Cinque

We were seated on time at a table in a corner of the bar. There was a very noisy group at the bar but ones they departed, the noise level calmed down. It was a packed Saturday night! We all had Caeser salads and they were good. The sourdough bread served alongside was good but would have preferred the mixed basket they served when first opened and similar to what Nicola’s serves. Two of of us has the tagliatelle Bolognese and it was excellent — pasta cooked to perfection and tasty sauce. Another had the Cod special over white bean purée and one had the pork chops. Two meaty pork chops cooked very nicely. Service was excellent with Brian the manager helping the wait staff out. A great night!

Great orange martini, the Caesar salad fresh, nice dressing, the gnocchi was great. Very flavorful, didn’t sound very exciting but a great dish. Service very good, my only complaints loud and a little pricy. Would like to see a ravioli on menu.

Bravo! Best upscale restaurant around town. Everyone needs to try it…(lunch is great too :)

I just ate there last week. The food was well prepared and very good. Salmon was great. However the atmosphere is totally changed from the comfort of Germanos. It was loud and busy. Somewhat nerve racking.

This restaurant is delicious in an outstanding location.
I’m appalled at some of these reviews («I love Nicolas and Via Vite» but this place sucks) and I’m glad I ignored them before coming here. Unilocal proves again and again everyone can be a critic and there’s no accounting for taste. LOL — lots of hate because it’s in a nice neighborhood in — the horror — the suburbs! If it’s in OTR, a restaurant is, by default, the bee’s knees. This location is every bit as delicious as Nicola’s, but in a more convenient location. I parked right in front of the door on Montgomery Road. I love what they’ve done with the former space and I am glad to see the former Italian restaurant leave. It was outdated and stuffy. The floor, lighting, tables, colors, and bar are now very approachable with a modern yet rustic Italian flair.
Food outstanding. Go to any other restaurant in town and you’ll receive a bite of bruschetta — wait until you see the serving size here. Excellent wine menu, with many from the Tuscan and Cinque Terre region, as well as nearby Abruzzo.
The gnocchi and Bolognese are every bit as delicious as its sister, Nicolas. The Caesar with anchovies? Salty and not overdone — just like the Italians do it. Crusty rustic bread served with a salty butter is simple and delicious.
Frothy rich espresso? Check. Caramel espresso crème brulee? Perfection and beautifully presented.
We had excellent service in the bar before our meal and attentive service throughout the meal in the dining room. Worth the price tag and looking forward to returning.

Good concept, decent food, passable service, poor cost value equation. We went to cinque on Saturday night and had an 8 pm reservation. The place was pleasantly busy but our table was ready. The 4-​top tables seemed a little small, especially once you get wine glasses, water glasses and bread plates in the mix. We started with the tuna appetizer and the 4 of us split the gnocchi main course as an appetizer too. While the tuna was good, it had a sauce over the top that was overpowering for the delicate taste of the tuna. The gnocchi was spectacular! They split the portion 4 ways so we wouldn’t fight over the last one! Further, at $ 28 it was the most inexpensive appetizer option when divided by 4 ($ 7 each). I would highly recommend. The next course was soup and salad. The gazpacho was blended into a thiner uninformed texture rather that something that has chunks of vegetables. While I thought it tasted fine, my table mate who ordered it didn’t care for it. Something to keep in mind if you order. The cauliflower salad was good, as were the beet salad and Caesar salad. For a main course, 3 of the 4 had swordfish which was satisfactory. I had the pasta bolognese which was very good. The house bread is made by 16 bricks, a local bakery, which was also excellent.
While there wasn’t anything wrong per se, there was also nothing that stood out other than the gnocchi and bread. There were little things that just missed on the meal. A perfect example is that our waiter was very pleasant and knowledgable. On the other hand, he was missing for quite a while at a point in the meal when we needed drinks refilled and had to flag down another waitstaff. When he returned he smelled of cigarettes. As a result, we felt like at that point we really didn’t want dessert. He also forgot to bring the Brussels sprouts that we ordered to accompany the meal.
We all felt that our dinner wasn’t really worth the price. I understand that their overhead must be very high in that location and as such, prices are going to reflect that cost. However, at that price point, I believe they have very little room for mistakes, which this place had more than a few.
Hopefully, they sharpen up and make this bistro worthy of its price. Otherwise there might not be a Sei.

OMG the pork belly appetizer was to die for! The food in general was nothing short of amazing. Excellent service, excellent food, excellent ambiance! Cannot wait to come back!!!

Great food. Shared the bruschetta with goat cheese. Ordered the fish plate with crispy purple potatoes and vegetables with a side of their gnocchi. The gnocchi is flavored with truffles (highly recommend). The tomato-​based pasta dishes were good, but nothing stand-​out. Tiramisu was good and plenty to share for two people. Prices were a bit steep for the amount of food but it’s a good place to visit occasionally when you absolutely need your Italian fix.

They don’t have the amazing bread basket here but most of the favorites from Nicolas are on the menu. The fresh pastas are really good but the stuffed pastas were just okay, too thick for my taste. Desserts were good and the wine selection is adequate. The goat cheese salad as well as the cauliflower salad were our favorite items of the night.

Food was good. Good wine selection. Still need to improve service though. Had 7:30 reservations and didn’t get seated for 45 minutes on a Wednesday. Waited at least 15 minutes for wine after we ordered it. Apps were delicious. Entrees were good. Dessert was a disappointment.

Good food. Some tweaks needed
My husband and I ate here on a whim on a Tuesday night. The evening started out with a bad impression but overall we were satisfied.
Like another reviewer, when I stepped inside, instead of a pleasant greeting, I was asked if I had a reservation. When I said no, the hostess offered me a table in the bar area. Huh? The dining room was only ²⁄₃ full, in the burbs, on a Tuesday, but I needed a reservation? (It never filled up). The manager had to come in to show her which table to give me.
Once seated, the area is quite cramped; but since it never filled up this was ok. The noise level was also fine. I could imagine both of these being an issue if the restaurant is packed.
Things looked up when we tasted our food. My husband had the pork belly as an appetizer and the salmon as an entrée, both were above average. My goat cheese salad and gnocchi were both delicious, can’t miss dishes. Our panna cotta for dessert was a bust, but it could have just been our taste.
Our server was friendly and helpful. Prices are a bit high.
Overall the experience was good and we’d return for a special night out that is close to home.

Cinque was out of sync!
We love Via Vite and Nicolas but Cinque not so much. Food was good not great. Everything is over priced. Restaurant is cramped and noisy. Would not go back and would not recommend. Also, the tables are so close together that when a server was serving the table next to us, their behind was hanging over our table. Not very appetizing.

THE SERVICE WAS A NIGHTMARE!!!
We were excited to get to try this place because we have enjoyed Nicolas and Via Vite so we were pretty confident Cinque would be a hit as well.
Looking back our nightmare began as soon as we walked in the door. The door hadn’t even closed yet and instead of a polite «Hello, welcome to Cinque» we got a snippy «Do you have a reservation?». We didn’t think much about and told her we had planned on sitting at the bar. They had plenty of open seats.
The bar area has about 12 – 14 seats plus a few tables. They had three bartenders to cover this. That should be amazing service right? WRONG. We sat down, the bartender wiped the area down, gave us the rundown on a drink special they had and then left us. After about 10 minutes, I had to interrupt him and ask if we could have a wine list. We ordered the Orangechello Martini and a glass of wine. He asked if we were eating at the bar, we said yes, so he gave us place settings (mine without a fork) and menus. We decided to try the Gnocchi. Half way through our meal we ran out of drinks. No wine, no martini, no water. I’m beyond irritated at this point. I just want my check and move on. I had to ask for a manager in order to get their attention and cash us out.
We went to Carlo and Johnnys up the street and were treated like royalty… AT THE BAR. The General Manager, Charlie Bledsoe, even came and talked with us and said if there was anything he could do to make our experience better say the word. Now that’s service! We won’t be going back to Cinque. Overpriced, Underserved.

I made reservations 2 weeks ago for an early Fathers Day dinner at this new restaurant. When we got there, the hostess tried to give us the very worst table in the bar and we only succeeded in getting a slightly better table in the bar by the window. Fortunately the waitperson, Megan, was superb and the food was quite good if not that exciting. In spite of that, I don’t think we will be back as it seems we are not part of their target guests. Strangely enough this has not been a problem and at Nicolas or Via Vite. I think we will go to either one of those restaurants instead in the future.

Great atmosphere! Potato Gnocchi is amazing! Highly recommended if you’re in the Cincy area.

It’s a no from me on Cinque. I’m a big fan of Nicola’s and Via Vite, but this place isn’t even nearly as good. It’s almost like they thought they could fool some affluent suburbanites who don’t want to go downtown. What a shame.
Some of the antipasti dishes are nice, bright spots. The eggplant parmigiana was tasty, hearty and served in a nice portion. The bowls make the antipasta look kinda small, but it’s a good amount of food. The pasta portions are also quite large. But for some reason the Bolognese just didn’t capture the same essence as it does at Nicola’s. The frutti di mare was an absolute abomination. The sauce was bland, the seafood off-​tasting and I didn’t even find a piece of calamari. What a waste of a beautiful, handmade spaghetti noodle.
We didn’t end up ordering anything from the secondi menu. I find it particularly insulting to see Chilean Seabass on a menu. First of all, it’s not sea bass and is an affront to sea bass lovers everywhere. Second, it’s not a very good fish and at $ 37? A bit outrageous.
I unfortunately heard that the bread they serve here would be the same as Nicola’s. That wasn’t true. The bread was cold and tasted stale.

We will return! I was a bit skeptical after reading the reviews, but we had reservations at 6:15 last night and were seated immediately. Yes, the tables are a bit tight, and we were seated next to an already occupied table when there were plenty of tables available. However, I noticed this happen to another couple, and the host was more than accommodating because they requested to be moved, and the host was happy to do so. If you have ever dined in France, the tables are even closer! Also, other reviewers mentioned the noise-​level — yes, it is noisier than Germano’s, but it was not so loud that I couldn’t hear my husband across the table as other reviewers had stated. It was also nice that we saw a few familiar faces among the host and the waiter who served us.
Now to the food — we had to order a side of the gnocchi. If you have never had Nicola’s gnocchi, do it! As the waiter described, they are sautéed instead of boiled, so they have a slight crunch and are to die for! We got a side for $ 6 as an app along with the beet salad — delish with frisee and roasted beets. For the mains I ordered the tagliatelle with veal bolognese (a staple on Nicola’s menu downtown) and hubby ordered the veal saltimbocca. Loved the pasta — handmade noodles with a thick, yummy sauce. It is a bit on the heavier side, but wonderful flavors! The veal was on the salty side, but I think it was due to the prosciutto. It was served on a bed of haricot verts. Very nice! Beans done just right. Not a huge portion of veal but just right. Regrettably, no raspberry tart like Germano’s, but we ordered one scoop of the mocha chip gelato (Madisono’s), and that was the perfect ending to our dinner.
We saved a bit by bringing our own wine. They do charge a $ 20 corkage fee, which is typical. We live within walking distance, so we will be back! I took away one star for the servers’ helpers. When the restaurant was only partially full when we arrived, we had to ask for water. That should be done immediately upon seating (in my opinion). Also, the women’s bathroom is not configured well. There is only one stall and a teeny make-​up area. Nix the make-​up area and have two stalls. That would have been a better choice. As for wait-​time –we had absolutely no problem with service. All food was ordered and brought out at a good pace, even after they got extremely busy.

I was in town to visit family and participate in the Flying Pig marathon, and obviously had to carb load the evening before the run! Last year, for the same weekend, I enjoyed a classic Italian dinner at Germano’s, the restaurant that previously occupied Cinque’s space. I was curious to see how the space had changed and BOY HAD IT.
Cinque’s décor is very hip, possibly going for a Euro-​chic look. I loved the marble bar we encountered upon entry. The restaurant seems to be popping off, and although we had a reservation, we did have to wait a few minutes for our table. Otherwise, I was generally very impressed with the quality of the service given that the restaurant is so new.
The food was outstanding, if not a bit over-​priced. I had a linguine dish with San Marzano tomato sauce, shrimp and lobster (there was supposed to be calamari but that was MIA) and the sauce was so delicious that I wanted to drink it with a straw. I don’t think the dish needed lobster, as the sauce overpowered the rest of the dish — no complaints here, but without the lobster it probably could have been less than $ 29 for the dish!
Word to the wise: if you’re considering the gnocchi, the appetizer portion will give you far greater bang for your buck. It is a third of the price but only about a half of the size as the entrée portion.
Lastly, we did notice that the ambiance was a bit loud, probably due to the wood flooring. It creates a fun vibe but I left feeling a little hoarse from shouting over the crowd!
All in all, pretty pricey, kind of loud, but I will return for that scrumptious San Marzano sauce alone.

The same owner of Nicolas opened up a more casual restaurant in Montgomery. Being the second weekend it was open, the place was packed. It has a decent bar area on the left side and then the dining area on the right. The dining area was smaller than expected (this was previously Germanos and had never been) and jammed packed full of tables. It was hard to maneuver between them all. The décor was a lot more casual then what we were used to at Nicolas. It was upbeat, however, some of it looked a tad on the «cheap» side.
I would not recommend a first or second date here. I couldn’t believe how loud it was. We were basically screaming at each other for a conversation. I hope they do something about that.
They have an extensive wine list with varying prices. The menu has some of the favorites from Nicolas and some new items. The portions are smaller which is represented in the price. We started with the prosciutto and fig bruschetta. This was very good. Next, we split a half portion of the gnocchi (because no matter what you’re in the mood for, you always have to get the gnocchi). As always, it was excellent and our favorite dish. For entrée, we got the veal and the tenderloin. The veal was ok, I’m note sure what I expected, but wanted something better. The tenderloin was cooked beautifully, however, also lacked the flavor that we expected from this caliber of restaurant.
I understand they just opened, but the slow service was also annoying. We waited a long time to take our drink order and the slowness continued through visit. If they were to fix the noise issue and tend to the slower service, I would change it to 4 stars. I don’t foresee them getting 5 unless more changes are made. Overall, we were glad we tried it, but I’ll probably stick to Nicolas unless we’re wanting to only drive 15 minutes instead of 30 to OTR.

Cinque was very good. For only being open 9 days, they had things well under control. My wife and I had a table in the bar which worked out great as the main dining room was extremely loud. We shared the bruschetta, one main course with 2 sides. We had the veal with the gnocchi and brussel sprouts. There were some fantastic flavors. We had a dessert as well that was tasty. We do not go out to dinner a lot, so I always am surprised by the cost. Splitting the meal with multiple sides worked out great for us. Instead of two entrees, we had a bottle of wine. There were several good wine choices at reasonable price points.