Café Centro

The service was great and the managers were especially wonderful. They were very helpful with our wine selection. The food was solid but the menu was off season. Would recommend for a nice night out and for a relaxing sidewalk café atmosphere.

Café Centro used to be my go to place with clients, three times this month. Good food, good service and nice atmosphere. However my last experience has taken them off my list. Made a reservation for 3 for breakfast for 9:15 am. Arrived at 9:09 and was told I would have to wait as my table was not ready. There were plenty of empty tables upfront by the hostess stand so I assumed they had a booth reserved for me. But no after standing in the entry for 5 minutes the hostess seats me in one of the empty tables by her stand. Why did I have to wait for a table that was sitting vacant? Food was good but service is not. Coffee was served but the open creamer/​milk was less than half full and not enough — so I had to ask for more when the waiter made an effort to visit the table. We each got toast with our order but evidently butter is not something you receive unless you ask for it. I asked a passing waitress, not serving our table, for help as our waiter was nowhere in sight. My problem with Café Centro is the breakfast staff, which is not welcoming. I don’t care how good the food is or how pretty the dining room is … bad service is not forgivable and I will not reward with continued service

Came here for a business lunch. Atmosphere was fine. Waiter was fine. Food was terrible. WAY over priced for the quality of food. At $ 30 — $ 35 a plate for LUNCH, I expect much better. I was SO disappointed in this place. I ordered the daily special, a tuna Nicoise salad. The tuna honestly looked and tasted like it came out of a can. It was disgusting. They also gave us a baguette that was so hard and stale I could’ve used it as a baseball bat. it was inedible. Just no.

I came here for a work lunch. The place is nice, given that it is above Grand Central it wasn’t too crowded which was nice. For a party of eight the service was quick. I had the Pan Seared Sea Scallops (black rice tabbouleh, citrus aioli) which came with four pieces of scallops.
Without ordering an appetizer this meal is not filling, so if you plan on ordering make sure to include something else. I don’t think the price justified the quantity of food served.
I gave it three stars because the quality of the food was good, they just need to work on quantity.

With over 15 thousand restaurants in New York this would not be my first pick. We were in a tour group and instead of going to Naples 45 we went here. The bread was old and dry but the rest was decent. The atmosphere is excellent and the selection of wines are reasonably priced and add a French flair that the food certainly cannot do. Try it if you are unable to go to Naples if not for the French aspect of it then for the great service and especially the dessert.

A solid midtown establishment for a business lunch or dinner. The squid starter was really good. Seabass main was nicely done but came with nothing in terms of extras like vegetables. Would have been good to know. I’d come back for business meals.

Good food, but just say «no» if the waiter asks you if you would like some more OJ.
We stopped by on our way to the Grand Central station on a typically freezing spring day in NYC. Neither the receptionist nor the waiter was particularly inviting tho the dining area was welcomingly warm and spacious. Their food was of good quality. However, the waiter charged for my daughter’s OJ even tho I was supposed to get OJ as part of my «complete breakfast» and I skipped it. Moreover, he asked my daughter if she would like to have some more OJ. She said yes. We ended up paying $ 14 for the 2 glasses of OJ ($ 7×2) plus the tip.
My daughter was very happy with my French toast though. My «complete breakfast» sans OJ was very big. If you are hungry, go for it. They gave me scrambled egg, plus 3 pieces of ham, little hash brown AND a toast.
Other than getting ripped off for the OJ, I think it was a decent place to eat. If I was the owner, I would hire more friendly employees though.

A lovely place in the lobby of the Met Life Building (immediately north of Grand Central Terminal.) The food was fine; I enjoyed a tender short rib and my guest an omelet. The baguette of bread was fabulous. The atmosphere conducive to a business meal. Not too loud, comfortable seating, and prompt service made for a good experience.

Went here with family to celebrate our son’s birthday. A lovely place with equally as lovely service.
The food was good but nor particularly memorable. This is reason for the average rating. Pretty much all I can remember is that I had the crab cakes and they tasted fine. Our son had a bowl of what supposed to be lobster chowder but was really lobster bisque. He liked it fine because he likes lobster bisque but a chowder is chunky and a bisque smooth. This was smooth as silk. We ordered a side of the spinach and again it was fine and tasted good but unremarkable.
If this place is convenient for other things you may doing then give it a go but I wouldn’t go out I may way to eat here.

I came here yesterday for restaurant week. I loved every moment of my experience here. The food was delicious and the service was very attentive. I ordered the winter squash soup as appetizer with duck leg confit for my entrée and lemon mousse for desert. One dish was better than the other! The soup was very rich in flavor and the duck meat just fell of the bone. It paired really well with the polenta. Now we come to desert, it was so airy and light with a hint of tart. Just delicious, that’s all I’ve got to say!

We stopped by for lunch this past week had reservations didn’t look like we needed them.
Once we arrived we were seated right away in front of the fire place nice area just way too hot.
They start u off with some bread pretty good nice & soft with butter.
Drinks I had a Stella can’t go wrong, white wine & a Grey goose on the rocks good but pretty small glass.
Main meal I tried the Chicken chop chop salad this salad is pretty big lots of stuff on it, not a fan of the frisée they add as well as the bean sprouts only because it had way too much of it decent salad but probably wouldn’t try again.
The Café Centro burger was good comes with fries, small burger together it’s pretty filling good fries.
Beef Bourguinon was also good nice piece of meat.
We managed to have room for dessert I had the Apple Tart, this was pretty good a bit on the small size the maple ice cream was delicious.
The Vanilla Crème Brûlée was very good.
as for the place itself its nice pretty big lots of seating space, nice décor I liked the fire place touch makes it feel more home like.
During the warmer months they have a beer bar outside its pretty nice not a bad place to enjoy a few drinks.
service was good our waitress was nice & friendly. prices are kinda high which you come to expect from Manhattan, specially midtown not an excuse but if you eat any where in the city this is normal unfortunately.
all in all it was a good lunch we enjoyed ourselves.

We have been bringing clients here for years as the food has been consistently good. Last night was a disaster. Chicken so dry it couldn’t be eaten, fries were tasteless, onion soup was burned — cheese was hard on top and the service was beyond bad. I rarely post but thought you should know…

Café Centro is very near Grand Central Station, in the Met Life building, which is a convenient location for travelers coming and going. The venue is airy, and has outside sitting, but it a high traffic area, so expect noise and exhaust fumes outside. We arrived early, and selected a quieter corner table away from the din. We were not in a rush because a couple was delayed by over an hour. Service was attentive at first, but there was a big party going on on the opposite side of the restaurant. We were adopted by a staff that varied throughout the evening.
Our original waiter, stopped by when he could, but I sensed he was involved with the big party somewhere in the establishment. The food was good, enjoyed the hazelnut mushroom salad, and the crispy duck was a hit. The price fixe menu had a thoughtful selection.
We were not rushed, but at the end we had to catch a train. Luckily someone heard, we have to go, and the
check arrived. We made the train.

Really nice experience my first time yesterday. The service was top-​notch on a slow evening. I had steak tartare and the roasted half duck with bing cherry sauce. I was really pleased with the duck. It was a bigger serving than I expected, with crispy skin and moist meat. The cherry sauce is excellent too – not as sweet as you might expect. It was served with mashed potatoes and perfect baby vegetables, done just past the point of crunchiness but before mushiness. A great entrée.
The steak tartare was nice as well. My wife had chicken. I didn’t try it, but it looked nice enough. The fries it came with were good. Cocktails are good, but nothing you can’t make at home, and they’re pretty pricey at $ 13 – 15. That’s typical for the area, but they should be a little more interesting for that much. 24oz draft beers at $ 10.50 are a better deal, but the options are limited.
The main thing is that the food and service were excellent.

Hadn’t dined here in a while when I stopped by tonight with a colleague for an early dinner after work. The place was very quiet, but the server was pleasant and we each went for the $ 38 pre fixe and shared a $ 30 bottle of wine. We started with a full bowl of vichyssoise, which was nicely plated, and a roasted mushroom salad with frisee which had a lively mixture of tastes and textures, respectively. Mains of grilled swordfish and a generous serving of tender steak with peppercorn sauce were both well received. We went through two of the baguettes that are a house trademark, and enjoyed both the fresh butter with sea-​salt and cheese spread served with them. Deserts, one with a chocolate mousse and another with an allegedly almond torte were the least exciting part of the meal, but the dining room is nicely done up and perhaps because of the small crowd the noise level allowed for conversation so we enjoyed our time there, particularly given the so convenient midtown location off the lobby of the Met Life Building, attached to Grand Central Terminal.

The restaurant is large and airy with outdoor and indoor seating. The servers I’ve experienced here are very nice and will do anything for your dietary restrictions. Sadly, the food is really just so-​so. Breakfast is better (it’s hard to mess up brekkie I’d think), but at lunch, the food looks/​tastes mediocre at best.
I had a crab cake that was bound with corn flake bread crumbs. It was primarily lump crab, which is nice (and hence the $ 31 price tag), but felt like it needed more flavor and texture (note, I did not really do more than brush a bit of the butter sauce I asked for on the side). The broccoli rabe was too salty, but edible. My friend’s steak looked very done — though not sure what level of cooking he asked for. The spinach it laid on was VERY done, that’s for sure.
The best dish — the order of thick cut French fries.
Not a bad spot in the area for a business lunch in terms of convenience and environs, but really not great food at lunch. Perfect for breakfast meetings, though.

I met up with a buddy for dinner here recently. It was too hot to eat outdoors. The dining room is beautiful and feels sophisticated, bordering on fancy. Our waiter was earnest and nice. I had a credible Negroni there. We lucked out and came on an evening where there was a price fixe menu. My friend ordered off the regular menu. We were brought an enormous baguette with butter to start. I started with a great frisee salad. My friend had a Bibb lettuce salad that he liked very much. I had a very good order of steal au poivre. My buddy really liked his mussels and frites. We shared a couple of OK desserts.
We had a very nice meal. I probably would have liked Café Centro less for full price, but I would definitely give it another shot.

Generally good food. Very poor service. Lovely outdoor setting.
Perfect day to eat outdoors at the lovely setting outside the MetLife Building. The hostess was very nice in getting us seated outdoors quickly Too bad the rest of the service did not match.
After we sat down, we were brought a very nice baguette with good butter. I asked for some olive oil, but it never showed, in spite of asking twice.
As an appetizer, my friend ordered the Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho. He found it too salty. The manager seemed concerned, but that was about it.
I had a really good burger (but missing the onions I ordered that never showed up in spite of my asking for them a second time). Still it came perfectly on the rare side of medium rare and was delicious without the onions I really wanted.
The Chocolate Molten Cake was excellent and a good value at $ 8.
Fine dining. No. Nice dining. Yes. If they could only get their service act together, would be a much nicer place and would warrant 4 stars.

The food. The service. The ambience, works for me.
Anytime my friends and I would dine here after work, we always received great service and great food. Service-​wise, the maitre-​d and servers knew us by name considering we came here so often. It’s just around the corner from my express bus home, so the convience factor was always a big part of my decision to come here for a decent glass of wine and a perfect medium rare ribeye steak. One of my other favorites that I order all the time is the seared foie gras with a fruit compote variation, which during my visits has ranged from a poached pear to a macerated berry of sorts… devine!
I’ve never had a bad experience while dining at Café Centro, with the exception of once during dining in our party of four each of us ordered the ribeye steak, mine medium rare and the others medium well. Each of the girls glaring at me saying, ‘why would you get your steak medium rare.’ I had to school them on the best temp for a steak. The server came with our steaks and forgot the placing of each and I ended up with one of the medium well steaks. The girl eating my steak was umming and ahhing and did not want to switch back to her medium well. So, yet again another medium rare convert.
Café Centro is a pretty decent restaurant within the Grand Central area, that provides a vast menu with comparable prices and quick service if you’re trying to catch the 7:45pm train to Saugerties or from whence you came.
If you do get a chance to check out Café Centro, I hope your experience turns out as well as many of mine.

The service is great. We were served by a young French guy who was not over the table at all times but rather knew exactly when to ask if we needed anything.
I had the fish with onion (I cant remeber the name on the menu) and it was delicious in fact so delicious that I asked for some bread to dip in the broth that the fish was in.
The atmosphere is elegent and the fire place makes it even more welcoming. We were siting 1 table away from the fire place and it made us feel like we were in the old country somewhere having a romantic dinner.
Café Centro great place to get something good.

This restaurant has great out-​door seating but the nearby construction can put a damper on any meal as its quite loud.
Café Centro’s outdoor menu has typical bar food i.e. burgers, fries, fish of the day. The food isn’t amazing but is reasonably priced for the location and the food is prepared fairly quickly. We had finished and paid for the entire meal just under an hour after being seated, which is good when returning to work in the afternoon (begrudgingly).
My only suggestion to the restaurant would be to serve water in proper glass wear, as the disposable plastic cups were not ideal. It is somewhat understandable for an outdoor venue, but annoying (they do have cloth napkins though).