El Centro Comida y Copas

I had a great time at El Centro. The atmosphere is very cozy and great for any occasion. The prices were very reasonable and I had excellent food and drinks. Don't go here though if you are expecting boring, plain food... These guys know their entreés! Cheers!\r \r Make sure to go on Friday and Saturday nights. They just started having some really great DJ's spin there and it highly compliments the ambiance... You won't be disappointed... its a great place to eat and socialize. Pros: Amazing flavorful Mexican cuisine, great margaritas, fun and eclectic Friday night DJ Cons: Closes a bit early (midnight) more

Well, el Centro, or the idea of el Centro, seemed promising: upscale Tex Mex downtown for a ""see and be seen crowd"". This restaurant fails on all counts. The food is bad, the decor is tragic, the service is atrocious and the crowd seems to be made up of B and C-lister friends of the owners. Don't waste your time. Pros: they have air conditioning Cons: everything else more

I have absolutely no stake in this restaurant; I am here from out of town working at a law firm for the summer, and I had a wonderful lunch there. The service was great, the food was delicious, and we even got free dessert! I can't speak for anyone else, but I recommend this place highly. more

My wife and I have been to this resaurant twice already thinking that there new give them a chance we understand but after today never again...... the same problems as before our food was luke warm, the fish was mushy (frozen)_the chips were not crispy and the tortillas were not cooked and the drinks were bad i mean its not hard to make a mojito weve made them before for parties at our home. i will never go back there more

Recent reviews of El Centro have been so hostile, and so at odds with my own experience of this fine new restaurant, that I suspect that they are written by competitors. El Centro has excellent food, drinks, and atmosphere. Service is efficient, timely, informed, and attentive. Recently I took normally hard-to-please California guests there -- we had a perfect dining experience. Try the pupusas, the shrimp salad, any and all the ceviches. Empanadas are a must; so are the enchiladas and chalupas. Basically, you can't go wrong! This restaurant is one more major attraction that is making downtown Houston a real magnet! more

Im not sure exactly what standards some of these other reviewers hold restaurants up to, but my experiences at El Centro have been great. Service is usually prompt, one out of the several times I have been the service was a little slow but not bad. when Cabo messed up my reservation and we were still not seated after an hour my group of 15 went to el centro and we were seated as soon as we walked in. the service was great, drinks were good, and the food was awesome as always. try this restaurant. Pros: food, service, drinks more

The ""good"" reviews posted thus far must be from parties that have an interest in the restaurant! I have had 3 bad experiences there, each time was more disappointing that the previous. The food is NOT GOOD, dinner entrees served at different times, took almost 5 mins to get tortillas after the fajita fixin's were at the table. Service HORRID, hostess sat us at a bad table in the nearly empty restaurant for dinner (not smart, should have put us by the window so your restaurant looks busy) uneducated staff acted like our requests were annoying, wine list sad, rita's some of the worst. Lunch took forever, again horrid service and it wasn't even crowded. Food - found wilted, brown lettuce on plate; cold fish dish; again the chips seemed stale. Some advise - outside seating not good on Main St, too many people begging, etc. to enjoy a meal. Pros: location, lighting Cons: food, service, wine list more

We went for lunch during work for my birthday. We had about 10 people but there weren't that many tables. The waiter was clueless. No social skills whatsoever. After waiting for at least 35 minutes for our food, he asks us if we wanted to split checks. Everyone agreed. He was picking up the plates but asked one of my coworkers to lift the plate for him because he didn't want to reach for it. How lame is that? Then he yells, who's going to pay for the cake. Apparently, he had never handled a birthday lunch, he could have comped the cake but was rude enough to yell it. Cons: parking, service more

The food was absolutely aweful--I went with three people, and none of them could eat their dinners. Mine was cold, the expensive fish entree was overcooked, and the shrimp were clearly from a supermarket frozen-foods section. We sat across from a very impressive aquarium, but the fish in there were the only fresh ones on the premisis. A truly below-par eating experience. The cocktails were bad too (who doesn't know how to make a good margarita in this town????), but I recommend having several before tasting your dinner more

It was about time that we had something like a real up scale restaurant downtown. The food is incredible...recomend ordering tapas...the bar and service excellent...crowd I would have to say that if you have interesting conversation and want to meet productive, positive, and successful people $$$...get your group and step in...hey who knows... the happy hour crowd is looking better every time I walk in...SUERTE! Pros: friendly, good valet service, fine crowd of people Cons: closed on Sunday, Happy hour to short more

El Centro is a breath of fresh air!! Elegant, comfy, classy, upscale Mexican food and cocktails without pink decor or sombreros on the wall! The food is the best Mexican food in town and the berry mojitos to die for. Pros: pretty people, good ambience, good music more

Great Food, Great Drinks, Great Service, just add your friends = A Great Night!!!! What more needs to be said. Oh, Did I mention Great Drinks. :-) Pros: Good portions, Tasty food, Great service Cons: N/A more