Charles Street Dinner House, Mariposa

My husband and I were wondering down main street looking for somewhere to eat and as we were pondering the menu outside the chef appeared in the doorway. He was very friendly and offered up the location and offerings of all the towns restaurants. He assured us that if we did infact choose his restaurant we wouldn't be disappointed so we decided to give it a try. We were warmly greeted by the hostess who quickly led us to our table by the window. Our waitress was equally warm and welcoming and after taking our drink order returned to the table with an appetizer compliments of the chef. It was two butterflied cocnut prawns that sat on a baked cheese crisp accompanied by a small peeled tomato that was filled with pesto and manchego cheese. I don't eat seafood of any kind so my husband got the prawns and I got the tomato....YUMMY...We ordered the beer battered onion rings that were so light and flavorful and not a bit greasy. For dinner we shared the fried chicken with steamed veggies and roasted potatoes. Everything was so delicious, we will definitely go back any time we are in town!

Now a resident, after having moved here from a place where I am an experienced burger consumer, I was very dissapointed. I ordered the sirloin burger at a cost of $13,00, and was looking forward to a juicy delight. Not only wasn't it cooked medium as requested, but some sauce was added that wasn't stated on the menu. They did remake it, but it arrived long after my party of 6 had already finished eating, and I left embrarrassed as having had a problem and then got to pay the bill of around $15.00 for the priveledge.

We visited on a busy day. The food was average and the prices were $20 high for what we got. Perhaps on a less busy day the service would have been better.

My bf and I found ourselves in Mariposa, CA, on a Sunday night and read about this place online, so we went. My boyfriend loves lamb, so he ordered it. CSDH serves it with a mint glaze. I thought he was going to weep with joy when he tasted it. By far the best lamb he'd ever had in his life. I ordered the house special Scallone, which had nice flavor but a little too soaked in butter for my taste. A barely there wine list was an unfortunate fact. The Italian hot chocolate was completely unrelated to the creamy, flavorful concoctions I'd had in Florence, so eh on that. So the food was a big hit on one hand and a good try but a fumble on the other for us. But I must gush a bit about the service and ambiance. It was the weekend of the time change, so they were closing an hour earlier than we expected. (We were on vacation; time had become a meaningless concept.) When we called to see if we'd need a reservation, a very nice woman said they were closing up. Then she heard the disappointment in my voice and told us to come on down anyway, and they'd gladly serve us. We headed over posthaste. She graciously seated us and continued in that friendly, efficient vein until we said goodbye. Another couple came up after we'd been seated, and the hostess/waitress seated and served them just as wonderfully as she had us. The place is in a restored home that used to belong to the town doctor in the mid 1800s. Very cute and authentic looking. Overall, a great vibe and the prices were totally reasonable. That coupled with bf's happiness with the lamb more than made up for my quibblings, even if it hadn't been the last restaurant open on a Sunday night. We'll gladly go there again when we head back up to Gold Rush country -- with a bottle of wine from home or one of the myriad wineries in the region.

The people at Charles Street Dinner House put on a feast for the Gods. The New Zealand rack of lamb is our favorite not to mention the wine selection is first class. A warm family atmosphere with service to rival any 5 star eating establishment. If in Mariposa your trip is not complete until you dine at this wonderful place. Anglia & Shelly Simi Valley,CA

This place has unbelievable food! I

This restaurant was impressive. The atmosphere is relatively casual with a nice elegant and romantic feel. The service was decent - not great - but decent. And the food was well prepared and presented. The chef puts in the quality and effort to guarantee that you will have a good meal. For the price, it is worth it. Especially since there isn't much else in the vicinity of Mariposa to choose from.

the wonderful people there is the best part....the dessert(cheese cake) is to die for... and the wine selection is too much to handle... the choices many but the steaks are mmm a favorite of mine... the salmon when in season it the most moist i have ever had.. and would give anything to go back just for one smell or taste

The Charles Street food, ambiance and the service was excellent the few times that we have been there. We've had property in Mariposa for nearly 14 years and just never managed to visit Charles Street until last summer and we now wonder why we never tried them before. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago we did not make reservations because we don't have cell service on our property and we were told it would be a 15 minute wait. After 1/2 hour we were told it will be soon. After 45 minutes we were told about 5 minutes. We waited nearly 1-hour and walked away. Had we been told up front it was longer than 1/2 hour we would never have stayed and we believe this was because all of those people who were able to make reservations were getting in before us. Kind of put a damper on eating at Charles Street for a while. Sorry, but love your food.