Cinco de Mayo
“They have an extensive menu but I would suggest the made to order guacamole, Choriqueso, and Mejillones for starters.”
“The quesadilla is of the double-tortilla variety (called a "sombrero" in tex-mex parlance).”
“Never came to to new location on bell Blvd but went several times with a group and just with fiancé .”
Cinco de Mayo
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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They're on the right track, and we were really hoping for better. Textures are generally good, presentation is nice, portions are sizable. Unfortunately, everything was generally lacking in seasoning (salt, pepper, and Mexican flavors).
Service was good – quick and friendly.
We had chicken quesadillas, shrimp fajitas, and fish tacos. The fish was overwhelmingly fishy. The fajitas were unfortunately bland, and shrimp were hard to find as the dish was largely peppers and onions (to be fair, this is my first go 'round with fajitas, but the proportions seemed off). Quesadillas were probably the best dish but, again, lacking in flavor.
The rice and beans fell victim to the general lack of seasoning as well. Guac on the side was GREAT!
Maybe we'll give it another shot in a few months – we'd really love to find a go-to Mexican place in Bayside.
Where to start…Last week I ordered take-out for my girl and I. I was the 2nd time we decided to try this place. I ordered the Pollo Mole Poblano. Stopped by to pick it up at the bar. The drinks looked really yummy. Anyway, I was starving. So I took my food home excited to finally eat something after not eating anything most of the day. Their sauce tasted….yuck, bad, not good… The chicken was way over cooked and dry. I was so disappointed. You know what they say… when you are hungry almost anything tastes good or you'll eat almost anything. Well not in this case. The best part of the meal was the slightly over cooked rice and black beans were good. I couldn't eat this dish…sure enough 2 hours later I was stuck on the toilet regretting going to this place. =(
I've had solid experiences eating in here–Roberto, one of the waiters/bartenders, is warm and welcoming, and tonight, someone sang beautifully and played music on his classical guitar.
The pulpo (octopus) appetizer is my favorite dish here. It's soft, filling, and the lemon juice adds a kick of flavor to the seafood.
I'm a big supporter of local businesses, including this one. I was thankful that they didn't charge me for a shrimp dish I didn't like but ended up eating. This relates to my next point: my only suggestion is that their menus would be better if they had photos of the dishes. If there were photos, I wouldn't have ordered that shrimp dish I was unsatisfied with.
Saturday night called for margaritas. I sat at the bar with 2 of my friends. There were several small groups scattered at the bar, otherwise the restaurant was pretty empty. Multiple televisions hung on the wall airing the news and baseball game. Posters advertised a new spicy margarita, which we tried on the rocks. Some exotic or adventurous food combinations are not typically mixed for a reason. I expected it to be spicy and the drink was strong, but there wasn't much flavor to it aside from burning my throat with every sip. When my friends mentioned to the bartender that we didn't like the drink after taking only one sip, he didn't offer to make us another drink in place of what we ordered, which was disappointing. We didn't finish the spicy margaritas and instead opted for classic and peach margaritas on the rocks. They were much better than our first orders, but nothing more than mediocre.
In the past I've come for dinner with a group of about 20 people. Past the bar, there is a pretty large room that easily accommodates larger groups. However, the food took a very long time to come out. I ordered the fajitas which were just okay. Cinco de Mayo is a passable option for Mexican food locally.
We've eaten at Cinco de Mayo 4 times and had delivery 3 times, so we know a little bit about this restaurant! Service is warm and very commendable.
Chicken Empanada: C+
Ground Beef Empanada: C+
Didn't care for them. Dry and not flavorful. Seemed like frozen food.
Super Nachos (ground beef): B-
Super Nachos (chorizo): B-
I had previously rated these as "A" nachos, but I just had them again after about 8 months, and found I didn't like them as much, because:
1. More cheese was needed. This hardly had cheese.
2. The cheese should've been more flavorful (a combo of strong cheddar and jack would be perfect)
3. A more flavorful sour cream.
4. The chips were on the old / stale side.
5. Homemade chips would be super awesome. Sadly, these are mass produced.
6. The guac should've been more fresh.
I loved these nachos the first time, but they've changed for the worse. How sad!
Quesadilla with Steak: A+
Very impressive! Spanish restaurant meat is usually untenderized, low-quality cuts, meaning: Tastes great, but rubbery or tough as nails. The steak here is muuuuy suaaaave. I'm guessing they tenderize it beforehand. Additionally, the steak has a wonderful grilled flavor. This might be one of my favorite quesadillas ever.
The quesadilla is of the double-tortilla variety (called a "sombrero" in tex-mex parlance). Bottom flour tortilla, steak and cheese, top tortilla, guac and sour cream. The sour cream is a little meh, but I've traveled the whole of Latin America extensively, and good sour cream was an exceptionally rare find, so maybe this is "authentic". The cheese (maybe Jack?) blends harmoniously with the steak. Simply delicious. The guac is slightly lower quality than what you get with the fresh "table guac", but that's to be expected. They can't make a new batch of guac for every quesadilla order.
Pollo En Salada Verde: A-
A simple dish, but full of flavor. I think this is as close to "health conscious" as you're going to get at Cinco. Dieters will love it. Chicken breast in verde salsa with an eclectic assortment of veggies. The salsa and chicken breast complement each other beautifully.
Arroz Con Pollo: B+
I never order arroz con pollo at restaurants because I'm invariably disappointed, even at world-renown restaurants like the award winning Sevilla in the West Village. I broke my own rule and ordered it here, and to my surprise, it was pretty good. Still, I wouldn't order it again because there are better things on the menu. If I had a real hankering for arroz con pollo, I'd probably beg my wife or my mom to make it instead of ordering it.
T-Bone Steak: A-
Normally I wouldn't even THINK of getting a T-Bone at a Spanish restaurant… I'd rather get fettuccine Alfredo from Chinese takeout. But given that the steak in the quesadilla was so well cooked, I decided to try the T-Bone, and I'm glad I did! Obviously marinated softness. Cooked expertly. My grandmother would've called it "black and blue": char grilled on the outside, red on the inside. The waiter asked how I wanted the steak to be cooked, I said "medium rare," and that's what he gave me! I've had expensive steakhouses screw that up. Kudos, guys!
Mariscada Cancun: B+
They give a lot of lobster and very little calamari (which tends to be rubbery and tasteless in mariscada). I'm going to give this version an A- because they were generous on the high-ticket items and the dish was delicious, however, I wish the sauce was more garlicky / savory, and there wasn't enough of it. I do regard this dish as being over-priced, despite the copious lobster. Cinco de Mayo, if you read this, please give us more sauce with this dish!
This place recently moved, so make sure you have the right address! This location seems small in the front but that's the part open for lunch- there's more seating they open in the back for dinner.
We got the lunch special which had a variety of choices (burritos, tacos, quesadillas, taco salad etc) for $6.95 each! Not a bad deal at all- comes with rice, beans, guac, sour cream, and chips. I got the chicken quesadilla (shredded chicken inside). I've had better quesadillas and it wasn't that filling even with the sides, but for the price you really can't go wrong. I will be back hopefully for happy hour or another lunch special soon.
Fish tacos were way too oily! The oil was just dripping down the taco as I ate it. Rice and beans were average. Guacamole just okay. Would not return for food, maybe just drinks.
Honestly this place was pretty meh. Fountain soda was watery and they charge $3 per glass and additional $3 for refill. I paid $6 for that crap?
I wanted a salad as my meal… so ordered a Taco salad and it was more rice and beans than salad. Didn't eat much of it.