Taqueria Cinco — Restaurant in Groton

If you have never stopped to try the food at this unassuming shopfront in a tiny plaza on Long Hill Road in Groton, do yourself a favor and make it your next eating destination. Not only was service super friendly and welcoming, but the food arrived quickly and perfectly plated.

We tried the Birria tacos and the Al Pastor Enchiladas with a side of guacamole and chips. Everything was outstanding. The birria broth was amazingly rich and complex, well seasoned with lime and chile, and perfectly complemented the succulent meat encased in thick yellow corn tortillas. The white onions in the meat and the pico de gallo on the side were great accents to the overall experience.

The enchilada plate came with the most satisfying black beans and mexican rice (nothing mind blowing, but I would like to eat both of them together with every meal for the rest of my life) and two enchiladas, one with a verde sauce and one with a rojo sauce. The verde sauce was bright and punchy, the spice complementing the cheese and meat. The rojo sauce was the star of the show, however, as it expertly melded fruity, sweet, sour, savory, and spicy flavors that really enhanced the flavor of the white corn tortilla. The Al Pastor meat was some of the best I have ever had, moist and soft with a robust meaty flavor.

The guacamole and chips were also surprisingly good, with meaty yet crisp tortilla chips with no hint of greasiness, and a chunky guacamole redolent with onion, lime and cilantro. I am not usually a fan of such a cliched Mexican appetizer, but it was heads above anything else I have tried locally.

The prices were so reasonable, and the food is all housemade, from the sauces to the meat fillings, Taqueria Cinco blows all of the commercial "Mexican" restaurants in the area out of the water. Try their food, support a warm and friendly family business, this is...

I feel really bad, but this Mom & Pop Baja-style Mexican restaurant and food truck just doesn't do it for me, even after multiple attempts.

The upside is the relatively rare Baja-style Mexican food. Fresh-fish tacos (not breaded and deep fried) with fruit salsas like cucumber-mango should be a treat, plus several more common food items like enchiladas, tortas y tostadas, burritos and quesadillas. They even have pozole & menudo soups.

The trouble is three-fold: prices are just okay, but portion size is minuscule. My kids can eat only one or two tacos at Yoko Loko or Astin Js, costing six-to-eight dollars per kid. They can eat four to six tacos each from Taqueria 5, costing sixteen to twenty-four dollars per kid. I'm not kidding about how pathetically small these tacos are. To feed my small family of four were talking over a hundred bucks or more FOR STREET TACOS. Insane.

After price and portion concerns comes my next biggest gripe: all four of us just find the tacos bland and unappetizing. Part of the problem goes back to the portion size. It's two normal street-taco-style corn tortillas, but with almost no filling on them all you taste is the tortilla. All the tacos taste the same: dry corn tortilla. Meh.

The family seems very nice, and I wish them luck, but you'd be better off at (alphabetically) Joys Restaurant-Norwich, Mi Casa 1-Norwich, Mi Casa 2-New London, Ortega's-Groton, Yoko Loko-Gales Ferry. All good, all...

Very rude, we've previously been here and have always ordered the same thing (tacos with guacamole) been pleased, this time we get here order the same thing and the tacos are soggy, they are drenched in some type of green sauce (which we did not ask for) we asked if we got someone else's order and the lady very rudely said no! This is what you ordered. I kindly apologize and said that we have always ordered the same thing and it has never had the sauce. She reluctantly takes it back and the cook comes out and complains that we should pay attention to what we order since that's what we ordered. We still sent it back and explained to them that it wont ever happen again. (Since we won't ever be back) avoid the rudeness. Plenty of other...