We've had lunch at this place about 2 years ago. It was pretty good then. And the service was above par. Never had to ask for more water.
This time around we came back for an early dinner. Food was fabulous and service was fine. We has a couple of martini's with our meal - very smooth and the overall price was good. Although it wasnt busy, the staff was attentive and very friendly. We'll be back soon.

Stopped by here a few days ago, and it was AWESOME! Through all this Olympic chaos, this place was still A+ with service and food. The restaurant was pretty busy for the time of day (late afternoon) but the only server on, seemed to be handling it quite well. We had a few burgers which were huge and so tasty. The beer selection is pretty average for a Vancouver restaurant, but the martini list looks amazing (although we stuck to the beer special ). We will be back to try some of their $5 Monday Martini Madness. This place is a hidden gem. Great music too!

My partner and I arrived at 10pm as we were hungry after a long day at work, and we were told to wait to be seated. After waiting about 10 mins, someone actually came to us to seat us, even though there were several empty tables available to be seated at.

Secondly, we sat down for about another 10 mins before anyone came by to acknowledge our presence and ask us for our drink preference. At that time, we put in our order for drinks AND food. While waiting ANOTHER 10 to 15 mins, we had to ASK to get glasses of water to drink.

Third, after about an HOUR of waiting, we finally went up to our waitress to ask about the status of our meal - she said it would be right up. While waiting for her to bring our food that was supposedly ready, our waitress was busy showing a customer photos of her vacation of sorts. When she finally tore herself away from that conversation, she went to the kitchen, and came back to our table WITHOUT any food. She then notified us that our order was NEVER put through to the kitchen. She just simply apologized and didn't offer us anything at all - all she said was that she could try and put in the order again and we'd have to wait for the food.

How could ANY food establishment carry out such horrendous service at this point in the economic downturn? Our waitress was so busy socializing with the customers at the bar, that she completely neglected us. She never returned to ask us if we needed another drink she never refilled our water and she never even put in our orders to the kitchen. Moreover, there was no manager around to complain to, nor did our waitress offer to get the manager on staff to take care of the situation.

Needless to say, we walked out fuming mad and went elsewhere to have dinner.

At this point, I don't think we'd ever come back to the restaurant, nor would we ever recommend this place to any of our colleagues, family or friends. Moreover, this experience just infuriated us so much, that we will be posting this complaint up on various restaurant review sites.

It is just too bad that a restaurant that bills itself as being a place where the locals eat - I don't think ANY local or foreigner would eat with such insulting service. Moreover, for Central Bistro to claim they have great food and great prices with a relaxed atmosphere, our experience there was anything but relaxed - with added poor service.

Fabulous. It's a regular stop for us. Great food, great cocktails and great staff. A favorite for weekend brunch as well. )

Clay & Mel

excellent