Downtown dining scene serves up plates of inspired cuisine

Local restaurateurs will be the first to tell you that downtown Springfield has changed over the past few years. And it’s been a positive change — one of growth, buzz, and an expanding sense of culture and community pride. 

Darin Mitchell is the executive chef at Stella Bleu Bistro in Downtown Springfield. He has always enjoyed cooking. After attending Scottsdale Culinary Institute around 25 years ago, he worked at exclusive and highly-regarded restaurants across the country. 

“I worked at Tarbell’s, which was actually Food & Wine Magazine’s “Restaurant of the Year” in 2000. My chef that I worked under, Mark Tarbell, was on season five of “Iron Chef America,” and he was the only challenger to win his battle that season.”

Mitchell and his then-fiancee/now-wife moved back to Ohio to get married, and he took chef jobs across the state. In June 2019, he opened up his own restaurant. Stella Bleu Bistro, a nod to a Grateful Dead song, is located at 20 N. Fountain Ave. Within the historic Bushnell Building, Stella Blue Bistro offers diners a casual, fine dining experience in a freshly renovated space. 

“I love all different kinds of food, so we wanted to have a cool, nice culinary experience for people,” Mitchell says. “We try to do a little bit of everything — some Italian food, Southwestern, Asian food, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. We didn’t really have something like that down here and we wanted to bring it to Springfield because I grew up here, and really lived here most of my life.”

Their menu includes salads, scallops, sliders, grilled cheese, diner burgers, cashew chicken, ale battered cod, reuben sandwiches, pastas, chicken, pork and steak dinner entrees, tiramisu, créme brulee, and more. Many menu items are made in-house, fresh from chef or staff recipes. 

“I try to change the menu twice a year,” Mitchell says. “Our grilled cheese and tomato bisque is extremely popular, as is the diner burger. One dish that stays on the dinner menu is the popular San Francisco garlic noodles. We are very passionate about food and love to do new things and try new things.”

Weekly lunch specials rotate, chicken wings on Wednesday, a comfort food special on Thursday nights, and a weekend feature for dinner entrees. There’s also wine dinners once a month or so. Stella Bleu has dine-in seating, outdoor seating, and in-store pickup for takeout. 

“We have a beautiful, huge patio that is very big and very nice out there,” Mitchell says. “We also have a private room which can seat up to about 50 people and it’s perfect for business meetings, bridal showers, wedding rehearsal dinners, and large gatherings.”

Witnessing the revitalization of Springfield from a longtime resident’s eyes has been rewarding for Mitchell. He’s proud to be a part of the new dining scene, hoping to bring even more residents and visitors to the community. 

“It’s definitely grown, and the downtown area has gotten so much nicer than it was 15-20 years ago,” he says. “There’s ample free parking at the garage, and there’s lots of things for you to walk around and visit — the brewery, the bakeries and the theater.”

Owning a restaurant during the pandemic made for a challenging first year, says Mitchell. Even after, he feels a cultural shift in how folks eat and patronize restaurants — many utilizing delivery services instead of dine-in. He is appreciative of the Springfield support the restaurant has had in the past few years. 

Earlier this month, they hosted their first-ever Galentine’s Day event, which brought a bunch of local diners to the establishment. 

“We had 50 or so reservations within the first three days of announcing the event,” Mitchell says. “I think we actually served more people on Galentine’s Day than I did for Valentine’s Day. It was crazy, and I had no idea that was going to do so well, but it was really nice.”

Seeing the huge turnout was rewarding for the inspired chef. 

“I cook from my heart so much and am so passionate about what I make and how I present it to people,” he says. “When you do something and people support it, it really does feel good.”

He hopes that support can come from outside of Springfield, too. 

“Hopefully, people from the surrounding areas can come down here and see what’s going on,” he says. “We’ve got a nice, cool little scene going on down here and we need more people coming from out of town to check it out.”

Isaac Soto is one of three co-owners, alongside his brother Armando and sister Noemi, general manager. The Sotos grew up in the restaurant industry, as their parents owned Mexican restaurants in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, New York, and Rhode Island. 

“We grew up in Marion, Ohio, and worked at one of my uncle’s restaurants,” he says. “ I also remember being eight or nine years old, helping my dad wash dishes in one of the restaurants in Indiana,” Soto says. “We grew up in the business, and that’s how we learned how to work in the industry. It’s that experience that has brought us to where we are today.”

Casa Centro Modern Mexican opened up in Feb. 2025, at 14 E. Main St., Suite 101 in Downtown Springfield.

“We love that we were able to add to Springfield in this way with Casa Centro,” Soto says. “It’s a modern twist of Mexican cuisine to your traditional Tex-Mex, Mexican restaurant that everybody’s used to. We definitely stepped it up a notch. It’s just a way of showing the community and people that Mexican cuisine can also be elevated at a reasonable price without having to be a high-end restaurant.”

The restaurant blends the traditional heritage of Mexican cuisine with a contemporary culinary flair. They pride themselves on dishing up masterpieces of colorful, flavorful, creative cuisine. Popular menu items include al pastor tacos, birria tacos, jalapeno calamari appetizer, fresh, house-made guacamole, the molcajete dinner entree, and margarita flights. 

“Another thing that makes us very unique is that we have homemade tortillas. Rosa in the kitchen makes our tortillas fresh every morning in the kitchen. Everything is fresh and bought locally. All of our margaritas are hand-shaken, made fresh in front of the kitchen. We don’t use any store-bought purees; we make them all. Everything we sell is top-shelf quality, from the bar to the kitchen.”

“For us, it’s not just about serving a meal and making a drink. It’s about those personal relationships with the customers and learning people’s names. It’s above and beyond, way bigger than just money and food — it’s relationships, customers, and supporting the community.”

Owning and operating a restaurant in a post-COVID, inflationary industry has had its challenges with rising costs for produce, meats and dairy. But at the end of the day, Soto is still proud and happy to be a part of the growing Springfield restaurant scene. 

“We did not have a downtown for many, many years ago,” he says. “There was nothing going on here 15-20 years ago. Now that there are a few of us here, it’s coming alive. You see people walking around here. We feel flattered we get to be a part of downtown Springfield. When we moved here 12 years ago, you wouldn’t see a car here. Nowadays, it’s packed with activity. It feels really nice, and it definitely has changed. I do think in the near future, it will keep improving and developing.”

Soto encourages everyone to come out and support the local eatery. 

“I want to tell the people of Springfield to not be afraid to try something new. A lot of people might say it’s high-end or a little too much, but I’m inviting everybody — families, kids and everybody to try out Casa Centro,” he says. “It’s a family-owned restaurant for families. I do believe there’s nothing else in town like it. We poured our hearts and souls into this project, and I want everybody to come out and try it. They won’t be disappointed.”

Stella Bleu is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and is closed on Sunday and Monday. 

Casa Centro Modern Mexican is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Around three months ago, they recently added a popular Brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This story is made possible by support from Bushnell Event Center.