Centro Mexican Kitchen — Restaurant in Boulder

3.5 stars

this is a review of their happy hour only. my family visited on a monday night (hh all night on mondays, yay!) and were seated after a 30min wait. they use a yelp reservation system to alert you by text when your table is ready, which is nice because you can stroll around pearl st while waiting for your table. we got waters all around but 3-4 of the waters had stuff floating in it or just unidentifiable gunk on the inside of the glass, and some of the small plates we got were dirty too. ick. but they replaced them, so it was all good. everything we got was off the hh menu and it was pretty filling but a little monotone as far as taste goes.

chorizo queso, $8 (4.5/5): one of the best quesos i've had actually! it was on the lighter side, and not deathly salty or spicy! it could have used some more meat or been topped with guac or something to make it more interesting, but i also liked how it came with flour tortilla wedges instead of tortilla chips.

avocado salsa flight, $11 (4.5/5): big chunks of very fresh avocado, lightly dressed. the only downside was that the 3 salsas tasted very similar... the crab and corn one had no crab in it. and the goat cheese one was just the regular one + a tiny scoop of goat cheese on it. not worth the extra $$. but it came with a big basket of tortilla chips and it was nice to have to add onto our other dishes.

chorizo nachos, $10 (5/5): best dish of the night. a big serving of nachos that tasted as healthy as nachos can possibly taste. delicious but didn't feel like you were gonna get instant hypertension or a heart attack. :) and a good balance of meat vs. other ingredients! a winner! kinda on the pricey side for me though, coming from texas where mexican food is dirt cheap. but i know it's pearl st and this is a cleaner version of mexican food so i'll let it pass.

chicken enchilada, $5 (2/5): decent chunks of chicken in each one, but it was a little on the dry and bland side. the tortilla was also pretty dry in the areas that weren't covered in sauce. overall, pretty boring and flavorless, so i ended up drowning mine in queso and adding avocado so it just became a big mishmash of everything else we ordered. also, this was way overpriced for how tiny it was. seriously... in texas $5 could get you at least double the amt of enchilada plus sides. oh, and this was pretty lacking in cheese, if that's your thing. but again, healthier...

picadillo empanada, $4 (2/5): reminiscent of grocery store freezer-section food. not very flavorful, too much crust, sauce was kinda bland too. and small. not worth it.

huevos rancheros, $4 (1.5/5): this tasted ok, but was basically a small flour tortilla with beans and an egg on top. and a little queso/cheese. felt like it should have been $1 instead of $4!

jalapenos, $0.50: my brother asked for a side of jalapenos and it was 50 cents. no big deal, but it would have been nice if the server mentioned that there'd be an extra charge.

overall, the food was okay and service was just mediocre. i really did appreciate that things tasted lighter than the traditional mexican or texmex i get in texas. but i wasn't crazy about the prices and everything kind of tasted the same. i rarely/never crave mexican, so i probably won't be back. but if i am, the nachos will be my go-to and i'll probably try them with a different meat. with the happy hour prices, 5 of us left fairly full and the total was $65ish. so not too bad. but then again, it was mexican food and pretty much all appetizer-y food. if you're really feeling mexican, then sure, check out centro. but for restaurants in boulder or on pearl st in general, there are much...

I am reluctant to give Centro two stars but must address a matter with which I've had issues since I first started coming here over two years ago. They nearly always mess up my vegan order.

Most recently I tried to order the Vegan Jackfruit “Chorizo” tacos. This is the exact title of the menu item, so mind you, vegan is in the title. To be safe, I asked the waiter if they were all vegan (smart move turns out), and he gave me a confusing description of a rice, beans and jackfruit plate without sauces in lieu of actually answering my question. Since I will usually settle for anything vegan at a predominantly non-vegan restaurant, I said sure and went with it.

I was delivered jackfruit tacos topped with sour cream and rice and beans sprinkled with cheese. The waiter noticed the mistake and took the plate away. Another employee brought a new plate with vegan tacos but the rice and beans still had cheese on them (right direction, I guess…?). They got it right on the third try, but this demonstrates how difficult it was among staff to communicate that the meal should be vegan. (And isn’t the meal supposed to be vegan since it has vegan in the item title? See below.)

Either there are servers and/or kitchen workers that do not know what vegan means, or worse, Centro’s “vegan” item is in fact not vegan (again, I’m not entirely sure if it’s not vegan since the waiter gave such a confusing spiel on what he was going to give me that was vegan). If the item is in fact not vegan, then this mislabeling is unacceptable and egregiously misleading to vegans and non-vegans alike. That is like naming a gluten item “gluten-free”. I am not trying to come off as self-righteous. If the menu item is not vegan (or gluten-free or whatever) then do not label it as vegan nor make customers have to make a “vegan” item vegan. Like wut.

If the “vegan jackfruit tacos” are actually vegan, Centro, and your employees took me on an ignorant menu/poor communication trip (not for the first time), then this is unacceptable with respect to your website's claim that you accommodate all common dietary preferences. Similarly, that this happened and similar order mistakes have happened a handful of times in the past at a restaurant that claims to be vegan-friendly is ridiculous. Not to mention at a “higher-end” restaurant in downtown Boulder (though Boulder is commonly misconceived as vegan-friendly, but I digress).

If I have to modify a meal to make it vegan (which, according to you guys, should be very easy to do from your menu), then I somewhat understand if the kitchen or server makes a mistake on the first round. I do not expect these mistakes if the word vegan is in the title of the menu item, nor should I expect these mistakes at an expensive Mexican restaurant in downtown Boulder.

Centro does have great food presentation and an overall friendly (albeit seemingly clueless when it comes to plant-based eating) staff. The menu is fairly reasonably priced for a "higher-end" downtown...

Add this to your list of places to eat in Colorado (they have one of the best Bloody Mary's) ...

Let me introduce you to Centro Mexican Kitchen in Boulder, Colorado. This fun & lively restaurant on Pearl Street creates fresh and festive Mexican cuisine for brunch, lunch, happy hour, & dinner. Centro serves Brunch & Brunch Happy Hour on Saturday & Sunday from 10am to 12pm.

We arrived at Centro and were seated on their outdoor patio - it was lovely with plenty of shade. The staff were attentive and radiated positivity. General Manager, Melena and Server, Molly ensured we had everything we needed while we dined.

New Brunch Happy Hour menu items include things like the 'Over the Top Bloody' (serves 1-2 people) for $30. This was hands down the biggest Bloody Mary I have ever seen, and it tasted as good as it looked. It was garnished to the hilt - I'm talking grilled shrimp topped with edible gold, several strips of bacon, vegetables, & flowers. The Bloody Mary was tangy, spicy, and satisfying, making it a brunch favorite.

The Horchata Toast Crunch was made with Breckenridge Vodka, horchata, chai liqueur, whipped cream, & cinnamon crunch. We loved the creativity on this brunch cocktail and who doesn’t like cinnamon toast crunch?

The Tomato Gazpacho was made with cucumber, red pepper, fresno chile, green onion, olive oil, & sourdough croutons.

The Centro Caesar Salad was made with romaine, heirloom cherry tomatoes, grana padano cheese, popped lentils, toasted pepitas, & crispy chickpeas. We loved this Caesar Salad - there was great texture variation and a good ratio of Caesar dressing to ingredients.

The Skirt Steak Taco Board was served with fresh corn tortillas, green rice, cabbage pico slaw, Mexican street corn, & spicy macha salsa. The skirt steak was juicy, meaty and went well with the warm tortillas and cool slaw. The Mexican street corn was seasoned perfectly, and I loved the cotija cheese & spices on it.

The Queso Benedict was made with two poached eggs, tavern ham, sourdough toast, smothered with queso.

The Chilaquiles - $14 on Brunch Happy Hour - were made with tortilla chips, suiza sauce, refried beans, cotija cheese, & fried sunny side up egg.

The French Toast Flight - $9 on Brunch Happy Hour - was made with strawberry, horchata, and cinnamon apple French toast. We then had the option to 'Make it toasty!' for an additional $20 which paired matching shots with each of the French...