Loved my short stroll through center city. Friend suggested this restaurant for a quick bite. And we chose outdoor sitting. Such a lovely atmosphere. Great service. Nice staff. Good food. I got yellow tail. It was so fresh and served in delicious strawberry sauce. Then i ordered chargrilled octopus. My friend got gnocchi. And loved it. They work with different chefs on certain nights. Check their events. Looks great Indoor was really nice. Dark. And good size bar read more

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Stopped in on a weekday for a business lunch to catch up with a former colleague, and Centrolina provided the perfect backdrop. The stroll through CityCenter sets a nice tone before you even walk through the door. Upon entering, the first thing you notice is the wood stacked for the wood-fire grill, which creates a great atmosphere. The layout is well-thought-out, featuring plenty of two-top tables that are ideal for a cozy lunch, alongside larger tables to accommodate groups. Our waiter was excellent and informed us that the chef prepares a new menu daily, focusing on Italian dishes made with locally farm-sourced ingredients. The entire staff was great, maintaining an unrushed pace that allowed for a truly leisurely meal. For the food: * **Bread Service:** We started with a selection of table breads and olive oil. They were fine, though not necessarily the highlight of the meal. * **Verde Salad:** This was amazing, especially with the addition of the fried egg. * **Wood-Fired Grilled Swordfish:** My main course was fantastic, served with perfectly roasted small carrots. I would definitely visit again for the quality of the ingredients and the professional yet relaxed service. read more

I love everything about City Center. Palmer Alley is fun. I wish more of downtown was like City Center. There are security guards in the area. Centrolina can accommodate vegetarians but there are more choices for meat eaters. You can always order a pasta dish & ask to have the meat left off. The salads are great. The atmosphere is wonderful. You can never have too much Italian food! read more

It's a strong 3.75, service and ambiance are lovely and food is fresh and flavorful. Truly small portions for what you're paying for so it is more of a treat. As a gluten free dairy free person they did a wonderful job accommodating but if I went very hungry I know I'd need to spend a good amount to feel full. My cosmo was .... So so. A little warm and a little too sweet even when I said not sweet. Passion fruit sorbet was amazing but the tiniest scoop ever. They should make it available to add to a glass of prosecco! read more

Centrolina - Menu - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Went here for our 5 year anniversary! I believe our servers name was Ali and he was amazing! All of the food was delicious. Wonderful date night spot. read more

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I've really enjoyed coming here as there is always great service and the menu changes frequenty. They have fish/chicken/steak options, appetizers, sides and a number of different pastas to choose from. Portion sizes are medium, so if you eat a lot I'd recommend getting an app or side. Most recently I had the branzino and that was cooked perfectly. I finished the entire plate. It came with some roasted red peppers and beans. This is a great spot for a business lunch or a date night. Reservation recommended. read more

I was there recently when I saw a woman walk into the restaurant holding a dog (not a service animal, clearly a pet). That woman WAS WEARING A CHEF's COAT and proceeded to walk through the dining room to the kitchen WITH THE PET DOG. It would have already grossed me out to see a pet dog but to see a dog be walked through the kitchen is absolutely insane and disgusting -- especially at a place this "high end". What is even worse, I heard a woman at the bar ask the bartender about the dog, and the bartender confirmed that the HEAD CHEF AND OWNER was the one carrying her dog through the restaurant and kitchen. And the bartender was totally nonchalant about it, meaning this happens often!! Huge sanitation concerns and just absolutely vile, especially for a place this expensive (with tax you cannot get an entree below $40!). This place needs to have a health inspection asap. I would never eat there. read more

KenScale: 8.0/10 Visits: August 2025 The restaurant business is absolutely brutal from an economic standpoint so it's not often you see a restaurant stay open for more than ten years. Centrolina in CityCenterDC, which is packed with premium luxury brand stores and tourist-friendly restaurants, is one of those stalwarts in the DC dining scene that seems to be around forever (I recently found out from the restaurant's review of Washington Post's Tom Sietsema that the restaurant opened in 2015). When a restaurant maintains that enviable level of longevity, there has to be some things it is doing right; I visited Centrolina with my wife Jun recently to find out the secret sauce behind Centrolina's continued success. Overall, our dinner was a pretty solid experience with one dish that was particularly memorable. The first part of our meal got off to a shaky start. Jun is pretty sensitive to the freshness of raw fish, and she was definitely not a fan of the Japanese yellowtail crudo. I thought the crudo was just fine although the tamari sauce (a type of sauce from Japan made from a byproduct of miso paste) somewhat overwhelmed the fish. On the other hand, panzanella salad with grilled octopus and heirloom tomato was fresh and delicious. Our consensus best dish of the night was from the tagliolini pasta with pistachio and white Bolognese sauce. I have to say it was one of the best pasta dishes that I had tasted at a DC restaurant. There was just something quite magically addictive about the rich white Bolognese sauce that Jun and I ended up taking the same sauce home from the store next door. The final savory dish, Iberico pork with roasted baby leek and blistered shishito pepper, was more than solid, with chewy texture of the pork meat that I enjoyed (although Jun thought it could've been a little softer). For dessert, we chose panna cotta based on crème de menthe (a mint-based alcoholic beverage) flavor with chocolate. I had no idea what crème de menthe is until I saw the greenish color of the panna cotta and mint is not my favorite flavor but somehow the dessert worked quite nicely and I found myself thinking about it after the dinner. Getting a reservation at Centrolina will not be particularly challenging so long as you book a few days in advance but the dining room was by no means empty, with a nice mix of locals and tourists. There is a full bar with Italian-based cocktails and wine list across diverse regions of the country. The dining room's atmosphere feels modern without being too touristy, and service was seamless as well. After the meal at the restaurant, I highly recommend checking out the aforementioned store that sells some of the same food items used in the menu. Centrolina is the type of restaurant that gets the job done when it comes to offering a satisfying dining experience. In today's age of turbulence and volatility in the restaurant world, its durability is a virtue worth celebrating for. read more

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A 2025 James Beard nominee and for good reason. The Pane consisted of three different types of bread, two of which were fluffy and chewy. The Verde salad had great potential ingredients but we're just not huge fans of salads inspired by Cesar salads. The fettuccine was hand made and you could tell by the al dente nature, savory cream sauce. Service was cordial. The atmosphere on a summer day outside was charming. read more

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The food here tasted delicious. The only problem I had here was the serving sizes were extremely small. It's a balance because it's in a hot area so naturally costs will be high, but at the same time I had bread, app, and a bowl of pasta and still felt I had to have a dessert in order to be satisfied. The uni pasta was delicious. Super well cooked pasta tossed in a sauce that reminded me of the ocean. The tuna with persimmon was an awesome unexpected combination. The tuna was so tender. Both desserts we tried, the lava cake and the pistachio cake tiramisu were amazing. read more

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Centrolina is located in the cutest most charming alley in DC! The way they decorate the alley with paper lanterns and lights is super cute! I never want to sit outside, but this patio is cute as hell. Overall, we had a good dinner at Centrolina but I think there is some room for improvement. My first glance at the menu, I thought it was bizarre! Strawberries on my pasta!!? Yeah... NO. I settled for the tonno crudo and mushroom pappardelle. We also ordered some pane. The bread came out cold - what a disappointment. Bread should be hot and crusty from the oven! Not cold. So strange. Then, our tonno came out seared.... Yeah not a crudo! It had hard pieces of sweet potato below it. We sent that one back. Then we got the other ricciola crudo instead. Now that was delicious! Tender pieces of fish in a yummy Asian style sauce with charred grapefruit. We ate that right up. We moved onto our pastas - they were in the wrong vessel - these small tall bowls. It's so hard to dig into the pasta and doesn't do anything for the plating. However, the flavors were good! The pasta was cooked well and the sauces were nice. We had an affogato and molten chocolate cake for dessert. The espresso was a bit too bitter in the affogato. My molten chocolate cake was yummy! It was accompanied by a red wine poached pear - but not much lava was inside. Again, I think with a few tweaks Centrolina could be a 4 star. read more

Meh. Highly priced for what you get. I had the sea bass and found the whole dish to be overly sweet with sauces that overpowered the fish and a mushroom that did not make sense. Service is good though and the team is attentive without being suffocating. I'd give it another shot but just know that it's an expensive gamble. read more

The experience was good but not outstanding hence the 4 stars. I had a black cod in the miso broth with mushrooms. Delicious ... and good portion size but the broth was overwhelming. The torta di limone was a mixed bag; I liked the flavors but the torta crust seemed to be rock solid. The server did offer to give me something else when he noted my disappointment. Excellent wines but a bit overpriced. Was very disappointed in the chef's negroni. I may go back there to find out why this was such a fail. My main meal came out before the pane or the aperitif or the wine ... but the server made up for it with his enthusiasm. read more

Love this restaurant. Today, however, the restrooms were not working and I had to go to the restaurant Piccolini. That restaurant only had one restroom for men and women and there was a line. read more

We reserved the seat for dinner (Friday 2/21/2025 ) Our experience was underwhelmed this time. I ordered Pappardelle pasta and added black truffles. Pasta was oily in the base and was not Al dente, rather a little over cooked, and It was just warm and wasn't hot - often happened here in the past too but the temperature is important and I hope they'll fix the issue and bring over the dish right away after the chef done cooking. $28 extra to add for the black truffle was not worth it - It was not flavorful. I know black truffles well and had many times, but it was not even close to what I've had before. However, their grill of the day - grilled scallops were excellent, fresh and chewy, cooked to perfection. Wine we ordered was Barolo and Super Tuscan by the glass but both were also a big disappointment this time - not fresh or stored in the wrong temperature, and poor portion too. It costed $25 each glass and was not worth it either. We always ordered the same glass here and sometimes ordered bottle but they were much better before. As many reviewers commented their foods portion are small for the price - I know that's true here since before and I agree with them, though I wouldn't mind to pay the price if their quality is right and that was not the case this time. We always paid about $400~500 dinner for 2 that's average here. I cannot believe they charged so much for these quality include that wine especially this time. I'm sad to write this honest review - truly loved here until now and hoping the restaurant management would fix that. I know better homemade quality pasta and Italian Barolo and Super Tuscan at other Italian restaurants. Definitely here is not 4-5 stars level overall and 3 stars is for the grilled scallops. This Centrolina has been one of our favorite restaurants for years, but unfortunately we'd not come back here anytime soon. read more

Centrolina - Pappardelle - I added black truffle extra $28 to the pasta - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Came here in June 2022 for dinner during our trip to Washington DC and this was perhaps the most disappointing meal that we had all trip. We ordered two tagliolini pastas (sunchoke, basil pesto, parmigiano) and one funghi (parmesan crème brûlée, morel mushrooms, rosemary broth). Our biggest issue with this place was just how long we had to wait after ordering to get our food. We sat down at the restaurant at 7:10 PM, ordered by 7:15 PM, the funghi came out at 8:02 PM, and the tagliolini pastas came out at 8:20 PM. I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant that made me wait almost an hour to get any of my food. After waiting for so long, we were absolutely starving and we were done eating by around 8:30 PM. The check said 8:41 PM. We spent WAY more time sitting there bored, hungry, and waiting, than we did enjoying the food. The tagliolini pastas were $26 each, which was expensive but not the absolute worst. We were very surprised that the funghi was $22--we probably finished it in 2 bites. We would not have ordered it if we had known how tiny it would be (see picture). The service was fine, although a bit impersonal since they barely came by our table. But most importantly, we did not leave feeling full, even though we had spent $100+ on our meal for two people, and had to grab a quick bite elsewhere after. Centrolina just wasn't worth our time or money. read more

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Centrolina offers continued reliability in service and cuisine. Chef Amy Brandwein frequently updates the menu keeping the menu interesting. We had a broad sampling of dishes. For the starters, we agreed both the galia melon with yogurt and cucumber AND the gazpacho are both welcomed for the summer. We also had the bluefin tuna and red snapper. While fresh, the flavor (for both dishes) was a little lacking and could have benefitted from a little more citrus or pepper to let the fish reach its full potential. The pastas are usually a winner and last night was predictably tasty. The pappardelle (crème fraiche, dandelions and cherry) was my favorite. It was a delicious surprise if you like the play of bitter and sweet. The pappardelle and crème fraiche kept everything on track. The spaghetti d'amore with the yellow tomatoes is a safer choice for the more timid palate but full of freshness and seasonality. For our main courses, the lamb and sea scallops were both delicious. I leaned more into preferring the lamb maybe because the rest of our meal was very seafood focused, but the scallops are of quality stock. I appreciated their full flavor with the simplicity of a little basil, lemon, and summer vegetables. We ate and drank grandly (as usual) :- O. Looking at the bill, for the four of us, we ate four starters, two pastas, two main courses, two desserts, and six glasses of wine. The total bill with 30% tip was $562. Reflecting on our visits since my last Yelp review, Centrolina is a fair value. Yet, it is not the same screaming value it used to be compared to some of our other regulars in this price tier. With that stated, Centrolina remains in our regular rotation and I believe you will have an enjoyable experience. read more

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Centrolina DC has super flavorful Italian dishes that truly stand out. The gnocchi I had was perfectly seasoned in stand out cheese and olive oil, and my friend's burrata ravioli was packed a punch of a flavor in a very simple dish. Both dishes truly reflected the quality of the ingredients. The flavors were rich and authentic, a nice touch of Italy in DC. However, the portions were on the smaller side for the price, and the service could've been better Overall, it's a great spot in dc for amazing Italian food. read more

Centrolina - Gnocchi - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

A friend and I had a beautiful dinner at Central Lena tonight, delicious but pricey. The service was wonderful. The restaurant is down in alleyway in a beautiful setting. Inside there are lots of people, talking, jazz music, pretty loud inside, but a great meal. We shared appetizers of vegetable tempura, and Delicious tuna Crudo with sweet potato. I had spaghetti Neri with soft shell crab, and we shared fettuccine with an interesting strawberry mint topping. We also shared a side order of charred broccolini with walnut and honey and tahini. We finished with sorbet and a layered coffee hazelnut cake. The service was excellent. We had a good time. read more

I had a great dinner here. The polpo dish with the octopus was great and I liked the flavors. The salmon was good and the pasta was delicious. I really liked the combination of the corn, ricotta and truffle butter in the pasta. The dessert was surprisingly good too. I liked the different textures and it was not too sweet. The service was good and I liked the modern ambiance. read more

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We had the BEST experience at Centrolina on Saturday night!! Our waiter was amazing- so knowledgable, attentive, and friendly. Our meal was out of this world, definitely one of the Top 5 meals I've ever eaten. Three of us shared 3 starters and two entrees. The Gnocchi Bolognase was so delicate and flavorful. The crispy honey-and-nut accented eggplant was the night's surprise favorite though! We thought we were not eggplant fans, but we just have not had it prepared so beautifully. It was awesome. We were planning to go down the street for gelato after our meal, so we didn't order dessert, but I definitely will next time! The waiter surprised me with an assortment of cookies as we were celebrating my birthday! The cookies were each unique and truly fantastic, especially the lemon-jam tartlette and the sprinkle-covered sugar cookie! And the pine nut one, oh my!! I wish I got our waiter's name!! He was so great. I will definitely return to Centrolina. It would be a perfect date-night spot, too. Very cool and romantic vibe going on there. read more

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My first visit to Centrolina, but definitely not my last. My friend and I found ourselves here after our plans for ramen were derailed by the Caps game and the gaggle of fans around Gallery Place. Striking out for Metro Center, we got insanely expensive drinks and terrible service at Fig & Olive before deciding Italian sounded great. There was space at the Centrolina bar and two efficient and friendly staff. We ordered the crispy eggplant for a starter, having no idea what we were in for. Damn, that was so freaking good! Neither of us expected ribbons of lightly fried ribbons of eggplant, drizzled in honey and almonds. It was so so so so good! We split two of the pasta entrees - the fettuccine with a white pork and beef bolognese, and the fiore with butternut squash, sage, and amaretti cookies. Both were superb. Neither looked particularly big, but turned out to be more than enough and really filling. The butternut squash was amazing, with little crispy sweet bits of cookies complement the filling and the fried sage. But the sauce on the other one was so hearty and delicious, I didn't even want it to end. Because we decided against drinks, we went for dessert - a plum cake with pistachio ice cream, roasted plums, and some weird but totally yummy pistachio cream. This was an amazing find - I'm so glad we stopped in and tried it out! I will definitely be back. read more

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A very positive experience overall. The management was extremely accommodating, and the service was attentive, patient, and upbeat. The room was energetic without being frantic or loud. Prices are what you'd expect in this area, just be aware that the portions are not huge. (They're actually what portions should be for most healthy people, rather than the usual restaurant excess.) This extends to the side dishes, too; each one can serve two people. The food itself is creative and well prepared - not necessarily mind-blowing, but definitely tasty enough to keep the good vibes going. Same for the drinks. All in all, a place to which we'd happily return. P.S. If you have a party of eight or more, definitely go for the private room. read more

Really, really amazing food. Portions are a little smaller than expected, especially for the cost, but delicious food! A great spot to treat your self :) read more

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Food: extremely limited, odd choices Portions: skimpy (that's being generous) Reputation: this is NOT Italian food Service: surly Value: ridiculously over priced Ambiance: totally absent, no vibe whatsoever read more

Centrolina gave us possibly the best Thanksgiving dinner we've ever had... Thank you!

Ate here to celebrate engagement of our daughter and spouse's birthday. So super celebratory! We had done take-out from Centrolina during Covid. The food was quite good, and the firt time (in the depths of Covid) they had a specially designed take-out menu specifically so the food would travel and reheat well. That meal was truly outstanding and memorable. So we were pumped to actually dine in the restaurant. We loved it! Outstanding service, food, atmosphere. A bit pricey (over $100 per person alll-in) but appropriate for a special occasion. I particularly loved the simplicity of the experience. Simple interior, low key but highly efficient service, simple foods prepared expertly. We started off with drinks: prosecco for me, Aperol Spritz for two, a different spritz for one and a whiskey drink for the last. We toasted the engagement and the birthday! All but one are non-meat eaters, so we had vegetarian pastas and fish, one had a meat pasta dish. My papperdelle with mushrooms was one of the best pasta dishes I've had in my life, including our recent trip to Italy. Highly recommended for a special occasion. 5's for location, atmosphere, food, and service, 4 for value. read more

Centrolina is a solid 4. It's a lovely modern restaurant with a well trained polite waitstaff. The food is nicely executed. Starting with the fresh bread selection to fresh seafood antipasti to the pasta dishes. I loved the grilled calamari and pulpo as they were perfectly cooked and were a decent size. I was able to try two pasta dishes, and while I loved one dish the other just had too much anchovies for my taste and it was just too overpowering. The deserts are a do not miss. I will certainly go back and hope to push this review to a 5! read more

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I came here with some friends for lunch on a Saturday and had a wonderful time! I got there before my friends, but the staff was very friendly and sat me quickly and made sure my water was always full while I waited. The inside is very clean and a simpler aesthetic, but very effective. The menu switches regularly with seasonal items, so unfortunately not everything we had on our visit is still on their menu today (forgot this review in the drafts!) but they do seem consistently tasty, so I'm sure whatever is on their current menu is also good. We started with a cheese mousse thing with mushrooms on top, which was so incredible! Smooth, delicate flavors, nice crispy mushrooms to contrast the mousse. For my main, I got the buckwheat pasta with meat sauce - a tad on the salty side, but the noodles were perfectly cooked. I had never had buckwheat pasta, but the noodles were thick, nicely chewy, and very good. The sauce was good, but again, something (either the pasta or the sauce) was a bit too salty for my taste. One friend got seafood, one got chicken, and both said they really enjoyed their meals! I will note that the servings are not huge for the higher price, but the food tasted very fresh and the restaurant sources locally, which is very cool. So for a special occasion, this is a yummy place with good service and nice vibes. read more

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I've been to Centrolina a few times, mostly for drinks, and once for dinner. Centrolina is a cool Italian spot in my neighborhood that I enjoy coming to from time to time. I'm not huge on heavy Italian food, but fortunately, the portions here are light. The bar service is always spot on and the atmosphere is pretty cool. The main reason I don't frequent here is that it can get extremely busy based on its location near the convention center, lots of businesses, and just tourists in general. Usually its full of business people when I walk by and getting a bar seat can be a huge challenge sometimes. I had the Gross Rombo for dinner the other night and enjoyed it, but it was such a small portion (and $44) that I had to order another entree and went with Neri for $34. So I spent $78 to fill myself up, not including the wine. When it was all said and done, I spent $134, which is more than I spent at Rania down the street for prix-fixe at a Michelin star restaurant. That is another reason I don't frequent here even though I live here. I find the prices to be far too high for what you get. read more

Good and bad. Service was horrific. Over 25 minutes for an appetizer. Also had to send back a plate of beans that were rock hard. Waiter seemed a little pissy and didn't give our table any attention for the rest of the evening -- he didn't even ask how our entrees were (they were excellent). Value is also pretty bad. $9 for a bread plate that is sub-Olive Garden quality. Also $13 for 3oz of inexpensive amaro and soda and a hilarious $19 for a simple negroni. We adored our 3 pasta mains but would not recommend or return based on the service. (Also 5% "service fee to offset costs" is just annoying. Raise your prices 5%.) read more

I bumped into this place following the cherry blossom themed overhead lanterns while walking around DC. The area was very springy, and I saw Centrolina offered coffee and small bites -- exactly what my partner and I were looking for! I opted for a gluten free slice of almond olive oil cake and he went for an americano. The americano just tasted like any typical coffee, so it was pretty ...whelming? (Not overwhelming, not underwhelming LOL) however, the olive oil cake was a different story. Being the only gluten free option when I went in, I'm happy that it was super moist with a notes of lemon and topped with a bit of sweetness coming from the powdered sugar. YUM! NOTE: there was also only ONE unisex toilet, and there were 5 people ahead of me. For the amount of people in the restaurant, I would've hoped there would be at least 2 toilets? Cute bathroom nonetheless. I did feel a little unsafe since there was a homeless man that went in and started getting into people's spaces asking for money which made me feel uncomfortable. Not sure if I would go back for any reason, but thankful for the cake! read more

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While I was visiting DC my friend took me here for dinner because it's centrally located in DC down a cute block of town and is known for its homemade Italian pasta. I wasn't wow'd here. The average pasta dish was about $30 which is very overpriced- I live in a big city and this is even a lot. The bread and olive oil was fine. We also split a salad - it was fine as well. And the pasta just lacked flavor and salt. I am assuming they don't salt their water when cooking the pasta. The homemade noddles themselves were good, but I've had and made myself much better noodles. The sauces were blah. I just wasn't thrilled by the flavors here. Would I come back, probably not. But the staff was kind and the service was good. Pros: staff, service, location Cons: lack of flavor, prices read more

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The food in Centrolina has been consistently good throughout the years. Service is excellent, non intrusive yet attentive. Our server recommended most of the things we ordered. The tuna crudo was so fresh, perfectly seasoned. The beet salad was refreshing. Branzino was on point as always. The h read more

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The food was good, but the evening lacked customer service. We didn't have a whole lot of interaction with our server. Not sure what he was off doing, but we had trouble finding up and didn't come back to check on us. So we paid and left as soon as we finished. Food was good. It was a late dinner, so we didn't order a lot. BUT i was definitely starving. I must mentioned that I'm not a fan of Italian restaurants that charge for bread and olive oil. Our party of two ordered a few items to share; Melanzane (crispy eggplant), octopus, and the scallops. The crispy eggplant was so good. It's like eating chips but better! The octopus and scallops were pretty standard Located in a great spot, but not a lot of parking in the area. Definitely stick with metro or walk. read more

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Mid food. Undercooked. Ordered a salad and it was all lettuce. Music is too loud. Service is phenomenal though. read more

Centrolina - Salad - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I came here for dinner with friends. We started with the funghi and crispy eggplant appetizers. As a mushroom lover, I really enjoyed the funghi dish ($22) because it's got all of my favorite things: tender mushrooms on a custardy bed of parmesan in a flavorful rosemary broth. The crispy eggplant ($16) was light and crispy - chip-like - coated with a little bit of honey to add some sweetness and almonds for extra crunch and complexity. I would order both appetizers again. For my entree, I ordered the Reginette (squid ink pasta, cod, crab, uni butter, bottarga). The reginette ($34) came with three pieces (relatively small portions, but understandable for fine dining) and had good seafood flavor which paired decadently with the rich uni butter sauce. The pasta was on the chewy side though; I would've liked the pasta to be cooked a little longer. I also got to try the gnocchi (served in a white bolognese). I enjoyed the light and fluffy texture of the gnocchi ($26). There was a good pacing to the meal. While our waiter mostly let us keep to ourselves (we were seated in a private back room), we were checked on enough by other staff members to clear dishes and refill drinks. Overall, we had a nice Italian dinner in City Center, but I wouldn't go out of my way for these pasta dishes. read more

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I had dinner with friends and our overall experience was decent, but not sure I'd come back. We got the eggplant, cabbage, and bread to start. For mains, we tried the salmon, pappardelle, and the butternut squash fiore. The clear winner was the fiore. Overall good quality food but just not my favorite. read more

Centrolina - Eggplant and cabbage - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Though our party was early for our reservation, reception was kind enough to seat us in advance. Our waitress was very personable. The pasta was delicious. The disappointment is ultimately tied to value. The combination of tiny food portions and slow service led to us waiting much too long for comically small meals. I think restaurants with fancy meal categories like Centrolina must consistently maintain reasonably quick service to really succeed. Peraps we dined during a slow night. Our least favorite dish was the scallop carpaccio; it was much too sweet for our liking. read more

The atmosphere is so serene and relaxing. The server knew the menu so well and described every dish perfectly. We had several individuals at our table with special dietary needs and he graciously fulfilled them all without issue. Drinks were delicious as was all the food. The bread service was a perfect addition and the desserts are all perfectly balanced also! read more