Club Charles 1724 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201-5818 (410) 727-8815 (DB)

Club Charles on Charles street is where I went tonight. It is a bar right across the street from the Charles Theatre, Baltimore's premier "art house' theater. They were playing the film "Putty Hill" at the theater and the film's director, Matt Porterfield, was leaving the bar as I entered. He was going across the street to do a questions and answers bit after a showing of his film. Is the film good? Well, it has got nothing but quotes enclosed with those thin branches, so you know it has to be good. Club Charles is like a film noir , dark yet light. The bartenders know their stuff. Think if you went inside that Mos Eisley cantina from Star Wars but instead of aliens from all over the universe you got really trendy, hip, yet unpretentious folks. It is a place where the noise level is such that you can carry on a conversation. It is definitely  a night-time kind of bar, like Chris Rock would say about strip clubs, if you go there when there's daylight you have a problem. But if you want a bar to savor and make your own, Club Charles is that club. A professor once told me that his only wish was to forget all the Shakespeare he had ever read so that he could have the pleasure to read it again for the first time. That is the way I feel about this club. On a side note, I dropped that profs class as fast as I could get to the registrars office because let's face it, that's a little out there. Then again, so is Club Charles..in a good way.