Centro Vinoteca

08/27/2008 Posted by sourcherriesmk

I had noticed Centro on my way somewhere while I was in a cab or walking past it. I thought it looked cute and wanted to try it. Last night, I was in the mood to have small plates and wine with my boyfriend so we went to Centro. As soon as you step in, you're practically face to face with the host. The entrance is too short with the comptuer and host station right at the door. You can practically ask for a table from outside. I should have trusted my gut and walked the other way. He came off so cheesy with his pretentious grin and suit. Then we followed the hostess. I didn't know there was an upstairs, but nonetheless, I would have appreciated, "follow me upstairs" or something. She was not very friendly. I don't know why she was even there. Our server was very sweet. We ordered a bunch of smal plates. We were surprised that they brought them out all together, but okay. THE WORST PART ABOUT THE MEAL was when we started eating, the busboy would come by every five minutes or after we took a bite to see if he could clear the plates. He would put his hands on the plates, ready to whisk them away, before he even asked. SO RUDE. The restaurant obviously doesn't believe in training their employees to allow their guests to actually enjoy their meals. I was trying to have a conversation with my boyfriend over dinner, but was constantly interrupted with "are you done with this?" or "can I take this away?". My waitress never came around and asked if I wanted another drink too. The food was okay. I would never mention this place in the same breath as Peasant. Peasant has the most excellent food and no matter how crowded it gets, they let you sit and enjoy it. The decor is very cheesy West Elm-aren't we sick of seeing that stuff? Doesn't match the food at all. I would never go back to Centro. They can't even get the basic principle of dining out right. What a waste of a nice evening, time, and my money.

Pros: location-but who cares if the restaurant is no good?

Cons: attitude, rushing of clearing plates, interruption of dinner, lackluster food

06/24/2008 Posted by bobby39

What's up with the chef? I sat up by a bar table in view of the chef and saw the wall of fame. Everything started off great but then I ordered my pasta and asked if I could have it without meat in the sauce if they had any marinara they could use. They said no. And I said well i understand if you don't have it I don't expect you to serve me something that isn't in your kitchen. But I saw in the menu that they serve zucchini fritters with a spicy marinara sauce so I asked if I can have the pasta with that sauce which has no meat in it because I don't eat bacon. The server said no and so I asked certainly there must be a good reason? He said that the chef doesn't do it. I knew it wasn't the waiters decision so I asked to speak to the manager who seemed drunk and was very rude to me because he just came up and without hearing what I had to say he said "Hi I'm Ed the General Manger of this restaurant and you absolutely can not substitute that sauce with the BUCCATINI!" then flatly said "Sorry sir, you need to pick another dish." I was shocked! I just wanted to understand why and he didn't even give me a chance to ask! So at that point I just gave up decided it wasn't worth the fight clearly they don't care. I decided to order a seafood dish that ultimately tasted really bland and I hardly touched it, I basicly lost my appetite at this point. So i'm just sitting there with this dish that wasn't at all good and no appetite and I keep seeing this General Manager talking to the Star Chef kackling and making faces at each other and I felt as if they were talking about me. Maybe they weren't talking about me but I'd think a chef with all these write ups and a nice restaurant would treat her guests I don't know with a little hospitality. Maybe if she spent less time making fun of people or whatever and more time actually taking care of her guests and cooking she might have a successful restaurant. I wish them all the best of luck. They'll need it.

Pros: nice chandiliers/ there are plenty of other restaurants in the city

Cons: Creepy manager/ Mean Chef clearly was making fun of me from across the room!!! wtf