Stopped by Charley's for a quick to-go order and the service was fast and friendly, which I appreciated. Unfortunately, the food itself was just okay. I ordered the veggie egg roll, fried dumplings, and the eggplant ground pork fried noodles. The egg rolls came with ketchup instead of any kind of sweet chili sauce, which was a bit disappointing. The dumplings were fine, nothing special. The noodles were pretty dry and lacked flavor or spice. The ambiance during lunch wasn't great- no music, just one server managing everything, and a few high school kids on their lunch break. Overall, it's probably better as a takeout spot. For the price, I might go back if I need an easy, fast lunch, but I'd be going in with low expectations. read more

I've been going to this place since I was a kid (maybe even before I could remember). I remember when Charley was around and used to go around and greet all the customers, so I have very fond memories of this place. You can't beat their prices as well! I can speak for the dishes I've tried which include the ramen, tofu, and a few other apps (I do not eat meat so I can't review those dishes). All of these dishes came in a timely manner and had good flavor and taste. It's a very homey atmosphere and the host is always very friendly with us. read more

good food. Good noodles. I price was good too. The tonkatsu broth was good and service was fast and friendly.

This is a great place to stop for lunch and dinner. They have a great variety of choices, from Chinese to Japanese inspired apps, noodles, and noodle soups. The prices are very reasonable for Los Altos. They have some seating outside, which is always great. It seems to be run by a family, everyone is extremely nice and welcoming. We had the Eggplant and ground pork fried noodles, which were very savory and tasty and the Dan Dan Yimein, also very good. The braised pork ramen was a little bit to fatty for me. I love this place and will be back soon! read more

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Good price from this little shop. A plate of stir fry noodle is $12. But don't expect fancy menu. Simple stuff like noodle stir fry, noodle soup, pot stickers, curry, some sushi rolls. It seems they do kids event bento catering. Food came out quick and service is good. Only one woman manning the shop in the front. read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - outside of restaurant - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

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I really wanted to like this place because the owner seems very nice and the service was friendly. But the food was mediocre. I love dan dan noodles, so I tried their Dan Dan Yimein -- hardly any sesame or peanut flavor (that's the whole point of dan dan), and the noodles were somewhat soft and overdone. My wife got a Dragon Roll, which tasted fine, but she noted that everything seemed quite cold, suggesting that it had been refrigerated for a while. The restaurant itself seems a bit old and dusty. There are definitely better places to go in downtown Los Altos. read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Dan Dan Yimein - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

Very ok food. Probably not worth visiting again. Food tastes very homemade and fitting for the demographic of the town.

We have ordered numerous time their poke salmon. It used to be our all time favorite. The last 9 orders, the salmon has been shredded like it was s salmon tartar we ordered. Here sad and disappointing. Please go back to your regular cubed salmon pieces. read more

Food was great! Restaurants is small but noise level is extremely high and doesn't help when the waitress speaks so LOUD that it hurts yours ears! We couldn't enjoy our meal or our conversation because we had to speak loud AND cover our ears! Young students were there this day and they were loud too and the waitress?...even louder! Wow! We will NOT be returning for in-house dining. Food was good so if we do go back it'll be take out only. She also took a phone order that the whole restaurant could hear! Service is not good and seems she helps who she knows first. For me and my friend it took awhile to order our food and she took another table order before us even though we were there before them. And to get boxes...- I asked for two boxes she gave us one and I said I needed two boxes she said she knows and for me to wait. Why she couldn't have brought both boxes at the same time is beyond me. Another thing was that another table of students and parents asked for soy sauce and she took ours from our table without asking me if we still Needed it. Rude. This place needs to understand customer service better and dining experience. Afterwards, we walked outside and felt such a big relief for our heads and ears - it was so overwhelmingly uncomfortable. We felt we should've gone to Pho Cabin which is where we were going then changed our minds. We wish we went with our first choice for a more calm and quieter lunch. read more

great little place for authentic ramen and much more. Friendly staff and location in downtown los altos is close to quaint shopping.

My wife and I have eaten at Charley Noodle & Grill several times. We have thoroughly enjoyed the meals. My wife likes the Chicken Chow Mein and I prefer the Mongolian Beef with spice and a bowl of white rice. Their chef is a 5* and the meals are served consistently with a superb amount of food so one surely does not go away hungry. This restaurant serves all folks and it's especially nice to visit on Thursday evenings when we can observe the venders selling their produce, etc. out in the streets of downtown Los Altos. The waiter on Monday and Tuesdays is excellent as well as the waitress on other nights. The price of the meals is very affordable when we compare it to other places to eat in the area. When you're in downtown Los Altos, please visit Charley Noodle & Grill and bring the kids. They all seem to love it. I'll include a pic next time. :) read more

Not sure how this place is still here and how they got anything higher than 2 stars. If you're looking for very watered down, American/Asian flavor inspired food, this is your place. If you want anything remotely close to authentic flavors, please avoid. Yes it's clean. Yes the people who work here are nice. Yes it's easy to get to and park. That's about it. There are exactly zero reasons for me to return. read more

Imagine you're in downtown Los Altos and you're with your BFF forever and you're like really really hungry for ramen. Nowwwww imagine you've been really really good at eating healthy but you see a place and you're like.... I need this. This place delivers They do stuff a la carte but it's so right Prices are pretty chill Broth is like The most leggitest broth ever Very quaint place read more

4.0 stars This is a Chinese operated Japanese ramen place. Most dishes are less salty. We ordered 1. California roll $4.5 -2.0 star- rice is dry. 2. Original ramen -4.3 stars- simple noodle in clear broth. 3. Extra corn -4.0 Stars- it is not cold! It is warm and sweet. 4. Minced pork and eggplant stir fried noodles. Tasty! -4.5 stars- 5. Katsudon -4.2 Stars- $10 cheap and tasted good. Good value. Home style. Parking at the back of the store, credit card accepted. Many people comes with family. Home style restaurant and service is good and fast. read more

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I understand some of the pains of running a family-owned restaurant. It's not easy, especially during COVID. But lack of service and seeing what I'm seeing in terms of chasing tips through other reviews, this is a recipe for disaster. Short term gains for long term losses in repeat customers, the backbone of any restaurant. It's so important to focus on your customers and creating not only food that people will enjoy, but an experience that they will want to go through again. We ordered some good dishes: bbq mix, bbq chicken, and fried rice. I thought it was good portions and pretty tasty. The reason for the 2-star review is simple: the service. Honestly I was debating on a 1. My wife went to pick up our order and came home furious. She arrived and the person there didn't get up or address her so she went up and said she was coming to pick up an order and gave our names. The individual asked what she ordered and when she said she wasn't sure because I had placed the order, he said he didn't know what to do and sat back down. I get this kind of service if you're a fast food place..but don't know if you can afford to have this kind of service with a family establishment. Hopefully they consider the upside of improving the service and are able to do something on that end of things. We are fans of supporting local businesses and restaurants. read more

Got the curry pork, was not good at all. Curry was way too runny and salty. 3 small pieces of overcooked potatoes. Rice was on the mushy side. Got a shrimp roll as well, not good either. read more

Looking for a quick Asian fix around the neighborhood. They have Chinese, Japanese and Korean food on the menu. Usually this mix cuisine is a bad sign, but this little mama papa shop didn't disappoint, my hungry stomach was satisfied. Price were reasonable, food came pretty quick. Chashu ramen with bone soup was flavorful and yummy. The meat could be little better. Curry chicken was very good. I especially like their chicken, super tender not dry at all. Outdoor seating is also available, around 4 tables or so. read more

There are very few times that Yelp has led me down a wrong path and this is one of them. I'm not sure how this place receives an average 4 star rating. We ordered the ramen with spicy tonkatsu broth. You have to add each topping separately. Most ramen incorporates the spices to the soup base to make it spicy. When I received it, there was a layer of hot oil floating on top. The noodles tasted like the ramen noodles from a package. It has that same waxy exterior that is very distinctive. The signs of a good ramen is the noodle and the soup. Both failed. The egg was over cooked and the yolk had a grayish ring. The one redeeming thing is the minced pork. It was flavorful, but again on the dry side. My husband ordered the General Tso's chicken. The batter was light and crispy, but the chicken was super dry. The sauce was sweet without the spicy and tangy. read more

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Service is great, the food was delicious, the price is reasonable, and it is at the heart of one of my favorite chill towns in the Bay Area, Los Altos. Definitely will be coming back to this tasty restaurant in the future. read more

Reviews on yelp looked good so my friends and I decided to give it a try. The food on the menu looked like asian fusion and looked delicious. We were excited to try and were greatly disappointed. Food was not very good. It was bland and didn't have a lot of flavor. The customer service was also very slow and unresponsive. I do not plan on coming back. read more

I don't remember the last time I paid for two meals for under $20! My check was $14 for two people!! Plus we both walked away full! I love ramen noodles and I loved that you were able to get a bowl for only $4! There were four kinds of broth that you could choose from: miso, shoyu, tonkatsu, and original. You can also get it as "regular" or "spicy." In addition to the noodles, there are some delicious side dishes available. I got the bamboo shoots and the shoyu egg. Both were great and reminded me of food my dad use to make for me when I was little. The food comes out quickly and is very flavorful. The staff is very friendly and the owner is especially kind. There is plenty of parking on the street and there is also a parking lot in the back of the restaurant. This restaurant is very clean and had lovely orchids around for decoration. The restaurant is small but the wait wasn't too long. It was about 5 minutes. Overall pleased with this simple but lovely new restaurant. I'm sure this will be a place I visit often. Tip: This is a new restaurant and currently doesn't do "to go" orders. read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Delicious and cheap. - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

It's decent food at a decent price. If you don't expect very much out of it, you'll have a good time. Solid 3.5 stars. We had the Char Sui Ramen, Niku Ramen, Pork Curry, and Magic Roll. All were good, the definition of good. Not Amazing or blow anything out of the water, but decent. read more

Was so excited that a ramen place opened up near work, which sadly took over the Curry House I enjoyed, but hardly frequented. Came on a rainy Friday for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised to see only one other table was occupied. There are only about a dozen tables inside. Service was good, and I like the style of building the ramen, but it adds up really quickly. Ramen and soup is $4, but the amount of ramen is small compared to other ramen shops. I added ground pork, which I'm normally used to thick slices of pork, but it was not bad. I also got bamboo shoots. Altogether it was $10. The tonkatsu broth was really flavorful, noodles were good but wished it was chewier. I did think it was a good try though, but I left a bit hungry. I believe this place is run by Chinese, and not Japanese, as they offer fried rice, general's chicken, and chow mein. My coworkers who tried it for the first time really enjoyed it, so I was glad by that. read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Mild tonkatsu broth - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

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I wouldnt consider Charley's as an authentic japanese ramen restaurant. It is more fusion of different parts of asia. We did enjoy eating here and I love the family atmosphere. We walked in to find a charming little restaurant. We were seated immediately and were brought out water and complimentary fried octopus legs on skewers. 1 for each of us! Nice touch! I wouldve been better freshly fried and warm but hey, they were free and seasoned well. The menu is easy to read. You start off with a bowl of plain ramen for $4 which you choose your broth for. I opted for the original spicy. Then you add your sides which can be shared with everyone in your party. Was the food mindblowing? No. Was it good.. yes! Just simple and straight forward. The sides were a bit pricey for what you get, like the small amount of kimchi for $2. Overall look to spend about $10 a person. This is family owned and run and they were super nice and friendly! Definitely give it a try. 4 stars read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Sides: corn, gyoza, egg, kimchi, bamboo, ground pork - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

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My second review since the last one in 2017. This is a tiny and modest place in Los Altos introduced to us years ago by our kids who went there with their high school friends for lunch because it was so cheap. We used to go for a casual and funky dinner and didn't go back during Covid until last night. The food was very good for the ridiculously low price. Ramen at $6, seaweed salad at $4.50, eggplants at $3.50, very creamy deep fried tofu at $3.50, Tempura rolls at $5.50. The place was quiet at 7:30pm on a Saturday evening. We asked the server and she said it was irregular but often quiet. We would love to support this small business and I hope that my honest review here will inspire some of you to help them keep this place open. Guaranteed good food at a really really low price. read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

Tapa style Japanese food = feeling nickeled and dime The Good - No wait, quick service - Ramen starts at $5 base The Meh - Limited parking in downtown Los Altos area - Pricey, small portions (avg $3 for toppings) - Ramen didn't feel very high quality read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Dan Dan noodles - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

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This place has a simple menu and cheap too. $4 tonkatsu spicy noodles $2.50 shoyu egg Free squid appetizer Cheap food usually means not so great flavors/quality, and that's pretty much how it was here. Don't expect some fancy ramen noodles here; it's almost like top-ramen from a cup/bag. The squid appetizer was nice of them, but was cold and not crispy. You can't beat the prices though; sure is affordable for a quick meal! Staff are friendly! read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Tonkotsu (Tongkatsu) ramen - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

This place has decent reviews and a nice mom-and-pop feel but I was ultimately underwhelmed by the expensive prices and food. We tried: Cream cheese wonton 3/5: this was overly fried and filled with a salmon salad type of mixture, bringing the level of richness over the top. Potato cake 2/5: this looked promising in pictures but was essentially a McDonald's hash brown in taste and texture. Chicken don 3/5: this wasn't very flavorful and was an astonishing--and painful--$9.50. The chicken wasn't crispy and the egg was over cooked not runny at all. Ramen 2/5 - the broth didn't taste like tonkotsu, and the spicy layer of oil on top was gross and unappetizing. I hate to give a bad review for a local business but I just wasn't a fan. read more

Quaint little Asian fusion place in downtown Los Altos. Menu ranges from specialty sushi rolls to simple Chinese and Japanese dishes. You can order small tapas plates ranging from $2.50-$5.00 Great reasonably priced lunch specials. We ordered a specialty roll for lunch and it came with your choice of udon ramen or soba and edamame. read more

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Excellent dan dan noodles! Generous portions. Great service. Sit outside and people watch! We will be back! read more

This was my first time at Charley Noodle & Grill. The staff was very friendly and attentive with refills and their customer service was perfect. The pot stickers were big and full and delicious. The spicy beef noodle soup I ordered had soo much depth and flavor it was amazing. I will definitely be coming back here again. read more

Service 5/5 - Charley is very friendly and attentive. As soon as we walked in we were greeted, seated, presented with water and menus. We also received an appetizer on the house. Food 4/5 - The noodles and broth were fantastic. Very clean flavors and great texture. Sides were good but I wished there were a few more options. Price 4/5 - 4$ ramen is a great deal and you can get extra noodles. The serving size was a little small but it is 4$ so order two :) If you're looking for a simple ramen that has great clean flavors you gotta try this place! read more

Charley Noodle & Grill - Spicy Miso Ramen - Noodles Near Me - Los Altos, California

Terrible service, host begged my daughter for a tip and was incredibly rude and disrespectful to teens dining. Food is poorly made and overpriced. DO NOT RECOMMEND read more

I'm a native Japanese and can tell this place's Japanese cuisine is truly authentic Japanese and all in all good and very reasonable! It is not a fancy type of Japanese restaurant, but you can feel at home and cozy. I would say this is tapas Izakaya style. Sever lady is nice and effective and I and my daughter enjoyed conversation with her. With current rising rent, labor cost and price of food, you can not find this level of reasonableness in any type of restaurants in Los Altos and near cities. Highly recommended! read more

Nice, small, solid, fun service, broad menu, good food. I came here for a solo lunch the other day between meetings. The food was good -- lots of choices on the menu -- and the server helped me figure out which broth to match with which noodles with which protein (salmon, in my case). Good value for the money. Small, family feel. read more

This place was so amazingly good and the service was great! The food also tasted one of a kind!

I just came in to pick up an order.but this old lady didn't let me finished my sentence by replying your order is not ready.how rude!!first and last time ordering from this place. read more

Ambiance: 3 Star Service: 4 Star Food: 3 Star Value: 3 Star My feelings about Charley Noodle are strikingly familiar to my Yelp friend Tony L. I too miss the Japanese Curry place that occupied this space before. All of the food we had was good, not great. A number of the appetizers seemed like store bought heat up in the oven horderves. The extra spicy Tonkastu Ramen was satisfying although I found the broth a bit bland and not very spicy. The Katsu Curry sauce was uninspiring, runny and the potatoes all but mush. Service was quick, polite and attentive. The young lady behind me that used the word "Like" 16 times every sentence really drove home how small, cramped and loud the space is. If your looking for a quick, relatively cheap and filling meal Charley Noodle is worth a visit. Cheers! read more

Rude. My daughter and her friends who wanted to eat their were rudely thrown out with their food. For not ordering enough. The lady actually yelled 'get up' 'get up' at them and threw them out. Way to treat 12 year old kids. read more

Seems like I'm not the only one whose had a bad experience with the waitress there... The lady was very rude to me. I went to lunch with my friend and I like to order new things to try (usually end up taking most of it home and sharing with the hubby later ). But when I asked for my third item she looked me up and down and said "you've already ordered the noodles.." I said "yes that's correct. And I want these ones too." And she replied "that's way too much food for you. You already ordered noodles and a sushi roll. That's too much food for you to eat for lunch."..... it made me and my friend very uncomfortable. And when she brought us our food she looked at me and said "SEE. This is WAY too much food for you." I'm not sure if she was fat shaming me, being rude on purpose, or if there were some miscommunication... but honestly that was over the line. I'll never go back and would advise anyone to go anywhere else if in Los Altos. Also, as a side note, she never brought me the third item. Flat out refused. read more