Delicious. The lamb is really good. My family enjoyed the live music. Service is good. Made reservations online. Worked out perfectly. Unexpectedly, Food came very quickly. Location is prime for our visit to Plaza theater. read more

Just had another typical meal at Cafe Central. The service was slow, the order was not right and the food was so-so. I think that says it all. read more

Highly recommend for any special occasions. My boyfriend made a reservation here for my birthday and we were treated very courteously by the servers and staff. The area the restaurant is located in looks a little sketchy, but rest assured, the inside is anything but. There was live music: piano and vocalist, which very beautifully matched the ambiance of the restaurant. We both tried two of their cocktails and they were both very strong. We enjoyed the unlimited bread and for starters tried their grilled octopus, green Chile soup (complimentary) and squash soup. We also had their beet appetizer. Both my boyfriend and I ordered seafood as our main course. I had the clay baked Branzino and my boyfriend had the salmon. Everything was great and would 10/10 recommend getting the Chile Soup. The beet tower with goat cheese was a little bit lacking in flavor, but all in all, we had a great time! The tres leche cake was also amazing and their complimentary french press coffee was also a great added touch! read more

I love the food. I love the space. I love the music. The staff is attentive without being overbearing. I would give it 5 stars except for the fact that I had the same server my last two times in and he got parts of the orders wrong both times. He was a good guy but just missed on the orders. This place is a keeper. read more

Celebrated our anniversary here and had a wonderful time. The food, atmosphere and staff were awesome. We'll definitely be back.

This is a fine dining restaurant. The ambiance was nice. The Liguine was good. Bread was hard and their house tres leche was just OK (maybe old). The waiter was not very attentive. I felt the server did not feel that he would get lots of tips from me because I ordered entree and desert only. He served me water and never came back to refill. I was disappointed because with a high scale restaurant like that to overlook simple detail. I gave him a 20% tips anyway even though I did not feel he deserved it. read more

My husband surprised me by taking me to this restaurant for our Anniversary on the 10th of February 2014. Our dining experience was AWESOME! Everyone was so professional and courteous. We had a reservation but arrived early and we were seated right away. Our server for the evening was a delight. The food was DELICIOUS! We had a mushroom dish for an appetizer and a pasta with seafood and the crab lump salad for our entrees. We truly enjoyed our evening out and will be back soon!!!! read more

We stopped for lunch and were treated to a great experience. Our waiter was great providing excellent service. Shortly after the drinks arrived the waiter arrived with an amazing basket of breads. I had the Cubanito and my wife had the Prime Rib Torta. Both sandwiches were tasty with little touches to make them distinct from similar sandwiches we have had. After a great dining experience we were given a cookie for the road. I highly recommended Cafe Central. read more

Great downtown option in El Paso. Restaurant seating layout wasn't my favorite, but the food was worth the visit. Recommend.

The fried Macaroni appetizer was burnt on the outside and their noodles weren't even cooked.Not to mention, the waiter spilled wine outside of the glass and onto the table almost RUINED my clothes. read more

Went here with me and my family off the bat you have to pay for valet parking idk if it was 5 or 10 but when I entered it smelled very nice it was very classy the service was very good and the chicken was good too it is a bit pricey but the food and service makes up for it overall very good restaurant read more

Have been here a couple of times. Classy restaurant with very good food. My favorite: Chilean Sea Bass. Absolutely the best seafood plate I've had here in El Paso. Best way to get there and visit is to have your vehicle valet parked at the location. read more

We were there last weekend and service was terrible.. We left after a couple of drinks (my mixed drink tasted awful, my friend's cofee was extremely watered down etc.) The waitress denied that they had any dessert menus at all! She was also being snooty and we overheard her telling her friend that we were 'wasting' her precious time. Needless to say I'll never be going back. read more

Overall, I think this place has the best food in El Paso. The prawn brochette is the best thing on this menu and is to die for. That dish could be French Laundry - it's THAT good! The octopus carpaccio is excellent as well. The Paella is also excellent, but is rarely on the menu (please make this a permanent dish!) I go here about once/month and have tried almost everything on the menu. Some dishes are better than others, but I think this is about as good as it gets in El Paso. The sommelier is great and is very helpful. The customer service could be improved and they seem to have a high turnover with the wait staff. Lastly, the menu seems to always stay the same. They should try more variety on the menu - having a tasting menu would be a nice touch and perhaps would better showcase what this James Beard nominated chef can really do. read more

It is hard to maintain excellence, and this restaurant is certainly proof of that. The food was slightly above average, the wait staff is above average, the portions small and seriously overpriced. The trademark Green Chile Soup is no longer available in a bowl, or even a normal cup and now comes in a double shot glass portion. The economy can certainly be held responsible for some of this. What is beyond explanation is why their alleged Sommelier is still there? He has almost no range of wines, over the past 2 - 3 years he has continued with his tired line of "this is my last bottle" every time I order and his social graces are awkward at best! The final straw was when he opened a bottle and spilled a good portion of it on the table and some on me, and then immediately offered excuses to why he had spilled it without apologies. Really? He did say he would take care of us later, but when the bill came, I had been charged full price for the wine. Only after drawing it to our waiters attention was the price adjusted. It is hard to maintain excellence, but you must recognize what is not working. read more

This place has been a celebratory place for us for many years, we just recently rediscovered how amazing the food is. My low score however, is because of the smoke. I absolutely cannot believe that they allow people to smoke on their ENCLOSED patio. I am livid I had to smell that. It's not as if I knowingly walked into a dive bar or strip joint hoping nobody would smoke. Tonight it filled the restaurant as if there was a smoking section in the restaurant like it was 1985. This is unacceptable. I absolutely should not be exposed to a carcinogenic, foul-smelling, disgusting cloud of smoke in a restaurant of this caliber. My mind is blown that this is allowed. If someone wants to have the nasty habit of smoking do it in your house, in your car or at a bar that I can avoid. I don't want to spend well over $200 in an elegant setting only to have to smell and be exposed to someone's nasty habit. I'm addition, for whatever reason we were seated in the bar area tonight. That was not an issue so much as the noice and foul language that dampened the mood of our date night. The sommelier dropped the F-bomb multiple times and took the Lords name in vain. I don't care what your stance is that is unprofessional in any setting such as this. Fix the smoking. Fix the language and professionalism. If we decide to return I hope to be a lot more impressed. read more

I'm not real sure why this place doesn't have better reviews other than the price; however, you get what you pay for at Cafe Central!! The food was amazing, and the service even better!! Tenderloin- melt in your mouth. Green Chile soup - show stopping! And the Tres Leches cake - to die for!! Don't miss this place!! read more

Excellent service and delicious food!!! This is our new favorite restaurant in El Paso!

Just finished eating the leftovers of my Chilean sea bass tacos that I had for lunch at Cafe Central. These are, without a doubt, the absolutely best fish tacos that I have ever eaten. I have eaten many meals at Cafe Central since I moved to El Paso 4 years ago, and every meal has been outstanding. The green Chile soup remains a staple, the bread is tasty, and so many things on the menu are prepared with care, love, and excellent ingredients. I can't wait to go back there again. read more

Appetizer: calamari and portobello mushroom Soup: cream of green chile Entree: grilled Angus ribeye Dessert: chocolate mousse tower (to go) Positives: good ambience, waiters x 2 were very responsive, live piano music in main restaurant area, food was tasty (recommend the soup and the calamari), orders correct on first try, good portions Negatives: ice maker noise next to wall of the meeting room was somewhat disruptive for a meeting, parking options are either valet parking or street parking Overall, good location for a smaller intimate gathering. Management should consider hanging a thick wall tapestry to dampen the noise into the meeting room from the ice maker. 5 stars as the negatives were relatively minor and mostly applicable to larger gatherings within the meeting room. read more

We were celebrating my granddaughter's 21st birthday. It is such a nice place. The staff was very accommodating and we were so pleased with the service. The food is delicious. The valet service is so convenient. Highly recommend! read more

Amazing food, every plate was gorgeous and you could see that they took the time to do everything right. The attention to detail was extraordinary. The service was exquisite. Never did we need for anything and the courses were timed perfectly. We celebrated my wife's birthday here and it was an experience that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives. read more

You kidding me? Who negatively reviews this great restaurant?! Amazing selection and reasonably priced.

A recent visit for dinner before The Lion King was very disappointing. We were seat ed in the sweltering patio even though we had requested an inside table when we made reservations. After protracted negotiations with the manager, we were seated inside. Our food took forever to be served, and one of us waited until the others had almost finished eating for her food. The live music was way too loud. Overall, an experience we don't plan on repeating. read more

This is going to sound harsh, yet here it goes. Overpriced, poor service and overrated. My wife and a couple made reservations for their "New Years Eve Dinner" and it was a huge disappointment.. It was a prix fixe of $125 per person and the carte had excellent choices, unfortunately not everything was available. The appetizer I selected was the salmon with cream and beluga, which was minuscule even for haute cuisine standards. The carte had 4 selections for salad however only two were available so I settled for a less than impressive Caesar Salad. The main entree selections also came with limitations, the cafe had underestimated the amount of lobster required for the evening. By the by, the girls wanted lobster tails. So if things weren't bad enough, of the five dessert options, only two were available. Something called the "chocolate tower" and a torte option, neither were appetizing and somewhat reminiscent of a poorly thawed out 'Sara Lee". All together the evening's climax was a poor champagne offering and they joy of good company. In defense of the establishment, I had the chops bloody rare and they were great. Overall, I have been here a total of 5 times and it appears as if with each visit, the cafe comes up lacking just a little more each time. read more

Thank you for my husband and Cafe Central for a great dinner. Food is amazing, presentation of food is great. But we were disappointed with quality of wine and poor really poor service. read more

Poor value and even poorer service. Sat waiting for staff to do simple things like fill your glass of water. The service took too long at 2.5 hours. We did not linger chatting but was held hostage by poor service waiting for water, tea, coffee etc. It took 30 minutes after ordering desert. Food was average, but highly over priced based upon the quality. If you want to sit forever and have poor service this is your place read more

Very good food. Wine suggestion well pared to food. But the service was simply sad. My wife described the meal as arduous. Waitress came 10 minutes after we were seated...served bottled water and told us she would return to tell us about the specials. Comes back 15 minutes later asking if we had any questions. Asked about specials, she told us, we asked for a few minutes and she disappears. Came to the table 10 minutes later, another waiter wishers something to her, and he disappears for another 10 minutes only to come out and take orders from another table. Butter took 20 minutes to appear, but bread took another 15. On and on and on. Entrees slow. A dessert cheese plate 20 minutes. Even the sommelier's attempt at service recovery couldn't fix this read more

This place gets zero stars, because any "fine dining" restaurant that thinks they can get away with not seating an 8:15pm reservation by 8:40pm (during which time NOTHING was said to us - no apology, no offer to comp us a drink) deserves just that. If you don't have to care at all about your clientele - especially when this was our first visit to the restaurant - you don't deserve our business. Go to Anson11 instead. read more

Cafe Central USED to be the jewel of the Southwest - romantic atmosphere, subtle decor, amazing wine list, and perfect food. Unfortunately, that ambiance is gone - as symbolized by two horrendously large, ESPN playing, distracting televisions in a "fine eating" establishment. The jarring TVs are combined with very bad music (we actually heard Hootie and the Blowfish playing over the sound system while consuming one of the most delicious soups I've ever tasted) while a sadly neglected, elegant baby grand piano collects dust in the corner. The food is still great, but the entire experience has been cheapened. I wish the managers and the current owners would let the food and the history of Cafe Central speak for itself (take a look at the vintage photographs placed next to the restrooms downstairs for a reminder of what you were) instead of creating another Mesa Street Grill. The past few times I've visited, save for the sommelier, the restaurant has lacked warmth - bright, cafeteria lighting in the dining room and no manager in site. It is especially noteworthy to me that we walked over after the El Paso Symphony and, out of hundreds of patrons, only a few couples ventured to Cafe Central following the performance - it just isn't cutting it any longer. Cafe Central, you COULD be compared with fine dining restaurants on a national level again if you'd just act your age and get over your identity crisis. P.S. Those two "paintings" in the bar area and the carpet really need to go. read more

I can't get over my terrible experience last night. I was so excited to go for the first time, Cafe Central is well known in El Paso. But the waiter was a jerk! My host was a regular and knew what he wanted right away but the waiter wouldn't give me the time of day to look over he menu. He stood by my side pressuring me, And when I asked him questions he kept recommending the most expensive items without regarding my taste. And when I finally decided he told me they were out and that he HAD to take my order now because the kitchen would close in ten minutes. I lost my appetite. I left and went somewhere else instead. I'm a server as well. And I personally would never treat my guests that way. But I could tell they make so much money they could care less about giving adequate service. And my host simply told me duh, it's cafe central. And now I'm sad because my first time there sucked. Too bad I only tried the soup, which everyone already knows is great. read more

This is such an amazing restaurant - not only in El Paso but compared to other restaurants in any city. Chef Aldo is so talented. My daughter had the roast chicken which was phenomenal - we all had to try it. My Sea Bass was fantastic too. Everything was truly delicious and the service was exceptional. Lovey ambience too. read more

I don't know where to start with this review but here it goes. I come to El Paso at least twice a month on business. I arrived rather late around 8:40pm with my business partner. However, I called ahead of time and was told they close at 10:30. We sat at a small table at first in the bar but found out a friend was joining us so we moved to a different table but still in the bar area..We ordered drinks and appetisers and after about ten minutes the waitress whose name was Brooke abruptly tells us the kitchen closes at 10. Ok fine. I am a restaurant owner and would NEVER attempt to rush a guest. But then it went further downhill. Our appetisers were brought and after a few minutes our companion arrived. She came after about three minutes and wanted to take our order. But by this time I was feeling unwelcome and uncomfortable. A manager was there as well and took our wine order and was pleasant but that waitress was downright rude. Our entree's arrived and that was it. We were never asked how they were, nothing. When we were finished with dinner she just dropped the check off and didn't even offer dessert, coffee, nothing. I know you all want to leave but to make people feel downright uncomfortable is something else. We ordered drinks, appetisers, a bottle of wine, salads and entrees. We were conversing in Spanish which is very common in El Paso I don't know if that had anything to do with her behaviour but it was what it was. I paid the bill in cash and left no gratuity, which is something I never do but this server really ruined the experience for us. The food was good but the poor service experience ruined it. I hope no one else has this bad of an experience. read more

Sadly, this is very much a hit-or-miss experience. When the stars are in alignment, this is one of my absolute favorite places to eat in the city. When the seasonal menu is full of interesting wellsourced and beautifully designed dishes, they can easily rival high end restaurants in larger cities. Unfortunately, service is rarely consistent, and there are times when the kitchen itself is rather inconsistent. For whatever reason, I keep going back so it must not actually be that bad even when it's not at its best. The deserts tend to be consistently good if not a little pedantic, and the wine list is quite nice if they actually can find the one that you ordered. I do not believe that there has ever been a sommelier working on the floor when I have had a question about the wine list so any question that I might have has always had a 15 minute or longer delay while they try to figure out the answer. It's not as though I asked really difficult questions, but I do expect to have basic competency if you have lines on the menu that easily go into the premium price range. All in all, I still view this is a great place to go for special events and I just crossed my fingers that the stars are in alignment on that day. It's certainly not an inexpensive place to dine which is why it seems more egregious when things really aren't going well. I hope that one day they'll get everyone on the same page and live up to the reputation that they used to have. read more

Fantastic experience. We were on a cross country trip with two small dogs and the staff at Central was so amazing. Being weary from the long morning on the road, they set us up on their patio with the dogs, and even offered the lunch menu even though lunch had ended. The food was fantastic and we felt very welcomed there. I can't say enough about how lovely it was! read more

The current rating of three stars is about what this establishment earns from me too, which is a shame given its location and setup. The service could be so much better. On the positive side, the drinks and background music were pretty good. We ate here when Anson 11 had too long of a wait before a show at the Plaza. Being from El Paso, I remember when this place was a lot better...considered one of the best in the city. read more

The decor was very elegant. The reason I am giving this 4 stars and not 5 is because we got the calamari and it was very chewy. The wedge salad was very good. The best part of the meal was the sea bass. It melted in my mouth. The sauce was a teriyaki sauce which was wonderful. My husband got the rack of lamb which was also very delicious and I highly recommend it. Music (piano,base and vocalist were pleasant, but do not sit in the foyer near them... Too Loud ! read more

I had lunch at Cafe Central today--good news: good service, which is not always true. Bad news: crab-avocado salad had very little crab and mostly consisted of chunks of brown-spotted avocado. Not at all pleasing--I couldn't finish it. Had the cheesecake for dessert--someone left out the sugar! I know true New York cheesecake is supposed to be less sweet than other cheesecakes, but this was not a fun dessert to eat. read more

Came for dinner last night with my fiancée for our 2nd year anniversary and 1st off, there's absolutely NOTHING that made me dislike this establishment. The staff, from the valet, to the bar greeters, to the live entertainment, to the hostesses , up to the waiters, were all very professional and very welcoming. My fiancée is very particular about fine dining etiquette (as an army officer he was made to take an etiquette course and now nit picks at every detail he sees) and they were all very well versed on how fine dining is supposed to be conducted. We ordered several items, the octopus carpaccio (octopus was not rubbery in texture at all), the cream of Chile soup (very delicious with a nice kick of spiciness), the prawn brochette (DELICIOUS DELICIOUS DELICIOUS) and the rack of lamb (oh my goodness....). The dinner was absolutely wonderful, 5 stars all around. In honor of our anniversary, they also brought us a complimentary chocolate mousse tower dessert with a cute sparkler on top (yes, it was also delicious). I was also quite surprised by the large portions they provided. Did not expect to be so full afterwards, but I definitly was. Overall, cafe central gave us a wonderful fine dining experience and we will definitely return! read more

People out there please BEWARE of getting any gift cards from this place!!!!! And if you do...PLEASE read the (VERY) fine print on the back of the card. My daughter and son in law purchased a gift card Christmas in 2015 for my husband and I. The gift card was for $80. Now I know this was a sacrifice for them because they are a young couple with three young kids and they could certainly use the money elsewhere, especially during Christmas, but I know they wanted to treat us to somewhere "nice" (not after this incident...it's not even close to nice) Well as things would have it...I became ill shortly after that. I had surgery and have been in and out of doctors and in and out of bed since then. I've just started feeling a little better and thought it would be nice for my husband and I to go finally have that dinner at cafe central. I get my gift card but couldn't remember the amount my daughter had purchased it for. So I get on the phone and call the local number that is on the back of the card, which is directly to the restaurant and a young man answers. I give him the number of the card and he tells me I have a balance of $20!!! Now I KNOW they gave us more then that and I tell him this and his respond was, "Yes, it was purchased for $80 but since you didn't use the card within one year then they start deducting $5 every month until the gift card is depleted!" I couldn't believe it! I never even thought or knew gift cards had an expiration date or any kind of deduction...after all it has already been paid for! When he had his "assistant manager" call me back per my request, I explained to him what I had gone through medically and therefore I was not able to use it since then...I even offered to show him my medical records just so he wouldn't think I was making this up... but he could care less. He told me there was nothing they could do. That this was their policy and it has it on the back of the card. I indicated to him that I have received many gift cards from various "upscale" restaurants like this one and other restaurants and business' in general and none of them have any policy like theirs. Well he just didn't care and there was no way he was going to honor the money my daughter spend on the card. I will NEVER go to this restaurant again! To me it's the principle...she paid $80 for that card and when we use it or not shouldn't matter because they already have their money so what do they care when we go or not!! In my opinion they have no heart and care nothing about their customers...its all about money to them...as if they didn't already charge enough for their food...what a disappointment. In my eyes they're thieves for doing this and I told him so! I just wanted to warn other people out there because I would have wanted to know! My daughter and son in law were just as upset...they had no idea about this policy either...they were NEVER told! read more