Cinco

I was charged $ 12 each for two dishes listed on the menu for $ 9 each. I pointed this out to the waitress as we left. She said she was sorry but did not offer to correct and refund the difference. We certainly will not return and suggest anyone dining at Cinco review their bill closely. Ripping folks off seems to be part of the business plan.

Update — There is a «for lease» sign on the building. It’s safe to say they closed.

Love the food!!! Service is great too! Our new favorite! Price is reasonable too. Never had a bad experience!

Authentic mexican, casual, good service

We had dinner as a family. Two people had chimichangas and really enjoyed them. One person had the pork tacos with pineapple and they chowed them down. I had a small bite and they were really good. I ate the chicken enchiladas. I had a choice of red, green or mole sauce. I chose mole. It was a bit sweet. I would try the green next time. The bummer was that they don’t give you chips and salsa like most Mexican restaurants do. Plus they were very skimpy on the guacamole that came with the chimichanga. Good food and good service. We will be back.

This place is legit! Their food is so good and authentic. The location kind of stinks (only because we’ve seen the restaurant change hands often throughout the years), but I hope they last. Good, good food!

We went there once. And never went back. We live around the corner and love Mexican food… so it’s a little odd that we just never go, and there’s probably a reason… it might be that the restaurant setup is a little awkward (there’s just a bar/​pit in the middle and tables around)…it might be that the food was OK, not great… who knows?
But, on the plus, and the reasons we’ll probably pop in again, the drinks were generous and they didn’t skimp on the liquor (I’m looking at you & your skimpy cocktails, Max & Erma’s!), the selection was better than your standard Amercanized Mexican fare, so it’s worth another visit, but I’m still waiting to be impressed.

Ok, given that I’m the first to reject an offer to Cinco it is time to update this review. Nice people, food not bad, but there is more exciting stuff out there.

I had really high hopes for this place. The menu looked very good. However I must admit charging for chips and salsa is such a no-​no. I have never been to a Mexican restaurant that charges for chips and salsa!!! This would be the first of many complaints for the meal. Bryan ordered a beer I ordered my standard water. For our app we ordered pazole to share and they were out on it so we went with the xochitl soup. It was ok. Nothing spectacular. Then we waited for food and drinks. I asked if they had horchata and they do! It was ok. It had a weird aftertaste though. I ordered the Chiles Tehuacan which was sweeter then I thought it was going to be but not to bad. The rice was a bit Under cooked as well. Bryan got fajitas and he liked the fresh tortillas. The staff here just seamed like they had no idea what they were doing. It took forever for drinks and food and for empty plates to be taken away. It was just bad. For dessert we had fried ice cream which was actually the stand out for me. It was perfect. Also the prices were really high. When it was time to pay the check our waiter charged Bryans card to someone else’s bill. We noticed it and he fixes it but service just seamed a mess. Alas I was let down. I won’t be returning. The prices are to high the service was unorganized and the food was just average.

Jimena was one of the best servers I’ve had in quite some time! Hope you get in her section!
We had great service and great food at a very reasonable price. I had a fajita skillet dish with steak, shrimp and chicken. My boyfriend had the enchiladas. Both were delicious!
Also, if you out order a large margarita, be prepared for a LARGE margarita! Not complaining, it was a delicious surprise!

I really wanted to like this place… but, after giving a couple of tries, I just can’t say that I’m all that impressed. First of all… they are never busy when we go. Not sure why, but we always feel like we will get great service since we are usually the only people in there… not always the case.
A couple of times, I have gotten food to go… and would wait at the bar until my food came up. TWICE now… I noticed that their glasses above the bar are FILTHY! I mean… GROSS! I mentioned something the first time… in a very nice way so as to not embarrass the bartender. She seemed surprised, but took the constructive criticism well… but unfortunately, when I stopped again recently… there they were again… those bacteria ridden glasses just hung there screaming… WASH ME PLEASE!!! So, I asked for a clean glass… and ordered a glass of red wine (it was subzero out… so no margarita for me)…and it was awful! I get that it’s a Mexican place, so margaritas are the standard… but, if you are going to have wine as an option, please don’t serve rot-​gut. BLECH!
The food is mediocre at best… some days it was better than others… but the last couple of times it was sub-par…and the sides that they send you home with are really pittiful. We ordered two dinners and we got maybe a half cups worth of rice… and a half cups worth of beans.
I also agree with the other comments that chips and salsa should just be complimentary.
I’m doubtful that we will go here again…

Excellent food and service! The pineapple and pork tacos were outstanding. Chips were crisp and salsa was fresh. Glad to have a great Mexican restaurant in the South Hills.

Whatva great find! My sister and brother in law died and you’re on Friday and were raving about the food so much the rest of my family including my sister and my brother in law had dinner here on Saturday night! It was excellent! Fish tacos are very good I cannot recommend them more! my brother-​in-​law wishes he had married the chicken enchiladas instead of my sister. (Just kidding)

Food here was ok, not the best option. Personally I like El Paso and Emilianos better. When we walked in we were not very impressed, it looked more like a bar than a restaurant. They do charge for their chips and salsa which is typically complimentary at other places.
On a positive note our server was very nice and made the experience better.

Eh, I didn’t like this place much either, especially when I had been craving Mexican. The sopes were ok, the salsa was pretty good as well, but the Tacos Coapa were flavorless. We didn’t stay for dessert due to the crappy seating, the bad lighting, and the inept, slow service. Not recommended.

Cinco is more like a Dos on the rating scale for me.
The idea that a Mexican restaurant had gotten a foothold in drowsy, whitebread Upper St. Clair held promise. Cinco’s extensive menu included detailed descriptions of dishes I’d never before heard of. If only things hadn’t degraded so much throughout the course of our dinner.
A trio of Sopes (a.k.a. gorditas) with ground beef (one can also go meatless or with chicken) opened the meal. The small, handmade disc-​shaped tortillas were topped with refried beans, lettuce, queso fresco, diced tomatoes, and sour cream, and were a picture of attractive plating, but frankly their flavor was non-​descript in spite of their components.
The tortilla chips were also housemade and agreeably recalled kettle-​cooked potato chips. Unfortunately, the guacamole came off like a mossy, sub-​par hummus, and the accompanying salsa was a soupy failure akin to doctored spaghetti sauce from a can.
Served in a cast-​iron skillet, La Parilla was my chosen entrée, and while its combination of grilled pork, chicken, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and chorizo was moderately appetizing, the rice was dreadfully drab. The flour tortillas were moist and sticky the way I prefer them, but more of that tragic guacamole was included along with mess hall-​level beans. Essentially, I had fajitas, which I usually don’t get excited about once the attention-​getting sizzle fizzles.
Our server seemed like a genuinely nice young fellow, but his service was off-​base the entire time. We waited too long for everything from beverages and appetizers to our main courses and tab.
What? Ya think we felt like hanging around for dessert at this point?
And speaking of checks, we saw a number of them laying around uncollected for up to 30 minutes at a time. While business was brisk, Cinco wasn’t getting slammed either, and the restaurant appeared to be so amply staffed, some employees could be seen socializing, sitting around, or munching on food at the bar. Even the hostess had to dismount her stool and finish chewing and swallowing her snack before she could greet us.
Another reviewer mentioned «awkward seating,» and I shall concur. We were seated at a small table for two against a wall, and my left elbow kept hitting that wall each time I tried to raise a utensil. Making things even more artless for us as well as our server was the fact at our table barely held all of our dishes.
One more caveat concerns the dim lighting. No restaurant needs to be this gloomy, particularly a Mexican restaurant, especially when the exterior of the building (I suspect this used to be a bar) is so colorful.
Those transplanted malcontents who are thrilled to proclaim that Pittsburgh has no quality Mexican dining options will have themselves a wooly mammoth of a time ripping Cinco apart. I can read their snarky reviews (‘Graffiti?’ As Bourdain once put it?) already.

Oh, Cinco. What a disappointment. I went on a Friday evening with the boyfriend. The restaurant was full of older couples dining and high school kids working. It reeked of booze and cigarette smoke. Although I didn’t see anyone smoking inside, there were some patrons with cigarette packs, so I’m not surprised at the smell.
We were seated at a table awkwardly set in front of the hallway to the kitchen, so people were walking past our table constantly – not very intimate. The hostess was nice enough, but she handed a menu to my date first – isn’t the rule «ladies first?» Maybe he looked hungry.
Charging for chips and salsa? Super tacky. My strawberry margarita wasn’t bad, but it started tasting very salty about halfway through. The meal was good – no complaints about the food. It was nice and uncomplicated. We spent about $ 50 for chips and salsa, two entrees and two margaritas. That price would be appalling back home in Texas, but that’s another conversation. Sorry, Cinco, but I won’t be back!

Came here on a Friday night. This is a kid friendly place, for those with children. Although there was a screaming 1 yr old that made things a bit unbearable for a short time, but that’s not the fault of the restaurant. We got a table in a dark corner of the restaurant. Had a nice waiter who was knowledgeable and friendly. I had the Michelada, which is like a Bloody Mary with beer. Be sure to give this a really good stir before you pour the entire beer in, otherwise it will be very salty and spicy. Its different, I’d order it again. For the main, I got the Puerco en Salsa Verde. It was excellent. Very flavorful and off the beaten path from most Mexican restaurants. My bf had the La Parrilla skillet. He thought it was good, but didn’t think it was that anything special. This place is close, so I would come here again. Give it another go.

Reboot!
Make way for a new menu.
Smaller menu and probably more to the tastes of what most in this area think of as Mexican food.
Stopped by a couple of weeks ago and they had stopped making most items and only had some tacos, burritos and a few other simple items on the menu. Was told to stop back in a few weeks.
The new menu seems to be shorter and has some interesting items. Notice they still have the Sopa Azteca, really good last time but decided not to order since not real hungry. Ordered the Lomitos Majahual, a marinated port in a red sauce served with rice, beens and a salad. Received 3 tortillas, so you can stuff a tortilla or eat it off the plate.
The food was hot and good. The pork was 4 large chunks with a nice tasting red sauce. One piece of the pork seemed to be overcooked, but the rest not. Not sure how that happens.
You can also get a beer or Margarita with your meal.
It was not busy but I still think later, when this place gets crowded, it will be hard to get the food out fast enough with so many tables.

Food is very bland and dry. Service was hot and cold – slow out front but super-​quick from the kitchen.
There was a serious language barrier with our party and our waiter (who was charming, adorable and maybe still learning his job). A couple of items we ordered may have even been wrong. So when our quesadilla app came out and looked just like empanadas, we just ate them.
Sope cake tasted more like potato than corn.
The entrees were forgettable. Mole was sour, my pork tacos dry, needed some salt, salsa, sauce.