Park Central Tavern

If I could have given this a negative review I would. I met a friend for dinner on Friday night, after paying $ 40.00 for two burgers the rude arrogant waiter kicked us out of our table stating that they had another reservation for the table, the restaurant was half full, and the table next to us had been there longer than we had. It was horrible and I have never had that happen in a restaurant. I will never go to this establishment again.

SSLLOOWW service, bland food. We were there for a Saturday brunch. The room we were in was almost empty, yet we waited close to an hour for our food to come. When it finally arrived, the food was cold and there was 10 to 15 minutes between the first lunch the waiter put down and the arrival of the children’s food. The food was bland and mediocre. The chicken looked as though it had come from a package. My falafel was so over fried that it crumbled when I cut into it, and the hummus edging my plate was crusty and didn’t amount to 2 tablespoons in all.
It’s a nice-​looking restaurant, but obviously there are management and staff problems.
Unless they make significant changes, you would be better off somewhere else.

What’s happened? The location and style of the restaurant, in the past, always made this our family’s choice for Mother’s Day brunch. While in the past the food was always unspecial, and kitchen was often slow, service was always very pleasant and menu/​value were entirely reasonable. No more.
Today we joined Park Central for brunch and were waited on by Catherine. She didn’t introduce herself. She was curt from the outset, rude to my mother-​in-​law about menu –specific questions, and then did not return to the table (like to refill coffee, water, sodas) or respond at all to requests (we asked for some bread for 2 small children as we waited AN HOUR for our order). The meals were served at all different times (like ten minutes later) and the final items were served cold, greasy, with stale toast. When a dish was sent back with a request to reheat it, Catherine was pretty snarky. Item was returned barely warmer, toast missing. When I asked for the toast, it got slung at me by another member of the waitstaff, 30 seconds later, and cold. I gave up and ate what I could. Other members of our party had equally bad experiences, with ketchup doled out in one-​tablespoon-​at-​a-​time servings after multiple requests, being told they have «no salsa, no hot sauce, maybe Tabasco — ya want it?» And no up of coffee kept filled or hot.
But the piece de resistance was when the bill arrived — an 18 percent ish gratuity had been added, and given the horrible food and service we received, did briefly discuss it (amongst ourselves) at the table. This garnered gossiping about our table by our server and another, in our earshot and easily seen.
I could not locate an owner or manager. Front desk was being run by the same person who appeared to be the bus-​boy. It cost us over $ 45 to feed two little kids, as sevings of pancakes were THAT small, they ate two entire plates each plus whole sides of bacon– after waiting an hour for food. Between the undecorated space (no flowers, no tablecloths), very poor and very slow food, and atrocious service, the forced gratuity and (for the experience) very high price tag was appalling. All of us at our table agreed, we’re never returning.

The drinks are pretty expensive and I wasn’t overly impressed with the menu. Nothing really too exciting. Tried the meat and cheese board but didn’t know they charged for each and it didn’t say a price on the menu, so it was about $ 30. The atmosphere is nice though and they have a patio for when it’s warm out.

I’ve been to Park Central Tavern twice now, and have had two very varying experiences. Both times I’ve gone had been for brunch. The first time, I was completely impressed and satisfied their food. The second time, it was a lack-​luster experience and left me wanting more, and still hungry.
The two times I’ve gone here were with a friend who frequents Park Central Tavern often. He also agreed that the most recent experience seemed very out of character.
Brunch menu is somewhat limited. Salad is very small for the price… Heck, everything is fairly small in portion for the size. The food itself taste fine, however, it doesn’t make my list of top favorite places in the area.

Can I grade it as «incomplete»? In some ways, I really enjoyed it. The fried brussels sprouts were a big hit. Service was friendly and relatively quick even though the lunch crowd was almost non-​existent. (Where IS everyone?!) And I liked the main room. Casual yet trendy, I could see why we’d love it.
I asked the waiter if he’d recommend the fish tacos. He said yes. And the fish in the tacos was good, if a little small.
But the rest of the fish taco was just a mess. Terrible presentation, a flour taco seemingly out of a supermarket bag and flaccid ingredients with not enough to fill the BIG flour taco. Just really disappointing.
The fries, though, make up for it. A generous portion, it was the best part of the dish. My dining companion got a chicken sandwich that was fine, in his words. Again, we gobbled up the fries.
Maybe we ordered the weak part of the menu — after all the fried brussels sprouts were huge and quite good.
So I’ll have to venture in again. It’s just an incomplete picture thus far.

The food quality is truly poor and prices are unrealistically high for what you get. I had a fillet minion for $ 32 which was terrible. The portion was small and the meet had a revolting aftertaste. I am not sure even it was meet; more like pork. My wife had salmon which was dry and unimaginative. They should do something about their chef and their prices.

I’m really disappointed by my first experience at Park Central Tavern. I’ll start off my review that I was shocked they were so empty on a Sunday at brunch. We had called ahead to make reservations, but we definitely didn’t need them as we were the only table in the restaurant. To start, we ordered some bloody marys and mimosas. At $ 10 for a bloody mary, I was pretty disappointed with my small, watery drink. The taste was decent, as it had plenty of horseradish mixed in.
We decided to share an order of the sticky buns. Our order took almost 30 minutes to come out of the kitchen, even though we were the only table in the entire restaurant. The taste was pretty good, but the sticky buns were small. For my brunch dish, I ordered the PCT breakfast sandwich. It was WAY overpriced for it’s quality. For $ 14, the sandwich was placed on a non-​toasted bagel, with a mini sausage patty, two slices of bacon, some eggs, and a slice of American cheese (even though it was advertised as Vermont cheddar). It was served with home fries that were not crispy, some potatoes were still a bit hard, and covered in onions and peppers.
On the bright side, I will say our server was incredibly nice and professional. He checked on us frequently and was apologetic after our food took a while to come out. The décor was very nice, with a nice bright atmosphere.

Unfortunately, Park Central is no longer what it used to be and what it has become is not worth writing home about. As a resident of Spring Glen, Park Central has carried the promise of being a great cocktail bar, a neighborhood bar, and a fancy restaurant. Unfortunately, it hasn’t lived up to any of these things. The food is hit or miss. When Park Central misses it usually means spoiled or stale food. For example, I ordered shrimp. When it arrived I informed the waitstaff that it was not edible. They apologized and told me that it was the last in the bunch and that they were now out of shrimp. If they knew the shrimp had gone bad then why did they serve it??? Tonight I arrived with a friend I hadn’t seen in a year. I informed the hostess that we would just be having drinks and she seated us at a table. Our waitress stopped by and took our drink order, however, before we could get a word in she started rattling off the specials and a bus boy had given us bread. I thanked her and told her that we were only here for drinks but the hostess had seated us here because the bar was full. This is when the totally unnecessary and inappropriate hostility began. First the waitress dramatically swept the menu’s off the table and stormed off. Three minutes later, the hostess came to our table and asked us if we were «sure» that we didn’t want appetizers? I gently reminded her that we only wanted drinks and she told us that the table we were at (which was in the bar area… they have two other large dining rooms which were empty at the time) were for dinner only. Another two minutes passed and our waitress returned. I apologized for the confusion. She rudely reiterated that these tables were for dining and that we would have to move if customers interested in dinner showed up (even with the empty dining rooms). I asked her where she would put us. She looked toward the full bar and told me that we would go somewhere. Ten minutes later she returned and told us we needed to move to a table that was two feet away because some people had arrived for dinner. We moved, finished our drinks, and I resolved never to return to park central. Even though I had been coming here for three years, even though I lived in the neighborhood, even though I had spent well over $ 200 here for a new years eve dinner. I am fed up with the crappy service and attitude that i have received from the waitstaff at park central, I am fed up with hit or miss food and the risk of food poisoning, and I am fed up with a place that cares very little about the neighborhood in which it is situated. Goodbye Park Central and good riddance.

I have been to park central many times before as it is close to my house. The food was always okay, but a bit overpriced and limited for what you could get. Yesterday we went for a quick bite and were happily surprised to see an updated menu with more options, sandwiches, apps and specials. I had the falafel plate which was a perfect small meal and my dad had a grilled cheese with tomato soup which he said was the perfect comfort food meal. Happy to see the changes going on here!

My hub and I have eaten here quite a few times and been very happy with the general menu and quality of food. So on New Years Eve we said let’s go and try their $ 75 a person 4 course meal. We thought it would be something special. Phew. Big mistake. Not only cooked poorly, but also poorly presented. NO excuse for this at 6:00 in the evening when the restaurant was fairly empty of diners (but not drinkers). Appetizers were blah, scallops in sauce and an over seared duck liver on untoasted bread. The little apples with it were awesome though.
Lobster bisque with no lobster. Prime rib entrée served cold with oven burnt broccoli. A bowl of risotto? Seriously? No attempt to make the food look good. Dessert just plunked on a plate, no little flourishes to add to the appeal. No offer of coffee or tea, although by that time we had no desire to linger. Will we go back? Maybe, but the memory of this very expensive, very sad meal will linger for a long time.

My mom and I stopped by for lunch on Saturday (12÷5÷15) in between events and errands. We walked in and were immediately seated at a table on the bar side. Our waiter brought us waters and gave us some time to peruse the menu.
When I was here previously for brunch, I didn’t have a chance to look at the normal menu. Looking over the options for lunch, I couldn’t decide. Did I want a small flatbread? A bowl of soup? Grilled cheese? Salad? Appetizers? Everything? Yes please. Mom and I compromised and shared the arugula salad, the winter squash fritters, and the fried brussel sprouts.
My taste buds were in heaven.
First we were given the arugula salad. We had mentioned that we’d be sharing it, so they served us on separate plates (I *love* when restaurants add this thoughtful touch of pre-​splitting it for you!). The salad was nicely dressed; not too dry and not soaking in liquids. The beets were flavorful and there were enough on the plate that you didn’t feel gypped. Next came the butternut squash fritters. They were delicious and had some yummy cheese to go along with them. Finally out came the brussel sprouts. First of all, they were cooked to perfection. Crispy outside, soft inside. Yum. Second, the sauce that came with them was so good I wanted to lick the plate. It’s apparently some sort of chipotle cream cheese? But when mixed with the oils from the sprouts, it thins out a little and the flavors are on full display. It was a perfect mix to pair with the sprouts, and I want to go back for more.
The only downside was that both my napkin and the plate at my setting were dirty. Not like someone forgot to wash them, but more like whatever was on them before hadn’t fully come off in the wash. I used a different napkin and just didn’t use that plate at all, so it wasn’t a big deal. Otherwise we had a fantastic experience; this was my mom’s first visit and she said she will definitely be going back.

Nice local pub and draft beer selections. Beet and goat cheese salad is a favorite.
Calamari is crispy but can be slightly over salted at times.
Went on a Sunday not realizing it was brunch service not likely to return for that a bit pricey.

Love this place! The deviled eggs are DELICIOUS! Very few restaurants do deviled eggs and of the ones that do very few restaurants do them well, and they do them great here. The menu is very unique and has a bunch of options for funky different things as well as comfort food type classics. I like sitting in the bar section, it’s very casual and has a nice vibe to it. Our waitress was very kind although it did take a little bit of extra time for our food to come out. I would definitely come back with friends or family for a fun meal!

The positives about Park Central Tavern are overshadowed by the issues this restaurant has.
There is plenty of parking. There is a nice patio facing Whitney Ave., and the interior is well designed with warm wood and the feel of perhaps an early 20^th century bar/​restaurant brought into the present day. They have a beautiful bar and ample seating.
We entered through what we thought was the front of the restaurant (Whitney Ave side) and realized we entered the back door. This confusing layout is the result of poor design. The patio faces a dilapidated auto body shop across Whitney. We left through the main entry in the back when we departed and it is gorgeous. Why not place the patio on the side facing the quiet side street and have the main entry with its attractive woodwork and masonry in front? There’d still be ample parking in the rear, which, you’ll recall, is actually the front of this restaurant according to its designers.
Although I took time to review the layout and design, we know that a restaurant is built on its food and its service. This is where Park Central failed.
The menu offered a wide range of tastes and prices which was good, and the cocktail menu was nice.
The host stand was unattended and the bartender seated us. A young man brought us water and told us he «would be bringing over some fresh bread right away.»
Neither he nor the bread returned.
Another server came over to take our drink order. I chose the Cure-​All, which was a nice soft gin martini that I would recommend. Just don’t expect the bartender to make it promptly. Between my drink order being passed to the bartender and it being made, the barkeep disappeared, returned, fiddled with a computer, folded napkins, and stacked and restacked menus. Are any of these activities more important than promptly serving a customer in a near-​empty restaurant?
We then ordered two apps and flatbread.
The fried calamari: the marinara was warm and sweet. A nice accompaniment. But the calamari had that uniform, relatively flavorless breading that suggests one thing: frozen.
The fried oysters: these had a nice crisp breading but lacked that earthy, briny taste any oyster lover knows. There was a nice portion of them served on a flat plate. Also on the flat, warm plate? A tartar sauce that then became runny and bled into the crispy oysters. Truly an ugly plate because of this. This is the first of three counter-​intuitive plating choices.
Grilled Portabella flatbread: the menu touts it as having artichokes, goat cheese, truffle oil, and cherry tomatoes. Five to six slices. Three cherry tomatoes, whole. What? Each bite should be uniform in a flatbread. Goat cheese was muddled with herbs (not fresh) and was probably purchased that way in a tub or tube. The artichoke hearts were certainly canned which doesn’t bother me as fresh ones are hard to find and crazy expensive, but they weren’t treated by the chef and their vinegar flavor dominated the entire dish. This rectangular item was served on a massive triangular plate that looked like a white pirate hat.
The waiter was pleasant and filled our water often. We asked to see a dessert menu. Instead of getting one, he rattled off their six choices in 10 seconds instead of obliging our request. Strange. We got the brownie which was excellent. Two brownie bars with espresso mousse and fresh berries served on a wooden cutting board. Why not serve the flatbread on this?
To the owner: you have a great location and beautiful restaurant, but these significant investments will continue to go unnoticed by potential clients because of a dire need for fresh food and good service.

This is the hardest 3 star review I’ve ever had to write, because I desperately want it to be a 5 star review.
This place is great. They have phenomenal food and the best GF offerings in CT. Because of that I can’t give them fewer stars.
But they have a serious service problem. The service is usually professional. The problem is that the wait staff could not care less about your business. No less than 5 times I have tried to go to the restaurant during normal business hours and the staff made it feel like I was asking them a huge personal favor to seat me. When I’ve offered to do carry out instead they still act very cold about the idea and allude to the fact that they don’t know how long the kitchen will be open. I get that I eat late, and business is slow, but we’re talking about 8pm when your website says you close at 10.
The first time it happened I chalked it up to the fact that it was snowing. But since then I’ve seen them bright, open, and discouraging business many times. A friend complained of a similar experience. Tonight I went in at 8:25 and yet again they tried to act like seating and serving me wouldn’t be worth their while, told me the kitchen closes at 9 and then gave me a late night menu.
I love this place but until they can value customer time or change their hours to reflect when they actually want to serve food, I will have a hard time justifying going out of my way to get here. Who wants to go out of their way only to be made to feel guilty about giving them business?

It was Valentine’s Day, so things were a bit more intimate than usual. Quiet atmosphere, at least in the restaurant area, and it wasn’t crammed in or crowded.
The food was very good — we started with a goat cheese, arugula, and date flatbread. I love all three, and put together it was really, really good. We opted for a bowl of soup, as it was freezing and snowing out, and it was just right — that being said, it takes a lot to screw up French onion soup. He opted for the gin and ginger scallops, and I went with the braised short ribs. There was a LOT of food on my plate — I ate as much as I could, he ate as much as he could, and we still had leftovers. The short ribs were tender and the sauce was so good, I started to mix it into my mashed potatoes. We were far too full for dessert, but the tiramisu that kept gracing the tables near us looked mouthwatering.
The drinks were interesting — he went with Drink #13, which is a surprise (but was like a Martinez, said our server), and I went for my old standby: Ketel 1 dirty martini, very dry, lots of olives. They were good, they were fine, nothing to write home about, but they got the job done.
Service was very good, not overly attentive, and they didn’t rush us, nor did they abandon us. We were able to have a quiet conversation and never felt interrupted. It was a nice place for a date, and the more casual side of the menu has me wanting to return to try the DLT (duck, lettuce, tomato).

This was a great surprise find made by a friend. I guess not really a surprise since he found it based on all Unilocal reviews!
Anyway, the menu is impressive. A nice mix of nice dishes as well as some fancified comfort dishes. We had duck breast nachos, for example, as an appetizer. Duck also made its second appearance on the menu in the form of the DLT (duck, lettuce, and tomato) sandwich. They also offered pork and mac, lamb meatballs, and fancy deviled eggs (which i regret not trying). I got the lobster diavolo. It was listed as a small plate, but after eating the nachos and their amazing bread which is served with some sort of truffle infused butter, I found it perfectly suitable as an entrée. Every one in our party was impressed with what they ordered. We have been raving about it to everyone in the New Haven area. It is definitely worth a sneak out from the city.
We had a table out in their nice bar area. Everything about this place was amazing. The only thing I was only slightly disappointed in was their beer selection. It was ok. They have a nice big bar but the selection was not really that big or varied. Taking everything else into consideration I am still giving it 4 stars.

I’m not sure why they are only rated 3 stars here on Unilocal… I have consistently experienced good quality food and decent enough service. I’m holding back 1 star because near the end of our lunch, our waitress disappeared for a while.
We ordered the cheese plate as an appetizer and it was better than I expected with a generous amount of cheese and plenty of toasted bread to go around. For our entrees, we had 2 DLT’s and a burger and everyone was happy with their selections. I’ll be back in the future to dine here again!

Really liked this place! What a shame I did not go even once during the entire time I had an ongoing project nearby.
It verges on ³⁄₄ stars — the décor is top notch, the outdoor seating area A+ and the variety on both the drink menu, wine list and food choices is really what makes this place.
Love that you can order 3 sides for something like $ 15. Why don’t more restaurants do this? That’s what I had to eat and the cheese risotto rocked! My beau had the veggie burger which came on the most delicious bun.
Very pleased with the experience and their brunch menu looks great. Probably the best dining in the Hamden area.