Three situations acceptable to come here: 1) happy hour 2) brunch 3) craving Mexican food. I might be spoiled having grown up on the west coast, but still. El Centro is decent enough to kick a craving for tacos etc and has a cool atmosphere/location, but beyond that the food isn't worth its full price. On the plus side, the free chips and salsa are pretty good. I'd still come here for the above three scenarios (I particularly like the shrimp tacos) but on the whole, nothing very special, just one of too-few Mexican restaurants in DC. read more

El Centro - shrimp tacos - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great food and drinks. Not many vegetarian options and defiantly no vegan options, so keep that in mind. The food is pricy but tastes amazing, same can be said about the drinks read more

The service can be a bit slow at this place however if you know what to order El Centro is a great choice. There are some great deals to take advantage of $2 taco Tuesday on specialty tacos and great margaritas and drinks for $5 at happy hour! Tavo is an absolute gem and is always great to talk to during happy hour Fridays. The chips and salsa are always amazing but try to leave room for the amazing enchiladas divorciadas. And if your not full yet than get their tres leches cake. It is so moist and flavorful and is a must try for el Centro. Their guac is very good but make sure to get it spicy if you want a kick of flavor. Also, if your not a guac person the queso is an underrated fav of mine! The only thing I have tried I would not recommend is the Mexican mojito. As someone who loves spice, the Chile salt around the rim felt a bit too much for me for this drink and did not pair well with the mojito's usually sweet and refreshing taste. Overall el Centro is a must try for DC Mexican cuisine! read more

I came here today with my best friend and had a best time Kenny our host was THE BEST! He was very kind, attentive, and had the best mode, me made me feel like family! I will be coming here again and I will be asking for my man Kenny!!! read more

I loved the bottomless brunch and cocktails. It's only $39!! Ban was my waiter and Keny was the bartender. The service was amazing! Ban was so fun and great at recommending menu items. Keny made us delicious margs and mimosas. They were also COVID safe. Highly recommend. read more

El Centro - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Tasty Mexican fare in Gtown. Turns up after dark into a club upstairs. Has a nice fenced in patio in the back with outside bar. A few other dining options in bar area upstairs or downstairs. Had the supreme guacamole (which was made table side) and it was good. Also had chicken enchiladas which were really good as well. Nice presentation with pickled onions, rice and refried beans. Only complaint was that service in the patio was handled by the bar tender and he was busy so it meant ordering food and drink from the bar. read more

El Centro - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Really good food, service and drinks were pretty slow though. Even though it was a busy night or waiter only came by twice.

Homeboy at the bar didn't want to serve us an hour and a half before closing the bar and then sat at the bar on his phone his name is Orlando and the bathroom literally lead to a huge weird closet read more

El Centro - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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The only real thing this place has going for it is the location. The food was ok, nothing I would crave at a later time. The manager or supervisor approached our table, which was right next to the bar, and said we were too loud. The entire place was was noisy, yet our table of adults talking over dinner was an issue. The waiter brought the wrong plates to our table at least 2 times and overcharged us on the bill $30. They also asked us to push tables together for 13 people while the area we were sitting in was not packed. read more

If I could give this one star I would. Food was disgusting. Customer service was terrible. My server never checked on me once. The hour and a half I was there. Literally waiting for her I HAD TO GO INSIDE AND FIND HER. I shouldn't have to beg for a check. then they didn't even care like even laughed that they forgot. The girl said "oh yeah" No apology or anything. Never coming back I missed my train because of them. Which pissed me off. I've never been so disgusted with a restaurant. read more

My husband rented out the bar for my 30th birthday. I was so pleased. They had a menu just for me. I had my own taco bar and they even brought out a special dish for me. They also allowed us to bring in cupcakes. Everyone was great at making sure my guests and I were all taken care of. It definitely made my birthday memorable. read more

The food was great. Different from what I'm used to.the setting is perfect. Beautiful little venue. The staff friendly and helpful, inviting. Highly recommended. They have open windows which I love and a great yummy bar. Delicious drinks. The only cons is that we were sitting next to these two on a date. Their conversation was so painful. We were texting each other about how awful their topics were. Awwwwkwardddd read more

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The best nacho and Guacamole I've had. It is really excellent with warm chips, fresh avocado and one can alter the spice level. Good amount of guacamole for one serving with beautiful presentation. Also came out fast and nice service. read more

Great Mexican food! The only reason why I gave it 4 stars was how loud and crowed I felt while eating. We got a small small square table. Like both of our plates were almost touching. It was pretty uncomfortable. The food though was very good. The staff was extremely nice. read more

We had some of the worst service here for brunch and the food is middling at best. It's sad because I feel like they could make it better. The icing on the cake was the server trying to charge us for two all-inclusive brunches when we ordered a la carte. read more

This is a good place to have dinner with a group of friends. The food is not my favorite but they do have some items on the menu that are worth it to try like the Grilled Chicken Quesadilla and Jalapeño Beef & Chorizo Sliders. This 2 are my favorites. Service is great, they are very attentive. The location is great. Georgetown is a good place to hang with friends and there is parking near the restaurant as well. Also, Margaritas are super delicious. I order the Mango Margarita and was really good. read more

El Centro - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Our brunch on Labor Day was so much fun. our waiter George was amazing, he asked for dietary restrictions and was so helpful throughout our entire day. the food was pretty good it wasn't like amazing the best that I've ever had, but it was fun if you wanna like a fun type of vibe. I would say this is a place to go for fun and fun drinks. I feel like a lot of places will water down the drinks for a bottomless bunch but these were not watered down and we definitely had a really good time :) read more

Joyce was the greatest server! She was so attentive, cordial, personable, and overall just a great server! Would 10/10 recommend this restaurant (+ask for Joyce) read more

If you want strong pours, good music, and great vibes, this is not the spot. There's better down the street

Rats, roaches, and overpriced drinks oh my! Was looking forward to checking this place out but definitely do not recommend you spend any time here. "Security" was handsy & the place was overall gross. read more

Great for large parties and work dinners. Well priced, good food, fun environment, and nice staff.

Despacitooooo playing as soon as we walk in was the best. We made reservations for Saturday night. We had a party of 11 so we waited by the bar until our table was ready. The bartender hooked us up with some tequila shots while we waited. Within a couple of minutes, we were called to be seated. I got the grilled shrimp tacos and my friend got the barbacoa tacos and we switched one of each. They were both AMAZING! If you don't mind spicyness, you'll like the kick the barbacoa tacos have to offer! My shrimp tacos were perfectly warm and not soggy (I hate when tacos are soggy.)! All tacos come with refried black beans and Mexican rice. The beans were great but the rice was really dry...still demolished everything so I shouldn't be complaining... This restaurant gives unlimited chips and salsa which is definitely a pro I had to Yelp. Keep 'em coming! The music is all fun Spanish music and there's cute outdoor seating with dangling lights. WARNING: the bathroom has 3 stalls and the sink area has metal-like buckets, unique decor....but it is connected to the men's room. My friend and I were so confused because we didn't see our outfits in the reflection and soon realized the sink area was connected to the men's sink area. It was funny but could invade some of your privacy so just a warning. Back to the food though..I'd come back in a heartbeat. If you live in the DC area or are visiting, definitely check out El Centro! read more

El Centro - Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Refried Black Beans and Mexican Rice - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Ben here a few times. Great Mexican place. Coming from Cali Mexican food is a staple so we always try to find good places. El Centro is one of those places. Good food, I recommend their guac. Yummmm service is pretty nice too. Their Cinco de Mayo celebration was pretty good as well and not very expensive. If you want to learn to Salsa Dance then you're in luck. They offer classes and then dancing after the classes. I believe this is on Wednesdays. read more

We were at the restaurant tonight to celebrate a big event for my son. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to stay for more than drinks since my son has some food allergies. Our server, Joyce, was amazing and went above and beyond to make sure that he was able to safely enjoy a meal. The food was amazing and the service impeccable! I would highly recommend this restaurant and ask to sit in Joyce's section! read more

Came here for brunch on a Saturday at 10:30. They gave us a hard time for having the wrong number in our reservation, meanwhile the restaurant was completely empty; besides the four in our party there was one other couple in the restaurant. The service was overall not great, the staff seemed annoyed that we were there and took their time to eventually seat and serve us. I will say the food was good but the portions were incredibly small and overpriced. The Bloody Mary was very unimpressive for a Mexican restaurant. I would recommend you do what the rest of Georgetown has already figured out and stay away. read more

Save your money and go ANYWHERE else! I've been here multiple times for brunches and the service has always been meh to great. This time, it was horrendous and I will not be back. 1. It took about 35 minutes for our group to first receive drinks and about 1 hour from sitting before food started to come out. Drink orders were regularly wrong as well as Bloody Mary's not being available that day. 2. I asked the server multiple times for specific dishes. Some never came and some took an hour to arrive. I understand the restaurant is busy but it seems borderline illegal to not give people what they've paid for. I was patronized and told to wait. We never received half the items we requested. 3.The mimosa's were literally mixed with water. It was very revealing that the drinks aren't what is advertised when we watched the bar staff mix carbonated water with orange juice and no champagne (or champagne substitute). This happened a total of 3 times before the manager came. After the manager left, the water mixing continued. It's clear the staff does not care about scamming customers. Our server looked over worked but this was hands down the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant my entire life. I hope El Centro re-formats their hiring and training process as this was embarrassing. At no point did the server apologize for the awful service. read more

George is a phenomenal bartender! Love his spicy margs and the grilled pineapple marg too! He had great recommendations for the food. So happy he's back! read more

Came here for brunch on Saturday and had a reservation for 4. They took us to two different tables that were only for 2 people (clearly something wasn't right with the hosts) and eventually put us at a table that was actually for 2, but had an extra chair and then 2 squished on the booth side. The tabletop was also broken and difficult to balance drinks on. Have been to this El Centro many times before, but was very disappointed with the experience this time. Drinks took awhile to come out and were never actually what we asked for. We'd remind the waitress what we did want instead, but she never brought them. We ordered food in two batches and the second time, we were kept waiting at least 30 minutes and never received everything we ordered. We didn't even get chip refills when we asked (although half of the chips in every basket we got we're super stale). Toward the end we ordered churros for dessert and had to ask 3 times for them. When we did eventually get them, they were cold like they had been sitting out for a long time. Overall food wasn't great, except for the guacamole and quesadillas. Won't be returning unless the service improves significantly. read more

If you are looking for the perfect marg and happy hour you found it: El Centro georgetown is the most accommodating place around. My gals pals came for happy hour and they were busy as bees can be and they acknowledge that they weren't as apologized to us because they were so busy but hey! Thats the industry so if you cant take it get out!!! As a result, Jamie the manager and David the bartender made it up for us and were very generous! They were kind, patient, and giving!. I would highly recommend this place for a night out for drinks, happy hour, or dinner! read more

El Centro - Bars Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Review is for their bottomless brunch. Probably the most mediocre Mexican food I've ever tried hitherto. The location in Georgetown is great. The place itself with three different bars, outdoor seating and the overall decor and ambiance is great. The price for the bottomless brunch is reasonable for the area. The service is quick but not very attentive. The drinks are strong but generic. The food however is the weakest link. I tried a bunch of items off the brunch menu and amongst the ones which made it to my table including the nachos, guacamole, quesadillas and a number of dishes from the "chefs special" menu, nothing passed for even decent other than the quesadillas which were enjoyable. The churros and plantains for dessert were also very mediocre and nothing to write home about. I had heard a lot about this place and maybe they do better for dinner and happy hour. Brunch however was quite disappointing and given the amount of so many better options in the city I would need a very very strong reason to return. No bueno. read more

I hate to give this place three stars since the food, drinks, and brunch vibes were bomb, but after five forgotten or incorrect menu items, I had to knock it down from 4 to 3. I met a couple of friends here for bottomless brunch (food AND small plates - how DC of me!) around noon on a Sunday, and were seated right away with a reservation. The place stayed pretty bumpin throughout the time that we were there (about three hours). In the course of that time we got a pretty big sampling of the bottomless plates, which for the most part were fantastic. Particular standouts were the nachos, chicken tinga tacos, and the CHURROS. I ate all of the chocolate and dulce de leche sauce with a fork after the churros were gone. The pozole was also really good--more tomato-y than I'm used to but still good. Unfortunately didn't get to try the shrimp ceviche, tomato cucumber salad, or the coffee as those were all forgotten (and after a couple margs we forgot about them too). The waiter also forgot the second order of churros but I just couldn't let those slide. read more

I was holding off on a review because I have good memories of this place and I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. But after dinner tonight I've now been there 8 times over the past 12 months and have no doubts this is nothing like what it used to be. If there is a corner that could be cut they have done so, in every way possible. The tacos are stale, the margaritas (once the crown jewel, and worth going for alone) score an F in every category that matters (low quality of tequila, mostly ice, etc.) the service is only sometimes friendly and often unprofessional, particularly at the front. This place needs new management desperately if it has any hope of surviving the pandemic. read more

bottomless brunch is a good deal if you plan to drink a lot, but if you are a picky eater it's probably best to just order one or two things off the menu read more

My group of friends decided to head to DC for our monthly girls day and we chose the bottomless brunch at El Centro. The food and drinks were great, but the highlight of the experience was Ed. He was always checking on us and seeing if we needed anything else. He truly made our day! We will be coming back because of him! read more

Always a great place to eat. But the highlight of our experience was Ed, he kept delivering us our food and was amazing. We had a pregnant friend with us and he was always offering her a chair or more beverages. Not only that, but he was just so positive. He was always bringing a smile or a laugh to our table, it was so refreshing. Besides the food and atmosphere, Ed will be one of the main reasons my friends and I come back. His positive energy is contagious and a great asset to El centro! read more

I had a good, chill time. The shrimp tacos are off the chain; Anastasia & Lily gave great service and the music was festive. I'll be back!

Solid Mexican-style restaurant in the Georgetown area. I came here with a friend for happy hour on a Thursday and they let us order any happy hour drink or food item even if we were not at the bar! The service and atmosphere was very nice. We each got margaritas (pretty good for only $5, but nothing to die for) and a variety of happy hour appetizer-type items. Since they also provide complimentary chips and salsa, we had plenty of food. The tacos were very good, but I wish I would have tried some of their signature tacos from the main menu as well. Will definitely have to come back here next time I'm in Georgetown. And also see how poppin' this place during the night! read more

$2 taco Tuesday and $5 drinks makes this place worth a visit. Warning: the drinks may be only $5 but they are not light in alcohol content. Service was great and the food was as well. read more

This restaurant was amazing and had great food. Julia was our server and she was the best. I would recommend everyone to come to this restaurant and ask for Julia if they want an amazing experience. I'm full. read more

Terrific food in a friendly atmosphere. They try. Had the pork carnitas - large portion and tasty. They subbed a salad for the beans to keep it low carb. The hand-made-at-the-table quac was better than average eg better than Rosa Mexicala. Pint sized margarita rule. Get the ones with chilli in them. Ceviche tasty but not special. Would prefer bigger shrimp. read more