Charlotte’s Restaurant, a Newtown Square landmark for decades, is known for its Victorian charm, consistently good food, soft ambience, and welcoming feel, writes Peg DeGrassa of the Marple Newtown County Press.

Charlotte’s location on West Chester Pike has a long and varied history. The property once served as a stop on the stagecoach route from Philadelphia to Valley Forge, and was later a part of the Underground Railroad.

But, according to DeGrassa, the history that named the restaurant was when an ever-graceful woman named Charlotte Costalas arrived in town.

She grew up on a farm in upstate Pennsylvania, left her 12 brothers and sisters, and traveled to Philadelphia, with family recipes in hand and dreams of opening a fine restaurant in her head.

Her recipes were used since the day her son, Gus Costalas, purchased the restaurant in August 1981. Two of Gus’s five sons, Jimmy and Chris, run the establishment today.

A large portrait of Charlotte hangs near the hostess desk so everyone can admire the lady who started it all. The family feels she is smiling down on them, proud of the restaurant’s longevity and success.

Chris Costalas manages the front of the house and the bar and is the “fixer” of all problems. Jimmy Costalas, a graduate of the Widener University School of Hotel and Restaurant Management who was taught by some of the area’s top chefs, oversees the restaurant’s operation in and out of the kitchen.

Click here to read more about Charlotte’s from the Marple Newtown County Press.