Central by Michel Richard at Caesars Palace (Restaurant Review)

My mom and I decided to try Central by Michel Richard during our October trip.  I've been keeping a list of restaurants to try based on their menus and reviews, and this was one place I've had my eye on for quite a while.  After showing my mom the menu, we decided a late, light lunch on the day we arrived would be just about right.

We had hoped to be seated out on the patio for a snack and a drink since the weather was sunny and in the low 70's, but the restaurant was not busy at the time (it was about 2:30 p.m.) and they only had bar seating or tables in one of the two main restaurant sections available.  In hindsight we should have taken the bar seating, but we prefer tables for our Vegas meals when traveling together.  When I'm by myself I personally don't care; bar seating is just fine for me, but then I'm not necessarily trying to talk to someone else, then, either.

For starters, I ordered a Strawberry Basil Mojito, and mom ordered the Summer Sangria.  We ordered the Cheese Puffs and the Potato Nachos with Chicken from the appetizer menu to share for our snack at the same time, but our waiter said he'd bring our drinks first, which was fine with us.  

We were literally seated less than 10 feet from the bar, and we waited...and waited...and waited some more for our drinks to arrive.  We kept looking around the restaurant and found our waiter at times talking to other employees, or we didn't see him at all.  There were probably four or five other tables seated in the restaurant, with most of the restaurant guests sitting at the bar.  Being that there was one other waiter in the restaurant for those few tables, it should not have taken more than 5 minutes at the most for our drinks to make it from the bar to us.  

After about 15 minutes or so, we were deciding if we were going to stay or leave when the afternoon manager, Rick, came by and asked how everything was.  My mom told him EXACTLY how everything was, which was not good.  (She's not a shrinking violet by any means.)  The manager apologized profusely and went to find our waiter and the drinks.  He found both at the same time, and the waiter brought them to us with another apology.  Immediately after that he brought our food.

Strawberry Basil Mojito

The drinks were very good - my mojito was a bit strong, but it had great flavor, with chunks of strawberries thrown in.  My mom really enjoyed her sangria, which had whole blueberries floating on top. (I took those - mom doesn't like fresh blueberries.  They were nice and drunken!) My taste of  the sangria it found it to be a great combination of sweet and tart, which is always good in a sangria.  

A Summer Sangria for the Fall

The afternoon manager checked in with us again a few minutes later and offered another apology, and then he told us he was comping our drinks because of wait time.  We thanked him for that.  It's nice to see a response from a manager who means it.

The Cheese Puffs were delicious: cheesy little ball-shaped pastries served in a wire basket, with no toppings or other accompaniments to take away from them.  They were very light and airy, not too thick or heavy at all.  There were about 10-12 of them in an order, and that was just right for two people to share.  It'd make a great appetizer for four people, as well.

Get the Cheese Puffs - you won't regret it.

The Potato Nachos were actually thin-sliced, handmade potato chips, fried in peanut oil and piled high on a platter.  The "nachos" were served with melted cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives, fresh jalapenos, diced tomatoes and sliced chicken breast on top.  It's not something I would've ordered anywhere else, but they were pretty darn good and quite unexpected.  We tried like everything to finish the entire plate, but we weren't able to make it all the way through.

An unexpected plate of yum, with a jalapeno kick.

Because of our comped drinks, our whole meal cost $24+tip, which is not a bad price at all for a quick meal in Vegas.  Of course, if the drinks had been included, the price would've been about $40+tip, so cost is certainly dependent on what you order.

Overall, the food and drinks were very good, but the service outside of the manager's efforts was lacking in almost every way, and service is very important to me.  I think it would make more sense to either A) close off all but one section of the restaurant, or B) only offer bar seating during the slower hours.  This would allow the wait staff to more efficiently serve guests, and the restaurant would not have to stretch their resources so thinly to cover every area of an almost completely empty restaurant.  Since they are currently open 24 hours a day, it would certainly allow them to manage and staff the restaurant based on need.  

At this time I would say that our entire dining experience would only rate a 5 out of 10, and the service definitely brought the number down.  I don't know if I'll be back, either; there are just too many other places to eat in Las Vegas.

To see the entire list of Central menus, click here: Central menus