Cafe Central, El Paso

high class restaurant, i love i was hesitant, but because I recall their establishment receiving the "best Restaurant" award, I had to try. Our waiter was attentive and friendly, and the food exceeded our expectations. The atmosphere is cozy, and one plate is easily enough to serve two people, further complimenting the comfort the environment has to offer. Loved it! Can't wait until I go again.

I dont know why this restaurant do not have more reviews, went this is the most popular and the best in town, looks like people forget that is under new owners for over a year and on my eyes they are doing a great job (remodelation , service , food , live Music and T.G. valet parking).I am a regular at this place and I can said that Cafe Central is back .

yesterday i took my girlfriend to eat at cafe central. i had no problems with the seating since i had made reservations before. i honestly think the service was great i never saw my glass empty and the waiter was always going to our table asking if everything was ok. the food did took a bit to arrived but when i saw all the detailed they put in decorating the food and the plates it was all worth the wait. i was expecting the food to be as great as it looked and i was surprised when i tasted the food it was way above my spectations i really loved it. for me it was a very good dining experience the atmosphere is very romantic so my girlfriend loved it and now she loves me more for taking her to that place. i really recommend this place and i would definately go there again but only for a special occassion because the food it is quite pricey but very worth it.

My wife and I went for an anniversary dinner in 2008 and could not have more pleased--a private table in the back with rose pedals scatters about. Wonderful service and great food. We went back in 2009 and things got out of hand--our reservation for the same area was not honored, our daughter in Oregon paid for a bottle of premier wine but we were served a cheap wine that tasted terrible. My daughter called to see what happened and the manager said we were lying about the type of wine served and would not refund her money. What ever happened to the "customer is always right"--not at this place. If they don't agree they call you a liar.No matter, the service has fallen dramatically and we will be looking for another great place to enjoy our anniversary. Any out there? John Crosby

My wife and I went to Cafe Central for dinner. It was a very nice experience. We went on a Friday night, and did not have reservations. We got there at opening and we were only about the fourth table seated, but it was filling up quick so its a good thing we got there early. The decor was nice, old school fine dining. On the other hand my wife pointed out the floor which was covered in crumbs and other debris. It obviously had not been cleaned from the night before, something unacceptable for such a place...any dinning establishment at that. The service was friendly and attentive. However the waiter was not very knowledgeable on the beer selection. Beer can be paired just as nicely if not better than wine with meals, and it appears that this news has not reached Texas yet. Also the waiter's Spanish accent was very thick, and sometimes difficult to understand, but he was very friendly, and was attentive. The only problem was the variety of people serving us, we had about five different people doing various tasks during our meal. It would be nice to have a single person at your table rather than an army. It makes for a less comfortable experience. Especially when they ask you a question that another did ten seconds before. The food was great. I had the black angus fillet, and it was just wonderful. The crab cakes we had for an appetizer were close to perfect. I don't understand the poor food reviews. Maybe we went on the right night, or possibly the chef and cooks don't perform well during busier hours. Overall very good place, it needs a few improvements to be great. Mainly in the service department. The food is where it needs to be for the price, but the servers and cleaners are not. If there was a three and a half star option they would have got that, the food is the only thing keeping it four stars and not three. If you are visiting El Paso like I was, I would recommend 2900 for a fine dining experience.

Terrible. My wife went there before the symphony. The food was sub-par and overpriced; the staff was rude. My conversation with my wife was interuped five times in about 5 with staff wanting to take away my overcooked shrimp. We went there looking for a relaxing Friday evening dinner before the theater. We left looking to go home and order delivery pizza: it would have been better food in a better environment.

This place which used to be the gem of El Paso dining has now in the last 3 years turned into possibly the worst example of fine dining anywhere. A confirmed chain restaurant avoider, I will recommend a chain restaurant before you think of going to this place. You will pay very dearly and leave with poor service, food that tastes and looks like it has been prepared by ex fast food burger line cooks. My last visit there was the ultimate worst and pretty much seals the fact that I will never go back there. We had a dinner reservation for our anniversary. We land up on time and are asked to wait 15 minutes for a table which took about 25 minutes to get. At least while waiting for the table in the bar we were able to enjoy a well made Negroni and an Appletini. After being seated at the table (which was so close to the other tables next to it that an uneducated observer might have thought that we are at a table for 10!) our very ebullient but useles waiter came and introduced himself and then took our drink orders and left. We ordered an apptizer of a Shrimp and avocado cocktail and smoked salmon. The shrimp in the cocktail were rubbery and the entire dish was just shrimp dumped over a glass which had lipstick on it. So needless to say we sent it back and got I think the same dish put into a different glass. My smoked salmon was okay. The interesting thing is that this was to be served with potato gaufrettes...gaufrettes are the chips that should have ridges on them OR even the little square patters...these were just run of the mill thick cut chips. AT least they were not stale and the salmon which luckily was probably bought somewhere was pretty decent. The wine list is okay and I ordered a half bottle of a burgundy to go with the meal. For the main entrees I ordered a half duck with couscous and my wife ordered the seafood risotto. Both were extreme disappointments. My half duck consisted of two leg quarters *YES! was it technically half a duck... sure...but is this what you would expect in a place that calls itself fine dining??? heck no. Not only that this whole dish looked like someone had dropped it and then hastily slapped everything together. Flavors: couscous was cooked perfectly and had bits of dried fruit in it. The duck was somehow dry (how the heck do you dry out dark meat I don't know) with flabby skin and had absolutely no seasoning. IN the absence of a sauce, the whole dish essentially consisted of dry on dry. When I tried to get the waiter to bring me some kind of sauce (a simple broth reduction would have been okay).. he first of all had no clue what I was talking about and then of course did not bring any. My wife's risotto was terribe. Yes it is meant to be al dente...but when the grains of rice crunch in your teeth..that is never a good sign. Since putting out money for expensive dentistry was not in the plans, we sent the risotto back and finally got a fresh plate...well cooked but now with rubbery ingredients. Basically our old risotto probably tossed into the microwave with some water and boiled till it was done. I wish I could talk about the flavors...but there were none... so at that point we paid our tab and walked out to go to a local coffee shop for a bowl of noodles, dessert and coffee....all of which were more satisfying for 1/20th of the cost that the trip to the great Cafe. The main issue with the downhill path is that the owners probably do not care that people have good experiences there anymore since they are an older established restaurant with a reputation that keeps dragging people in. My money and taste buds will be going elsewhere.

Very disappointing. Service was horrendous, and not because of a crowd, hardly anyone was there. It was lunch time. Our waiter had a haughty attitude (told my sister he didn't have clairvoyant ability when he asked what kind of wine she preferred), threw my drink away when I went to the bathroom and told me it was empty instead of apologizing or offering to replace it. The only real attention our table got was when it was time to assign a tip on the credit card slip. Then the waiter was hovering over the table. Overpriced 1/2 tuna sandwich and cup of soup, $12 especially given the poor service.

The whole look of the place was promising. The service was horrible!!! Our server never smiled and took forever for drink re-fills and taking our order, and there were not a lot of people in the place. Their green chili soup tasted like chile con queso, but it was served on beautiful dishes. Our order took over an hour to come out to us. I had a shrimp thing and my friend had the quesadillas. Both were awful tasting. For the price (which was considerable) much more was expected. We wanted to try a desert but the main course turned us off to that. Chico's Tacos would have been a better choice.

Great place to go and enjoy food, company and be grateful for the weather.