Alto Cinco

***VERY IMPORTANT: GLUTEN-FREE AND/OR VEGANS READ THIS***

Gluten-free: this place has options but if you are ACTUALLY gluten free and/or have Celiac disease you do NOT want to eat here. The level of cross contamination is just one problem, the bigger problem is uneducated employees telling you something is gluten free when it actually isn't (I have been told the rice is gluten free probably 5+ times, turns out--it isn't, at all. I've been eating it for years, this is a very big problem. Gluten free tortillas/wraps are steamed in same steamer as flour tortillas, i.e. they are not gluten free at all.)

Vegans/Vegetarians: If you're serious about your diet I can't recommend eating here given the lack of knowledge the staff has. I'm one of Alto Cinco's biggest fans and I've referred them many customers. For the average person it's excellent food (some of best in Syracuse), but if you're vegan or vegetarian I would not trust that your food doesn't contain chicken broth or any other animal sourced ingredients, there's literally no way of telling unless you want to do some intensive research (good luck contacting the owner or anyone there who has any information on what's actually in your food, you have better odds of a teenager at Taco Bell being able to rattle off the 100+ ingredients in their cheese sauce off the top of his head).

VERDICT: Alto Cinco kicks ass as long as you don't need vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free food. This place should especially not be considered a gluten free friendly restaurant unless you're merely on the gluten free hipster band wagon and can afford ingesting it.

Especially for this place, you have to treat food quality separate from service and environment.  Consider each one independently.

Food:
The food is ok to good.  Somewhat inconsistent.  In the last 2 times, I have had a chicken dish both times.  The first time, the chicken was cooked that day.  The second time, it was reheated.  That's a no-no.  

The menu is basic mexican fare, some interesting choices in limitation, such as soft tacos only, no crunchy corn shells.  

They have a fresh sweet tasting habanero sauce that they charge a bit for, but it is a must.  

Also, they have many options for vegan and vegetarian people.  If you have an option limited diet in this respect, this is a real indulgence.  The vegan and super vegan burritos are tasty.  The inferno burrito is spicy and delicious.  

About their cornbread:  It is tough, dry and hard to eat.  Why include it?  My cornbread is better!  If it is vegan cornbread, you can make better vegan cornbread.  Drop or revise.  

Service:
They get a lot of flack that they need to be nicer in there, "it's not Williamsburg, dudes".  However, I can sympathize that they, the workers are struggling to satisfy their customers with a very very undersized restaurant.  That's difficult, and I think their hurried demeanor turns off a lot of folks.  The owners need to upsize but for some reason, don't.  I've had pretty courteous treatment in this place.  One cook at the take out counter (a very intensely busy place, especially during lunch hour) offered to give me a quarter for parking.  

Environment:
Cramped.  Claustrophobic (I choose this word knowing that it is in the mind of the customer, but it is what you feel and what the staff feels simultaneously).  Clean.  

We need places that define the culture of Syracuse.  Chains aren't going to do that.  But in everything, you have to push yourself to be continually better, and I don't know if AC's owners are still fighting like they were when they created their menu and opened up on Westcott St.  I'm rooting for you, AC.

Best Mexican in Syracuse! The selection, the portions, the flavor. If you are getting a burrito go with "covered" it is so good.
Enough said!

Beware though the dining room is extremely small and does not seat many people. You could have to wait and when you do sit, it is tight quarters.