11/03/07

Not as good at is used to be.

by rloftin38

Was once one of our family favorites. Seems to have gone down in quality lately. Our sandwiches were little more than cold-cuts on pre-sliced bread. They also seem to have lost some of their really good employees. There was low turnover there for a long time. Now it's a different group every time we visit.

The french fries are still good. But we were especially disappointed in our ceasar salad. The lettuce was old, and the entire salad seemed to have been made the day before.

Great location - hopefully they'll pull it back around.

• Pros: good location, convenient to shopping
• Cons: prices have increased, quality seems to have slid, parking congested.

A destination grocery store and cafe that's popular with tourists and locals, young and old.

by Contributor

In Short
One of the top tourist spots in town, Central Market features an 18,000-square-foot produce section, a 75-foot seafood counter and a bakery stocked with 60 varieties of bread--not to mention an immense selection of fruit and hard-to-find gourmet items like Thai coconut milk and fat-free cranberry granola. In addition, the Central Market Cafe serves up a kid-friendly menu of all-American favorites like macaroni and cheese, burgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

02/02/06

A Great Place I Ill Never Get Tired Of

by nshepherd

Central Market is a great place to go, whether you want to order off a menu or create your own salad or pasta dish. It is always a great quality and I would definatly recommend it to anyone that I meet.

• Pros: Food, Variety
• Cons: Cost

10/21/05

good place for all

by southerncomforts

Central Market is a great place to eat for both families and those who appreciate the finer things. When I went to UT, my friends and I would often go there for their great atomosphere and good food. It's a great place to people watch and offers a more wholesome environment than say that of Riverside

• Pros: atomosphere, food

01/01/04

Too much hype

by jstmyopnyun

I am very loyal fan of the market itself but the cafe is strictly ok. Their Chicken tenders, the portobello sandwich are almost tasteless and overpriced. The Thai chicken pizza is quite good at westlake but mediocre at north lamar. Their greek salad is good but the asian salad is too pungent. The turkey Havarti sandwich is tasty but a tad too dry. Their fries are very good only when they serve them hot; I have gotten them pretty cold too!

Overall, its a great atmosphere; sometimes their specials are good but I think for a cafe, they are a little pricey. Their need to revamp their menu a little bit and make them tastier.

• Pros: Ambience, parking
• Cons: overall value, tasteless, pricey specials

11/09/03

Wedding Flowers

by minerva

Central Market's wedding flowers are the world's worst. They care nothing about proportion (size of arrangment to size cake it's going on), their flowers shed dreadfully, and they die within hours. The heads of the roses just flop over and they're the worst quality anywhere in Austin.

02/10/03

A little unknown secret

by girlfriend22

If you haven't checked out CM's floral department for a special event give them a call. We used them for our wedding day and had outstanding flowers. Guests were blown away by the quality and arrangements of our flowers. To this day we still receive compliments on them and the best part is they didn't break the bank! I would use them again in a heartbeat!

11/14/02

Great, but an Attraction????

by neogoddess

I'm not sure if this would be a great place for visitors because there are Central Markets in other parts of the state. I lived in Austin for 5 years and I was very sad to leave because I do love Central Market, but I live in Houston now, and we have 2 of them here, so although the store is really awesome, I am not sure I would consider it a tourist attraction.

11/07/02

great lunch spot

by skeveryn

This is the perfect place for lunch with friends with or without the kids. Great playground.

11/07/02

size is everything

by jfieldscameron

I got what I paid for!!! I had a very large and variety packed salad (included bacon, olives, chicken, feta). It was fresh and wonderful. Had to wait a while, which gave time for good conversation.

• Pros: fresh ingredients, large quantity
• Cons: wait