Daniella, I love you!!! So sad you guys shut down :( When I open my restaurant you can come be my sous chef

We were excited to come here and visit a place featured on Kitchen Nightmares. I only wish I lived closer. I would come here all the time. The pasta dish I had with shrimp and asparagus and lemon cream sauce was delish. The appetizer of calamari was the best I had ever had. My friends raved about the tomato soup and grilled mozzarella sandwich, the capered salad, and the penne pasta special. On the drive home one friend kept going on about the dessert she had - panna cota. I loved the decor of the restaurant too. Such unique details. We ate on the patio and I love that doggies are allowed. :)

We got a chance to try this place out last week giving enough time before the show airs so it wasn't too packed. Don't get me wrong though! There were quite a few people there on a rainy Wednesday night. Service was friendly and excellent. Food was delicious. Their meat lovers pizza was kind of amazing, and packed tons of meat. It's well worth the money, and if it's split between 2 people it'll stuff you. However, it can easily be shared with 3 or 4 people. I tried the peanut butter/chocolate panini for dessert, and it was by far the most interesting peanut butter sandwich I've had. The peanut butter was crunchy with decent size chunks of peanuts so it gave a nice crunch to the soft panini. They're served with a drizzle and a mini cup of raspberry sauce which complements it perfect. Definitely give this place a try. They have a large outside seating area, which was closed while we were there because of the rain. It's perfect for warm evenings or afternoons. Heck, there were heaters outside so it might even be perfect on colder nights.

Friends invited us out to dinner here after hearing that it'd be on "Kitchen Nightmares" in mid-February. We decided to try it before the show aired so we could avoid any possible crowds. I have no idea how this place was before the renovation, but it's good now! Service was excellent, waitress was attentive, and the food delicious. We tried the Spicy sweet almonds which were an interesting appetizer. They were roasted almonds covered in sugar, cinnamon, and a chile powder. They were good, but sort of a weird appetizer to have. I ordered the meat lovers pizza, and loved it. It was loaded with flavorful meat and the marinara they use is subtle with a hint of basil. The garlic cheesy bread was good, though I may have preferred more garlic. Their house bread had a dusting of salt and rosemary, which was good. Friends had lasagna which they demolished quickly. A steak which was cooked perfectly served alongside horseradish mashed potatoes. For dessert we had the chocolate and a chunky peanut butter panini with raspberry sauce. Everyone loved it. Perfectly roasted marshmallows were also included on the plate. This is definitely a nice place to grab dinner in La Verne. They have a large patio area with plenty of seating that will be perfect for warm summer nights. On the way out, I noticed a sign that said pets were welcome on the patio. If this is true, we'll definitely be back. There really needs to be more pet friendly venues.

Went back yesterday and ordered a meat lovers pizza. It was very flavorful with lots of cheese, pepperoni and sausage. I loved the hand made crust. Just the right thickness without being too crispy. My BF ordered the shell pasta with shrimp. YUMMY! I was eating it off his plate. The waitress suggested a bottle of Chardonnay from Argentina - I loved it. All in all, food remained great!

Charlie's is a pretty nice place to grab some good Italian food. I had the Filet Mignon, but I don't think that is Italian, it's French right? I know, I know. Why the heck go to an Italian restaurant and order a non-Italian dish but hey! Give me a break, they had it on the menu and I was craving meat! It was cooked the way I like my steak, medium-rare. The veggies tasted great and the mashed potatoes were good. My guest had pasta with lobster. That was mmmmmm good! I had a little bit of it. The service was great and the bread was warm and soft. I recommend seating out in the patio area if you can, if the weather it nice. I had so much food I couldn't order dessert, so maybe next time I'll order it. Overall it was a great meal and I'm glad I found this restaurant in La Verne.

Dining in the SGV is kinda like looking for a light switch in the dark -- you really have to know your way around. What follows is an all-too-familiar eating scenario. "I want something sit-down but not too pricey," says mom. "I want something with atmosphere," says dad. "I want italian, but I want the kind of italian you find in Westwood," says your snooty film school student cousin. "But we're in LaVerne," you retort, reminding your kin that the 909's idea of fine dining is a place where they cut your tie off, and call you city slicker. With a situation like this, you are likely to spend hours cruising Foothill blvd. looking for something other than Mexican or Fast Food. Thankfully, you downloaded the Yelp widget on your snazzy new iPhone and find Charlie's Italian Bistro. The patio seating with twinkle lights pleases dad, and your snooty cousin is very pleased with the thin crust Roma-Style Oven-fired pizzas. And mom, well let's just say there's no pleasing mom, BUT she doesn't balk at the bill and that's good enough. You are victorious. Thank you Charlie's!!!!!!!