El Centro

A friend and I ate here on 9/7 for dinner and drinks, and the service was so terrible, it was just shocking. We were seated quickly, but it went downhill from there.

Even though staff had checked ID's at the door, the server asked to see our ID when we ordered drinks. No big deal, until the server threw our ID's back at us, exclaiming she "didn't even know what date to check for anymore". Uh, what? Management would not find that funny, and I imagine ABC control would not either. We waited 25 minutes for those drinks to come out, even though we were about 3 feet from the bar.

When my food came out, the server did not bother to remove the two empty margarita glasses from the table, nor the empty chip container, and tried to squeeze my plate of food into our small high top table. I ended up putting our empty glasses and chips onto another table myself. My friend's food didn't come out until I was finished eating, and after we had asked our server where it was (they clearly had forgotten about it all together).

Every time our server emerged from the kitchen, they were chewing on food, as if they were back there eating.

Finally, after over two hours of terrible service for what we hoped was going to be a quick dinner, our server leaves the kitchen with their belongings and on their cell phone, waved goodbye to the staff, and left for the night. Another server seemed confused when I had to ask her for our check.

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 a friend and I had lunch at the El Centro Mexican Restaurant at 1 North Loudoun Street, on Winchester's Oldtown Walking Mall. This location was most recently the site of the Daily Grind, a local coffee shop chain also offering food. When we moved here in 1982 it was the location of a thriving People's Drug Store. We arrived at 11:15 AM, and were told that they weren't open until 11:30.

We walked down to the far end of the mall, which had recently undergone an extreme makeover, and also west on Boscawen Street until it was time to go in. The menu's main headings are Soups and Salads, Classics, Favorites, Fajitas, Create Your Own, Vegetarian, Appetizers, Beverages, and Desserts. Classics include Burritos, Chimichangas, Enchiladas, Tacos, etc;.

My friend ordered a Chimichanga, while I had a "Pick Two" Lunch with Chile Relleno and a Burrito. I didn't have dessert, but she had Sopapillas. These were squares of fried pastry, sprinkled with honey, topped with whipped cream.

The food and service were good, and I would definitely go there again. It opened only ten days ago, and they seemed to already have their act together. We sat at one of the six booths with windows along the Loudoun Street side, and were able to watch people going up and down the mall.

There were also tables in this area and around the corner, on the Boscawen Street side, along with a bar with a separate entrance from that street. It was all very new looking, with Mexican background music that wasn't too intrusive. By the time we left most of the seats were occupied in the dining area, and more patrons were arriving. I'd say that they were doing well for being open for such a short period.

El Centro belongs on my keeper list!