By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – Nearly a century-old restaurant Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe is steeped in stories. Located on Columbus Avenue in the city’s South End, Charlie’s is known for serving visiting African American jazz giants during the era of segregated eateries and hotels.
It was a place that many in the white community would not patronize because approximately 99 percent of its customers were black. It was where entertainers like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Sammy Davis Jr. chose to dine. In fact, Davis was known to tap dance in front of the restaurant for change when he was a child. It was also where Irish mobsters and police could set aside their opposing positions on the law and dine in one space.
The floor above Charlie’s was once a union hall for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black porters’ union, founded by A. Philip Randolph, a labor unionist and civil rights activist. During the Jim Crow era, the Bible for black travel was the “Green Book.” In the 1949, the “Green Book” listings for African American neighborhoods in the South End included eight hotels and guest houses, nine restaurants, a couple of barbershops, a half-dozen tailors and the Savoy Nightclub where Malcolm X once shined shoes.
Old-school diner and coffee shop
Open since 1927 and often described as “equal parts old-school diner and neighborhood coffee shop,” locals have always loved the restaurant for its breakfast and hash. Charlie’s hash is reportedly so good until someone even wrote a book about it. During its first 32-year run, Charlie’s was a 24/7 restaurant that operated seven days a week for 36 years including Christmases, but that changed in the 1950s. After temporarily shutting down in 2014, the landmark restaurant reopened and a new dinner menu was introduced while the breakfast and lunch menus remains unchanged.
Moreover, it’s been a top stop for visiting politicians like former Vice President Al Gore and former President Barak Obama. Charlie’s has survived 17 presidencies, two closures, a pandemic and countless snowstorms. The restaurant has won numerous awards over the years and was bestowed the title of “American Classic” by the James Beard Foundation in 2005. In 2023, advocates sought landmark status for Boston’s remaining Negro Motorist Green Book listings – Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe and Slade’s Bar and Grill in Roxbury.
Colorful regulars
In a 2014 interview with Boston Magazine, the restaurant’s former co-owner Arthur Manjourides shared some wild stories involving two regulars. “Duke the Pickpocket” was a dapper dresser and professional pickpocket. Manjourides recalled that every once in a while, cops would call asking if Duke was in the restaurant. They would then shout out, “Is Duke the Pickpocket here?” and everyone would immediately check their wallets.
Another character was Arthur “Cookie” Cooke, aka “the mayor of Columbus Avenue.” Cookie was in his 80s and the restaurant’s doorman. He also was an entrepreneur of sorts. According to Manjourides, Cookie once told a person looking to buy a restaurant that he had one in mind for a mere $3,000. The man meets Cookie at Charlie’s with the money and signs a few papers as Cookie plies him with more and more booze to celebrate. The next day, the poor guy called to say he could not find his money or the signed papers. Cookie replies that it was not his problem. He had “sold” Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe while they were still open and unaware of this scheme. There is also the story of a flying turkey who mysteriously disappeared around one Thanksgiving.
Charlie’s now offers an all-new dinner menu featuring Italian family recipes and extended hours. The old countertops, watering station, and the bookie next door who kept watch are now gone but the memories live on.
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