Machu Picchu Peruvian Cuisine & Bar

Great spot if you’re hungry for hearty Peruvian fare! We had a delicious and moist tamal with a yummy onion salsa, followed by aguadito de pollo (chicken and rice soup with lime, carrots, peas and hominy). Main courses of lomo saltado and aji de gallina were good sizes and very flavorful… just like Peru. Daughter enjoyed salchipapas (fries and hot dogs) and chicha morada drink. Wish we had saved room for milhojas or alfajores for dessert but maybe next time… we’ll be back.

I ordered Ceviche mixt and really disappointed, the food was overwhelmed with lemon juice, I could hardly eat it and my teeth got sensitive, I had a bed experience with this place, when I told the waiter about it, he just told me he was sorry but didn’t offer to fix the problem and walked to the back. I don’t know if I ordered the wrong dish and I don’t think if I will fuve it another try.

Great option if you’re tired of the everyday meal options like burgers, Panera, pizza, etc.
Situated in the middle of a shopping center in the middle of many other retailers, this place may be hard to find but once you do, you may come back for more especially if you’re a soccer (futbol) fan! They’ve got it playing in multiple tvs all the time, it seems.
For the food, it’s pretty inexpensive and there’s always new things to try. The toasted corn appetizers are much better than bread in my opinion. The Peruvian staples are mostly there and some nice sandwich options if you don’t like traditional rice and beans.
Definitely A-​OK on food and service as the ambience doesn’t compare to your fancy restaurants or romantic hotspots. I was not impressed by their desserts though, but not a deal breaker.

I’ve been here twice… once a couple years ago and the other time, just last night (5−14−16). Machu is pretty nondescript, located in a strip mall with a Food Lion.
The servers and waitstaff are so friendly and immediately greet you upon arrival. The inside is lit pretty dimly and includes a full bar. If you have a large group or a party of two, there’s plenty of space to accommodate you. In terms of large parties, they prepare food and meals ‘family style’ so lots of sharing can be done.
I personally recommend trying the Peruvian beverages, both non and alcoholic. I’ve tried the chicha morada (purple corn juice drink) and the mango/​passion fruit flavor. I found the original chicha morada to be a tad too syrupy sweet but the mango/​passion fruit flavor was/​is delicious. Also, if you’re in the mood for an alcoholic Peruvian beverage, go for the Pisco Sour. Tart and delicious. Goes down a little too smoothly.
As for the food, my favorites include the plaintains which are sweetly charred, the arroz con chaufa (very similar to Chinese chicken fried rice), and there’s a beef dish that I completely forget the name of but is served with peppers and potatoes.
The menu is quite extensive and there’s something bound to please every taste bud in your group.

I am freaking obsessed with this place! Every time my husband and I go there, we wonder why we haven’t been back sooner. We tend to forget about it a little bit because it’s nothing flashy, but the food never disappoints. Chicken. On point. Beef. On fleek. Rice, beans, PLANTAINS? God, stop it.
So good. My only disappointment was that I tried dessert and had what I thought was a tres leches cake and it didn’t taste like what I thought it would? Maybe I’m used to an over sugarized Amercian version of it :)

Ordered grill salmon. Disappointed. Salmon is not fresh and over cooked and dry. Not worth the price even with Groupon.

This is hands down the best ceviche I’ve had in a long time! The service was outstanding, the portions were huge. Kids friendly, and priced just right!!! So happy my husband choose this place for mother’s day.
Will definitely come again!

Very good ceviche! Try the leche de tigre!
The service is very good and it isn’t too expensive. Highly recommended

I honestly love the food here but what kills me is the lack of structure on running the restaurant and customer service here at this establishment. My boyfriend and i have been long time customers of this restaurant from the days when they were located off of E Independence and have always loved their food. However after my past few dining experiences here haven’t been the greatest so I’m going to back off for a bit.
What brought it home for me on backing off of this place was when i went to grab lunch last Sunday there with my girlfriends. We walk in the doors and the front lobby was packed full of people. There was no hostess to be found anywhere to even help direct the traffic of people. Everyone was scattered everywhere just anxiously waiting to be seated or have their name put down on a wait list. Hell no one knew where the line began or ended, people were just making their own lines.
From the time i walked in to the time i finally got to put my name down on a wait list was literally about 10 mins of just waiting for a hostess to greet us. The hostess was fine with my group, but i watched her interactions with other customers and it made me cringe. She was rude and would have an attitude towards them. We were told it’ll be a 25 min wait which ended up being 45 mins but who’s keeping count haha.
I could tell the frustration grew with other clients as well because the hostess would come out and then go missing for long periods of time. Some people weren’t even greeted as they were standing there waiting and waiting.
Again no form of structure and it drives me off the walls because i come from working in restaurants. It’s just unprofessional and poor customer service. For the 45 mins that i waited to be seated, I literally watched people walk in and walk out because again no staff to be found to greet them or inform them of what’s going on. I would see them stand there for 5 to 10 mins and then just walk out because they couldn’t deal with the madness
Fast forwarding to when we finally get seated, our «hostess» ended up also being our server which was just madness to me. Hence why she would go missing for long periods of time since she was «hostessing» and «serving». On that note, service was just slow, our orders got messed up. My girlfriend and i spoke up and our server/​hostess had the audacity if we still wanted our order corrected. I was just so taken back by the ignorance.
Again, i dont necessarily take the mentality that the customer is always right but seriously!!! If you made the mistake then fix it, point blank. I just couldn’t believe she was seriously asking my girlfriend if she still wanted her side that she didn’t receive. Like hello we’re paying for it and if we ordered it then yes i would like what we ordered. As i keep repeating just the lack of customer service kills me.
Anywho, it was 2 hr lunch that was honestly a waste of time. I wish i listened to my gut and had gone elsewhere to dine cause honestly all we received was ok food and hands down horrible customer service. They have some serious issues to work on so until they get all their kinks worked out, I’m backing the hell off for a long while on dining here.

The food might be good but the wait time is atrocious, no one checks on you to see how many people are in your party when you walk in. I have literary been standing here for 25 minutes and the hostess has not acknowledged me. Horrible, when I told the host that no one had talked to me in 30 minutes he rolled his eyes! Hire more people or train your hostess better.

Great food, extensive menu. Restaurant is spacious, has a bar, tables are spaced out. Bathroom had no hand soap, just «Comet» dish soap.
Service is TERRIBLE. Waitresses take forever to bring you water refills, our waitress took our order about 5 times because she couldn’t get it right. We asked her about some menu items but she was completely lost (she definitely knew very little about Peruvian food), took a long time to bring our check and our «to go» items.

The sister brought me here and I’ve been craving it again ever since. Ceviche de Mariscos was to die for, the portions were large, it was a random weekday and not lunch or dinner so they weren’t busy and our waiter was perfectly attentive. I didn’t get a cocktail because I had to drive, but I’ll definitely be back

We were lucky to have found this little place while shopping in Pineville! Appetizers were fantastic. We ordered the corn and cheese as well as a papa something or other. Both were exceptional. Our meals were equally as delicious. Steak was well cooked. Chicken soup was perfectly seasoned. The desserts were also very good. Portion sizes are quite large! Other reviews state that the service is a bit slow– but to me that was fine– we didn’t want to be rushed! And I’m not even sure I would say «slow»… More like casual and UN-​hurried– which is exactly how things should be! The restaurant is clean and well maintained. Light Latin music playing– not too loud. TV’s to watch sporting events and a bar available.

Yes!
The food is so delicious, authentic, and cooked fresh.
I got ½ a chicken with 2 sides which were fires and black beans… So much food, such a little stomach.
We also got an appetizer which was a stuffed fried potato. It was amazing !!
I only give 4 stars out of 5 because service was OK and the knives were very dull.

Some of the best food I’ve had in a LONG LONG time! Very Latin America atmosphere which is nice and they start you off with fried corn to munch on while you decide which awesome entrée you’ll be eating. They have a ton of different options to choose from but the potatoes and rice are consistent with almost all the meals. I give 4 stars because me and my girl friend came here for Valentine’s Day dinner which I thought would be a great idea because they’re kind of hidden away in pineville and didn’t think it would crazy busy. I was right about them not being crazy busy but unfortunately they were crazy slow. Took an hour to get our appetizer and about 30 more minutes after that to get our food when parties of 4 that were seated after us were getting their food way before us. Just didn’t make sense. They still receive 4 stars because the food is amazing here there is no denying that, but the service side has A LOT of room for improvement. Received a free 3 dollar dessert for the wait (which wasn’t enough in my opinion) but it is what it is. Maybe I’ll do carry out next time and we’ll see how that goes!

Save at least a little bit of room for the Milhoja, a desert with a million layers of light flaky puff pastry with layers of dulce de leche. It’s so good!

We had the ‘seco de res’ (beef stew in cilantro sauce) and it was tender and delicious. The «papa a la huancaina» (potatoes in cheese/​yellow sauce) was disappointing, and the Pollo a la Brasa, was decent and we got a nice portion. The service was friendly; the place a little bit dark but they were playing some nice Spanish/​latin music (not too loud). The Inka Cola is the best, but that is an acquired taste for some. We took the Alfajor home and my husband enjoyed it with a cup of coffee (it was fresh and yummy). Will definitely return.

The ambiance and look of the place is very nice, clean open space. Ordered the Tallarin Verde, Bistec a la pobre, an order of yuca bread, and a cup of Chicha which is an ethnic Peruvian Drink. So lets begin with the Tallarin Verde, the flavor was good, but the type of pasta used was not my favorite and a bit on the soggy side, they add chicken to it but, I do not like meat. The Bistec a la Pobre looked decent, but the taste tester (yeah, im so fancy, I have taste testers) Subject stated the Bistec or the steak was not good, actually on the hard to chew side and lacking in flavor. The rice was not very nice on the palate, either. The only good things were the french fries and the fried plantains. Moving on to the Yuca bread, that is the reason why I might come back to this place, only for the Yuca bread, hmmm nummy! Hey you got something right! The Chicha was pretty good, but come on, if you can’t make Chicha, then there is no way you are a true Peruvian Restaurant.

On 12÷30÷15, I purchased a Groupon deal and upon further inspection, I cancelled it within 10 mins of purchase. They had a sanitation grade of 88.5 — which is a B!!! It seemed like it may have been a good deal, but having one «B» sanitation grade is a definite deal breaker — let alone TWO (!) like they have had in two consecutive health grade inspections.

Everyone was nice, the service was a little slow. But the food was very very good. We are of Peruvian descent and live in a remote area, so anytime we come out to visit family, it’s a must to find a Peruvian restaurant to eat.
We had the following:
*Appetizers-​PAPA A LA HUANCAINA (yellow sauce with potatoes) ANTICUCHOS (grilled cow heart).
*main dishes-​LOMO (steak) SALTADO & POLLO (chicken) SALTADO (rice, onion, tomatoe and fries with a brown sauce) BISTEC ENCEBOLLADO (steak)
*Desserts-​ALFAJOR (cookie with dulce de leche filling powdered sugar) TRES LECHES (3 milk cake) FLAN
*drink– Inca Cola (Coke product famous in Peru, a sweeter version of Mountain Dew as described by my husband)
Everything was excellent, my grandpa would be proud and loved to eat here too! When we are in the area again we will be enjoying the food again!
The only reason we gave it a 4 out of 5 my pollo saltado didn’t have the fries and the slower service.

Went on a first date here because Peruvian food sounded exciting! The plantains and the yucca are amazing to share, and the portions are generous as well. I personally ordered chicken and potatoes simmered in a yellow pepper sauce and served over white rice. Was absolutely delicious and I’ll definitely be back for more.
Our waitress brought my date dark meat chicken when he asked for light, and she switched our food when serving us. Only reason this place didn’t get 5 stars.

Food was great and plenty… flavor explosion on every entrée we had. Pescado a lo macho. .and ají de gallina. Item you should try it at the place.

I really wanted to like this place. Food had very little flavor, ordered the seafood cerviche and it was bland and had a side of corn that was boiled and a side of deep fat fried corn. All weird and bland. Ordered a bottle of Traiphe red wine, it was served very warm, almost hot. Blah and gross.

Got the bistec encebollado. First time I ever tried Peruvian food. Steak was good. Vegetable with it were good and tasty. Got a side order of rice with it. Rice was cooked good. Server was nice and knowledgable.

Great food, heavy (meat and carbs) but felt normal afterward. Reasonable prices. I tried two different Pisco sours though and they were not my thing. Always happy to try new drinks though!

I would have given it a 4 stars but the place looks like an old rundown bar and restaurant in a shady part of town. Dark and dimly lit interior, old dark-​stained country style tables and chairs that has seen better days. It seems like this restaurant is alive with latin dancing at night as there seems to be a large dancefloor. The food is nice though.

This is my first time eating here & we had tropical ceviche with mango & lomo saltado beef. The citrus & fruit of the ceviche brought out the cilantro in the fish. So if you like sushi you will like ceviche in that it’s the same texture though different flavors. I liked the traditional corn served with it too. The sangria was sweet & fruity just what I wanted. Service was good and though the music was a little loud, the food was worth eating here again.

I’m very wary of trying certain cuisines outside of areas where I’ve found it to be better. To be specific, I wasn’t sure how good Peruvian food would be in NC when I live in NYC. This was fantastic though!
I had the ceviche and it was fantastic! I also had some other dish that I can’t remember but it was also great.
My suggestions if this is your first time would be to try something new and you’ll definitely enjoy it.
The spicy is very spicy, like sweating up a storm spicy.
The staff is pleasant so be sure to leave them a great tip.
Prices were fair and the portions were generous.

My husband and I went to eat there on April 4, and we had a terrible experience. There was a sign on the door saying they needed a cook, possibly that was part of the problem.
As soon as we were seated and given the menus, a basket of what looked like chorros was put on the table with a bowl of sauce. The chorros were cold and stale.
We ordered appetizers, the tamal tasted good but had chicken bones in it. The other appetizer was supposed to be Peruvian choclo (large kernaled corn) with feta cheese. They brought out unflavored corn and fresh cheese cut into cubes.
Next was the entrée. My husband ordered tallarrin saltado with steak, and it was deliciuos. My order was ceviche (fish), and what they brought was not ceviche. It was raw fish that smelled spoiled with no onions or cilantro or flavor. This was the first time in my life that I sent my plate back to the kitchen.
Maybe if they find another cook it will get better, but we are not planning to ever return to this restaurant.

This edition of «Excited about Eating» takes us to Pineville to Machu Picchu, Peruvian Cuisine, named after the ancient Inca City near Cusco, Peru. Now I can truly say, I have never had Peruvian food, but I am always up for trying something new and my wife was in an adventurous mood. Dora here. Haha!
Just inside, we noticed pictures of some of the menu items on the wall and a picture page was included with the menu. This was especially helpful for us to understand the menu. Dora here. I noticed something else. The pungent aroma of seafood. And the interior is quite dim.
I chose the Arroz Con Mariscos which consisted of yellow rice cooked with an assortment of seafood, mixed vegetables and spices. This dish was very good, not too spicy but very moist and tasty, and packed with perfectly cooked seafood. It would have been great if they reduced the massive portion size and included one of the interesting side items from the menu like fried plantains or yucca.
Dora ordered Bisteck Apanado, lightly breaded deep-​fried steak served with white rice and French fries. The star of this dish was the deep-​fried steak, which had the right amount of breading, juicy, and so good. It was strange that this dish was served with both white rice and French fries. Dora here. This steak reminded me of Palomilla steak, my favorite dish from when we lived in Tampa. Tender and tasty, and I’d definitely order it again!
We opted for dessert instead of an appetizer this trip. At our waiter’s recommendation, we chose Alfajores, two shortbread cookies with Dulce de leche in the middle sprinkled with powdered sugar. A nice way to end the meal, just the right amount of crunch and not sweet. The dessert case was full of them, so obviously they sell a bunch.
I would rate this establishment 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

Food was good, the ambiance could use some work. Service was good as well.
My husband had steak. The sauce was a bit too salty for our taste. I had a traditional peruvian dish which was chicken in a peanut butter based sauce with rice. Very good!
We would definitely go back. Solid hole in the wall.

My order was takeout so I can’t comment on dining in experience. Staff was pleasant who took my order. I sat in waiting area which is partitioned off from restaurant so you won’t be staring in diners faces the rotisserie chicken was pretty good in terms of moisture, flavor wise I’ve had better. The rice, beans and plantains were done right as well. I used a coupon deal and would come again without a coupon

The fella and I came here with a Groupon, and it was a fairly solid visit.
It took us a minute to get seated because the lobby is difficult for the staff to see if no one’s in there, and the ambiance is seriously lacking (think dimly/​oddly-​lit fish camp), but I appreciate the Peruvian movie being shown and the mural of Machu Picchu on the wall.
Our waitress was really sweet but knew nothing about wine. They were out of the first two the fella ordered, so he asked for just any white wine, and she pointed to the Pinot Noir. Thankfully, she asked a gentleman (the manager?) to help out, and he was really knowledgeable.
I got the rotisserie chicken with yucca and plantains (mmmm… plantains). The chicken was good but maybe a smidgen dry, but the yucca and plantains were heavenly. The fella got the Ceviche de Camarones, and he was pleasantly surprised by how good the sweet potato and Peruvian corn were. He said the shrimp was good, too, but there was a little too much juice. (The menu says lime juice, but he said it tasted like lemon juice.)
There were quite a few other parties there on a Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m., which I was surprised by and glad to see. Since it’s in a weirdo Food Lion strip mall, it put us off, but the food is definitely worth coming back for.