Charlie Shook · Since 1974
Fifty years of feeding Akron
Some pubs have a story. Ours has been cooking since 1974.
Charlie starts cooking for Akron
Long before the pub, Charlie Shook was catering the Akron area — first as the owner of Charlie's Restaurant and the Around The Clock restaurants. Fifty-plus years later, the roast beef is still the specialty and Charlie still knows most of the room by name.
Houston Hall opens
The banquet hall came first: weddings, showers, banquets — and eventually a stage. These days it even hosts live theater, with Charlie himself taking roles at Charlie's Place. See the Hall.
The pub upstairs
Houston Pub opened above the Hall with a simple idea: old school taste, Norton made. Scratch kitchen, honest prices, cold drafts, darts on the wall and a patio out back.
The next generation
Charlie's son Michael runs the day-to-day now, keeping the kitchen and the Hall moving. Charlie? He still greets tables, sits down for a story, and takes the stage when Charlie's Place puts on a show. Ask a regular — odds are he introduced himself their first visit too.
The crew
The folks who run the room
Regulars don't just have a favorite table here — they have a favorite person. Margo, LeeAnn, Courtney and Jackie run the floor, and Shannan holds down the bar (solo on the busy days, and you'd never know it).
The pub the neighborhood built
Community, weekly
Karaoke Wednesdays, live music Thursdays, wings when Cleveland plays. Kegs & Eggs in the spring, Oktoberfest in the fall, a customer-appreciation Christmas party, and theater runs downstairs at the Hall. The weekly rhythm lives here.
The room itself
Why it looks the way it does
Dartboards on the paneling, a stained-glass BAR lamp over the taps, Cleveland on the TVs, string lights over the covered patio — and now a teal building you genuinely can't miss. Unassuming outside, warm inside. That's the whole idea.
Charlie's usually around.
