Centro On The Square

We recently hosted our engagement party at Centro on the Square, and it was absolutely perfect! The staff went above and beyond to make everything run smoothly and stress-free for us. The food was incredible! Our guests are still talking about it and the atmosphere was exactly what we were hoping for: warm, elegant, and welcoming. We’re so grateful for their attention to detail and the amazing service that made our celebration so special. Highly recommend Centro for any special occasion! ❤️

What an amazing experience at Centro last night! The lighting was vibrant and cheerful, soft and cozy. The restaurant was quiet and lively, the decor was classic and artistic and elegant. We ordered beef meatballs to start, followed with mushroom tagliatelle, lemon ricotta agnolotti , and ossobuco. Every bite was rich and velvety. DELICIOUS!! The manager Basil, was very hospitable and beyond nice. Strongly recommended!!!

WOW WOW WOW!! Every single thing we had was 10/10 ⭐️ If you’re looking for an elevated date night experience, hanging out with old friends, or having a lovely family dinner - Look no further than Centro On The Square! The extensive wine and spirits list and thoughtfully crafted menu of in house made pasta dishes make this place an instant star on the downtown McKinney square! The service was as spectacular as the food and wine, Michelle was a fabulous server with ample knowledge, the bread man (oh! The bread man!!) made his rounds frequently with an assortment of bread for the table(I do wish the bread was freshly made and warm! Would be perfection), we had a lovely chat with the manager Basel who shared the vision of the restaurant, it’s owners, and its menu and was a delight to talk to. Overall we will be back again, and again, and again, and again… 🤭

Centro on the Square holds a special place in our hearts—we actually had our wedding reception here 14 years ago when it was under different ownership. Returning now to see it transformed into this incredible new restaurant was unexpectedly magical. The atmosphere feels like something out of a New York City bistro—chandeliers, exposed brick walls, and stylish, European-inspired restrooms. The ambiance is stunning, with live jazz nights promised in the future, and everyone we encountered was genuinely friendly and welcoming. Everything was spotless. We started with cocktails, which were fantastic, and then shared an appetizer of mussels that nearly brought me to tears. They were topped with cheese, and the sauce-soaked bread was heavenly. My husband ordered the pork with apples and cinnamon—perfectly cooked and generously portioned. I had the lemon rigatoni, which was rich, bright, and absolutely delightful. I savored every bite. Our server, Emma, was a standout—warm, knowledgeable, and engaging. She answered all our questions and made us feel right at home. Overall, we had an unforgettable evening and are beyond impressed with Centro on the Square. It's a gem that we’ll definitely be returning to—and we can't wait to see it thrive.

Great atmosphere and good quality was good. However we didn't get great service, we didn't get any bread while all the other tables did. Also I had to ask for cutlery and didn't receive a napkin either for my steak.

Best Italian dishes I’ve ever had! They literally make their pasta in house and I can’t tell the difference whether I’m really in Italy or not. It’s that good and I would even call these dishes, 5 star dishes!! I’ve been all over dfw and I can easily say these are by far the best 🤩 The quality of the pasta and sauces etc are INCREDIBLE. Everything was incredible! You can tell they’re using top notch ingredients 👌 I had their lemon ricotta pasta and hubby had short rib ravioli 😍… both to DIE FOR! Staff was super friendly and welcoming. Outstanding manager! 👏👏 This has become our new favorite restaurant and will enjoying coming here time and time again 😉😍

We had a wonderful experience here as a family. This is the perfect place on the square for a delicious and unique meal that is upscale but still approachable in casual clothes. We tried so many of the dishes and could find nothing wrong with any of them. Even the brussel sprouts were awesome!

We went to Centro for my husband’s birthday, and we were blown away! Will, our waiter, was phenomenal and so attentive. We got the meat & cheese plate, brussel sprouts, pastas, and free cannolis for dessert. The lemon ricotta pasta melted in my mouth — I will be dreaming about this pasta until I come back!! We were so impressed and are glad to have a place like this in downtown. So cute & cozy, and perfect for a date night!

I was excited to finally try this place out after watching construction over the past couple of months, and after hearing great reviews online. We visited Thursday night and had a great experience! The interior is classy, clean and a perfect in-between if you're looking for something that isn't too casual or too formal. They have a bar, booths, multiple dining rooms, as well as a window where they make their own pasta fresh, daily. Once we were sat, we ordered a Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Both were delicious, and the other reviews were right, their wine list is extensive. The wait staff also offers samplings of the wines, as well as glasses and bottles, if desired. For our appetizers, we had the Fried Mozzarella, which was house made with marinara and parmigianno. This was delicious and an excellent pairing with the marinara. I especially appreciated the presentation of the sauce with a miniature bowl and serving spoon. We also had the the Artichoke & Arugula Salad with toasted hazelnuts, olive oil, lemon, and pecorino romano. This was a fresh, tasty salad and the lemon dressing was delightful. In addition to our initial drinks and appetizers, we also indulged in their complimentary breads. They have sourdough, olive and rosemary slices, along with butter. The breads are served by a designated bread server that walks around the restaurant, with a large board of breads and butter. You are able to obtain slices throughout your meal and request more as needed. The sourdough was our favorite, closely followed by the rosemary and olive bread. The bread service is a great touch and we loved it! For our main course, we ordered the Lemon Ricotta Agnolotti del Pin with ricotta, pecorino, lemon butter, peas, and asparagus, as well as the Pesto Rigatoni with traditional pesto & bread crumbs. For the lemon ricotta, I added chicken on top which made it an even better and more filling dish. The lemon ricotta flavor was beautifully done, very fresh, summery and delicious. For the pesto rigatoni, we added the chicken parmesan on top. This was a great combo, although the mix of pesto and red sauce was a little unexpected. However, both were very enjoyable and fantastic pasta dishes. I could definitely tell they were house-made and fresh pastas. We finished the night with some of their dessert House-Made Limoncello. We only had a small glass, but it was one of my favorite drinks I have had in a long time. It was a sweet, perfect way to end the evening. Next time, I definitely plan to check out the dessert menu! Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I am glad we were able to finally check this place out. I believe the manager, Basil, even came by our table and chatted with us about our food, how we found them and our night. We were greeted by wonderful, attentive staff throughout our time and I am happy to see some success for this business. I look forward to coming back soon! Thank you so much!

We went fairly early on a Thursday evening for dinner. Restaurant wasn't too busy but each time we ordered drinks it took a little while to get them. We ordered meatballs and the beet bread appetizers. I would skip the meatballs next time...wasn't impressed. Entrees were just ok. We tried a couple of pastas and the salmon. Could have used more sauce on one pasta. Salmon isn't anything special. We would have loved to have bread delivered to our table but the bread guy never came by until we asked another server to bring some to us as we were finishing dinner. Interested to see if it was anything special. Again, it's just ok but would be great if they offered or brought olive oil for a dipping option instead of just butter For the price I think we will stick with Fontina Ristorante in Downtown McKinney

I really wanted to love this place as a local who loves downtown, but it missed the mark for us. While we were big fans of the ambiance and the hostesses and waitress were very sweet, the food was nothing special. We came in on a Saturday night, and they were out of the original entree we wanted to order. They take your entire order at once, so we had to make another entree decision before our appetizer order was put in. The bread they walk around with is dry and cold - I think it would be a lot more appetizing if they served warm bread - similar to what their mussels are served with. The mussels were bland and lacked flavor - don't recommend. My husband got the Cacio e Pepe and I got the pesto, to which we both added grilled chicken. The pasta was good, but nothing to write home about. We agreed we would give it another shot, but we think this place still has to sort out some kinks to figure out what works for them.

The service was impeccable. The staff was incredibly friendly and attentive! The quality of food is the issue. We paid over $100 for two entrees and one appetizer (no drinks or dessert). If you're going to price the food that high, then it needs to be delicious, not mediocre, especially when there's another relatively new Italian restaurant downtown with better prices and higher food quality. I had one of the pastas but made it gluten free. It was okay, but not great, and my husband had the steak fries which was covered in a sauce that took away from the flavor of the overall dish. We had the chicken meatballs for our appetizer and they were unsettling dry. Even with the sauce, it was really dry. We were really disappointed and disgusted. Once this place gets their food right, we'll be back! Until then, we will take our money to Italian restaurants with higher food quality.

I have been watching the building of this restaurant for several months and was so excited to try it with a few couples tonight. Unfortunately it was a miss. It is a pretty restaurant inside but our server was inexperienced, which set the mood for the evening. I ordered a $105 bottle of wine. The server struggled with the cork and then proceeded to have to red wine drip down the side of bottle with each pour and never wiped it off. I also ordered a strawberry basil cocktail but it came with the large ice cube and very little liquid. Two of the guys got chicken parm and said it was great, that saved a star there. I had the spicy fusilli and while I enjoyed it, the portion was super small and I was still hungry. My wife got the cacio e pepe, she declared it ok, but certainly not the top five. So, bottom line we are going to let this would sit and gain some traction before we give it another try.

Beautiful restaurant and nice addition to downtown McKinney. The menu had options for a few different tastebuds. Price point was normal for the area and menu. Service was pretty good for being a newer restaurant. The young man that brought the bread tray by was so wonderful, he said it was his first day. However the bread would've been better warm and not cold. Food came out in a timely manner, presentation was there, portions decent. We started with the beet crostini, fried calamari, beef meatballs and the burrata. The calamari and the meatballs were very tasty. The beet crostini had potential I just feel it wasn't executed correctly. It was missing something, the ricotta on it was delicious, I just feel they should've done something different with the beets, maybe make a purée or just fancy it up a little. The burrata was okay, wasn't crazy with the flavors they added. My husband got the Lemon Ricotta Agnolotti del Plin and I got the Mushroom Tagliatelle. I also added a redfish too. The redfish was cooked perfectly it just was really bland. My pasta was really good just really heavy. My husband's dish was amazing, really wish I would've gotten that for my meal. It's one of the smaller portioned entrees because it's so rich but then again it was light. It had a great medley of flavors. I'd definitely come back to try some other things if in the area but I want to be wowed more with their food.

Wow! Arguably the best restaurant in McKinney, based on a single mid-afternoon visit. The beef filet and double bone pork chop were perfectly cooked to order and delicious. Salads and sides were impressive. Vanessa provided knowledgeable, attentive service. Drinks were superb. Decor was gorgeous. Highly recommended.

Yet another over-priced restaurant hoping to capitalize on the charm of being on the square. My wife and I went for lunch, and we were completely disappointed on every level. Server was nice enough but not very good at explaining anything and seemed totally inexperienced and awkward. I ordered an "artichoke & arugula salad" - which was a total soggy mess; pitiful. The artichoke was unrecognizable and were like slivers of artichoke stalk. My entre of "campenelle bolognese" was dry and tasteless. My wife ordered some short rib brunch special that arrived with 2 eggs on top. She told the waiter that the menu said nothing about being served with eggs and his response was basically - "I didn't know it came with eggs either". Both entrees were only lukewarm. No one ever asked - "how was everything", which is probably a good thing. Bad enough that the food was barely mediocre, but also very over-priced in addition. We won't be back; but we are also disappointed that this was so far below expectation.

This restaurant was amazing. From the moment you walk in, through your entire meal, the service is wonderful. The atmosphere is nice. Feels upscale. The food is delicious! The teramusu is..wow! Arlenne was knowledgeable and just a delight.

Loved it! The ambiance, the service, and the food was delicious. I had the red fish and it was delicious. We also got some sautéed mushrooms and broccolini on the side and the portions were great. Looking forward to coming back and it being a staple in downtown McKinney.

The remolded space looks fabulous. For only being open 6 weeks our experience was amazing. Fresh pasta tasty cocktails and our server Michelle was perfect. I love that McKinney has another great restaurant.

Visited Centro for the third time in three weeks and each visit has been well worth it. This week Will was our server. He did a first class job of explaining the dishes to us and attended to our needs exceptionally well. Highly recommend Centro....and my wife considers that the burrata here is the best that she's had in the USA.

We went to this place by chance when another restaurant that we wanted to go to was closed early. We were very pleasantly surprised! When we walked in, we were greeted warmly by both the hostess and the owner. Our server was top-notch and attended to all of our needs. I thought the food was terrific!We got a salad, spaghetti and meatballs, dessert and a glass of wine. The ambience made me feel like I was in a much more expensive restaurant than where than the one we were in! We will definitely be making a trip back. Way to go!