on nostalgia and tradition. By no means is this gourmet food; this is a simple place where you know what you're gonna get when you go -- burgers, chicken, hamburger steaks, home made soups, milkshakes, vanilla cokes and chocolate sundae's. The place hasn't changed since my dad was going here as a kid in the 50's, which means a lot to all of us 2nd and 3rd generation Pit-goer's. If you grew up in Wilmington, this is where you went after school dances and on dates, etc. It's a special place to a lot of people. So to all those being uber-critical of the food and how the place looks -- get over yourselves and take a hike! Get a dog, get a massage, go write a sh*t review for a Denny's or something if it makes you feel better about yourself -- we don't need ya! read more

Wow, has Charcoal Pit on Concord Pike changed! We were sooooooooo disappointed with the food, service, and atmosphere :( The chicken sandwich was paper-thin and fried to a crisp, the hamburger quality was poor, the fries tasted like some generic store brand, and there's no more jukebox music at your table, labeled "for display purposes only". It wasn't very crowded at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, but it took over 25 minutes to get our food. Just a totally bad experience and don't think we'll ever go back. read more

Great meal for a great price. Good chicken salad and tasty grilled chicken breast. Kid friendly and quick service. Good, reliable place to eat, very happy with our lunch today. read more

Not a "5 Star" Restaurant but as far as getting a BURGER/FRIES/SHAKE you can't beat it and that counts for 5 stars in my book. The atmosphere is awesome - not a fake retro-fifties place but a place that opened in the 50s and remains unchanged. Hand dipped extra thick milkshakes are the best and the char broiled chicken and burgers are quite delicious. read more

My first experience at the Charcoal Pit was a memorable one, and let's just say my review of this place is 3.5 stars with bias pushing it up to 4 stars. The food is really simple here but good. If you don't really care for burgers with everything in the fridge slopped on them like at Red Robin, then this might be the restaurant for you. Good old-fashioned hamburgers with true charcoal taste, just like they came off the charcoal grill at your picnic. In addition to tasty food, the prices are reasonable. Last time I stopped in I had a burger and a bowl of Maryland crab soup for less than $8. Just try getting the same elsewhere for less than $10! Not happening... Anyway, to sum it up, Charcoal Pit has consistently good food for competitive prices. Their original location on Concord Pike is a great place to take the family, a true blast from the past. Other locations are newer and are sports bars suited for adults hanging out. Whether you're with friends, family, or solo, don't forget the Charcoal Pit if you're hankering a good burger and shake. read more

i grew up in DE, so Charcoal Pit was a serious part of my teenage life. after every middle school everyone went to the Charcoal Pit for basic dinner food and ice cream sundaes or shakes. in high school tons of kids got their first jobs there, and more recently i like going for old times sake. when i was younger i only went to the one located in Pike Creek (which is next to a bowling alley, so fun) which is way bigger than this one but has less as a cool old school feel. but both locations have the important things in common- the ice cream creations! all different flavors of shakes, sundaes created to rep different DE high schools, and the Kitchen Sick! in case you didnt know, a Kitchen Sick is a massive banana split sundae that has like 10000 scoops of ice cream and 500 bananas with all the other toppings. pretty great. the bad thing about Charcoal Pit (and is something that is my biggest pet peeve about any dinner that does this) is that fries don't come with your meal. dumb. the food is nothing special either of course bc they're known for ice cream, and the service can be pretty pitiful bc it's a bunch of teens. read more

Wanted a hot dog but the other places in Wilmington were closed so we stopped in to the charcoal pit for a dog to go. Everyone coming in was ordering a milkshake and they couldn't stop talking about them. I didn't have one and once I saw the fresh banana go into the strawberry banana milkshake I almost traded in my dog for a shake. None the less my chili dog was tasty, and hit the spot. read more

I came here for the first time today and even though I had a great time on my date, I have a few complaints. First of all, the burger bun had seeds and the cheese was yellow. What kind of cheap place is this??? I was expecting something a little nicer for the price of that burger. Also, I asked for cheese with my fries and was very disappointed when the top of the cheese was hardened. It clearly was siting out for awhile. Also, even though the ice cream was phenomenal, the dish was way too small which allowed the ice cream to leak over and that precious substance was wasted. (also no one told me the nuts were wet and not dry) Lastly, the service was awful. It was barely busy and our waitress did not ask us how we were doing or offer to refill our drinks. (but she could rush to give us the check) OVERALL, I wanted to give it a 2.5 but the bathroom door dIDN'T EVEN LOCK. Only come if you want ice cream WITHOUT nuts. I will not be taking my business here again. read more

1st and last time I will ever go here -never again, I ordered 2 burgers to go, horrible in taste and so small, I would of been better off going to Burger King or McDonalds at least their burgers are good and bigger, beware do not go here!! read more

A throwback to the sixties era! Cheap eats & great shakes & ice cream sodas!

We stopped on our way back from the beach for a quick bite. The service is awesome. We walked in the door and someone seated us right away. She took our drink and food orders, and within a few minutes we had our tasty milkshakes. In less than 5 minutes we had our great burgers and sandwich. That's what I call fast food killer. Great service, good food and good value. With the number of patrons still there in the late evening, they will give the fast food giants a run for their money. We will definitely be back for more. read more

Great prices, good comfort food. Steak sandwich was good, as always. Crab soup had plenty of crab in it. Grilled cheese was fine.

Simply the best burger in the state of Delaware. Simple is better! Quick and friendly serves. Can't ask for more.

Charcoal Pit has expanded their menu, If only they would update and clean the interior, all would be well. Got the great burger, cooked rare the way I like, great crispy fries and a great milkshake. The place just looks old and worn out and really needs to be cleaned up. read more

I give it 3 stars simply because it does not have a diverse menu and I am not a big "burger joint" person. With that said the burger was pretty good, and the milkshakes were delicious, so if you like that kind of thing I would recomend it. Otherwise its pretty small and old fashioned. read more

My parents went here when they were in high school, took us here as kids and we continue to go today (I am 30). It is one of of those places that becomes a family tradition but if you ask someone like my husband who as been here maybe a handful of times he would say this place is just ok. Maybe it is the memories, milkshakes and waitresses we know by name that makes this place great. Yes, the burgers are frozen but they are still flavorful and you can't go wrong with a chicken cheese steak. The sundaes are great and if you are with a decent size group or just want to pig out a kitchen sink (20 scoops of ice cream, a dramatized banana split) is the way to go. They are open late too making it a great place to grab some food at midnight. read more

Sad to say that this is the last time I'll come to Charcoal Pit. Over the last couple years I've seen a drastic decline in their food and service and after waiting 30 mins and dealing with a bunch of attitude from the takeout girl, I'm taking my dollars elsewhere. read more

an old time resteraunt/ice cream place has a juke box in the middle and table ones as well for those of you in the south jersey area charcoal pit reminds me of the old richmands resteraunts that kind of resteraunt read more

This is the original location from 1953. It has a great vintage vibe, and the bugers are very good. The only thing missing is the "Home Run Burger" which is available at the other locations, but for some reason, not this one. This is the one we go to for lunch, but we go to Kirkwood Highway for dinner since they have a bar. read more

My burger didn't taste charbroiled...really disappointed...wanted those grill marks/flavor. Just tasted like it was done on regular flat top grill. Fries were mediocre and the bun was a little stale. Best thing was the milkshake served in the metal container. Waitress was rather ditzy though so service wasn't that great. read more

I was so disappointed in our recent visit we walked out before even eating! Although the food has always been great it wasn't worth the attitude and general unwelcome feeling we received when we walked in the door with our daughter in her car seat. The gentleman seating us treated us poorly, clearly unhappy he had to try to accommodate an infant carrier. When I told him we could not fit the carrier the way he suggested (we did try) he grabbed the carrier fairly aggressively and placed it across the table leaning on the back of the booth, rather than allow us a highchair that the seat can fit onto safely. He was so rude that we left without ordering. I hope future patrons receive better service because this was about as bad as you can get. I give one star because I am unable to post a review with zero stars. read more

The cheese burger was a meat patty with a slice of cheese on a low end grocery store bun. Nothing else. That was $4.75. My Coke was in a paper cup, I don't think it's too much to expect a sit down meal to have plastic or glass cup. read more

This restaurant is everything a burger restaurant should be! The service is incredibly fast, the prices are inexpensive, and the food is delicious! You need to order a milkshake to accompany your entre. read more

My experience with the Pit goes back close to 50 years. When we moved back to Delaware in 1960, this particular Pit restaurant was the location of our first family meal. A mouthwatering burger with a shake was just the thing to take the edge off of experiencing remorse over left-behind friends and family in Indiana. The Pit is an icon in Delaware. It was a gathering spot throughout high school and a great place to catch a quick meal and a superior char-broiled burger and great shake. The only thing negative I can think to say about it is that the restaurant, basically unchanged over fifty years, is showing its age. Other than that, good affordable food, great service. read more

It's an icon. Greasy spoon, classic style. Don't expect 5 star food, it's just burgers and fries... and damn good ones. Either that or it just brings back good memories. Shakes are great! read more

Great food, burgers, shakes. This place is the best in Delaware and every one needs to go! The staff has been there for ages and know how to serve these fresh burgers and make one great shake. GO! read more

Been going here for 25 years. Not sure what's going on but it seems to be worse each time we give it one more chance. Tonight three of us went around 7:30. It was crowded but were seated quickly. The waitress took our order, brought our drinks and then we waited. Appetizer of mozzarella sticks arrived and were undercooked. Didn't complain, they were passable, we were hungry. After 20 minutes we saw our food was sitting under the lights. 5 more minutes it was served. Grilled chicken sandwich very small. 8 oz burger undercooked. Ordered med but arrived raw inside. 4oz burger not sure about. The kicker was the long black hair nestled amongst the fries. Not the Pit we have always enjoyed. One star for old times sake. read more

The serving of an insect in food at a restaurant knowingly in the restaurant industry is the equivalent of flying a plane drunk if you're a pilot, or using inferior grade materials not according to the specifications in the construction industry. These infractions are cardinal rules, not to be broken in those respective industries. Having wanted to try the Charcoal Pit for years. It's a cool, iconic building on 202 that has throwback charm. On July 17, we stopped by for lunch. Waitress was pleasant, we ordered our food and an "Orange Freeze" sherbert milkshake. Food came out uneventfully, and was decent. As for the Orange Freeze, we were now done eating and it still had not come out (we ordered this at waitress introduction). I was kind of hoping that she forgot, only because I began to think about the calorie impact and the fact that I would have to prolong our stay. She then realized she forgot as she was walking toward us, turned quickly, saw one steel mixing canister awaiting pickup, and gasped loudly, "Ooohhh". We were watching intently because we wondered when she would realize we still did not get it. Something was obviously wrong, she and the milkshake making girl looked into the cup and our waitress then disappeared behind some machinery, although I was still able to see her profile from my vantage. She then emerged with the cup walking directly to our table. At no time did she pick up, or carry anything other than the drink delivered to my table. She then placed it down on the table. It was obvious to me that something had been in the drink by her reaction to picking it up, her discussion, disappearance and subsequent reemergence. As I looked in the orange freeze, a spoon sized crater was evident. Something had been scooped out of the drink. I sat in utter disbelieve. I did not touch the drink. After apologizing for the drinks lateness she then disappeared only to come back to the table about a minute later, most likely out of guilty conscience. She said, "is everything ok?" And I said, "was there something in this, like a fly?" She said, "no, it was in the other one , and I took it out." She then said that she could replace mine which I took her up on, but added, I did not want a replacement, just take it off the bill. She then came over and apologized profusely and stated that she would take off the hot dog order that my son had made, which she did. I then saw her speaking to what looked like a higher level, older woman who appeared to be a manager. I overheard snippets of conversation that appeared to be involving my situation. Shockingly, I heard the manager say, "you can pray that he didn't see it." As soon as I heard this, I pulled out my phone and wrote all of this (in utter disbelief) in an email to myself to retain the record. There are so many things wrong here, it surpasses any experience I've had in a restaurant, in my life. Fact 1: She knowingly served a drink that had something in it but scooped it out. She felt this was ok. Fact 2: She lied about it. She conceded that she cleared something out of someone's drink. Her outloud gasp, picking up the ONE drink, hiding behind some machines with the ONE drink and then reemerging with the drink walking directly to our table was done as we watched her. The spoon crater further incriminated her action. Fact 3: The manager, instead of instructing her the proper way to handle the situation, like "dump it out and make a new one," offered instruction to conceal the unacceptable corrective action of the waitress. Just like the sharks on tv, "I'm out." Once and never again. I understand that insects in food can be unavoidable. However, the corrective measure of the waitress, the management oversight and guidance represent a much bigger problem at Charcoal Pit. It demonstrates that the culture of the restaurant accepts this type decision making. When this expected confidence breaks down in a restaurant, you begin to question everything: "did the chef drop this hamburger patty on the floor", "did she sneeze on this", etc... Ironically, the Orange Freeze didn't look that bad. Further, I always tip 20%, sometimes even if its not the greatest service. This was the first time in 20 years I did not tip. read more

Was in the area the next day and today's front of house guy was extremely nice and outgoing. What a relief.

I have been many times however it had been a while since last visit.Upon arriving the restraint appeared to be as remembered but this quickly changed.The hostess just pointed to our seats. We waited for our menus.She returned asked if we were ready to order,we said we were waiting for menus which she pointed to us they were in a pocket on wall.Special items were typed on a paper and taped to non working juke box. Very sad they had been fun to play.Food came quickly but first tip off was cheese burger with cheese just layered on top of burger still firm with no melting.The burger was marginally warm and obviously a frozen patty .It was bland no charcoal flavor ,dry despite asking for it to be medium rare and served on a bun that bordered on stale.Burgers in past had been juicy dripping with juice and full of flavor.I was heartbroke that the fresh burgers were replaced with frozen filler filled blah .The fries were hot but nothing special.My husband had ordered a strawberry shake.It came with the familiar silver mixing cup but was served with a small soda glass.They used to be served with traditional tall glasses.The shake appeared to be thick but was a very bright pink.Unfortunately the shake was made with some "ice cream" and a lot of artificial strawberry sauce which make it taste like strawberry milk you had as kid. When he went to refill his glass the shake had melted and closely resembled strawberry milk.Waitress never returned and we had to go to cash register to get our bill.Waitress had to be summoned over as she was sitting eating with many other employees.I talked with her about our meal and she did confirm my suspicions that the restaurant was under new ownership.So sad this awesome burger joint is no longer.My husband and I both agreed a stop at a fast food burger restaurant would have been a better choice.Thanks for the great memories Charcoal pit it was great before the changes ,will miss you. read more

When we arrived, the atmosphere was the same as I remembered. 1950's retro cool. When we sat down the table was wet, so we wiped it down.. I was a bit disappointed that the table top jute box didn't work. The waitress seemed to hurry us and when she put our flatware out it was cold and wet.. not like just from the dishwasher. When my younger daughter ordered, the waitress got snarky with her about her order. My older daughter and I heard her say one thing and the waitress was snippy and said she didn't say what she said. I ordered a Strawberry/Banana shake and when I got it, it was runny and just strawberry and tasted like Nestle Quick and not the thick, delicious shake I had expected..On top of that, she tried to give us the wrong order. The food was not very good and the service was terrible. I may have expected that kind of service if it was busy, but it was fairly dead in there and now I know why. Maybe time for a management change? I would hate to see this Delaware icon disappear because of poor management. read more

Before this moment I did not have a Yelp account. I made one, downloaded the app and wrote this. I was in this establishment on a Sunday evening with a group of 6 people. Not only did they make us split between two booths but when an emergency came up and two members of our party left they refused to cancel the one order. It was less than two minutes after placing the order and the waitress had yet to actually put our order up to be made. The waitress was also extremely rude and told us that we needed to pay for the food which we agreed to do of course. When we asked for a box she literally tossed a box at us and did not return for the duration of the meal. When we asked to split the checks she was confused and told us she was unable to do so. When we finally figured it out she not only put the wrong items on our checks but overcharged us each. The food was mediocre, the service was atrocious and nobody in my party will ever be returning. read more