Cafe Centro Piano Bar

We had one drink but it was amazing. Jason made me an espresso martini. He is an artist. Looking forward to having dinner here. I’m sure once I have the food here a five star will be given. A perfect stop on a Northwood night.

Service was atrocious. They brought my wife the wrong entrée and then proceeded to hard sell her to keep it. Two stars is only because food was pretty good. Piano bar music was worse than the Muzak at the airport in Rome. Place is poorly run on its best day. Skip it and be happy.

Terrible service! We felt like outcasts the way the staff treated us. Will never return!

Just plain fantastic. Food service and the entertainment was 1^st class. I actually dreaded going here for a friends birthday. Why drive to West Palm when there are tons of great restaurants in the Stuart area. Worth every mile. Can’t wait to go back.

Service was poor on many levels… meals delivered to the wrong people, some items forgotten all together, had to ask for water refills, drinks, etc. Disproportionate cost of drinks vs food (reasonably priced food, in my opinion). Came for a friend’s bday… they didn’t even offer dessert. Bill was messed up in a few ways, and then, to boot, they helped themselves to a 20% «service fee» and then provided 15, 18 and 20% dollar amounts for us to tip on. Hmmm… On the flip side, fun music and lively crowd. Had we not been so annoyed with our choice of dinner venue, we would gone inside for more birthday fun.

I had the gnocchi is red sauce. The gnocchi was good but the sauce was not. Maybe it’s because I’m from the northeast and have a higher expectations. My wife had a chicken dish in a cream sauce. This was pretty good. The piano player was enjoyable.

Tonight was such a surprise … I’ve recently had the opportunity to eat several meals at different restaurants in the historic Northwood neighborhood in West Palm Beach. But… Centro was a surprise. The food was exceptional… service excellent … music exquisite… The night was truly a memory to hold !! A bar or two above all the others!!!

I understand why people like it here. Makes sense. Authentic Italian food, good singer at a piano bar, lots of music to dance to with your date. But I just didn’t have a great experience.
My girlfriend and I were in WPB for the Palm Beach Half Marathon and were looking to carb load, so she grabbed a groupon to the restaurant. However, we got there late and Café Centro was closed. They graciously allowed us to use the groupon in the piano bar, but seeing as how they were connected, maybe it wasn’t such a generous move. In any event, they sat us at a 2-​top between the piano and bar on the edge of the dance floor.
Firstly, the music. It was good, and the singer was talented, though he reminded me a bit of a cross between Mario Lopez and the singer of Sexual Chocolate from «Coming to America.» Anyway, he didn’t actually play the piano the vast majority of the time. Except for the last 3 or 4 songs, a karaōke machine played the background music and he walked around singing and dancing with a different woman every song. Thankfully, my girlfriend never made eye contact, or I might have lost her to Don Juan. So, it was a piano bar without much piano playing. It was also very very loud, but, I am not taking anything off for that — again, it’s a piano bar, and a fairly small one at that, it’s going to be loud.
Second, the clientele. Look, they had been drinking a lot and were enjoying the music. That’s fine, but at the same time, you should be aware that there is a table trying to have dinner. Again, I know its a dancing piano bar, but do you have to lean on my chair? Stick your butt in my face while you’re dancing? Knock into me every 10 seconds? No, you don’t. You can have fun without occupying my space or using my chair to prevent you from falling down. Everyone around us was really inconsiderate. I know they were having fun, and I don’t begrudge them that, but they can have fun a foot or so away from me.
Next, the food. I ordered something I never had before — black linguine. It came with a spicy tomato sauce and shrimp and arugula. I really wanted a tomato sauce, but all of the entrees I saw that I liked had cream sauces. So, I went with something new. It was good — very good actually. Small portion, but a slight kick and good. Problem is it made me sick. I was nauseous with stomach cramps the next morning (not how you want to run a half marathon). I don’t necessarily think something was wrong with the food — maybe it just disagreed with me — but how can I give a restaurant a good rating when it made me ill?
The other thing I’ll say is that I think management was stupid with our seating. I understand — you have an open table and guests, you seat them there. But the jostling and rudeness could very well have simply been because you squeezed a table between a crowded bar, a crowded dance floor, and a piano. I think I would have enjoyed myself much more if I didn’t feel like I was going to get trampled.
Sorry folks, but not a fan.

We opted to eat outside which was pleasant even though there’s a busy road nearby.
The food was good.
Pasta with clams was tasty with many large clams in the shell and a good white cause.
The fish of the day was very good.
Our Russian waitress was very pleasant and after she steered me towards the limoncello sorbet I liked her a lot.
Not cheap but worth it!

I’ve been to Café Centro probably more than 20 times, mostly because I live down the street and I know I can take my coworkers there for a good dinner. I find they have great salads, a decent wine selection, and satisfying dinners. They’ll customize your order however you like… substitute a sauce or add meat, etc. without any trouble.
I think it’s great that I have a place just outside my neighborhood that serves real food… not cheap, heavy Italian like most of the places out there. They don’t claim to be the hottest thing around and their food is not really «special» per se… just fresh. I appreciate the comfortable but elegant atmosphere. You can sit outside with your dog, be seen near the piano, or hear the ridiculous conversations of the neatly-​dressed patrons up front.

I’ve been to Café Centro a couple of times for dinner. The thing about this place is that on weekend nights is gets pretty busy so its best to have a reservation so you can enjoy dinner in the piano bar side of the restaurant. The Palm Beach crowd can really hog up the place so call ahead. You can have something a little more casual and get pizza or casual Italian in the front but the piano bar is a bit more formal and festive for a nice dinner out.
I’ve had several pleasant meals here and the piano player they usually have is terrific. He has a great voice and he plays a nice selection of jazz.
Food is always prepared well — I usually opt for the salmon and am never disappointed. Food is not «write home to mom» amazing but the food is consistently good. This is a perfect place to bring an out of town guest for a nice dinner out or for a romantic night out with your sweetie. Valet parking, good music, always friendly and accommodating staff. Thumbs up.

This is more of a «vibe rave» than a «food rave»…pizza was halfway decent. I don’t see their food beckoning unto me from a port of call (Miami) miles away… what I can say is that on a nice day, make sure you dine al fresco… northwood is an up and coming area with a lot of potential and palm beach’s version of boho’s frequent the café’s and lounges… this one though becomes stuffy at night when all the treasure coast jews come to hock the chinek… sorry it’s a known fact… afternoon is best