You must order the gougeres for the table - they are worth the trip all by themselves. The barramundi special was so tender and flavorful, and the gazpacho was outstanding. Superb service as always.

Worth all of the hype! Service was pleasant, well timed and not intrusive. Food was fantastic, perfectly cooked and larger portions that anticipated. One in our group took part in the pre theater menu, which was an excellent value. Will highly recommend still.

Excellent pre-theatre dinner, and enjoyed thoroughly the delicious fried chicken and hanger steak prepared to perfection "rare". Their yellow gazpacho is great and we added the soft shell tempura appetizer, very good addition. Service was timely, wine list perfect, and we made it to the musical with plenty of time. Will return for certain.

Delicious food and great atmosphere. Service was excellent as well, overall a really nice experience

We were very pleased with everything we ordered for our dinner. My wife is a lover of french fries. She said these were the best french fries she’s ever had. And that is something coming from her.
The wait staff was very well-informed about the menu and were very attentive during our visit with you. We don’t often go back to restaurants but this one we definitely will.

We made a reservation for 6:00 arriving on time, & were told it would be 20-30 minutes before we would be seated. This was not good since we were downtown for a show at the Warner Theater. This was also odd since we saw a number of large tables completely vacant. Ultimately a manager informed us there was a glitch with reservations from open table which resulted in too many reservations. The manager fortunately comped us beverages while we wait for our table.

Our server was rude to us, but extremely pleasant to the other tables that ordered more expensive drinks.

I ordered the french onion soup and the beet salad. The beets in the salad were good, but the avocado had brown spots and the tomatoes were wrinkled. The soup had an overpowering smell/taste, and I could only have a few bites. The waiter didn't ask if anything was wrong, nor did he notice the chunks of avocado I left that were brown. I was extremely disappointed- especially given the price.

The high noise level made it hard to carry on a conversation with friends.

Great food and wonderful service. It was a birthday celebration, so the maitre d recommended the server place a sparkler on top of the dessert. Nice surprise and touch!

The food was overpriced compared to the quality and the noise level was too high to have a comfortable conversation. Not great for a date night, but would be good for a happy hour.

Great place!

Great food!! Congrats!!

Always great food with great service.

My mom enjoyed her Mother’s Day brunch at her first James Beard award winning restaurant. She was so pleased she vowed to visit monthly as part of her new dining excursions. Best brunch I’ve ever had!!!!

We appreciate the corkage policy, as I love to bring wines from my cellar to go with an excellent meal, but the evening was somewhat disappointing due to the fact that our table was in between two aisles that servers/bussers etc were constantly running up and down. I felt like if i extended my arm beyond the edge of the table at any time I would knock over a server or busser rushing past. Not a very comfortable way to eat a relaxed meal.

It was for my birthday and the service was horrific. The waiter didn’t even introduce himself. He came to our table 15 minutes after we sat down and asked for our order. He didn’t check on us. We constantly had to flag him down for more drinks. Also, they knew it was my birthday weekend and didn’t even acknowledge it. It was horrible. I would never return.

Great food and service. Love the pre theater option, but didn't get to do it. Great food and service with location.

We had an exceptional meal for five for a Birthday celebration this past weekend. The wait staff is very attentive, as is the manager, who stopped by several times to make sure everything was going ok. Easily the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life, and definitely save room for the Celebration Cake at the end of your meal. An exceptional concoction that comes replete with a sparkler on top! All of our meals were delicious and cooked to perfection. We can’t wait to return.

One of my favorite restaurants in DC. Today; however, was too much salt in our food and we ordered a pork chop which suppose to have a mustard on the top and it was missing. I guess there were too many people in the restaurant today, so the kitchen was stressed a bit.

Der Service war sehr aufmerksam und freundlich. Das Essen und die Portionsgrösse waren sehr gut!

Amazing food. Amazing waiter (I feel bad that I don't recall his name). Casual wear but high end food. Would highly recommend to a friend. Would come back again.

Fantastic! The fried chicken is amazing!

There are so many restaurants in DC, this will not be one we return to. Very disappointed. Good lunch venue, but dinner was a let down for the money. Wait staff were great, but couldn't make up for the food. Glass of wine from the end of the bottle and mostly sediment. We started with gazpacho, french onion soup and cheese puffs. Should have stopped there. Very good start. Then it went down hill. Hamburger was generic, fries greasy, and how can you mess up mouse?!? The noise level was so high, we couldn't hear our waiter. Not recommended. There are too many great choices for the money in DC.

The food is quite tasty and creatively prepared. The white sangria was also excellent! Very lovely dining experience.

We were there for a fantastic happy hour. Will return.

Central is a "go-to" restaurant as the food is consistently excellent as is the service. One cannot go wrong with a meal at Central!

For a consistent Washingtonian "Top 100" restaurant, I was a bit underwhelmed. My partner and I arrived for an early (6PM) dinner during the week. At that hour, the restaurant we pretty empty. We were seated immediately. The inside seating area was very bland and the furniture looked worn. My partner commented that the beige coloring on his seat chair was darkened from people sitting on it over the years. An upgrade is definitely needed. I will say that the bar area looked very nice --- good lighting and a nice display of bottles and beverage offerings. We ordered drinks, an appetizer (to share) and salads. The appetizer and salads came out quickly and together. The crab meat balls (5 or 6 of them) were very good. They sat in a flavorful sauce. We each ordered a goat cheese caesar salad. The goat cheese "made" the salad. Had it not been for that, it would have just been a regular wedge of lettuce with caesar dressing. Really, nothing interesting about it at all. My partner and I picked the "set" menu which was limited to 4 entree choices. I picked the fried chicken; he picked the salmon. Both were cooked to perfection, but again, the flavors didn't really stand out and there was nothing interesting about either dish. Now granted, how much can you do with fried chicken? For dessert, I got a chocolate bar that came with a scoop of ice cream. My partner got a creme brulee. They were both fine. I don't know what I was expecting from Central Michel Richard. Maybe given the recognition it has received and its standing in the Washington community, I expected to be "wowed" just a bit. Especially if you're consistently ranked a "top 100" restaurant with prices that reflect that ranking. Neither my partner nor I felt like it had been a special dining experience. A rating of "good" is a fair assessment of Central Michel Richard

Food was very good as usual. Got a table at a very poor location at 8.30 reservation while many good tables were available. What made matters worse was that during the dinner the staff stared cleaning procedures right around the table and we had to remind them that we were still having dinner. The experience was completely in acceptable and they ruined a nice evening at a restaurant with really good food. Not sure how such poor customer experience can be tolerated. Needless to say that we eventually disappeared as the last guests so that they could close the restaurant.

My friend and I had a great experience on a Monday night. We were seated back by the open kitchen, which I loved because I enjoyed watching the kitchen staff in action and seeing the dishes come together. I can testify that this kitchen is ultra efficient, turning out plate after lovely plate. My friend got the hanger steak and fries, both were perfectly cooked. I got the saffron bouillabaisse and a side of fries (they are the best fries I've ever had). While the bouillabaisse was decent, it wasn't great, and I wouldn't order it again. It contained a fair amount of potatoes and spears of yellow squash, and at a price of $29, it should have had more seafood. The shrimp was the best part of the bouillabaisse, but there were no scallops or calamari, just a small piece of fish and a few mussels and clams. Next time I will get the hanger steak!

The best restaurant in DC

Great all around

Central is a DC classic for a reason, and it hasn’t missed a beat. For my money, the tartar is the best in the city- so good, I was tempted to place a second order for dessert. Service is thoughtful yet unobtrusive. There are a lot of new places to get to in DC these days, but Central is always worth it.

Great food, great service, terrific location with outdoor seating. I have eaten at Central many times; always excellent!

Favorite restaurant in DC!!

Brunch pre fixe servings were huge; shrimp and grits were amazing. Had to take our dessert course to go because there was just too much food.

Fantastic brunch! Amazing service

Great, authentic French cafe food with a twist. Service was wonderful. I would go back.

Love the location, easy walking to Ford's theatre and the steak with frites is out of this world!!!! Yummy

The first course was very good, the main courses were uninspired. The duck was boring, I have gotten better many places, the steak was solid, but nothing special, the pasta same thing, the french fries my child ordered were very good, the mash potatoes were runny and the brussel sprouts were over cooked. In addition the service was at best okay, took forever to get the check. I would never go back, there are so many better restaurants in DC at this price point that why anyone goes to this place that I had heard was good I just don't understand. Spare yourself the mediocre experience and food.