Editor’s Note:
Our regular lunch reviewer, Wes Hennings, is taking a few weeks of paternity leave. While we assume he is still eating something, somewhere, he won’t be writing about it while he’s off duty. Meanwhile, ABD editor, Gary Kauffman will pinch-hit with the reviews of his lunches with a colleague, as a way to advise our business community on the good, the bad, and the tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let the restaurant know where he is going; his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review.”
Food Quality: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Business Meeting: 4
Value: 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I’ve probably driven past O’Charley’s in the Augusta Exchange a few hundred times without ever stopping there to eat. But when the first choice of lunch plans fell through recently, I decided to give it a whirl.
It’s not the easiest of places to get to if you’re coming through the Exchange; it requires a left turn through busy lunch-hour traffic and then driving through another parking lot to get there. However, if you’re driving from Wheeler Road, it’s an easy right turn right into their parking lot.
This is a chain restaurant so you never know what to expect, but my lunch companion and I were pleasantly surprised. The dining area is open and spacious, but it didn’t seem noisy even with a tableful of others enjoying a business lunch near our booth. It’s a good place for a quiet business conversation, or if you could snag one of the bigger tables, a larger meeting.
The service was very good, especially considering the tough time most restaurants have these days in attracting good help. Our server was prompt and checked on us several times, but not so much as to be intrusive.
Our initial perusal of the menu left us a bit disappointed. There was no lunch menu and the choices were not geared toward anyone watching their weight – if you’re counting calories, there was plenty to count.
My companion decided on the New Orleans Cajun chicken pasta while I settled on the Honey-drizzled Southern fried chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus. Despite its name, it was just about the only item listed below 1,000 calories on the menu. We both decided to drink non-calorie water.
But just in case we weren’t getting enough calories, the entrees include a basket of bread for the table. The bread was warm, the butter was soft and the calories tasted delicious.
My companion’s pasta was cooked al dente, which they liked, and they reported that it had just the right amount of Cajun seasoning to be tasty without being overpowering.
My chicken came with a light breading and was so tender and juicy, that I could cut it with a fork. It had just a drizzle of honey on it, but a cup of honey came on the side for dipping. The sweet potatoes and asparagus made a good complement to the chicken.
Overall, we both rated the food as very good.
Surprisingly, since we didn’t get drinks, the meal turned out to be quite affordable – with tax and tip, it worked out to be just a bit more than $15 apiece. A few years ago, that might have seemed pricey but from what I’ve experienced lately, that’s a pretty good deal these days.
O’Charley’s is probably still one of those places that will be frequently driven past without a thought and it probably isn’t worth a special trip. But if you’re in the vicinity of the Exchange, it’s certainly well worth consideration for a good business lunch.
