Inside 43215: Downtown Dish
CINCO DE ME-O
There is a time and a place for Taco Bell (late night food run).
There is a time and a place for Chipotle (college daily diet).
But grown-ups can’t eat the same damn thing every day. It gets depressingly redundant. Thanks to Kevin and Lori Ames, downtown diners can now enjoy distinctly different five-dollar lunches every day of the week. While other restaurateurs are designing economically impossible menus with $37 entrees, this duo is feeding the people.
With its affordable flatbreads and sandwiches, Cafe Lola ushered in the Ames Era last fall. Now the operators are introducing their newest baby in the Huntington Bank Building: Cinco. Says Lori, “We chose the name Cinco because everything will be offered for around five dollars or less.”
Cinco’s menu is based around three items: burritos, tacos and salads. Customers customize their orders with choices of steak, chicken, pork or vegetarian rice and beans. The salsas are house-made, and the salad dressings branch into continental flavors with choices that include Caesar and Honey Balsamic.
Between the two Ames projects, adults with discerning palates can score a never-ending variety of interesting downtown lunches for five bucks. That’s some business smarts.
Cinco made its debut last week. The new spot is open weekdays from 10 am - 5 pm.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Ames era? Maybe I am missing something. Perhaps you mean Eames Era? As in Charles and Ray Eames the famous furniture designers for Herman Miller.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
This is a great article an has worthwhile information. The one fault is there is nothing that tells where this is. I am guessing from the picture that it might be at Broad and High.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:34 am
What would be great is if businesses would consider staying open later than 5pm on at least some of the weekdays, perhaps Thursday or Friday so that there is a reason to stay downtown after work and hang out. Further, my family and I were looking for a place to have lunch last Saturday and the only place open was Tip Top which, by the way, every table was full.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Tom,
Per the 4th paragraph, Cinco is located inside the Huntington Bank Building.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Kevin and Lori Ames ushered in their own Columbus food era years ago. What started out as hot dog vending done right became several extremely popular Short North eating establishments, most notably Fresno and Dagwoods-both of which have since changed hands and names. They’re also great people though I haven’t run across them in a while.
Cinco is at Broad and High, in the old Cheryl’s Cookies storefront. I too wish there was more to choose from on weekends and evenings. Some day. Some day.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
“What would be great is if businesses would consider staying open later than 5pm…”
That’s the difficult thing. It takes people to keep those businesses open. It takes those businesses being open to bring people downtown. The small business owner can’t stay open 24/7 if the demand doesn’t exist, yet people being unable to find viable options on occasion (weekends and after business hours) creates the perception that it is difficult to be/live downtown.
We are in that uncomfortable space where human density and retail/businesses/offerings are both imperfect. As more people move/live/exist downtown that trend will shift.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I just ate at Cinco today for the first time. It is great! I highly recommend it!