Charlie B’s Pub & Eatery

Basic Information:

Location: 635 N Main St, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18705
Phone Number: (570) 822-4443
Normal Wing Price: $9.75 a Dozen
Wing Night: Tuesday
Wing Night Price: $9.95 All-You-Can-Eat Wings
Wing Flavors:

Mild, Hot, Stinger, Butter & Garlic, Butter Garlic Parm, Cross Valley, Funyun, BBQ, Honey Garlic, BBQ Citrus Chipotle, Sriracha Honey Mustard, Pooner Spicy BBQ, Honey Mustard, Charlie B Mild, Charlie B Hot, Cajun, Boom Boom, Hilldale, ShantyTown, Hudson BBQ Blue, Teriyaki, Sweet Red Chili, Mild or Hot Garlic, Mango Habanero

Links: Facebook
Notes:

Wing Night lasts from 5 PM to 9 PM.

  • Charlie B’s - 03/27/18

    Overall Rating: 83

    Lynch Serniak

    Lynch's Rating: 39 out of 50

    Environment: 8

    We ventured outside Lackawanna County based on a suggestion we received to check out Charlie B’s in Wilkes Barre. Actually, I think the suggestion said they are located in Plains, and other sources claim they are in Plains too, but Google maps says Wilkes Barre, and that’s our source of truth. Either way, it is in an area I hardly venture to, so I’ve never noticed the place before. Walking up to the entrance, it appeared there was a small patio area for some outdoor dining during nicer weather. Unfortunately, we are not at that point in the year yet, so we made our way inside. We entered into a spacious bar area that was up to date and clean. Charlie B’s has a pool table, a number of dart boards, a juke box, checkers, and plenty of other things to pass the time while waiting for your food. The main bar area allows smoking, but we either had a non-smoking crowd or it is well ventilated because I didn’t really notice it. If you are easily affected by smoke, they do have a smoke-free dining area to enjoy your meal. I will say, it did take a bit of time to get our orders in. It seemed that the bartender was the only person handling the floor, pulling double duty between the bar and waiting on tables. Regardless, she handled it very well and was super nice and helpful with any questions we had. For their wing night, Charlie B’s offers all-you-can-eat wings for $9.95. This is fairly rare so it’s always awesome to come across. The waitress was good at taking our next order when we received our current batch of wings, but be prepared to have a 5-10 minute gap between your orders of wings.


    Wing Size: 9

    Charlie B’s is one of the few places that offers an all-you-can-eat wing night. The wing night is Tuesday from 5 PM to 9 PM on Tuesday night. It will cost you $9.95, which is a great deal depending on your appetite. There is one little caveat to the price, though. In order to advantage of the all-you-can-eat wings, you must also order an alcoholic beverage. If you do partake in the wing night feature, you start with an order of 8 wings of any sauce you’d like. From there, you can get additional orders of 6 wings. You can get the same sauce or switch it up to try something different. This could continue until you’re good and full. The wings here are pretty large and in charge. It’s kind of a catch 22 though, because with an all-you-can-eat option, you want to try as many wings and sauces as possible, but you’re pretty stuffed after the first two orders. Regardless, for $9.95, you’re guaranteed to leave stuffed since you get to decide when you’ve had enough.


    Wing Flavors: 8

    If you’re looking for a place with a wide range of sauces and unique flavors, definitely head over to Charlie B’s. There is something on the menu that is sure to catch your eye. On top of your usual flavors like Hot, Honey Mustard, and Butter & Garlic, Charlie B’s offers some harder to find options and some great flavors with truly unique names. They even give you a good variety of different BBQ sauces, which would be interesting to try them all side by side. I guess another all-you-can-eat wing night is in order. Here’s a breakdown of the interestingly names sauces:

    • Hilldale – Garbage Sauce, which is a mix of a number of different sauces
    • ShantyTown – Smoky Bacon Ranch
    • Cross Valley – Sweet and Spicy sauce
    • Funyun – Vidalia Onion flavor
    • Charlie B Mild and Hot – Traditional hot sauce mixed with blue cheese

    Pooner Spicy BBQ – BBQ with blend of unique spices


    Wing Taste (x2): 7

    I want to start out by saying these wings were cooked to perfection. They were crispy on the outside and meaty and juicy on the inside. The first sauce I ordered as part of my all-you-can-eat wing extravaganza was the ShantyTown. When it was described as smoky bacon ranch, I was sold. The sauce was a creamy buffalo sauce with a good kick from the hot sauce, a taste of ranch, and a small hint of bacon. They were a pretty tasty wing, but I wish there was a bit more of that bacon smokiness in the flavor. That would have knocked it out of the park for me. Next up was the regular Hot. I thought these were slightly above average, mostly due to a good, strong cayenne pepper heat to it that I enjoyed. The last wing I ordered was the Mango Habanero. This sauce was a thicker, sticky sauce with a great balance of heat and sweet. The habanero pepper flavor hits you up front and the mellow sweetness from the mango follows on the backend. The habanero with you a bit after finishing the wing, but not in an unbearable wing. My past experience with mango habanero is that it’s too sweet of a wing, but Charlie B’s does it right.

    Serniak's Rating: 44 out of 50

    Environment: 9

    Maybe called the pride of Plains or at the very least should be an honorable mention to be called the pride of Plains is Charlie B’s. We’ve been told about this place from a few kind souls and since folks think we don’t go there enough, we’ve been ordered to make Luzerne County more a part of our quest and since we always listen to our audience we made the trek to Plains. Entering the bar area, I instantly got the feeling that I just walked into someone’s awesome basement or rec room. You know the kind I’m talking about. The kind that has fun games to play like pool, darts maybe a poker table that also has a bar in there only this bar was a lot bigger than Wally’s but it’s a business so that just makes sense. The place was very clean and unbeknownst to me until the end of our time there was that Charlis B’s is a smoking bar. I had no idea until I saw the ash treys. I didn’t even notice. The place has a bar area with around 5-7 tables on the sides of it that all had paper towel rolls on them. I love when places do something as small as put paper towels on your table. Gives me the idea that I should order a ton of messy food just so I have a good reason to use it.

     

     

    There also is a dinning area through some doors. I can tell you that each side of the bar/restaurant has a fire place. I’m very pro fire place and personally I don’t want to meet the person who isn’t. The theme of the bar was definitely sports. All over the walls there were plaques, pictures of football, baseball the sweet science that is boxing and Nascar. At the bar area there are 8-10 TVs, so watching a game there is well in play. Our server was also the bartender and the only person there at the time. We didn’t sit at the bar so she was back and forth from the tables to the bar area. It was quite impressive. She was also real cool with us giving us the lowdown on the operation of their wing night and explained the different wing sauces they had. Just a real nice setup across the board that you can go to for any occasion.


    Wing Size: 8

    Okay, here’s how it works at Charlie B’s on their wing night. Best bring your notebook and pencil because you’re going to want to write this down. Their wing night is on Tuesday nights from 5-9. It’s an all you can eat setup but it’s not a buffet and it’s $9.95. How it works is that you say you want to do the all you can wing deal and they’ll tell you “cool, but you need to get a drink with that.” No big deal. Most folks get a beverage or 8 2 with their wings. The first order of wings you get come in order a of 8 and every order you get after that come in a order of 6. Sounds fantastic right? Here’s where I respect the genius of Charlie B’s. You get it in your mind that it’s all you can eat for $9.95, which it is and at that price is outrageously awesome for wing prices in today’s wing world but then you have to get that drink which is probably a 3-4 dollar item putting the grand total at least at $13-$14. So you get the first 8 and you mow them down and then you have to order again for the next 6 and wait around 10-15 minutes for the next order. That’s an eternity in digesting time. Your body is dealing with that first 8 and then you get another 6 after you just sat and drank more. Here’s the part that you might not know about, which thank the Lord the NEPA Wingmen exist to tell you but the wings at Charlie’s B’s are enormous. Like Jurassic Park sized wings. I finished my 8 and I knew I was in for an uphill battle. Really examine the picture of our wings connected to this blog to try and get a sense of the size. Lynch and I mustered 16 wings each. 16 of the some of the biggest wings you’ll ever find. The reason for the size explained on their menu and our server is they are as fresh as they can get them. Our server said they get their wings on Tuesdays, the day of their wing night. These wings were so genuine that you could the individual dimples on them where there once was a feather in it. Not sure how unique that is but I feel like I never noticed that before. Overall, I respect how Charlie B’s brings you in, lulls you with their all you can eat talk and then you just nail with gigantic wings knowing full well the average person is only going to get through 14 wings. To that I say


    Wing Flavors: 9

    Charlie B’s has an excellent selection of wings. They don’t just have your standard wing flavors that you see everywhere, they just don’t have 24 flavors in all, which they do, they have a good spectrum of flavors as well as uniquely sounding wings. They have flavors named Cross Valley, Hilldale, Funyun(guess what that one is) Pooner Spicy BBQ, ShantyTown and Hudson BBQ Blue. I’m always a sucker for interesting wing names. Such an easy thing to do that I feel generates curiosity which leads to people ordering them to find out what it’s all about. I fall for it every time. The Shanty Town are smoky bacon ranch, the Hilldale is like a “garbage” style which is a mixture of several flavors in one, Charlie B hot and Charlie B mild are their hot and mild mixed with blue cheese. Even sriracha honey mustard, which is pretty self explanatory is a sauce I’ve never seen on a menu before. Hope they keep looking to add more.


    Wing Taste (x2): 9

    I partook in 3 different flavors at Charlie B’s. Believe me, I had all intentions to get at least 4 different flavors but like I said Jurassic Park 7 happened and I could only will myself to get 3. I know, my body needs to be able to adjust to the circumstances. I don’t feel bad about my performance. My first order were the “garbage” style Hilldale wings. I like those style of wings because it’s just a bunch of the different wing flavors wrapped in one. Reminds of America. If I ever have a wing joint I will have that style of wings and I will call that flavor America. Anyways, they were real good. I think the most prominent flavor that was in there was honey mustard. There was probably blue cheese and a few others in there as well. There was a table of other gentlemen near us who were chanting the name Hilldale to the server. Obviously, the Hilldale are a hot item there. The next flavor I got was the sriracha honey mustard. As we all are aware, sriracha is the condiment of the future so whenever I see it on a wing menu, or in my cupboard or on the street, I have to have it. The sriracha mixed with honey mustard was very flavorful. You had the sweet of the honey, the twang of the mustard and finally the hammer that is the heat that comes from sriracha. It’s kind of like a home run where that flavor touches them all. The last flavor, Lynch and I shared, were the mango habanero. It wasn’t my choice but when it’s half the wingmen’s b-day, you let them get the final say. They were as advertised. They weren’t to spicy because of the habanero. Instead they were well balanced with the sweetness of the mango. Important to note that even at their extreme size, the wings still had a nice crispness to them.