central restaurant

pricey. read the reviews and stopped by on whim after attending an event downtown. we were early, 5:30p, on a saturday evening. no reservation, but we were welcomed and seated quickly. ourserverwas friendly and explained the special. she also explained that the foods were locally sourced. we ordered the special, beef wellington, and the meatloaf with spicy ketchup. theserveroffered bread and i asked if it was homemade. she explained the bread was not homemade, but the butter was. i was curious about the 'homemade' butter. we were brought two very small rolls and butter with a few herbs mixed in. nothing special, but fine. dinner came. the wellington was an individual serving and very good. the fingerling potatoes excellent. the meatloaf itself had a good texture, was served on garlic mash, which was tasty, but was all smothered in the spicy ketchup. the spicy ketchup was so overpowering that you could not taste the other foods after eating it. i scraped off as much as i could and ate around the rest. i found the side veg to be greasy and tasteless, green beans and mushrooms.theserverdid stop at one point and ask if i didn't like the ketchup, and would i like one without ketchup. at this point i'd eaten plenty, about half, and declined the offer. i did appreciate her asking, i just wished it had been sooner. for the hype of locally sourced foods and the price, i expected better. dessert was a chocolate creme brûlée, which i was told was excellent and the mixed berry cobbler, strawberry/blueberry, which is very good and big enough to serve two. my rating is due to the fact, that with tip, we spent about $120.00 for two people, for a meal that was good. it was just that, good. the service was good, the food was good. we will not return as there are many places to get food that is as just as good or better.

absolutely wonderful! robert was myserverand i could not have asked for anyone better. the wedge salad is divine. it's served with a blue cheese dressing. i hate blue cheese but it was so delicious! everything is fresh, local and delish. you cannot go wrong at central

sketchy service. my wife and i met my brother and his wife for dinner at central recently. we were shown a table immediately by the hostess. after about five minutes, we were asked by another hostess if ourserverhad arrived yet, and we replied no.
finally a young man arrived, and was very cordial. he seemed a little quirky, but was trying to be friendly. he took our drink orders and then left us to browse the menu after making some suggestions. he was very helpful with his knowledge of the main dishes. after ordering, we didn't have too wait very long for our meal. we ordered a fish and a chicken meal, which were ok, nothing special. upon completing our meal, ourserverasked if we needed more drinks, and we told him no, but we would probably order dessert and have coffee. he left us with a dessert menu. after about 10 minutes, we noticed ourserverhanging out outside of the restaurant with the valet workers. after a while, he came back in, and made several trips past our table without saying a word. finally, we asked anotherserverif we could get some help with our dessert order, and we told her what we wanted. a few minutes later, the manager came by and offered to help. we explained the problem, and she verified our order. shortly thereafter, our originalserverstopped by and asked us if we needed anything, and we explained that the otherserverhad taken our order. he was agitated, and said that she couldn't put the order in. so we told him what we had ordered. then the second server, a young girl, brought us our desserts and coffee, and said that she would be our new server. we finished our meal and left our secondservera nice tip for being so helpful and friendly.
i'm just not sure what happened with our first server, but his mannerisms changed completely about halfway through our meal. he seemed to be high or something. a very strange experience.
the manager and secondserverwere very friendly. the food was ok. and the atmosphere of the restaurant was nice.
but overall, it was not a good experience, and we probably won't be back anytime soon.

good steak, good times.. we enjoyed central. my steak was very tasty, as were the sides. we had three appetizers. i had the smoked tuna with pretzels and my husband had the salad and calamari. he enjoyed all three apps but felt that the calamari had too much sweet sauce. he also enjoyed the fresh bread. for afters, we had the creme brulee, which was nice. ourserverwas very attentive. the only real quibble i had was that my food could have been a little warmer.

downtown adds another asset. my husband and i visited central for the first time this past friday night. even though we did not have reservations we were quickly seated near the bar even though the place was nearly full. they had two private parties and a lot of prom kids there that night, but we were served quickly and courteously. ourserverwho was also working the bar was one of the best we've had in montgomery in a long time. he was quick to help but not intrusive. we had the raw oysters appetizer and it was wonderful. for our entrees my husband ordered the meatloaf and practically licked his plate clean. i had the flounder and thoroughly enjoyed the red bell pepper coulis. we splurged on dessert and ordered both the banana cream pie and the krispy kreme bread pudding. although we had a bit of a wait (as one of the private parties seemed to have ordered dessert at the same time) ourserverwas very diligent to keep us updated and keep our drinks filled while we waited. the desserts were excellent! the bread pudding came out hot with a nutella sauce drizzled over the top. the banana cream pie had an oreo cookie crust and tasted freshly made. portions were generous and in the future we may only order one dessert and share!
overall the atmosphere is good, decor has a great vibe (especially loved the gas lit lanterns) and the staff is excellent. this restaurant is definitely a great option for a date night or hanging out with friends!

we ate here friday night. must say ourservercharles was awesome. the food and atmosphere is what you would expect for a new restaurant in the middle of the alley. the only suggestion i have is this place is more suited for groups. the acoustics of the room allow noise to travel well and some tables are so close together that you could join in on your neighbors conversation. however we had no complaints about the food, differently a great mixture of flavors and textures to everything. the steakhouse wedge was shared between my husband and i and was well liked. his spare rib just crumbled of the bone. he did say it was a little too peppery but he still enjoyed it.

must try this new place!!!. very promising first visit. my husband and i went on their first friday night. the place was definitely hoppin'. the room screams, "i am an historic building with exposed ducting that's been turned into a place for the hip, beautiful people!" they let us in anyway. really, the place is very well done, open kitchen, beautiful decor; creative and varied lighting that complimented the exposed brick and high ceilings. it took a couple minutes for our waiter to show up, but one of the bussers jumped right in with water and bread--good teamwork. after that minor bobble the service was spot on. we actually recognized a few waiters from some of our other favorite restaurants, to include the now-closed ham & high, and the still excellent roux. the wait staff is a mix of doe-eyed youngsters and seasoned professionals. since this was the first friday of operation, there were the expected mix ups. one young lady tried to bring us someone else's food twice and anotherserverwas having trouble answering some questions for the diners next to us. hopefully, the kids will learn from the masters and the service will be as top-notch as the food.

the menu focuses on grilled everything--oysters, fish, steak, even vegetables--with a good representation of southern comfort foods. and they focus on local produce. we started with the wood-roasted oysters with leeks and parmesan. excellent. my husband then had the beet salad with pistachios and goat cheese. the presentation was colorful and creative and the beets were just tender. i don't even like beets. for entrees, we both went for the beef. i had the braised short ribs with "smashed" potatoes and carrots. presentation was simple, but it was one of the best beef dishes i've ever eaten. i know words like that and "fork tender" have become cliché in restaurant reviews, but i'm raking my brain to remember a better beef entrée and i cannot recall one. the rib had that delicious "fatty-rich" flavor, but in a good way! even the potatoes were fantastic! --perfect ratio of cream and butter and plenty of lumps--not whipped into submission. my husband went for the hangar steak and frites. the fries were good, and the steak was extremely rare, just like he ordered it, well-aged and very tender. it came with a house steak sauce, which was good (similar to, but better than a-1), but he said it could use a bit a bit of salt. they brought coarse sea salt in a small finger bowl.

they have a pretty good wine selection, from which we sampled a couple nice glasses. we finished with the krispy kreme bread pudding. yes, bread pudding made with krispy kreme donuts. killer! prices are as you might expect, a little high but not too bad. one final note for the ladies--the bathrooms are awesome!

we'll definitely be back, and with friends to sample more of the menu. highly recommend you check it out.