5 Burro Cafe

Everything from ambience to friendly staff to authentic and outstanding fare makes 5 Burro Café tops in my book. Great margaritas. Shared combo fajitas with my friend because portion was that generous. No leftovers though because they were also that delicious! I can’t wait to go back. GREAT place. Also clean, festive quarters and a very attentive staff. Keep up the good work.

This staple in Forest Hills is one of my favorites for over 7 years. Its a small, narrow restaurant with funky, simple décor. The wait is normally over 45min even on weekdays. The bar is normally packed — even on weekdays. In other words, expect to wait. I normally grab a drink at the bar while I wait for my table. My favorite is the original frozen margarita with salt on the rim. That drink is always served in a small mason jar. Other drinks are served differently. I am not a fan of the flavored drinks as the concentrated liquid transforms the drink into something my palate doesn’t approve — too bitter.
The food is average — It’s my favorite b/​c of the margarita. I’ve ordered the quesadilla, tacos, steak, special of the day, etc. They don’t necessarily put their own special twist on it hence why I call it average. I do love their chips and salsa, which is complimentary even at the bar, because the salsa comes with heat.
The service is okay. Some days the servers are on their game and other days you have to wave them over. This happens on both busy and slow days, so I don’t get it. One thing for sure is that the staff is polite.
I understand the concept, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. However, I do wish they incorporated more options to their menu… maybe different house-​made salsas for the chips or tacos… possibly expanding their location since the wait can get out of hand … and most importantly, keep the music on — right now there’s a jukebox which the patrons must pay to hear their favorite tunes, otherwise no music will play for an extended period of time.
Overall, it’s a quaint restaurant with yummy margaritas. Average food. Average service. Fortunately, the average-​ness won’t stop me from returning — see you soon 5 Burros!

I’ve been here a million times before but this has officially become my go to date night. The bartender Carol is beyond amazing! My boyfriend and I no longer say we are going to 5 burros we say we are going to visit carol!
The pitchers of margaritas are only $ 28 and it’s delicious! The wings with the chipotle mayo sauce is amazing (who goes to a Mexican place and orders wings — we do!!) I’ve had the quesadillas, flautas, and burrito there before and it’s all good but carol told us about the wings and it’s been our favorite since then!
The place is super tiny and the music is hit or miss since it’s a juke box but if you get there early enough and get a spot at the bar you are good to go!

Food is consistently good. Service is usually good. Not always friendly but accommodating. Drinks are good. Wish they’d take some ice out of the pitchers of margarita though. I started asking for straight tequila with slices of lime instead.
8 of us Walked here in the storm yesterday. Had good food, good fun with good friends.

I’ve come to this restaurant many times for a few years now and every time is a good time. The food is always good and the drinks are okay. The only bad thing is that there’s always a wait time and it’s a small place. Just came here with my brother and he got the steak quesadilla and I got the steak, chicken and shrimp fajita combo. We both thought the food was really good. I would definitely come back and would recommend it again.

One of my favorite places for delicious Mexican food and those margaritas in the cute little mason jars are so yum. Don’t let the yummy taste fool you, if you guzzle one too many you will be stumbling out of there. Not a good look.
I’m crazy about the fajitas and enchiladas covered in mole sauce; everything just always taste so fresh and palatable. The staff is very attentive and always coming around to make sure that the customers are satisfied with their drinks and meal.
However, this venue can get pretty busy and the wait time does get annoying but all in all the wait is worth it.

I love Mexican food so I was happy to find this little place in forest hills.
Pros: The food is normally great and comes out exactly how you want it. My fav is the enchiladas, they have the best sauces for it, I’ve never had better. The quesadilla, the chips and salsa, jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese are a few of my favorites. The winner however is their pitchers of margarita. Really delicious and strong, worth every penny. Most of the servers I’ve had there were okay, its not the best service I’ve ever received except for this one man that works there, bald, I think he has a goatee, he’s great every time.
Cons: Now this can really ruin it for you if you have plans to eat here. It is SO small, like ridiculously small for such a busy restaurant. Due to this there are not enough tables to accommodate the amount of guests that come in so the waits are incredibly long. Not only does it suck trying to get a table but if your whole party is not present, they dont even consider you for the wait list. Only until all members of your party arrive will you have a chance to be on the hour waiting list. I do understand why they do this, obviously its a small spot so they don’t want 2 people holding up a table for 5 for an hour and instead choose to use it for a party that is ready to sit down and eat but it really is an inconvenience when you have your heart set on this place and have to go elsewhere.
Overall I give this place 3.5 because the food is good, but some things can be better based on the opinions of my friends who have also ate there with me, and drinks are delish but the sort of rude hostesses and hardly ever getting a table gets annoying.

Still 5 stars for 5 burros. My favorite place for a girls night. The margaritas are strong and delicious. And, let’s be honest in those mason jars they are perfect for taking pictures of.
The food is top quality. I am a huge fan of mole sauce and 5 burro’s has a great mole sauce. All of the food comes out fast and is very fresh.
I recently discovered 5 burro does brunch on the weekend I will be coming back to try is very soon. Will update then.

First, get there early because once its lunch/​dinner time — there is ALWAYS a line! It is a tiny place so seating becomes a little squished at times.
Now about the food. It was delicious! 100% will go back there!
They start you off with some tortilla chips and salsa, which tasted a lot better than it looked. My friend and I opted for the 2 tacos & 1 burrito served with guac, beans. etc. What I thought would be tiny turned out to be huge portions. We were both full and we still didn’t finish all the food on the plate! Overall, I loved it.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any of the drinks but next time I will!

Thy start you off with unsalted tortilla chips and salsa. Ask for the guacamole it’s amazing! I had a chicken quesadilla. It came with a generous portion of cheese and sour cream. Best chicken quesadilla I’ve ever had.
Dinner was about 5:30. Parking was easy by the meters around the corner. There was also no wait on a Monday evening. But the restaurant soon got very full around 6:30−7. Glad we had an early start to dinner. They still wouldn’t seat us without the full party.

After a long morning, I needed some emergency but amazing lunch… and maybe a drink too.
The place isn’t the biggest, but for our purposes and because we were able to get a seat, it was fine. Note: they won’t seat incomplete parties.
Service was good. Decorations were decorations… trying for a tropical island feel almost.
Drinks…it seemed margaritas are their thing. No problem with that… but it seemed like the thing was blended margaritas. I’m a big fan of the straight up on the rocks kind of variety, but I thought I’d go with a flavor AND get it blended. It comes in a mason jar and is overflowing… it’s awesome and was awesomely delicious.
Food:
steak nachos — a must get… like seriously, maybe don’t even share it
chipotle chicken quesadilla — the quesadillas are really good and they definitely don’t skimp on the filling (and I’m not just talking cheese)
TLDR: get a margarita and get steak anything (cooked medium)

I came here with a few friends for dinner last night, and I’m a fan!
Small and popular, it is hard to get a table, but luckily we snagged the last one available for four. The pico de gallo served with chips was good, and we went through several bowls of it before our meals were served.
I ordered a cheese quesadilla. Accompanied by pickled carrots and hot peppers, it hit the spot! To drink I ordered a regular margarita on the rocks with salt. Small and tasting mostly of sour mix, it left a lot to be desired. I wouldn’t order it again.
But maybe I’ll try a frozen one next time!

Being a weeknight I would think it would be pretty slow here, but it was actually busy. I really wanted to try a frozen margarita because of all the good things that I have heard about them but I just couldnt because I had class in the morning :(
My husband and I were given tortilla chips and some tomato and onion salsa to dip them in after we sat down. Then I placed an order for the Chicken Fajita and my husband ordered the Enchiladas. Both plates came with some rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, diced tomatoes and onions. It was pretty tasty and very filling.
I will definitely come back to try the frozen margaritas!

Decided to stop by for a quick bite one day as we were in the neighborhood. A «quick bite» didn’t really work out in our favor that afternoon. It wasn’t too busy that day, so not sure why everything took so long which is why I knocked it down a star.
The décor on the inside was really cool and felt kind of nostalgic, the food was really good but the fact that we sat there for about 15 minutes before we even got menu’s and then another 20 plus to get an order of nachos and a salad, then another 15 minutes after we were done eating to get a check. In all, our quick bite ended up being a little over an hour.
Besides that, I have to say again that the food was great, so if we go back again, hopefully the service will be quicker.

I’ve only been to 5 Burro once, despite all the good things I keep hearing about. The wait is just too long. On a random Wed night for dinner, the wait was about 1 – 1.5 hours. By that time, I’m already famished so I try to avoid going there. The place was crowded! We barely had space to wait so we had to wait outside. The restaurant is very narrow, thus unable to seat too many at once. The bar area was also filled with people, sitting and standing with margaritas. But I loved the ambience, it’s a chill spot for after work.
I loved the chips and salsa that they serve every table. Besides the fact that I was starving, the salsa was so good and addicting, I couldn’t stop eating it. I ordered the pork chop with rice and beans. It was something I needed after a long day of work and a long wait. Everything just seemed so perfect. I also ordered one of the strawberry margaritas, it was amazingly good!
I would definitely return, I just hope it’s not too packed next time. I don’t really like people’s butts by my face while I eat my wonderful dinner.

I don’t understand the hype of this place. My friend lives a block away and says there is always a long wait and lines at dinner time. We only ordered food. We were seated right away and order guac for the table. After waiting 30 min the waitress finally reappear saying you never got your guac I’ll go check on it. That finally came out however, it than took another 30 min for our fajitas. They were also only okay… I’ve had way better. Also I asked for medium well and my steak was definitely not cooked to that.
After a food came out the waitress apologized and said the kitchen was backed up. Wont blam the waitress for the delay but she was basically MIA the whole meal.
I DO NOT recommend this place at all.

Living in Forest Hills for majority of my life, I can’t remember a time when 5 Burro Café wasn’t here or when it’s not busy! The atmosphere is just happy. From couples to friends, people dressed to impress or people in casual sporty clothes. this is one of the «go-​to» places on Austin Street!
I came here with my brother. I am a vegan/​vegetarian and he is a meat head. We were both able to satisfy our cravings with more than enough options to choose from. Their lentil soup was really good as is their guacamole & salsa. I also enjoyed a side of beans and rice which also didn’t disappoint. My brother opted for the meat tacos and he was left feeling satiated and happy from his entrée (mind you he is 5’11 and 220 pounds of muscle.
I would recommend this place to people who would like a casual place to grab Mexican and enjoy being surrounded by people. This is NOT a place to have an intimate dinner!
Happy fiesta-​ing! :D

I’ve come here a few times with my fiancé. His family’s been going here since he was a small infant, which should tell you how much they love 5 Burros.
Every table gets a bowl of fresh tortilla chips and salsa, they’re great, but you have to pace yourselves with these. It’s not uncommon to make the mistake of filling up on chips and then having difficulty finishing your order.
Their entrees are great, and I love that it’s easy to make a lot of them vegan, you just need to modify the vegetarian options to not include cheese or sour cream. Their black bean burrito is also great! I also have asked, the refried beans are vegetarian, they don’t use any lard or animal fat.
The only problem I have with them is that they aren’t very large and are often crowded.

5 Burros is official. Decided i didn’t want to go all the way into the city to chill and hang. Took a few train stops from my crib. maaaan awesome. Me and my wife and couple of friends came here for a drink and you get the margaritas! yummm its awesome. i think next time i want to come here and check out the food.
it is a bit tight inside and along the walkway so you might bump into people. i will update when i get a chance to grab some food there.

I grew up in the area and have never understood the hype about this place. The food is not authentic, the drinks are okay and its always super crowded. I only come here when I’m forced by my friends who love this place.
Another reason I’m not a fan this is a Mexican restaurant yet since they have a juke box they are usually playing rock music, if I’m in a Latin place I would like to hear some Latin music.
If you come on a Friday or Saturday night be prepared to wait 1 – 2 hours for a table since they don’t take reservations.
The food is decent and the place is clean but I never come here by choice.