Centennial Bar & Grille

FAMOUS FOR
- Building's History

BUZZ
- Fish Fry

I TRIED
- Baked 5 Onion (7/10)
- Mediterranean Chicken & Sausage Pasta (5/10)

I had a craving for a Vodka Martini, Dirty. I looked around Yelp for any bars, and around the Brown Deer area, there weren't many that I thought would spend the money to carry Ketel One. So I ventured out a bit and found this place. Decent reviews and decent # of reviews.

The place is old. It's actually over 100 years old, and had a life as a bordello and even a watering hole during Prohibition. There're small knickknacks here 'n' there, but I didn't really get a good glimpse. There are a few "sections" to this place that are sort of secluded from each other. Since no one greeted me at the door except a whole bunch of towny folk staring at me like I was the only Asian in town...oh wait..., I just  ducked underneath the glares and sat at an open spot at the bar...at the end I might add.

I had my martini, and then started ordering food. I know everyone talks about the fish fry, but I was really not in the mood today. I also wasn't in the mood for a sandwich/burger, which is about 85% of their menu! I wanted something more of an entree, but their choices are a bit thin when it gets to non "between bread" types of meals. I got the pasta and hoped for the best.

BAKED 5 ONION
This is French Onion soup. Soup, onions, croutons, and cheese. It was pretty good, not too salty, and I definitely could taste different types of onions in there! There were sweeter ones and bolder ones. If you're like me and absolutely hate raw onions, there's nothing to be afraid of here. It's really just like your average French Onion, but with slight variances in taste.

PASTA
There's Mediterranean chicken, Italian sausage, artichoke, sun dried tomatoes, black olives, onions, and spinach tossed in pasta in a white wine & olive oil sauce.

The flavor of the chicken is excellent! It's like 1/2 way there to Tandoori. It's got that lemony and smoky flavors that are good, but not as noticeable as Tandoori. Seasoning is weak, and the chicken is very dry! The whole dish is not a saucy dish like Alfredo. And unlike other oil/wine based pasta dishes, there isn't any additional oil/wine in the dish. I usually would like that to dip bread in, or provide extra seasoning/flavor but there is 0 excess. The chicken has to be eaten with other veggies to sort of give it a moisture boost. The tomatoes, olives, and spinach all actually pick up the slack in seasoning, or what acts as it because of a salty/sour taste from the wine or lemon.

All in all, this dish is really not one of my favorites and isn't something I'd order again. It's like something I can make at home if I just toss a bunch of veggies, pasta, and olive oil. There's nothing really "inspiring" about it, or anything crave-worthy.

NOT IN A HUNDRED YEARS!
Unless I had another hankering for a vodka dirty martini shaken, which actually I am right about now, I don't think I'll be back. The only thing, other than the martini, that MIGHT make me want to come back is all this talk about their fish fry. Guess that's a popular thing in Mequon, and most people who reviewed this place mention it. So...ok...curiosity and a martini may make me come back!

We really like the friendliness at Centenial. The food is  good but we had the nachos last visit and there is something about fluorescent green and red colored chips that was a turn off.

Sunday brunch at Centennial:  April 7, 2013

Look online to see when Centennial opens:  10AM

Arrive at Centennial at 10:27AM.  There are zero cars in the customer parking lot.

Approach the door.  It is locked.  Posted hours clearly say "SUNDAY:  10AM"

Call Centennial.  They say that they are open.  They come and unlock the doors.

We are the only people in the restaurant, along with a hostess, a bartender, and three servers.  

It still takes 7-8 minutes for someone to come over and greet us after being seated.  

The menu seemed like it had decent options, but I wanted a basic breakfast, so I ordered the "blue plate" with scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, bacon, and their "signature" rosemary potatoes.  

The eggs were overcooked and not at all fluffy.  

The toast was the equivalent of Wonder Wheat bread.

The bacon was truly inedible--and that's saying something, because we're talking about bacon here.  I don't know how you screw up bacon this bad, but the flavor sucked, it was rubbery, and it smelled bad.  I had two bites and spit the second one out.  

The rosemary potatoes were fine, but nothing that I couldn't have improved upon at home.  

Centennial:  failure on the service, failure on the food