Centro

It was beautiful atmosphere, the food was nicely portioned, and the menu was great. Cooked well. I would say the food still could have been better, it certainly wasn’t to die for, and at this price I should be licking the plate! Service wasn’t great, the server gave us burnt bread and knew it too. I will try again, but it is a bit pricey for just alright service and food. Great desserts

Arrived late in the town and found this walkable restaurant that would open till 10 PM, so I gave it a try. The high ceiling gives a airy feeling, and it is a pretty big restaurant. I ordered a Rigatoni with Sausage, delicious and with right spicy level. The food portion is big. If you had their fresh bread after they seated you, then you would need a left over box.

I took my kids here before a show and it was amazing! We truly loved everything that was served. If ever back in the area we will certainly come back. There was no wait, we had no issues parking midweek, and service was good. This restaurant is accessible. I would say best for date nights or special occasions but if you have well behaved children they fit right in as well!

Everything here exceeded any expectations we had! The service was on-point, food was spectacular, and drinks were delicious! The ingredients tasted so fresh! The meats in each dish were perfectly juicy! We had everything from the salads to the pastas to the pizza. Everything was absolute perfection! We came here to make up for a bad Valentine's Day dinner at another resto the night before and wow, did they make up for it...Not only is their pricing extremely fair, but the portions are huge, and the service/ambience/everything is arguably the best in DSM!!!

Solid 4.6 Star dining experience. I had to really nitpick to find anything wrong with our meal.

Our service was excellent. The server explained the menu extensively and worked with us to figure out an alternative to an allergy.

We ordered crab cakes and bruschetta to start. Both delicious and packed lots of flavor. The crab cakes, thankfully, had lots of crab, which isn’t always the case here in the Midwest. My only knock on the bruschetta was that it could be cut further. It felt more like a salad than normal bruschetta. Otherwise, it was incredible.

For entrées, we ordered the ribeye, Scallops, Beef tenderloin, and the chicken Francese. There wasn’t a single complaint about the dishes in the table.

Our beverages were also quite delicious, and this is probably where our complaints come to play. A couple of our cocktails were served with regular ice, which diluted them quickly. I wish they served them with a large cube. Also, our wine did come out after we were almost done with our entrees, but it was a packed Friday evening.

That being said, we had a great experience and would recommend Centro to all who live or visit Des Moines!

Our server was fantastic! She checked in often to make sure everything was tasting good and to see if we needed anything. The food was delicious and we ended up taking home leftovers because there was so much. Highly recommend checking out Centro of you have not already!

Awesome experience. Italian pasta and pizza. The free garlic bread is absolutely delicious. One of my favorite places to eat in town. Perfect for lunch or dinner.

Centro offers a large (americanized) Italian menu in a more date-night/fine dining establishment. I would say it is like an upscale version of Olive Garden as far as options and flavors go. There’s definitely some more high end food options if you are going for beef or fish, but their pasta and pizzas are priced pretty fairly. I like that there is an option for everyone including some vegan specific options. I feel this is a place you can take your pickiest friend and they will find something. I will say that even though I enjoyed my meal, it wasn’t anything I felt was unique or better than something I would get at another Italian restaurant. I felt my food was very oily and my salad was pretty overdressed so I didn’t leave feeling…wonderful.
I did also ask for a half order of my food and was brought the full order. I did think the portion size was massive for a half and didn’t realize until we got the bill I was charged for the full so that was a little disappointing.
If you’re looking to impress out of town guests I would say skip. But if you’re meeting up with some friends and want to get in on their awesome half price pizza deals on Monday and insane portions, I would say go. Just note this place fills up FAST so book a reservation if you have a larger party or really don’t want to wait.

The server was fantastic and she did a great job making us comfortable and attending to us. The ambiance is great and very clean.

As far as food goes, it was a little disappointing, decent, but not plate-lick worthy for the price. Guess you are paying for the ambiance, not the food because I have had better Italian food at a dive bar. Read some of the reviews about burnt pita bread and it was the same that came with our cheese dip.

While the cheese dip was great tasting there was a bitter taste, it was the same for the Chicken And Prosciutto that I ordered. Took me a while to figure out Store-bought minced garlic. One suggestion to the chef would be to use Fresh Garlic/Garlic powder or if you have to use minced garlic, maybe cook it a little longer to mitigate the bitter taste.

The chicken was FANTASTIC, juicy, and crispy. But overall the pasta dish was just watered-down Alfredo sauce. I bet it will taste good as leftover after the sauce has thickened overnight in the fridge.

For dessert, we got crème brûlée. As you see in the picture, the sugar was over-caramelized- it should have cracked with the back of the spoon however, it only folded. The burnt sugar made it very bitter and had to scoop off the top layer to enjoy the custard inside. It was a complimentary anniversary dessert but would have been nice if they treated it as though we paid for it.

We will try again another time hopefully we can raise the star points since everyone else seemed to enjoy this place but me.

Good luck and apologize for the thorough yet bitter review.

Nice Italian place with a slightly casual vibe with pizzas, pastas, steaks, seafood, and good cocktails. We particularly enjoyed the crab cakes, the red sauce pasta with Italian sausage, and most of all the 8 oz filet centro - perfectly prepared rare and super tender!

Only downside I always mention - they tack on a 2.75% “non cash adjustment” to all bills, even before you present a credit card. They also charge this if you pay using a gift card which is a bit under handed since that literally is their cash.