Dashboard

BIZ MENU
0% 0% 0% 0%

Leave a review or a tip...


Reviews & Tips

  • 0

    Never go there at night- had my CK peacoat, brand new phone, and keys stolen. When I asked the bouncer what happened, he gave me another peacoat from under the bar. Thanks. If you are a dead beat you might like this place- that's pretty much the crowd you'll get.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    O.M.G.

    I do not/not hand out five-star ratings on a regular basis, but El Centro totally wowed me last night.  

    I famously do not like Mexican food.  I do, however, like whatever El Centro puts on a plate.  

    Strawberry Margarita, rocks:  Totally like the delicious tears of a tropical angel.  And this is from a person that generally HATES the icky sweet and sour yuckiness of margaritas.

    That cheese in the cast iron thing with sauces and corn tortillas:  Totally worth two days of constipation.

    That chicken with red sauce, cheesy, buttery, creamy white rice and black beans:  Totally worth negating a week of gym time and creating an unpleasant smelling work environment the day after.

    Tres Leches:  Totally tastes like tres leches.

    That is all.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Taco Tuesday is such a great deal, I almost don't want to tell you about it. Same for the mezcal flights. The downstairs bar can be a surprisingly quiet spot if you time it right - before 10:30.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    3.5/5, rounding up because I love tacos. We came here for dinner before a show at the Black Cat and it was hopping even on a Tuesday - which is not surprising for 14th street, but still, I was surprised. The rooftop bar was...a rooftop bar on 14th street. It's a shame that you can't eat a real meal up there on nice nights. We got a table right next to the open kitchen on the first floor. We started with table-side guacamole, mashed before our eyes into awesomeness. We forged onwards with tacos. It was taco tuesday and the tacos were on special. My vegetarian dining partner got the nopal (cactus) taco, which he reports was pretty good, but the cactus itself didn't taste like much. I got the Tacos al Pastor (pork tacos cut from the spit, shawarma style), which were simply paired with pineapple salsa, onion, and cilantro. Very good. The platters on which the tacos were served were  fussy - there are indentations for every little thing, which I was not remotely coordinated enough to deal with, and I ended up spilling most of my salsa on the table. Sad face. Overall it was a good meal and I'd like to hit it up El Centro again.  This is a 3.5: Date night points deducted for lackluster veg flavor, silly platters, and the general vibe of being clearly more committed to slinging margs than serving food, even on a Tuesday.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Oh El Centro. I love your happy hours and weekend dance parties in the basement... you hardly disappoint. Today, however you have led me to say that your brunch sucks. Bottomless drinks means just that.. my glass should never be empty and your mimosas ( my drink of choice for brunch) should indicate that champagne is in the mix. If I wanted to drink 8 orange juices, i would have had a jug and drank at home. Thoroughly disappointed in the mimosas, so much that will make me rethink whether I go back to this place for brunch again. Also, to add insult to injury, the difference between a hard boiled egg and a poached egg is one star. BOOM.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I went to El Centro kind of on a whim and on a craving for some tacos al pastor while walking around DC killing some time a few weeks ago.

    First - Happy Hour: really good margaritas.  You can choose from a very wide variety of tequilas to customize your margarita if you choose, or just go for the rail version.  I would highly recommend choosing your own tequila and adding a Grand Marnier floater.  The bartenders upstairs are very good and they use the straw-and-finger method to taste each margarita they make to make sure it's good before they serve it, so the quality control is there.

    Second - Food: very good.  Very, very good.  I'm a big fan of mexican food, and El Centro does not disappoint.  First the guacamole is very tasty, and the spicy version is not so spicy that it is inedible like some places who go overkill on the serrano pepper.  The tacos al pastor were absolutely great.  It's easy to mess them up, but the ingredients here are clearly fresh and not cheap like some other places.  Rice and beans were also delicious.

    Overall, I think it's great.  Looks like a great location for late night, too -- right on 14th Street in NW near downtown.  Highly recommended.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Such tasty food and drinks!! But it IS loud during the dinner rush. Wish they could have some noise absorbing tech/decor.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    The best margarita I've had. Duck confit tacos with crema and goat cheese was not only full of colors and textures but every bite had a different taste. The salsa we had at the bar had no sign of cilantro which is a major plus for me.

    Our bartender Eduardo made incredibly fresh tasting margs on the rocks. I could have drank those all night.

    I ordered the beef barbacoa. The beef was shredded and full of flavor. The rice on the left was perfect. The beans on the right could have been a gallon serving size and I would have finished it all.

    Several toddlers in there on a Monday night and no one seemed to mind.

    We'll be back for sure. One of the most memorable meals I've had in DC in a long time.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I had some pretty decent pork tacos at El Centro DF, pork was prepared nicely, I appeared to have a nice breading or was at least browned very well. The added mango toppings really added to the flavor and was a welcome add on to the pork flavor.  The shell had a wonderful flavor as well.

    What was more impressive was the mojito, this was probably one of the best ones I have been able to sample in the area.  Perfect balance, between rum, lime juice and syrup, I also really enjoyed the half of lime placed in the glass, I was able to add more juice throughout the drink.

    Place itself was interesting, I didn't get the check out the entire place as I was seated in the area right near the entrance. From what I was able to see the place appears rather large with an open kitchen  that appeared to extend towards the back of the restaurant.

    I had a decent time here and could see myself going back to try other menu items.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Had the Saturday bottomless brunch here with 9 friends, they seated us in the lower level (we had a reservation for 10:30).

    Great food (we took them up on their offer to bring us various stuff off the menu).  There is a huge variety and you can eat anything you want off the menu.

    There is a wide variety of bottomless drinks and you can mix and match.  Not too loud, I thought the decor was great.

    4 instead of 5 stars because the server sometimes left us stranded for a little longer that we'd like (but nothing terrible).  If I could do 4.5 I'd give that.

    Will definitely be back.  Looks like a fun place to sit and have a margarita at the bar as well.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    THis was quite a surprise! We went here for Sunday brunch at the last second and I'm realllly glad we came here. This definitely made up for the blah brunch had the previous week at Zengo's. Unlike Zengos, El Centro had a lot of taste to all the foods on the brunch menu. Of course we had the bottomless drinks/food. We told the waitress that we wanted to try everything on the menu and she did a good job of bringing out everything/remembering foods that haven't been brought out. For $35 it was a good deal.

    Tried my first lengua tacos...AMAZING. Was too full from all the previous plates to eat the entire thing, but I will def try the tacos first the next time I go there.

    Mimosas are good, but El Centro had these fresca drinks that had vodka/tequila then  mixed with different fruits (watermelon, pineapple, habiscus). Those were very delicious!! Watermelon was very crisp/fresh.

    I will be coming back....FO SHO!!!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I had an absolute wonderful experience!!!  Barbara took great care of me and large group of my friends earlier this week.  We sat at the bar for appetizers and cocktails.   The managers were all very polite and helpful, especially Brendan who came by and checked several times to make sure everyone was happy.  We were all so impressed with the drinks that we plan on making this the regular Margarita Monday spot for our single girls night.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Sexist institution that does not allow male scholars to wear backpacks. But women can wear purses. Tried to reason with management, they did not know what they were doing. Really disappointed in this place

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I dined at El Centro last night with fairly low expectations. This place is known by most as a place to drink and get shitty, but we got there early enough to have a few drinks comfortably and dine on some tacos.

    The drinks: the Michelada and the spicy margarita. The Michelada was a combo of tecate, tomato juice and freshly squeezed lime (it was fresh...I saw him squeeze it). This drink was tasty but the lime was overwhelming. The spicy margarita was nothing extraordinary but was not terrible. Could certainly have been more spicy.

    The food: guacamole and nopal tacos. The guacamole was prepared table side and was really tasty. I generally prefer mine a little chunkier, but couldn't have been any fresher. Nopal tacos were delicious and the rice and beans that joined them were equally good. The servers brought out some other sauces...one which was habanero based and made me sweat! It was delicious.

    Considering that DC is a pretty crappy landscape for Mexican food, I was impressed!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    $35 all you can eat and drink brunch.

    People. Why are you waiting for an hour plus across the street when this deal awaits you?!

    I'll admit, my friends and I were also headed to the new Ted's Bulletin for brunch on Sunday, but the hour to hour and a half wait was far too long. Spotted across the street, El Centro! We walked in just as the table occupying the large high top near the front window walked out. Score! I don't think I would have enjoyed sitting in the back part of the restaurant as much, especially on such a beautiful day.

    To drink, your choice of endless bloody Marias, micheladas, and aqua fresca cocktails. I personally chose to mix and match, starting with a couple micheladas (delicious) and ending on a sweeter note with an aqua fresca (if you don't like super sweet, ask for the drink without triple sec).

    Of the food I tried, the guacamole, chicken tinga tacos, chicken tinga tamale, grilled chicken quesadillas and picadillo empanada were my faves. I also tried the shrimp ceviche, which everyone at the table agreed was more like a gazpacho. Still good, just very soupy. We finished with the postres trio, and the Mexican French toast was just delicious.

    We ended up doing two rounds of food between four people, and the time between our orders was pretty significant, although we all agreed that we'd rather enjoy a leisurely brunch than be rushed. Two plates per person should satisfy for that first round.  

    El Centro is probably one of the better restaurants I've been to in DC. I'll definitely want to hit their brunch up again next time I'm in town.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Upscale Mexican places seem to get a bad rap in DC:  yes, you pay more for much of which is essentially glorified street food, but guess what?  These kind of places exist in Mexico too.  Having lived there for over a year, I can tell you that there are plenty of Mexicans who wouldn't be caught dead eating tacos off the street.  They want a comfortable environment where they can have a nice meal and drinks, and I think Ricardo Sandoval has done a good job replicating that kind of place.  And oh, by the way, have you seen some of the prices for burgers in this town?!?!

    Anyway, I really dig the basement tequileria; great for DC's muggy summers with a great selection of tequilas and mezcals.  The Maldito margarita with serrano was excellent, as were the tacos al pastor (also referred to as tacos al trompo in the north of Mexico) that come in stainless steel taco holders with grilled pineapple, onions and cilantro.  The guacamole (made table-side) was one of the better versions I've had (beats Rosa Mexicano) with a nice amount of heat.

    I was there pretty early in the evening, so I can't speak to the complaint that it essentially turns into a bar/nightclub later in the evening.  All I can say is that I had a damned fine meal and left happy.  Oh, and the log sink in the bathroom is a pretty cool feature.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Well, I didnt go there today...this was an experience from 1 month ago...

    Our saturday get away and we decide to try two mexican restaurants in DC....

    This one was last...but last and dissapointing...

    I had lengua tacos, witch were ok only...the drink i got nothing special I cant even remember...

    Hubby got the carne asada...that had a sauce that overpowered the meat...a waste of a perfectly cook peace of meat....

    Service....dry like a toast....blah..

    Not again

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I was able to experience their bottomless brunch here. It was delicious! The alcoholic drink options with bottomless brunch are limited but I still enjoyed it. The food exceeded my expectation (I am Mexican). The are a happy medium between street food and fine dining. Would definitely do it again!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    For a night of dancing in the basement, for frozen margaritas at a rooftop happy hour, for dinner (order the guacamole), and for brunch, El Centro does not disappoint.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Buyer Beware - I went to El Centro yesterday as part of a group for their $35 bottomless brunch. The food was good and the service was very responsive, yet I am providing a review to bring one of their policies to light.

    Our group made reservations for 12 yet only 11 showed. When the check arrived we were charged for 12 bottomless brunches. The informed us that their policy is to charge based on the number of people that they reserved seating for, not how many actually consumed their food and drink. It felt like a bait and switch since there was no reference to this "policy" anywhere. The food was ordered individually, so it is not like they prepared anything for that additional person that was wasted or thrown away.  Additionally, unless they were planning to sit a single individual at our table of 11, there wasn't an opportunity cost associated with that single chair going empty.

    Maybe they are just pioneering a great new business idea,  money in exchange for neither goods nor services.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Last night, my best friend and I went by El Centro for dinner. I absolutely love this place! Great decors, vibe, and amazing food/drinks. The staff were amazing as well. Our waitress was very informative--she went over the food and drinks menu--very in-depth. We started out with the spicy mango margarita--highly recommended. The drink had fresh mango puree. We ordered the guacamole--which was really fresh and flavorful!  For appetizer, we got the tacos (fish, beef tongue and duck). I thoroughly enjoyed the beef tongue and duck--it was cooked perfectly. For the main entree, I got the salmon. EVERYONE SHOULD ORDER THIS! Best salmon I had by far. The veggie rice was really good and the salmon was cooked perfectly. For dessert, we got the churros (Freshly made) It came with 3 different sauces and a side of fresh fruits.  It was very refreshing and light. I would definitely come back here for dinner again. Highly recommended. :)

    ps. management were fabulous. Loved my waitress( Nataly) and the manager, Drew was great! very helpful and great.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I have only been here for happy hour. I loved both the rocks and frozen margaritas -- both pack a punch. The roof deck is great for socializing and people watching. Happy hour is great -- $4 margs and $6 guac, and tacos -- all  until 7pm.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    OMG. I was recently in DC for a vacation, and all I do is eat Mexican. This was a lot harder to find in DC than I thought, as there werent a great many restaurants close to where we were staying. Plus, it was Labor day, so a few of our first choices were actually closed. Thank god.

    SO we get off the subway and I will admit I was not thrilled with the neighborhood...dont bash me, I dont know the area, I am sure its fine. However, It was a little farther up than where we were staying, so I dont know if I wouldve trekked up there if I was DYING for Mexican.

    Well. I will trek up there time and time and time again. ALWAYS. ALL THE TIME. first of all, very friendly. restaurant has three levels...what looks to be a main dining room with an open kitchen. I loved that. then an upstairs rooftop bar....pretty cute...not too crowded when we got there..a random monday around 6. not a lot of tables though, looked like jsut a big open space.

    Plus downstairs looks to be what is a lot of bar tables an tequila bars. VERY cute.

    OK, it was Nacho monday. Nachos were absolutely hands down the best we ever had. Wouldve ordered a million of these if I didnt want to try everything. Guac was good...couldve used a bit more salt. Not my favorite but definitely delicious.

    Dinner was amazing. Ordered the CHipotle Shrimp. wouldve liked it to be a bit more spicy, but the taste was absolutely amazing. came with this creamy rice, I was absolutely in love. my friend had the skirt steack and said it was to die for amazing.

    Ordered sangria to drink...which was delicious as well. a HAIR on the sweet side which was a little amazing since i LOVE sweet drinks. so for me to call it....

    Flan for dessert. Excellent.

    Our server was amazing. very nice, very informative, very on top.

    Really, this was just delightful. We kept talking about dinner long after we were finished :) IF i am ever ack in the DC area, I am heading here again, without a doubt.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    #64

    3.5..

    Came in here for a friend's birthday dinner before deciding to bar hop around the U-Street area. We made reservations but of course, being DC with the traffic and unreliable weekend Metro service, we were about half an hour late. They were completely nice about it though.

    They said they would seat us as soon as possible and asked if we preferred to wait in any of there 3 bar areas. We decided to grab a couple drinks at the bar when they buzzed us no more than 10/15 minutes later. We were seated towards the back, downstairs where I  believe much of the clubbing and dancing action occurs.

    We ordered several tacos and a flatbread: 2 orders of grilled steak tacos, an order of Al Pastor, and a Shrimp and Avo Flatbread. We had a couple rounds of margaritas, one being from the bar earlier.

    I personally enjoyed the tacos. They were flavorful and satisfying. I wasnt too into the flatbread primarily because the dough wasn't all that good. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but maybe saying it was too dough-y? The sad part was, I wasn't a big fan of their Margaritas. AND I LOVE MARGARITAS. The drink itself was a little too salty for me. AND I LOVE SALT. :)

    I did enjoy the vibe and was looking forward to getting some dancing on in there. Based on Ruth C's review, I think I would have enjoyed myself. Dinner ended a bit early though before the party started so we hopped around U-Street.

    I'd definitely come back to try out their dancing scene but I'd probably hold off on the margaritas and opt for some shots. ;)

    Review Source:
  • 0

    **This review is of the brunch.**

    I recently had a lovely brunch at El Centro on the rooftop area.  I went with two friends and we all decided to spring for the bottomless option (everyone at the table has to do it in order for it to apply) and it was totally worth it!

    We ordered most things on the menu and particularly enjoyed the tamale, chile relleno, and huevos divorciados.  The bloody marias were also pretty good, although a tad too limey in my opinion.  I wasn't a big fan of the shrimp and crab enchiladas (seafood with a bunch of sauce and cheese can feel a little wrong) and the carnitas tacos were on the dry side.  However, since this was bottomless, we could try everything and it was okay to not love one or two dishes.

    The waitstaff was very pleasant - including the waitress, food runners, and busboys.  They made sure we had as many drinks as we wanted and even brought me an extra I didn't order at last call.  Definitely a great place for boozy brunch.

    Will definitely come here again!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Have been here for brunch, dinner, and happy hour.  

    Brunch: Endless yummy mexican food and bottomless aguas frescas/blood marias for $35. Need I say more.  I don't do these gluttony brunches often, but i'm a fan of this one.  Oh, and you have to try the watermelon agua fresca...my fave.

    Happy Hour:  Delicious huge margaritas for $4 on their awesome rooftop.  This is also a great spot for work/birthday/group happy hours.  Just make sure you arrive on the early side. Can get quite crowded.

    Dinner:  I love the basement dining room.  Intimate, casual, and welcoming. Big fan of the Baja tacos (grilled fish) and the guacamole.

    Overall this place has great food, cocktails, and is very reasonably priced.  Will continue to frequent this spot.

    **1 star off for rude bartender service I've received on the rooftop on two separate occasions.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    We ate once on the rooftop bar and once in the restaurant and really prefer the bar setting to being inside. If you want a relaxing time up there on the roof before the crowds get there, go in right when the bar opens and order a few drinks. The marts. were great and we would come back to the roof for another early happy hour.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    $2 Taco Tuesdays and a Roof Top Happy Hour bar that has some of these margaritas I've ever had... I'll be coming back soon.

    You'll love this place

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Owney's Bottomline: Great happyhour and good food to top it off.

    I ordered the carnitas tacos and had a good meal. I've had better carnitas, but for DC, these were pretty good.

    But the real story is the HH. Cheap coronas and appetizers.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Although I love happy hour, I more often find myself at yoga in the evening than I do at happy hour. When I do go to happy hour, I tend to frequent Masa 14 rather than anywhere else. But, this time I invited my friends to El Centro as I've noticed their rooftop happy hour has gotten really popular lately.

    El Centro is a popular authentic Mexican restaurant that I've reviewed in the past. I said that the next time I returned, it would be for happy hour so I'm just keeping true to my promise. Perhaps we went on the wrong night though because when we showed up, there was a Goodwill fundraiser on the covered rooftop, which is where they hold the happy hour. Since there were five of us, we went downstairs to the main level and asked if we could enjoy the happy hour specials at one of the big 6-person tables instead. They told us we could not. They insisted that the happy hour was open for anyone even though the fundraiser was also going on upstairs. So, we went back upstairs at which point we found the Goodwill people giving a speech. We decided not to interrupt and instead spoke with the manager who was nice enough to allow us an exception to enjoy happy hour downstairs.

    So we ordered off the happy hour menu. I had the $4 margaritas, which were wonderful.

    At the same time, I ordered the spicy guacamole and chips. Well, for some reason our waitress thought we wanted to enjoy happy hour drink specials, but not the guacamole special so she brought us the full-sized $10 guacamole. Since we had never been there for happy hour before, we were none the wiser and we just enjoyed our guac thinking we got a great deal at only $6. Oh, and it was oh so spicy. They make the spicy one with habaneros so it is actually spicy.

    I also ordered the Grilled Nopal tacos (2 for $6), which I assumed were mostly cactus, hence the name. Instead I found they were mostly corn (probably loaded with GMOs) and tomatoes with only a little bit of cactus in a corn tortilla. Disappointing. They didn't have much taste so I loaded them with some guacamole to give them some flavor.

    When the bill came, we realized we had been served and billed for the regular $10 guacamole so we had to negotiate that down too. In the end, it seemed like a lot of hassle for a happy hour. I enjoyed the drinks and the guac, but not so much the atmosphere. Next time, I'll go next door to Masa 14 instead.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Went for dinner to celebrate a friend's engagement. I arrived a little early and asked the hostess if we could get a round of champagne or something when the bride to be arrived and she said they didn't carry champagne.. fair. I move on.

    Dinner was lovely, I have a soft spot for mexican food. Enjoyed the free chips & salsa, the guac could have used a touch more salt, the chicken enchiladas were amazing. I went back to our server right before dessert to ask if they could put a candle/do something special and he offered us champagne.. weird. Apart from that enjoyable dinner!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    So, I'm still not crazy about the food. I don't favor it... But I definitely like the rooftop bar atmosphere, as well as the club downstairs. The music is super fun! I like the mix of latin and american beats.
    I am still a regular :)

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Incredible food,  insanely sketchy behavior.

    So I have never written a yelp review before much less a bad one, but this was upsetting enough to me that I wanted to put it out there. I had gone here a few times and really loved the food.  I'm really particular about mexican and this place does it so well.

    So, I decided to bring about 6 friends to dinner there on my birthday at the end of may. We split the check between us and all the receipts looked fine. However I just saw one of my friends again recently and she told me that when she saw her bank statement she had been charged for the entire cost of the dinner in addition to still charging everyone else for their parts. This was a difference of about 130 dollars. And because her receipt says that she only was charged the correct, smaller amount, it suggests
    that someone went in and changed the total.

    What makes this even worse is that she spent about 2 weeks calling them almost daily to get this resolved and they kept putting her off. She finally called her bank and got rhe charges reversed . But she still hasn't heard from the restaurant.

    Its a shame because I had been actively recommending this place. Now I'm warning people away. (During one of her phone calls to the restaurant, a staff member mentionwd that they deal with stuff like this a lot. Which is extra disturbing to me.)

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I've never been a huge fan of Mexican food, but this place blew my mind. They were having a 'guacamole festival' so we ordered a special guac--the Yucatan which was made with shrimp ceviche, oranges, and other amazing ingredients all prepared table side. Wow... best gauc ever. I don't know if that is on there regular menu or not, but I would get down on my knees and beg them to make it again.

    I almost never order steak outside of a steak restaurant, but I am so happy I did. The steak was steakhouse quality. Not the best steak I ever had, but pretty close. And for a Mexican restraint, that's pretty amazing.

    For desert we had the tres leches. Now, in college, I had a Mexican roommate, who's Mom would bring us some homemade tres leches at least once per month, so I consider myself a bit of a tres leches expert here. Double wow! Amazing! Best tres leches ever. So soft, sweat, moist. Sorry Momma Lopez, El Centro has you beat.

    My only complaint would be that it is very, very dark. I understand trying to set the mood... but they went a little too far here.

    So best ever guacamole, and best ever tres leches. Two 'best evers' in one meal? Easy 5 stars!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    We came here on a visit to DC and it was really good.  We got some margaritas on the roof deck while we waited for our buzzer to go off signaling our table was ready.  The margaritas were STRONG.  WHOA.  I did appreciate it though and also appreciated the water cooler thing they have out to slow me down a bit.  When we were seated we ordered two guacamole bowls on top of two pitchers of sangria and entrees and it was delicious and not overly expensive.  We were with another couple, so don't think we are crazy or anything.  Although I do love sangria AND guac.  The location is good, the roof deck is really nice in the warmer months, and the food was delicious.  I ordered the chicken salad which I hoped would come in a tortilla bowl but it did not.  No worries, I put chips on top.  Ha!

    Next time I am in DC I will need to check out this bottomless brunch...AND sangria night!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    I've been here twice: once for dinner and once for late night dancing. Loved it both times!

    For the dinner, I came right around when they first opened, so I think they were still trying to get the kinks sorted out. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. In any case, my friend and I got there super early for our dinner reservation, so we decided to drink and have some chips and guac at the bar before our other friend came. The drinks were fantastic, large, and CHEAP. Unfortunately, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the guac to come. And bug the bartendress 4 times for it. After speaking to the manager about it 19 minutes post ordering the guac, he immediately apologized, got our guac to us in less than a minute, and then made sure to comp our first round of drinks at dinner.  So, while waiting so long for chips and guac was a pain in the ass, the manager did a great job of making up for it. So that was much appreciated.

    The dancing. Put me on a rooftop blaring salsa music on a warm summer night and I will be as happy as a clam. Nay, happier. The happiest of clams. I had SO MUCH FUN. Wasn't too crowded, men weren't creepy, music was great.... just a great vibe! Highly highly highlyyyy recommend for dancing!!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Came here for a night out with my boyfriend and his friends. I'd never eaten here before, only late night hang out. The food was fresh and tasty. I really didnt expect anything earth shattering and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I had the baja tacos and after queso and guac I could barely finish my second taco. I ate the filling out of the third. The margs were great and the staff was super friendly and awesome.

    Definitely worth coming in for dinner if you're heading for a night out around U st.

    Review Source:
  • 0

    El Centro is many things. Restaurant, rooftop bar, and basement club.

    This review is for the basement/downstairs club.

    A few details to get out of the way which I always find helpful. There is no dress code, but most girls are in nice going out clothes and dresses. Most guys are wearing collars and jeans.

    There is no cover I know of (we got there at 11 on a Saturday and there was no cover).

    But there will be a line! A line to get, and then another line to get in downstairs. We got there around 11 and the line was long outside, about 11:30, very long. However, getting in to the club around 11:15 was just fine as it wasn't packed yet.

    Standard drinks and standard prices, enough bar tenders the wait isn't too long. Good music, lots of good dancing, and fun lights everywhere.

    Bathrooms are all shared, so prepare yourself for the confusion ahead of time and enjoy!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    The staff here are fabulous. 5 of us came in with no reservation on a thursday night and they were so nice about finding us a spot.  We went up to the roof deck to have some drinks while we waited but they came to get us right away which was lucky because the deck was packed! It was impossible to get to the bar to order but looked like a fun crowd.

    On to the food... We shared the guac which was delicious. I had the crispy shrimp tacos which were the perfect combination of spicy, fresh and crunchy.  The spicy mango margaritas were also amazing.  The drinks were a bit pricey or I would have had a second but prices are on par with the area. Overall a solid place for mexican food (even my friend from Mexico didn't grumble much). I'll be back soon!

    Review Source:
  • 0

    Don't bother going here midday, everyone will look at you like you're crazy to  want service between 3-5 on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We went to the rooftop area slightly before 3, pulled two hightop tables together in the bar area while the bartender looked at us very annoyed, kept giving us looks like we were doing something wrong , and didn't speak to us. The server ignored us - going over to other tables and walking passed ours several times until I finally approached him to ask if we should go to the bar and he immediately hushed me before I could finish my question to say "no food from 3-5" and was just annoyed at me in general for coming up to him. Umm ok sorry?

    So we went to the other bar area (because we didn't want to give the bartender our orders who had stared at us rudely) and the other bartender ignored us as well, not a "hey guys be with you in a second" (there was only two other people seated at the bar so he wasn't busy) and finally says "ordering just drinks right?" It's like we get it, you don't want to do anything from 3-5.

    We ordered one expensive drink only because we were waiting on someone and left. Will never go back, very rude experience. Disappointing as we looked forward to going there.

    Review Source:
Nearby Suggested Listings Close

Warning: include(/home/indulgery.com/htdocs/db_down.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/indulgery.com/htdocs/classes/database.class.php on line 157

Warning: include(): Failed opening '/home/indulgery.com/htdocs/db_down.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php:/usr/share/pear:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/indulgery.com/htdocs/classes/database.class.php on line 157