Saturday we came to Café Centrale to watch both matches & had such a great experience that we decided to come back on Monday for the Portugal vs. Spain game. A big reason we returned was because of the exceptional service we received from Amaya. She is an absolute gem & deserves to be recognized.
Knowing it was a Portuguese bar & that it would be packed, we arrived at 1:30 p.m. for the 3:00 p.m. match. Amaya explained that the owner had told her every table was reserved, so she offered us a small bar table in the back. We happily accepted because we were there to enjoy the game, have a few beers, & soak up the atmosphere.
At one point, I moved the table slightly into the shade. The owner immediately came over &, after asking if we had a reservation, told us that if a larger group arrived, we would have to give up our table. Keep in mind this was a small bar table that could only seat four people. Two days earlier, we had spent over $500 at the restaurant, yet instead of feeling like valued returning customers, we were made to feel completely disposable.
What made the situation even more frustrating was that, over the next 30 minutes, we watched several groups of two or three people arrive without reservations & be seated at regular tables. It quickly became apparent that the'all tables are reserved' rule seemed to apply only to us.
I understand that big game days are stressful & busy, but that's when customer service matters the most. Being busy is never an excuse to make guests feel unwelcome. Respect, consistency, & kindness should be extended to every customer, especially those who choose to come back.
Unfortunately, customer service starts at the top, & that's exactly where our experience fell short. The owner's attitude came across as dismissive & unwelcoming, leaving us feeling like our business wasn't appreciated. We won't be returning, which is disappointing because Amaya provided the kind of service that creates loyal customers. She deserves recognition, & frankly, the leadership at this establishment should strive to meet the same standard.
This small Portuguese restaurant wasn't one of mine & my family's first choices, as a matter of fact when we searched for restaurants we didn't see this little corner show up but as we walked around looking for some good place to eat we came across this Portuguese restaurant & my aunt wanted to give it a chance & said why not. I'll just start this review by saying that although most of the staff didn't speak French or English me & my family still had a lot of fun & left satisfied from this restaurant. At first we were skeptical but then as we looked at the menu & met a couple of the staff we realize that this is the perfect little place we would like to eat at. I had a Portuguese steak with egg on top with fries alongside Sumol. Now let me tell you it was really good I ate the whole dish in a split. The steak was made perfectly, just how I wanted it to be (medium well) with the perfect amount of pink on the inside & the perfect color on the outside. I wouldn't recommend this place for people that would like some fancy restaurant or some traditional cuisine or in that category but I would recommend it to people that want to just sit in a little corner watch a (the) game have a nice meal while watching it or catch up with some friends, this is the perfect place to do that. Me & my family were really satisfied with how our food turned out & how kind everyone was & how understanding & how hard they tried to understand what we were trying to tell them as we were ordering since we don't speak Portuguese. Going to this restaurant was a great experience & I'm very happy we went there. Thank you.
