Charlie's Bar Aruba: San Nicolas Landmark Since 1941

Enjoyed lunch and drinks at Charlie’s. Deedee was great at service, knowledgeable and welcoming. Live music was an amazing bonus. When he broke out playing What a Wonderful World-made my day! Cocktails were cold and yummy.

If you’re anywhere near San Nicolas in Aruba, do yourself a favor and stop by Charlie’s Bar. We’ve been coming here for years and it’s one of those places that never gets old. Every time you walk in you notice something new. The walls and ceilings are packed with decades of history, random treasures, license plates, diving gear, and memorabilia from all over the world. It’s part bar, part museum, and 100% Aruba character. The food is always great too. Today we started with conch fritters (you have to ask about those), and then had the daily special which was ribeye steak and curry chicken served with rice and salad. Everything was delicious. One of the things we love most about Charlie’s is that it still feels authentic. It’s not fancy, it’s not trying to be trendy, and that’s exactly why it’s so good. Just a fun, laid-back place with good food, cold drinks, and a whole lot of stories hanging from the ceiling. Always worth a visit when we’re in Aruba. If you’ve been here before, you know exactly what I mean. 🇦🇼🍻

What a wonderful place! No where else on the island did we feel “at home” as we did at Charlie’s bar. Great atmosphere, wonderful staff and amazing food. Raul, John, Charlie III…very welcoming, funny and so much knowledge of the island. Now, this is a business. It is not there simply for your photo op. So if you want to experience this at it’s best, go inside, order a drink, have a seat and introduce yourself. Look around and ask questions. If drinking isn’t your thing, they have a great selection of entrees as well as appetizers (apps are not on the menu so ask). I can’t wait to see you all again!!!

This is a fun must-stop in Aruba. Food was good and my bar tab for a couple of hours of drinking and eating was incredibly inexpensive. Charlie is a non-stop source of stories and tales and literally stand there talking the entire time. Whether to you or somebody else the entire time, he's behind the bar. The look of the place itself is amazing and the only thing I can think of to compare it to is crazy country club in Brooklyn years ago, but even that doesn't do it justice. If you're in Aruba just go at least once and sit at the bar and I'm at people from all over the place.

This was hands down the best food and experience we had in Aruba. Called ahead to get reservations, they weren't needed for just the 2 of us but they still took my name and when we arrived I just gave my name to the greeter outside and he showed us to our table without even looking at a list. Our waiter rubbed me a little about scaring his reservation person, all in good fun. Charlies has their own way doing things and you should go along for the ride. Our server was excellent. Provided us with the daily specials and the apps they had that day. Beverages were brought quickly. When he noticed he had grabbed a Balashi instead of a Heineken like we ordered he immediately replaced it. The food was excellent and the timing of the dishes was spot on. It wasn't real busy but they seem to run a tight ship so I would expect it to be the same even if packed. We had the tuna and the grouper specials with the added shrimp on top. That with fries, rice and side salads was enough to hold us through to a late light dinner. We would definitely return!