1118 3rd Avenue West
Birmingham, AL 35204
Jefferson County
Phone: (205) 786-5513
Fax: unknownWebsite: no website on fileEmail: no email on fileHours: unknown
El Centenario - About Us
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by Jamar Albrecht on Would love to give this a 5. I think the food merits 5 starts and I loved the decor and the atmosphere. The deduction comes from the noise - there were 6 of us around a small round table and you couldn't hear the conversation on the other end of the table. The only other complaint is that the chairs are so big that I was bumped throughout the night by the people behind us and by the waiters and bus boys. The food was spectacular. Here is what we ordered and my thoughts on each: Bread with blue cheese and chive sauce - Came in a small cast iron stove pot, fresh out of the oven. It was absolutely delicious. Other reviews are calling it garlic bread (might have been) and pesto sauce (I think it was chive sauce and I'm standing by it). Drinks: - Espresso martini - I think Mom enjoyed here martini - Mojito - My "Nojito" tasted like it had absolutely no liqour Appetizers/Salads: - Lil Big Mac's japanese wagyu, special sauce, sesame seed bun - We added black truffles to these sliders and I have to say I've never had a slider taste this good. The meat is really loosely packed, it is really juicy and it is really delicious. - Heirloom tomato, watermelon, goat cheese fondant salad - A typical heirloom tomato, watermelon salad, but it did taste fresh and everyone seemed to like it. - Pumpkin/squash risotto with duck - The risotto was served inside two mini pumpkins and the duck was served on the side. I thought the sum was greater than its parts and tasted really good. Entrees: - Two small filet medallions - Both of the individuals who ordered the small medallions enjoyed them. - Two medium filet - My brother, Alex K, and I ordered the 10 oz. filets and thought they were quite delicious. - Striped bass - Dad ordered the bass and liked it. - Mom had a tough time with her steak. Her first mistake was ordering skirt steak. She asked the waiter if it was good - as she explained to the waiter that skirt steak is usually chewy if isn't marinated for hours. He assured her it wasn't chewy. When it came out it was chewy. She returned it and ordered a strip steak instead. The strip steak ordered medium came out raw (maybe rare, but really red). She sent it back again and the 3rd time was a charm. When it finally came out right, it might have been the best steak at the table. Sauces: You get to order a sauce with each steak and we tried a few, although I thought they were completely unnecessary given how good the steak tasted. - STK - tomato based with worcestershire and hot sauce - Tasted alright - Au poivre - peppercorn sauce - I thought it was fine. Sides: - Creamed spinach - Probably our least favorite side on the table. - Parmesan truffle fries - A little rich for me, but otherwise not bad. - Haricot verts - Simple green beans, done well. - Sweet corn pudding - This was by far our favorite side. Absolutely delicious. - Mixed mushrooms - Again fairly standard, but done right. Dessert: - Warm chocolate molten cake - We had it with vanilla ice cream instead of hazlenut and thought it was really good. - Ice cream sandwiches - One was coffee ice cream. One was vanilla between two chocolate chip cookies. Lastly, there was mint between two chocolate cookies. This was good. The cookies were hard instead of soft making it hard to share, but we enjoyed it. At one point during the meal when my water was being refilled, a piece of string inside the pitcher trickled into my glass. The waiter quickly replaced all water glasses on the table. All in all, I would say it was a really good meal with a fun atmosphere. Just be sure to bring your loud-talkers and hearing aids.
by Loan T. on What was I thinking? Or, maybe, "not thinking?" Okay, so I made the mistake of coming here, it happens, let's move on. Alright, so my duties require me having to go to such places to scope them out. I wouldn't have gone to this place on my own will, and won't ever. So, I have no idea why this place has a massive line outside. It doesn't seem worth the wait. When I went in, it wasn't even packed, so I think the line outside is to give the illusion that this place is the place to be, 'oh, it's so poppin!' NOT! Thankfully, I got in without any problems bc the promoters were expecting me (wonder if I'll get in trouble for calling this place out), but I have to review it, honestly. The security here is really annoying, especially the butch security guards, which, if they weren't so dang happy with their job it's not my fault, so don't give me attitude. Anyhow, it's overkill. I practically wanted to smack the security woman with my purse bc she took every last thing out of my bag, and I STILL DIDN'T get the green light until every last zipper including my effing pocket wallet was SKIMMED through. Like someone mentioned earlier, it's like airport security. Argh. And it doesn't help that when I get irritated, I get irritated, but I was with people, so I had to maintain composure and check my attitude and tell myself "they are just doing their job, they are just doing their job. Be calm." The place is pretty big. There's a stage area where some wanna-be "hey I think I look like Sean Paul" guys with their corn rolls, collared shirts and sweater vests, trying to be like 'hey! look at me, I got the 'tude!' were dancing. Uh no. And No...and no! Also, my poor friend that I had come out here with me, had guys on her like MAGGOTS! If only I had a broom of some sort to knock them off her or smush them off, I would have. You know that saying "can't get the monkey off his back" the one that applied to Peyton Manning before he finally went and won the Championship. Well, it was like my friend couldn't get these monkeys off her back. It took us leaving to get that done! Still NO. No again. I won't go out of my way for this place again.
