10 Center Street

Ten Center Street was a satisfying end to a lovely Saturday spent in Newburyport. Bf and i found ourselves staying for dinner and looking for a ""nice"" (read: not inexpensive) restaurant. It turns out Newburyport does not have an ample supply of these. Lots of seafood places, one definitely pricier, but not much fine dining or refined New American cuisine. But there is Ten Center Street. Thankfully, at 5:25pm, I thought to call and make a reservation. The girl could only offer me 5:30 or 9pm. We took 5:30. I absolutely love the decor. Red brick, exposed beams, mirrors. I had a difficult time deciding on my entree, and eventually decided on ordering a couple of the sides that come with the meat entrees. The waitress was thankfully extremely patient with me while I belabored this. She brought us bread and olive oil. The bread was an unpleasant mass-produced appearing focaccia and the oil was tasteless. Thankfully, my salad blew me away. Baby arugula with beets, dried apricots and candied pistachios in a light but creamy dressing. Large portion and absolutely divine. Bf got littleneck clams. They were good, but he was disappointed they weren't served on the half shell. The two sides I got were red quinoa risotto- fantastic, and the sweet potato gratin- a little too cheesy for me and the potatoes could have been cooked more. Bf loved his entree: New Zealand rack of lamb with mascarpone polenta, marinated artichoke hearts and a fig glaze. We shared the medium rare chocolate cake for dessert. A very fun finale: a layer of torched marshmallow fluff, a single warm chocolate cake, a scoop of whipped cream, and scoop of vanilla ice cream coated in graham cracker crumbs. Hits definitely outweigh the misses. I enjoyed it. Pros: Solid food, good service too Cons: Nothing major, except the bread was lame. more

We planned ahead for a fun New Year's eve with a reservation for six. However, due to the snow storm, one couple backed out at the last minute. Upon arriving we advised the staff that our party would now be only four people. We were told that everything was going to stay the same and that all of the amenities were at our disposal. The party was upstairs...but we were seated at a table next to the downstairs bar. The service downstairs was good. When the buffet was served, we brought the food down to our table. The food was fair. After an hour or so we were bored and asked the hostess to move us upstairs. The request was handled quickly and we were soon moved to the back dining room upstairs. Our new table was a lot nicer than the dark and cold lower bar area. This is when things starting falling apart. There were two open tables so we could have been seated upstairs from the start. The staff in the back room were very attentive to all of the other tables but seemed to purposely ignore us. It seemed that they were avoiding even looking in our direction. After over an hour I approached one of the servers to ask for help. The man tried to ignore me so I met him at the kitchen door and was told that someone would be right over. After waiting a while I asked the other server for help. The man said he was told we moved to that table and implied we didn't belong. This was his way of saying that we would receive no service. I explained that we were originally supposed to be at this exact table and our name was actually on a reserved sign right on the table. He just walked away. We finally spoke to the hostess to share our thoughts and only then received service. We have been eating at restaurants for many years and have never been treated this poorly. On the way out one of the management tried to explain the issues away as a ""miscommunication"". She wanted us to accept that we were mistreated in error, but that the treatment was otherwise OK. That is absurd! Pros: Unique old building Cons: Drafty windows, very poor service and top floor has no handicap access more

I suggest reading the article below on this restaurant, great review. I tried it myself and loved it. There's an article on Associatedcontent that reviews this restaurant. I suggest going to the site and typing in 10 center street. more

A bunch of girlfriends had dinner and drinks here. It was really good. I would recommend it. My friends had the grilled chicken and I had the steak. The food was fresh and the portions were a fair size. I would also recommend the margaritas here. They are good too. All in all we enjoyed our evening here. The service was quick and the crowd was good. Recommended. Pros: Food, Value, Crowd more

My girlfriend and I just traveled upto Newburyport for the 4th weekend. After shopping at most of the retail spots downtown we asked some shop help where to eat they suggested 10 center. It wasnt on the water or on a main road but it was great. Not busy- we scooted into the bar downstairs while we waited to go upstairs. The bartender was really professional. He made my dark and stormy with ease and suggested some cucumber cosmo to my girlfriend. We checked out the martini list that had tons of drinks on it. The bar was full of regulars so we just people watched for a bit. We went upstairs to a totally different spot. It was awesome. We got the Halibut and the Chicken dish and started with the Clambake bowl. We switched up and got a different martini and I got a margarita. The service was awesome- they gave us chocolates to a chocolate shop in town. What a great trip for a long weekend. Pros: great addition to Newburyport- it needed it Cons: not on the water more

I felt compelled to blog about my experience at Ten Center Street with my husband last night. Upon arriving at a lovely table on the patio, my husband and I were greeted by a friendly and helpful female server. We both ordered specialty martinis...my husband had the Perfect 10 and I had the French 75. Both were outstanding! For our entrees, I had the California Roll which was divine because I love sushi and it tasted more fresh than sushi I have had at high-end local Boston restaurants. My husband had the halibut entree which was new to the menu. He very much enjoyed the fresh fish and the temperature was just right! We splurged on dessert and ordered the homemade sorbet which was out of this world! Pros: signature martinis more

new to the area, previously living in large cities, I go out to eat often and this is my favorite newburyport restaurant so far. New hip vibe, tapas, sushi, pasta, seafood and more. I sat upstairs on a saturday without a reservation at a high top table near the bar after a cocktail at the bar, just ordered a ton of yummy appetizers, there is a large wine list, ncie presentation, our waitress, Lisa, was super friendly and accommodating. No pressure, a relaxing vibe and classy without stuffy atmosphere. kitchen closes at 10pm, I will definitely be back! Pros: service ambience good food Cons: kitchen closes at 10pm more

We stopped in this past Tuesday night and the restaurant was packed. Ourserver was warm.she was not to overwhelming. She approached the table at just the right time with a great soup gift of the chef. she had some other large parties working but still gave us great service they must have had an off night the last review. We had the Tuna special and it was nice- Dinner I had the Halibut featured in a magazine we had read and he had the cooked right on. We had a great red wine. Overally a great night - no wonder it was busy. Pros: service, food and drinks, the gift was nice Cons: it was loud more

Arrived on a Friday night at 7:45pm without a reservation (first mistake). Was told by hostess that there would be a 15 minute wait for a table outside. Sat at the bar and had a killer martini. The bartender wasn't especially friendly or attentive, but we still should have eaten at the bar. 45 minutes later, we were seated. We were given one menu. That's about all that happened. No water, no waiter in sight. Ten minutes later with no one even looking our way, we decided to leave. The table across from us said that they waited an hour for their food. Out of courtesy, we told the hostess politely why we were leaving. She was not only clueless, but apathetic as well. A deadly combination. We wound up walking across the street where we had a great meal (with great service) at the Starboard Galley. We were seated immediately, and within 5 minutes had menus, water and our order taken by a very attentive waitress. Pros: Killer martini Cons: Non-existent service, apathetic staff more