Cafe Central

Came with my family at 5pm on a saturday. The service was very cordial and quick. The food was very tasty and the place was simple and clean. The grilled bacalao was fresh & very good. My daughter said it was mind blowingly good. The scallops & fries were also tasty. We would definitely come back.

Homey and quaint this place really steps up to the plate with it’s authentic Portuguese food. I ordered the shrimp Mozambique, I was worried that it would be too spicy because of the description on the menu but by talking to the helpful waitress she insisted it was not too spicy. I trusted her and she was right! They supplied a healthy portion of shrimp and rice. This will definitely be on my list of places to stop on my next trip to Bristol, RI.

Went to Café Central with family today and had a horrible experience. Had called ahead to say that we were going to be at least 11 and when we got there no table was set up, we actually pushed the tables together.
Appetizer of shrimp Mozambique didn’t have enough sauce, salty and much smaller than before. The codfish cakes were also salty. Server never checked to see if everything was ok. Meals:(well, what can I say): horrible! Two of us a ordered the grilled codfish, there were two pork dishes, two steak dishes and baked scallops. After ordering the server walked away to place the order and came back several minutes later to tell us that there was only one grilled codfish; disappointing, so switched to steak. The codfish that was served was spoiled (as in bad!) sent back and ordered another steak cooked medium well… came out rare! All the sauces for the food was salty which made the meal very disappointing. My father never got to eat. I expected better since I have been going there since they opened. Won’t be going back though.

Very good food wait staff was very friendly had company from Canada they loved it we had steak seafood casserole fried seafood plate and roasted pork it was very good I recommend to stop in and eat

I tried this over the weekend w/​a groupon and was pleasantly surprised. my boyfriend says its the best T-​bone he’s ever had… I too had steak and dont’ think it was my best but it was cooked to perfection. The house soup was very flavorful and portion sizes were good. I would definitely go back.

The beautiful seaside town of Bristol has a working class district (Wood St.) where the ethnicity is predominately Azorean-​Portuguese. Amazingly, there are not a lot of restaurant selections when it comes to Portuguese food in the area. Café Central is one of the few.
It’s not going wow you with its décor. When you walk in, you enter the bar area. The restaurant has its own separate room but there is no other way of getting there.
If you can get over those nuances… the food is superb.
I had, on a few occasions, the Steak marinated in sauce (they call it Moo-​ee) topped with a fried egg, fried potato slices and rice. It’s so good… I think I actually heard my arteries hardening,
My wife (who also doubles as my Portuguese translator) had the Shrimp Mozambique which was in a garlic sauce with lemons, also with the fried potato slices and rice. She loved her dish as well. Get plenty of bread for sopping up all those tasty juices.
They have other great dishes, apps, and of course Portuguese soup-​a. The menu is not overwhelming with choices and everything is cooked to order.
The prices are inexpensive and you get more food than you can probably finish.
Worth a trip.

With one of the largest Portuguese populations in Rhode Island, it’s unusual that there is only one Portuguese restaurant in town. However, this place gets the job done. It’s blue-​collar fare fit for the average Portagee. They serve soup or salad with every meal and have reallllllly good Octopus Stew (Polvo) on Fridays. Definitely try it, you won’t regret it.