Charleroi's food scene is unpretentious Belgian: solid brasseries, friteries (chip shops), and a sprinkling of Italian and North African restaurants reflecting the city's immigrant communities. The Ville-Haute around Place Charles II has the most concentrated restaurant options.
Belgian standards apply: mussels and chips, steak with Liège sauce, boudin noir (black pudding) with apple, carbonnade flamande (beef braised in beer). The local Côte à l'os (bone-in rib steak) is a specialty. Beer selection in any reasonable brasserie will run to dozens of Belgian labels.
The Place du Manège area in the lower town has several affordable options. For a quick lunch, the friterie near the Central station is a reliable Charleroi institution — the chips here are fried in beef fat in the traditional Belgian manner and are genuinely good.