Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published August 15, 2008 Dinner Only For Now, Tuesday Through Saturday Charlie's Steak House Reopens No restaurant inspired more calls and e-mails asking about its post-K fate than Charlie's Steak House, a dumpy old joint dating back to the middle 1920s. Practically since the day after the storm, hardly a day went by when someone didn't inquire about it. The anxious wait is over. After a few days of soft opening for friends and family, Charlie's opened Thursday, August 14. It served dinner Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday as it did before the storm, and will have dinner service only (for now) Tuesday through Saturday. The urgent curiosity was funny. Not even its fans would call Charlie's the best steak in town. On the other hand, it certainly was one of the most interesting places to eat hereabouts, with two matchless specialties. Nobody made better onion rings than the thin, golden, greaseless ones Charlie's always made. And although lots of restaurants serve a wedge of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese, for decades the only place you could find such a thing in New Orleans was Charlie's. Which did it better than anybody does now. The Petrossi family, which owned the place, was getting up in years. The widow of Charlie, Jr. didn't want to run it. Petrossi's sister Dottye Bennett--who was the main waitress there for decades--is now in her eighties. She may well be back, because she's apparently eager to work and in good shape. They sold the restaurant to Matthew Dwyer, a neighbor. He went into the storm-flooded mess and did a thorough renovation. It took many months longer than he supposed. But that's not a new story in the annals of the recovery. Dwyer managed to locate the old chefs who cooked at Charlie's, and pulled together all the old recipes. The menu (or lack thereof--Charlie's never had a printed one) will be the same as before: onion rings, salads. potatoes au grating, gigantic fried potatoes, and filets and T-bones  in three sizes (large, really large, and insanely large). A few items from Angelo Brocato for dessert. And that's it. By necessity, the place had to be gutted and thoroughly rebuilt. The bar will be much more pleasant. (How could it not be?) This much is certain: it will be quite awhile before you'll be able to get into this place quickly. The pent-up desire for its work is hard to imagine. Indeed, if all the people who called and wrote me about it had eaten there regularly, you would never have been able to get in. But you could, and that day will come back. Charlie’s Steak House. 4510 Dryades. 895-9705. Steak. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com