Reviews of El Centro (Restaurant)

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.

carolina Vivas

Tasty, fast, friendly service, free chips and salsa. Great !

Tom Ford

Quick but we'll cook Mexican food

Oh M

Food and drinks were of quality and suprisingly good considering it looked a bit dive bar and things were not so clean. Never had a steak quesadilla where they asked how you want the steak cooked and they did accordingly. Fish taco was small but again fish was of good size and cooked well. Very good prices as well. Guac was the only disappointment. Chips were good.

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.

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 …

Ashley Brede

Great food, amazing margaritas!

Steve Sargent

El Centro continues to hit the trifecta - Quality, Value, and Service. The flavors/sauces/moles are the best in town. We always stop by when we're in NYC.

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!

Vincent Ramkissoon

Reasonably priced Mexican food in an easily accessible area. Recommended !!

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 …

James Henry

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

Brian Mayers

This place has been around for a while and still going strong. It's good for a meal and drinks.

Keesha Gaskins-Nathan

Love this place. Regular spot to take visitors to NYC (location, menu flexibility and consistently good food). UWS moms have ruined Saturday morning brunch/breakfast but if you have kids that's a good day to go. It remains a proper Sunday morning brunch spot. Legit margaritas (highly recommend coconut on the rocks).

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

Cheslie Lariosa

Amazing food!!! The portions were big and filling. Great to share with other people. The service is a bit slow even though it wasn't full of people.

Marci Reid

Great food! Tasty margaritas. Good service. They didn't even throw us out when the west side blacked out. They let us stay and finish our food, drinks and conversation.

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.

Kathleen Roe

Good food, pleasant service.

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

Karl Jacobsen

Terrible service. Been here for over an hour took 35 minutes to place an order after getting someone's attention and now another 25 minutes and no food but a table of 8 that came in 30.minutes after us has their food. Terrible. Do not come here

Nicole McIntyre

It was good. First food stop on my trip in New York. Was taken here by co-workers. The food is very good. Little on the foodie side, but very good. The margarita was strong...not complaining. The seating area is tight, but it's NY and from what I've seen everything is tight. Definitely would visit again.

Lucy Segal

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

Elisa

This place made me feel like I was in a fonda in Mexico City. They use fresh ingredients and traditional flavors. Serving portions are pretty big though so I would suggest eating family style or be ready to take some leftovers home (not the worst thing in the world). Service was quick and attentive.

Stéphane

Good family ambiance. Margarita could be better.

Manali Bhole

Mediocre at best .. food and service

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!

Grant Beardwell

If you want authentic Mexican you got it.

David Kopach

I can only describe the food here as un-fresh and foul. You’ll find much better stuff at Hell’s Kitchen (just down the street).

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.

richard dietz

Very good Mex food. Great chips. Waiters have the best arms in town.

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.

Amy G

Many visits and many happy memories. Great food, fun and efficient service, loud as hell. The margaritas are amazing. You can’t go wrong. Take ear plugs if over 30.

Iiaann Ian

It had great atmosphere; I was with great friends so to be very honest, from what I noticed, the service was great too!

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!

Chuck GREEN

Good place, food & service was ok a little slow

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 scattered service, and a loud environment. I could barely hear my girlfriend a few feet away, something about the acoustics of the place. The chicken enchiladas were decent but lacked authenticity with spices and flavor. The best part of my dish was the rice, which was fantastic!

Alexander Grammenos

Food is really good. Service however can be slow.

Nna Nwosu

Excellent cuisine, the avocado, mango and char grilled chicken combination is highly recommended. Stalks you with just the right amount of calories and enough vegetables

Craig Bailey

Amazing authentic Mexican food and friendly service. Highly recommended. I'll be returning on my next trip to New York.

Mark Overcash

Delicious, authentic food, a fun atmosphere, and decent prices. The service was excellent. Ordered a couple margaritas that were good, but nothing special. Made for a great date night with my wife. We will definitely revisit the next time we are in Hell’s Kitchen.

MG Gro

Great vibrant place. Delicious food. Downside: crowded and loud. We had soup and nachos con carne. Absolut great choice.

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.

Jason Barefoot

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

Mana Magma

Nice little place packed with people. My favorites are their soups

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 ordered a margarita and it was not very strong at all so I asked for my next margarita to be a little stronger. The waitress charged me $15 plus the $12 margarita in order to make it stronger without telling me in advance that this would be the case. When the check came, I was very surprised that they had charged me for an “extra shot”. When I told the waitress that I had not ordered a shot, she told me that her manager told her to charge it. I told the waitress she should have told me before charging me and she was very rude and would not take the shot off of my tab until her manager finally agreed to do so. What I thought would be a good experience turned out to be awful. I would not come back again due to the fact that the drinks were over priced, not that great, and the staff was clueless and rude. Such a shame!

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!

Fenway Gourmet

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

Amit Adhikaree

Very good 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.

Stefano Cataldi

Great food and great margaritas..friendly staff

Eddie Rutkowski

Great Spanish food at an acceptable price.

johnny diaz

The place looked great and the food smelled good. But I didnt get to stay I was only there to pick up food and go.

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 .

Simon Icke

Great food with a nice atmosphere

Dennis Smith

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

Josh S

Dependably tasty Mexican fare Pros: outside seating has great people watching Cons: inside seating is a bit cramped

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.

Adam

Great food. Open late and quick service. Not bad prices either!

Dzmitry Parul

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

Sara Gutierrez

Great authentic mexican food!, nice service.

Timothy Flanagan

If you like spicy you will not get it unless you ask, so ask. Good food reasonable pricing

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

Ben Spear

Love the food and drink here. Staff are nice and the atmosphere is really good! Well located but not that close to the subway.

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.

Cierra Reinhardt

Only flaw was that they are a bit overpriced, but so is everything in this area. A great list of cocktails and tequilas, and some very good tacos. They even put avocados on your tacos, who doesn't love that?

Shlomi Buzaglo

Basic. There is no really good Mexican food in Hell's Kitchen. I just find this place very neutral with basic flavors very far from real Mexican. It's more American than Mexican. and visited just because a friend wanted to in an extremely cold day with no passion to take the car for a better place.

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.

Sarah Smith

mexican food and the scene at this spot is great. food was so delish. definitely worth a return trip. the place has a cool feel to it.

T.C. Lind

One of my favorite spots in the city. The margaritas are tall and strong, the staff is always welcoming and friendly, and the food, of course, is really great. It’s not “Abuela throwing down in the kitchen” good, but it’s definitely flavorful. For me, I like the fact that it’s small, convenient, and filled with a fun and light atmosphere. Sometimes, that’s all you really need for a great spot!

Tobias Kessel

Very busy place, but we luckily got a table. Enjoyed the food and drinks very much and didn't have to wait for it too long either!

Archana Sondhi

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

Adrian Velasquez

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

Francisco Salas

Their michelada game is strong! The fajitas were flavorful

Jonathan Gough

Food was very good. Most things were spiced. It was difficult to find menu items for those that didn't want slightly spicy food. Items on the menu are not really customizable seems like most things are pre-prepared. Server was nice, but not very helpful with finding things that people could eat. Very wonderful person, just not as helpful as they could have been.

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 ; - )

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.

Ryan Oliver

Good for friends and family lunch or late night food. Service and food are decent.

Karl Swanson

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

alex seca

It's a nice Mexican restaurant however there are so many on the 9th Ave strip. I am not getting paid but, from my experience one of the best restaurants I have visited is on 51st and 9th across the street from the Pizza location down the block is the public school...give it a try great food generous portions and if you love coconut margaritas...go for the large!

Zina Williams Johnson

Great food great atmosphere. Love the margaritas. Will go there again.

Carrie Butterworth

A little tight inside, but delicious food that won’t bankrupt you.

Michael Ferraro

Excellent tacos!

Enrique Redondo

No the best place in NY! Good quality food, great location but poor service.

Tim Jipson

Love this place ❤️

Sandra Garcia

Excelente service, good quality food and super tasty!

Dutchin Wong

Its always our go-to Mexican in NYC. If you're from the west coast this place won't disappoint. Not SoCal Mex-American but it's close enough...

Sean Walsh

Phenomenal food, friendly staff, and good environment

junior vasconez

Pretty good food, I had the carnitas burrito, the chips & salsa they give was great. Only down fall was the chicken mole that had a hair in it.

Ana Adams

Nice, cute corner Good food! Excellent service

James English

Great food, great price and great atmosphere. The short rib taco was amazing along with the steak chilaquiles. For NYC it was good portions and didn't break the bank. A must in this part of town.