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Charcoal Chef
670 Main St. North
Woodbury
203-263-2538

By MARYELLEN FILLO
The Hartford Courant
Published: 9/1/05

"It's a Treat That Can't Be Beat" is the nearly 50-year-old kitschy saying of Woodbury's Charcoal Chef, a Route 6 landmark restaurant in Woodbury.

It opened in 1956, when Route 6 and roads like it served as the main thoroughfares from one place to another. Since then, the popular family restaurant has maintained its original claim to cooking fame: real charcoal broiling.

For diners, that means flavor and juiciness more contemporary appliances like gas grills and range broilers just can't deliver.

Hamburgers were juicy, thick and enticingly scored by the grill of the kitchen's brick charcoal pit used to prepare an assortment of other entrees including chops, steaks and fish like swordfish, halibut and rainbow trout.

"The meat and fish pick up the flavor of the flames," explained manager Paul DeWitt, who has worked for 30 years managing the place opened by Vee and Bob Sanderson, who also ran a farm that shared the acreage with their restaurant. "We don't offer anything real fancy, but it's casual, friendly, and a lot of good food for the price."

I would venture to guess you cannot find a better meal deal than at the Charcoal Chef, and a host of statewide "best value" awards attest to the bargain. A sirloin steak dinner for $16.25 includes baked potato or fries and a hefty salad that happily (for me) included more cucumber and tomato than it did lettuce. My chopped steak dinner ($9.25) included a giant piece of ground meat, french fries and baked beans that I'd venture did not come from a can. A fellow diner's cube steak dinner ($8.75) was tender and tasty. On Fridays only there is rich New England clam chowder for $3.25 a cup or $4 a bowl, and on Wednesday there is homemade beef stew for $4.50.

The good-sized restaurant, a throwback to a time when knotty pine, cute wallpaper and lots of memorabilia ruled the decorating world, has a full bar and an extensive, diner-style, two-page menu for lunch and dinner. Among the choices are deep-fried dinners including Cornish hen for $8.25 and scallops for $12.25, charcoal-broiled sandwiches from $3.25 to $5.25, side orders including shrimp cocktail for $7.25, soft shell crab sandwiches for $7.25 when in season and ice tea or lemonade for $1. Homemade desserts include a raisin-studded rice pudding that elicited raves from two fellow diners, once they polished off the sundae dish-sized portion.

The restaurant, a destination spot for many area residents, also serves breakfast.

Judith Doran, Sanderson's daughter, and her husband Jack, who now run the place, are quick to share some restaurant trivia, including the fact that when the restaurant opened, diners could enjoy the food and then take their kiddos to see the farm animals next door.

The ambience evokes nostalgia of a time gone by when dinner was meant to be social as well as functional and there was an unwavering trust in others. I was so wrapped up in the moment, that I panicked a bit when I noticed a sign that said "no credit cards" and wasn't sure I had the cash to cover dinner.

So I couldn't help but smile when a waitress overheard my despair as I began digging in my purse for money, reprimanding myself for depending too much on my debit card.

"Don't worry," she said. "We take checks."

Don't you just love it?

Extras:

Cuisine Burgers/Hot Dogs, American/Classic, Sandwich Meals Served Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Parking Available in lot. Payment Method Cash Only, Checks (CT checks only) Price Range Entrees: $12.25-$16.25 Reservations Not accepted. Services Carry Out (Full menu available for carry out.) Spirits Full Bar Wheelchair Access Entrance & restrooms are accessible.