Reviews of El Centro Mexican Restaurant (Restaurant)

Nathan Koontz

One of my favorite places ro get Mexican food and drinks. Small location, but definitely worth visiting

Amit S

Some of the best Mexican that South end has to offer. The staff goes out of their way to serve you the best. Lot of vegetarian options as well. We go here every weekend we get a chance.

Marcus Wenzel

Great reasonably priced food with a relaxed environment!

Randi Lee

I did a quick search and ended up finding this place and after eating here I'm happy that I stumbled on this gem. Atmosphere was very cute and the food was amazing. I also had a spicy tamarind margarita...not super spicy but still tasty.

Demetrios Constantine

Really delicious Mexican food, great atmosphere, a little small but nice with fun authentic decor. The prices were pretty standard for Boston food, and the service was great. We came for brunch on Sunday around noon and it was a quiet and enjoyable experience. Full recommendation for a good Mexican food experience.

Daniel Roca

Great food and many different Mexican plates to choose from the manu.

Phoenix Bowen

I've been here a couple times for taco Tuesday. Make sure you only get the basic chicken, fish or beef tacos, or else the discount doesn't apply, and they don't tell you and you'll see a higher charge on your bill. The tacos aren't amazing but they are quite good, and the margarita I had was decent as well. Overall a great place to grab a bite.

Ashley Brede

Great food, amazing margaritas!

Todd Jamieson

The food was amazing. Fresh and authentic. The service was great. An enjoyable experience the moment you walk in the door and the gastronomy is thoroughly satisfying!

Brenda & Lorna Campos

Went here for the first time and had a fabulous dinner. The carne asada was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The house roasted salsa was delicious. And the tortillas were real tortillas. Definitely going back very soon!

Michael Katz

Great food and friendly service for this neighborhood Mexican restaurant. They don't offer a full bar but have lots of good drinks and some great guacamole. Good food and nice casual atmosphere.

Korey Wilson

Eh. These reviews make the place sound a lot better than it is. Been here twice. Food is pretty bland. Service is good though.

Genesis Guerrero

Yesterday was my first time at the restaurant with three of my friends and I was pretty excited to eat Mexican food but honestly I should’ve of just ordered out with my friends at home. First of all, the waiters never probably greeted us before going into the restaurant. After being sat down we had to ask if they had chips and salsa (which are not complimentary). Then, we ordered our food and drinks, I mean the food was okay but I couldn’t finish my drink. I had ordered a strawberry margarita and it was just a regular margarita with strawberry chunks. Waste of money!! By the way, the waiter never came by when the food was given to ask if everything was okay or if we needed anything! When my friends and I had finished the waiter brings our check without even asking if we wanted to split it. We then ask him to split it and my bill in the original receipt was $25 and it goes up to $35 when he splits it so it was a $10 difference. We get his attention and he says he just added all the tax on the last card (my card). Wouldn’t you think to split it? Or at least ask if it was okay? Meanwhile tax was already charged to everyone so basically I paid $10 plus the tax which was about $13 so I paid $10 extra for no reason. The point of this all is that I am never going back and I would not recommend it to anyone. Service and food were not too great. Also, they take advantage and charge double tax.

James Henry

Chimichanga was full of flavor and made with fresh ingredients. Can’t wait to visit again.

Lincoln Pasquina

Quite good food, large margaritas, very kind service. We sat outside with our baby and dog (next to another couple with their baby and dog).

Paula Johnson

I have eaten at 2 locations the one in the South End and The one in Dedham great fresh tasty food

elle steiner

Amazing, delicious, just the best. Do yourself a favor and come to El Centro for lunch or dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Cory P

+great atmosphere +standard Mexican fare +fast, warm chips and tasty salsa -margaritas were very watery

Mara Santos

The food is the bomb here. So delish

Dan Calvert

Fantastic food and great service. Nice little spot with a good vibe. I'm full.

Tom Nimmons

Good service and friendly staff. Food was was good but could have been better.

Tim Kiss

I am hesitant to add a good review because it's such a gem I don't want it to be over populated but my experience last night was too good to keep to myself. Shrimp on top of avacado salad was amazing. Great staff and selection of amazing authentic meals.

shane mullaney

If I could give zero stars I would......horrible food, horrible service. Drinks from. At have no alcohol. Don’t waste your time or money

Sheilah Jones

THE BEST! I GO EVERY THURSDAY. THE GUAC WITH CHORIZO IS TO DIE FOR! The Tamarind margarita, WHOA

Elaine Ayala

I loved the food but the waitress got my order wrong

Lucy Segal

Delicious authentic fare. Amazing spicy tamarind margaritas. Family friendly but also cool spot for a date. Great service and experience.

Syed Rahman

Food is apparently halal, steak was on point

Amanda-lee McColl

When the place is on a side street, it's a Thursday night and it's packed, you know it's going to be good. They did not disappoint. The food was awesome and so were the drinks. My only complaint was it wasn't spicy at all, I had to add my own hot sauce. I guess they're catering for the masses but still

Stéphane

Good family ambiance. Margarita could be better.

Bharath Sharma

Great food and drinks. The michelada here is my favorite. The host, Pedro, is also super sweet.

Jamie Roszel

An excellent restaurant with a great food selection. Make sure to come early, as the small space folks up quickly. I highly recommend the margaritas as they are delicious!

Ashish Sharma

Nice food and friendly staff but slow service. We had to wait for over 40 mins to get our food.

Erica Townsend

Great margaritas even better service

Justin Allison

The staff was very courteous and friendly, which was very surprising after what must have been one of the busiest evenings of the year. Two minutes after being seated, we had already received yummy bread and our orders had already been taken.

Robert Kelly

Great casual place, good bar, friendly and accommodating staff.

Ritwick Chakraborty

The food is awesome and the place is so cozy, you will never feel out of place. Even if you are noob in International cuisine. A tad expensive but then again, worth it.

Nina K

Great food & ambiance - loved this little gem!

Cheryl Brewer

Amazing. The torta is off the charts!

James Bacon

Thought the ceviche was good and the fish taco was ok. The prices aren't horrible though and the ambiance is cool. Is pretty small so imagine it'd get crowded, but was easy to get a table at 5 on a Friday evening in the summer.

Angie Lozano

Poor service. I had to approach the hostess... too much money for what you get. Nice outside sitting area

Adrian Heath

Had a lovely meal with the family. Very good food and portion size. Nice atmosphere. Definitely worth the walk out.

Diana Dozier

Part of. Foodie Tour was different. To little restaurants that are in the neighbors And had a chance to check this one out Will eat there again

Kena Patel

Authentic Mexican cuisine, a rare find in Boston!

ali rashid

I don't know the others defintion from good food and nice place, but this place offer the worst food ever.. less quantity, low quality, cold and out dated meat, trying to look fancy but trash at all.. staffs do not care if you lik the food or not.. THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF LIFE!

Chris Sawicki

Great food and service!! Super cozy spot!! Great date night spot

C Fins

Food is ok for East coast Mexican food, but the service is terrible. An hour before closing while a couple of tables were still dinning they brought out a bleach bucket and started cleaning. The smell was unbelievable. And that happened both times I've been there so it is clearly a thing. I think the staff was trying to drive people out so they could go home. So three stars for the food and one for the service.

Alex Santiago

Probably the first sit down restaurant I've entered that lacks a hostess. Any first visit will likely be accompanied by initial confusion. Chips and salsa for a charge? At a Mexican joint? If your visit is during peak hours, expect …

Derek Sanchez

The service was good, the appetizers were also good, some of the other diners in my party like their food, I did not. The mole very sweet and overly spiced = not hot it tasted like a pumpkin latte

Al Ossorio

Well above average for Boston

alexander fidalgo

Great food and Service

Haley Macdonald

The sour cream tasted like mayo and the food was terrible and cold don’t waste your money. Not to mention they charged me for extra guac and never put it in the bag.

Niles da Silva

Great central Mexican food. Some of the best in New England I’ve found.

Kevin Hua

Decent Mexican food

Jason Barefoot

Love this place! The owner is the nicest man you’ll ever meet. Tacos are half priced on Tuesday!

Victor Muñoz

Lovers of Mexican Food: this is your place. Great waiters and even better food.

Jose San Inocencio

Simlpe place but excelent mexican stuff

Diego Fentanes

The service is amazing and such a nice environment

Marina Bryant

I would have given this place a 4/5 but the experience progressively got worse while I was at the restaurant. The food was pretty good (emphasis as to why I would have rated a 4/5) but the service was very scattered and a weird dynamic. I …

Ryan Pitts

Slow service, 30 min+ wait for food, but the Saturday brunch was good.

A.J Judkins

This place was absolutely fantastic. The plate I had was so amazing. I'll definitely be back. The shrimp was just, uh.. amazing! I'll have the salmon plate next time. It was chill, cozy. Ambience was very low key. Service was on point! You'll absolutely love this place. You won't be disappointed!

Niranj Chandrasekaran

Excellent Mexican restaurant. The food tasted very authentic

Craig Shames

I am hesitant to add a good review because it's such a gem I don't want it to be over populated but my experience last night was too good to keep to myself. Shrimp on top of avacado salad was amazing. Great staff and selection of amazing authentic meals.

Yael Ochoa

Delicious fresh ingredients and authentic food. The sangria is a must!

Fenway Gourmet

I drive an hour, just for the soup, chicken tortilla best I've ever had !!

Alex Haldeman

Food is good, but they have never gotten my takeout orders 100% correct. Something is always missing.

Daniel Henley

Good food, but they aren’t great with takeout orders. Twice I’ve called in orders and told them rice instead of beans with my enchilada (I can’t eat pork). First time they forgot and gave me rice and beans. Second time they got confused and gave me two orders of beans instead of two of rice.

Amit Adhikaree

Very good food.

Elizabeth R.

The restaurant itself was a little dirty when we got there, the table was sticky and the cups were smudged. The food was just okay - the burrito was soggy and the tacos weren’t overly fresh. The drinks are good though!

Pavel Sapozhnikov

Incredible food.

Shakira F

Been my spot for over 5 years awesome place great drinks food

Craig Legget

Limited space, limited drink menu, loud

Sharon Howell

I've been found it to be very friendly. The food was through through together pretty fast didn't care for it

Enrique Garcia

Authentic Mexican food as good as it gets The quality of these dishes can only be compared to the warm and outstanding service you'll find at El Centro.

Michael Elmasian

Not very good at all. It tasted like leftovers

Manelisi V. Nhliziyo

Had steak tacos and tacos and avo dip for an appetizer. Great steak. Guac was a little too liked. Excellent ambience though and friendly staff.

Colleen Reynolds

The margaritas were good, but the brunch was underwhelming. The food was decent, and prices reasonable.

Jacqueline Rodriguez

Really authentic mexican food, helpful and amicable staff that know what they are doing. Really good experience overall. Recommend 100%

Eddie Rutkowski

Great Spanish food at an acceptable price.

Jason

The atmosphere at El Centro seemed quite nice, which is why my girlfriend and I decided to dine there. They had seating outside with two person tables as well as two person tables pushed together to make a four person seating arrangement. I asked if we could move one of them so we could enjoy the dinner outside. I was told no. I asked if we could just sit at the only table available outside. Told no, I have to have 3 or more people. Ok, no problem. So, we waited for 15 minutes to be seated inside. The bar stools we sat at were uncomfortable and mine was broken with a missing footrest. It was uncomfortable to have my right leg dangling, but not that big of a deal. Waitress comes up immediately, to which we were not ready, but I assume they would bring chips and salsa. Nope. You have to order them. Ok, can we get some while we look at the menu? Sure, she says. 10 minutes later they are brought (along with initial waters). I'm a person that loves salsa and the hotter the better. Salsa was bland and had zero taste. I asked another waiter if they had anything more spicy. No. What they could do was bring me some hot sauce and I could douse it with that. Uhhh, weird. We sent the chips and salsa back. I've never in my life sent salsa back. The waitress comes back after what seemed forever and we order. The food comes within 10 minutes, but it's not what we ordered. We wait more. Finally the correct food arrives. I never see my waitress again until we are sitting and wondering how long it'll take to pay the bill. Bill comes and the chips and salsa are on the bill. We wait longer for the correction. We pay the bill and decide we won't return again.

Mason M

Place is usually a gem. Had my first bad experience here in the many tears I've been going. Food was cold and bland, margs were not good. Disappointed that one of my favorite places had gone so far downhill

Shayla Roy

Delicious guacamole I have to say , but I got the enchiladas and they didn’t have much flavor to them ,they were drowning in cheese with barely any sauce and my rice was extremely dry and hard. My fiancé got the classic margarita and it ended up being disgusting he could barely drink it .The service wasn’t oh so great we waited almost an hour to get our food and by the time we got our appetizer we were starving and almost felt sick. No one asked how the food was , and we had to flag someone down to get a refill just to be ignored a million times before someone actually came over . This place would be better with better waiters , we asked when our food would be done and he goes to check and it was done just sitting there and our waiter was no where to be found . I’ve definitely had better .

Megan Kelley Marina

Great time here! Such an awesome atmosphere. They have strong sangria. awesome guacamole and delicious, affordable meals.

Sara Reagan

Not sure if Boston has bad Mexican food but this place is not very good despite the reviews. Only here for a night and disappointed with my dinner selection and i hobbled a mile here with a blister on my toe too. Guacamole was runny with no flavor and stale chips, margaritas flavorless, and worst molcajete I’ve ever had. Seems like they weren’t sure what to do with it except add stewed tomatoes and no tortillas?? I’ve had a lot of molcajetes and this one was least flavorful and just beef and onions - no cheese or chorizo or any spice in the sauce. Hot sauce was the one good thing. Service wasn’t awesome either. Would not ever go back.

Dennis Smith

Great decor and armosphere with great food to match. Everything tastes homemade and authentic. I will definitely visit again!

Xiomara Sanchez

Good food and drinks, small and cozy atmosphere with friendly service and good prices. Love the decor!

Saikrishna Chavali

Vegetarian view: takeout order of veggie tacos and veggie tamales. Liked the tamales (except too much oil) & tacos were horrific - missing taco itself, asked for Spicey sauce and there was none etc. Not cheap either.

Dzmitry Parul

Cozy place, where they treat you special if you are here for the first time. Good food, nice people

Joshua Taveras

The food is great not the best Mexican I've ever had but great. Wonderful environment with great staff. My only complaint is the lack of spicy options, there hot sauce doesn't even show up on my radar, that being said my wife thought it was too spicy. Drinks could be stronger but the flavor is there best of all the beer is ice cold, a problem I'm finding in the city. All in all definitely a go to and the price is good enough you won't break the bank. 2 people with 2 rounds for under 100 bucks.

Sara Gutierrez

Great authentic mexican food!, nice service.

Jillian Burgess

Small place tucked away on Shawmut hidden from the tourists makes this place a gem. Every dish I've had here has been delicious and the drink are also on point. The service is friendly and attentive. I get the guacamole & chips to start every meal here. If you like spicy, ask for the house spicy sauce - it's fire!

Heri Barreto-Echevarria

Not very expensive. Good food. the service could improve a little but it's ok.

Khendra Davis

The staff was lovely the service was quick and the margaritas were bomb. The portions were also large so you’re for sure getting your money’s worth. I’m definitely going back

Alessandro Giordano

Mediocre food and terrible service - unprepared, incompetent and not-that-friendly waitresses. They messed up the order and charged for extra items that we never ordered or received (removed from the check only after we brought the issue to their attention). Also, some tacos have ingredients not listed in the menu. Waitress and manager blamed it on the menu, saying that next time we have to remember to ask for Lorenza's tacos without beans (yes, next time we have to remember about an ingredient not listed in the menu and ask to have it removed!). And in spite of being reassured that the Guacamole is made fresh in house, the liquidy texture/consistency and the slightly acidic aftertaste convinced me that it (or part of it) comes from a supermarket.

Carrie Chiasson

Fantastic brunch! I've been twice and only ordered the chilequiles because it is too delicious not to get again and again. Cute decor as well. Generally quiet at brunch time so you don't have to wait.

Kelli

We were asked to move from one outdoor seating location sunny, warm, great view to the other side which was near the sewer and shade; the server said a large party was coming (per her manager). We understood (things happen) we just wanted a little snack and wine and continuing on our day. Until another couple arrived that did not look like us and they were able to sit in the exact seats we were asked to move ( we asked if they were "the party" and they were not just guests like ourselves. We spoke to the server and she apologized and said the Manager told her to move us. The manager never came out to apologize or anything. The salsa was horrible the wine was needed after that experience. To this day, I am not sure how to take that experience. But we felt like we were not the right skin tone to sit on the Shawmut ave open view side sunny side. We will never return. I've dined throughout the South End and we proudly reside in the South End ever before there was an El Centro, and I have never been made to feel this way in any establishment in the South End. The "party" never arrived and we could have stayed right where we were, there were only 4 people in the entire restaurant at the time. Never ever again.

Jeleiny Garcia Rijo

Great food

Adam R

Great classic Mexican dishes, as well a few with a modern twist.

Archana Sondhi

Great cozy place in South end neighborhood. Really awesome staff and my dog loves it as well. Food tastes delicious.

Luis Edgardo Cotto

Perfect place to go before a performance at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts! I've only been twice thus far and each time the manager treated me and my crew as if we were long time customers. The Mexican in the crew on visit #2 wholeheartedly endorses.

Adrian Velasquez

Great food. Staff always very nice accommodating. I usually recommend this restaurant to my friends who are looking for great Mexican food.

B.K.Randima.R Rodrigo

Great flavor full food. Great drinks too. The place looks cozy and the staff is very friendly. I would recommend there dip and blood orange Margarita

Jefferey Millard

Great mexican place in Boston, MA on Shawmut Ave. El Centro... Love it. Been here plenty of times alone, and sometimes I've brought a friend. I have taken my wife here too on occasion. Great place to eat alone, with friends or your loved ones. I really enjoy their tacos. One of the best mexican places around the USA!

Alline L

Great place for lunch, good price and generous portions, and of course tasty. The atmosphere and service were great. I had the burrito which had a bit too much sauce which blended everything too much together, but still very good. I would like to come back to try other dishes.

Alejandro Rodríguez Moreno

The best mexican restaurant in town! I would suggest to have the mexican plate mixing two kinds of meals: pastor&barbacoa were my favourites!! The waiter was so kind! He is so friendly so do not be afraid to ask if you have some questions about the menu ; - )

Noe Maldondo Rueda

The food and the prices are great, the the taste and flavor are very good but not entirely Mexican

Jose Feliciano

Awesome food, awesome service overall great experience. A must visit

Christina Allen

This place has the best Mole and so many Boston! Mole Bostonis where it is at!

Catherine Vasquez

The food is delicious! Real Mexican food. We've had all the tacos and they are all great love the barbacoa one, that's hard to get in Boston. Try the chilaquiles too! The place is small and cozy with Latin music and good service.

Nicole Peckinpaugh

The food was absolutely delicious! Money well spent and staff was very attentive. Quick service and great atmosphere. Would definitely recommend and will return next time in Boston.

Karl Swanson

Amazing food, the enchiladas are to die for! Very good with Gluten Free options, reasonable pricing.

Tyrone Mack

Just cozy and great!!!

Bryan Lantz

I really want to like this spot. But the precision is just not there across the board. Everything is at best serviceable. But if you're in the South End it's decent enough Mexican food.

Andrew Kreshtool

The food is good, but definitely overpriced

Michael Ferraro

Excellent tacos!

Tim Jipson

Love this place ❤️

Sandra Garcia

Excelente service, good quality food and super tasty!

Sean Walsh

Phenomenal food, friendly staff, and good environment

Ana Adams

Nice, cute corner Good food! Excellent service