My friend and I were getting together for lunch today, and as we both work in the restaurant industry, we know how crazy restaurant week can get,but from the first greeting, the host was very cold towards us. When she walked us to the table she practically sprinted. The servicer came over right away, got us water and offered other beverages. Once she came back and we ordered off the restaurant week menu, the service completely changed. When our first course arrived, my friend got the wrong item which wasn’t even on restaurant week menu. We told the server and she said “oh" and replaced it with the correct item. We both had the chicken for the main course, amazing as usual. For dessert, my friend got the creme brulee and loved it. I got the “warm” peaches with almonds and vanilla ice cream, but the peaches were hard, and cold. My friend asked our server if they were supposed to be warm, to which she replied “yeah, room temp, not warm”. I left it alone. Overall the food was good except for my dessert, and the fried chicken is always great but the service was amateur from such a renowned DC restaurant. We get that it’s lunch and that its restaurant week, but service is service, and when we left, the host was on her phone with headphones in, and did not say a word.

Excellent food and better cocktails. With a real happy hour, unlike some of the competition.

I've been to Central a few times, and have really enjoyed it. I have even recommended it to several colleagues (especially the gazpacho soup and fried chicken over mashed potatoes). I was happy that two of my favorite items were on the "Restaurant Week" menu, and convinced 4 colleagues to go for lunch. I had the goat cheese salad which was surprisingly good (never tried this before), my colleagues had a mixture of the salad, the gazpacho soup, the faro, and the lamb. I heard that the lamb and salad were wonderful, the other two were just OK. For entrees, no one was impressed. All but one person at the table got the warm peaches with ice cream. I had to send my peaches and ice cream back. Firstly, the peaches were not warm (cold), and I couldn't get my spoon through one of the peaches it was so hard. I sent it back, my colleagues picked and suffered through it. One person was happy, and he had chocolate cake with ice cream. I got that and it was pretty good. The cake was warm too! I won't be going back here unless forced.

The food was great but the noise level was too high for us
We could hardly have a conversation across the table

Everything was outstanding, from the excellent service to the ridiculously delicious food. We went for Restaurant Week and I cannot wait to return for another bowl of the yellow tomato gazpacho with burrata. It was crazy good.

Excellent food!

the server was excellent.
while the food was good, it could have been a bit more flavor.

You could tell the difference in the preparation of the food for Restaurant Week and patrons who were dining outside of the RW menu. Ill be willing to try from the different menu again.

Absolutely amazing! Impeccable service, delicious drinks and to-die-for food. Highly recommend!

Great food and ambiance and even better service. Went for a restaurant week lunch with my friend, he got lamb sausage for appetizer and hanger steak for entree. The sausage was sizeable and steak was cooked to perfection. The lava cake for dessert was a bit cold and small, but just enough for a post-lunch dessert. I ordered an absolutely delicious gaspacho for appetizer, daurade for entree, and creme brulee. The fish was a tad greasy and creme brulee was just okay, but it is a restaurant week, so was very happy with the experience. The service was impeccable. Thank you for the great time.

Very nice calamari to start with. Loup de Mer also quite good main.

From beginning the end the service did not disappoint. The Fall Sangria is a must try 😉

Great Food and Service, Boris was very attentive, just a little loud

Lovely lunch pre fixe lunch. Really enjoyed the food!

Cheese puffs and fried chicken were excellent. My friend also enjoyed her risotto. Service took a little while to get to us.

Service was great, but food coming out of kitchen was SLOW. We had to rush eating.

Can't get enough of the fried chicken and cheese puffs. Consistently amazing food and service.

Although Michel left us in 2016, his creativity and enthusiasm live on in Central Michel Richard. The food is both au courant and up to the high standards that made Michel's reputation -- at Central, at Citronelle and his other endeavors. And somewhere, he and Jean-Louis Palladin are still arguing . . . .

Great food, but the cheese grits were to die for! Could have just had the cheese grits & been happy.

Outstanding food and service as always.

Was really pleasantly surprised by the flavor palette. The menu, when first handed the folded piece of paper, appeared to be "simple" and without innovation. Oh was I wrong. Every dish was thoughtfully spiced and well platted. The bouillabaisse was plentiful and with just the right amount of saffron. Calamari was perfectly cooked, tender and sprinkled with flower petals to contrast with the fresh tomato sauce it was served on and the vegetarian option of wild rice with curried cauliflower was innovative and filling. Only hesitation was the warm peaches over ice cream. A little too sweet for my taste but googled up by my dinner partners. And the wine...ah the real winner. Many great ones to choose from without being overly priced.

It was delightful!

Great, food was excellent. I’m a regular.

Noise level during lunch made it difficult to have a pleasant conversation. Food was OK but place is clearly over rated.

Fabulous and consistently so. It’s good to see that Central has maintained it’s well-deserved reputation for outstanding food

Great Sunday brunch with excellent food, wonderful service and great value.

Brunch was a great experience. The food was exceptional, and it wasn't overcrowded first thing Sunday morning, so we were able to enjoy the food and atmosphere.

Dinner couldn't have gone better. Food was exellent; service was impeccible

We had the pre-theater menu which was very good value and excellent food.

The fried chicken was as incredible as always. It's impossible for me to eat there without finishing with the Chocolate Bar.

We took advantage of the pre-dinner theatre menu as we had theatre tickets that evening. I ordered the yellow tomato gazpacho with burrata (delicious and refreshing in the summer heat - we were seated outside), the salmon (cooked perfectly (medium rare) with a light sauce and a variety of vegetables, which is what I wanted), and the chocolate bar for dessert (amazing - like a KitKat with hazelnuts and homemade vanilla ice cream on the side). It was an excellent value as the first 2 courses would have cost more than the price-fixed menu. My husband elected to skip the 3-courses and just have the hamburger as it is well-known to be one of the best in the DC area. It did not disappoint - it was juicy and delicious. There was a flavor we could not pinpoint, but it was very good. He had a salad on the side. For drinks, I had the rose sangria (nice and light and not too sweet) and he had an IPA, which he also enjoyed (it had an orange flavor to it).

The service was exactly what you would expect from a high-end restaurant - friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient, without being intrusive. Our server anticipated our needs (she brought an extra spoon when she saw my husband tasting the gazpacho and brought 2 spoons for the dessert.) We felt relaxed, never rushed, even though we had a deadline to leave.

I've always wanted to try Central and this was a great choice for us for that evening. I hope to be back soon.

Food was amazing, service was fantastic, server, runner, and busgirl were incredible!

Fabulous venue - food, wine, service - never disappoints.

Great food - staff still have somewhat of an attitude - its been that way for years - but always great food

Going to Central is always a treat. Everyone is friendly and go above and beyond to please. My favorites are the fried chicken and Caesar salad. We look forward to trying Sunday brunch.

A great dinning experience. Fantastic wine selection.

Of course the food was exceptional and our server, Boris was a gem - incredibly knowledgeable of the menu (including food restrictions), fabulous recommendations for food & drinks, and an ideal degree of attention from him and the manager. It was a perfect summer evening for outside dining and the house white sangria, goat cheese Caesar, fried chicken and crème brûlée made it a wonderfully memorable dining experience at Central.

This was the first time I was disappointed with my meal at CMR. My fries were over cooked and very dry, and my burger was over cooked as well. Went to celebrate a friend's birthday. The chocolate dessert with ice cream inside was very good, though.

Food was amazing, again.
Yellow gazpacho and salmon were fantastic on a summer day.
The Chocoloate Bar and ice cream dessert was also a real treat.
Outdoor seating is very nice, but the street noise from Penn Ave is pretty loud.
Good with a 1 year old child, as well. They were very helpful with our son and his needs - even had a small spoon for him to use for his own plate and gave him a special tiny dessert on the house!
All in all a great place for special celebrations - expensive, but worth it.

The receptionist was rude, officious and unpleasant. He was extremely snarky about refusing to seat parties that were not complete at outside tables even though the restaurant was then almost empty and half the tables outside were empty. When I made clear my unhappiness, he then directed one of hostesses to seat us at a table that was plainly one of the worst in the restaurant.

I've been to this restaurant many times before, with only good experiences previously. But I am very reluctant to go back again.