3.23.2010

Drago Centro

525 S. Flower St.
Suite 120
Los Angeles, CA 90071
213.228.8998
www.dragocentro.com
www.twitter.com/dragocentro

Parking: Valet in Parking Garage. First 3 hours FREE with validation; after 3 hours, $7 flat rate
All Day, Everyday! $5 beers, $5 specialty cocktails, $6 glasses of wine, & a nice selection of small bites from $3-9

Drago Centro is right in the heart of downtown, so much so that if you miss your street you could easily end up on the 110 freeway. That’s enough stress to send anyone running for the bottle, and Drago Centro is a great choice to do just that.

In needing to cover more downtown happy hours, I enlisted the help of
The Minty for suggestions. She suggested Drago Centro because it’s close to work, she has connections there …and the happy hour never ends! That’s right - they got it going on all day, every day!! The Minty, Carina from Uncouth Gourmand, & company set out on an adventure that definitely turned me into a fan of downtown LA.

When we arrived, Michael Shearin, the sommelier/beverage director, greeted us. It was exciting, yet a bit nerve racking to go to my first happy hour where the staff actually knew who I was. What if I hated the drinks, the food, or them? I always say one of my best and worst qualities is how honest I am, so there’s nothing like a cocktail to relax those nerves. The good news is that I did like Michael. He was not pushy or over pitching Drago Centro, at all. In fact, I felt like I was talking to any friend telling me about a restaurant they really liked. We chatted for a bit and he left us to do our happy hour business. In a city of movers & shakers, it’s easy to spot the fakes.


For drinks, we focused on the four specialty cocktails for $5 each. I tried the Aviation and the

Manhattan. The classic gin cocktail, the Aviation was tasty and light, which went well with the warm weather outside. However, it goes down so easy that I knew I better switch drinks before I got too tipsy. At the suggestion of a SoHo House bartender I met last month, I’ve started drinking Manhattans here and there. The drink is so amazingly smooth, that is a must-sip drink that makes me feel like a beauty in Mad Men. The other girls also had the Manhattan, Mai Tai, & Sea Breeze.

I’m not much of a foodie, but the food at Drago Centro is outstanding! The smell from the kitchen is so amazing that I later joked with staff that I would like a plug in for my place. Yes, I love to eat, but I’m just as happy with
Wendy’s drive thru as I am with a meal from Teru Sushi. Our group ordered la tourda di uova (pork belly quiche), il gnocco fritto farcito (mini mortadella sandwiches), & a couple of orders of mini kobe beef burgers. At compliments of the restaurant, we received eggplant bruschetta, margarita pizza, sausage pizza, & spinach pizza. They saved the best for last, lamb with farro salad. It is something I would have never, ever ordered myself but I’ll try almost anything once and I was so glad I did because it was delicious and possibly my favorite dish of the night. As of my visit, the dish was not on the menu but will be very soon.

The only thing that Drago Centro was lacking was a true happy hour scene of young
professionals. Most people that came in went directly to the restaurant. Aside from our group, the others in the bar area seemed way older, even for me. I like a distinguished gentleman and all, but it would be great to be in the presence of people I could truly socialize with. Hopefully, this review will help the scene pick up. I have some friends who definitely want to return with me once I told them about that lamb dish!

Read more about the rest of our downtown adventure at The Minty!
-JG
Rating: 4 Martinis

Drago Centro on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

  1. Yay!! I'm glad you liked Drago Centro! Anytime you want to come on down, let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've done Dragon Centro's HH more than a handful of times, and I appreciate the lack of DTLA CPA/JD types crowding the bar ala Chaya/Casa. It's nice and quiet, and the food borders stupendous for the dollar. Easily one of the best HH in all of Downtown, save for Checkers on Thursdays.

    ReplyDelete

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