Located on Hillcrest Avenue, Café El Centro is a charming eatery overlooking educator Rachel McDonald’s El Centro (The Centre), an establishment offering after-school and pre-school bilingual programmes.

It’s been a long time coming for Tina Newman, who is not a chef, but has an instinctive passion for food and for cooking too. And in her own words, Café El Centro was a “divine idea whose time had come”.

Ken Spencer artwork and framed images from an old coffee calendar decorate the inside of the small café, while the smell of Blue Mountain coffee pervades your nostrils. A friendly and very ‘hands on’ Newman goes from the kitchen to the terrace, ensuring that her customers are being attended to.

Café El Centro offers light and healthy foods for both breakfast and lunch, and unlike most breakfast spots around Kingston, you won’t find ackee and saltfish or mackerel rundown on the menu.

Instead, Newman serves what she calls a more American style spread, with the likes of omelettes, steak and eggs, crêpes and pancakes for breakfast, and an assortment of salads, wraps and sandwiches for lunch. There are, too, lots of extras, since her menu has extended and includes soup, pasta, quiche, crab backs, smoothies, as well as a few items for vegetarians and the health-conscious.

Its central location also benefits parents retrieving their children from the nearby nurseries and schools; there are retired persons who live in the Golden Triangle and officials from nearby Embassies who frequent the café; plus, ample parking in a secure and relaxed environment only adds to the café’s convenience… the best news is, of course, the tasty fare.

Visit Café El Centro at:

8 Hillcrest Avenue, Kingston 6

E-mail: cafeelcentro@gmail.com

Telephone: (876) 927-8415