Char-Hut

Critic's Review

I changed my mind at the last minute about where I planned to go for lunch, and I found myself on Commercial Blvd. I saw that Char Hut was open, so the decision was made.

You can't see what's going on from the outside, but once I opened the door I saw a Chipotle-like line. The difference at Chipotle is that it moves really fast. Here, the "char-grilling" takes time, so the line moves very slowly.

Char-Hut Commercial Line

The Char Hut in Davie is a real fast food joint, but this place is going for more of a Smashburger style ambiance; more upscale. The Decor is certainly better than Davie. But this is not fast-casual; you have to wait for your food and carry it out yourself.

Char-Hut Commercial Interior

It took 20 minutes to get to the register, where you order half of your burger. You order the burger, bun and cheese; the rest of the fixings are added at the end of the counter. I ordered a standard char burger, rosemary fries and a "freestyle" drink; the girl at the register didn't know what that was, even though that's what it says on the menu. It's "Fountain Drink" on the register.

You can watch your burger being made through plexiglass. It reminded me a little of a car wash, where everyone stands in the middle watching their car go through.

Char-Hut Grill

I added sauteed onions and mushrooms to the burger, and they put some pretty regular looking french fries on the tray. "Those are Rosemary Fries", I asked. "Yes".

They have a multi-function iced tea machine and the Coke FreeStyle machine for drinks. They also have fresh lemon.

Char-Hut Beverage Station

Finding a seat was no problem. When it takes longer to make your food than it does to eat it, the dining room doesn't have a chance to get filled. There was still a hefty line when I sat down.

Char-Hut Commercial Line (20 minutes later)

Time to dig in. I tasted a fry. It was a regular french fry. Great.

Char-Hut Char Burger and Fries

There was a manager or owner guy at the door, so when he passed by me I asked if I had the rosemary fries. He just grabbed them and said he'd get them for me. I assumed that he could tell by looking at them that I had the wrong ones.

Meanwhile, I checked out the burger.

Char-Hut Char Burger w/Mushrooms and Onions

As you saw on the grill, they flatten the burgers out to make them cook faster; it's only 1/4 lb of beef. I like Kaiser Rolls. It was a very good burger. A runner brought out the fries.

Char-Hut "Rosemary" Fries

These also tasted like regular fries; they were more well done. Rosemary is green; humor me with some flakes. They probably spray the fries with some "rosemary infused" oil that didn't get infused very much. Not worth $3.29 in any sense of the imagination.

Conclusion

While the burger was good, the prices here are over the top. For 1/2lb cheese burger without fries it's $8.79; my order was $13.25, which is too much for a 1/4 lb fast food burger. They're pricing the place as a better place than it is. The fries are lousy and they charge an extra $1 to spray them with tasteless oil. Avoid the fries.

But the big problem is logistics. It takes too long to make the food, so you can't come here at lunch or dinner time. The food isn't worth a half hour wait. They need to get a grill guy who can get more on the grill at once. They're just too slow to handle any kind of crowd at all.