Banditos Tacos & Tequila Columbia
Banditos Tacos & Tequila Columbia
Shrimp tacos
Chicken tinga tacos. Pretty basic!
House margarita
the outside of a restaurant
Pictures
Baja Rita to start for HH.
a view of the bar
empty tables and chairs
Inside
Restaurant Art
the bar
Inside
outside
the menu
Happy Hour tacos
Inside
Parking lot across the street (April 2023)
Fried avocado appetizer (half eaten)
April 2023
bagels, food
Nachos, Taco, Street corn
Kellee P.
Feb 14, 2025
The food was pretty good! Drinks were even better. Music was great too! Joshua T was also an amazing server! Overall a great experience and I will be back.
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Jo G.
Jan 14, 2025
Welcome to Banditos Tacos & Tequila in Columbia MD. Today's visit was at lunchtime shortly after opening with very minimal crowding and zero wait. This restaurant greets you with a warm & modern ambiance displaying great artwork for photographs. Our server Jordan was professional greeting us with a basket of warm nachos and water before taking our drink order. The first appetizer was the Birria Egg Rolls that presented very well. I would recommend you to use to consume to bring in the bold flavors consistent with Birria; however, I would not eat them without sauce. The tortilla chips were seasoned and had a robust corn flavor not requiring dipping salsa. The medium salsa is very flavorful and compliments the chips. The ELOTE was acidic, creamy, savory, sweet, with a hint of salt. Grilled just right and was an immediate hit. It compared the street corn in Playa Del Carmen. The main course with the Chimichanga and street tacos were a hit. The chimichanga did have a slight wet sear taste which probably came from how the chicken was prepared. I think that cooking technique enhanced the taste experience making it more authentic on the palate. The Al Pastor taco stood out the most of the three tacos with immense flavor. The Mezcalita & Mezcal Mule were well crafted, kudos to the bartender. Overall, there is more to be said for this restaurant as it's closer to Tex-Mex than Mexican. The food and drinks were good and I personally think they are 4.3 of 5 star rating. The tequila selection was more commercial than crafted. Tequila Ocho was easily the best selection to be made. Would love to see brands like G4, El Tesoro, Cascahuin, Don Fulano, Tapitio, Mijenta, etc... I left off some other really good tequila options but, I hope you get the idea. I do feel offering more Mexican style cocktails and beer/mixes such as Michelada would be a good touch. Overall, a good job!
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Nadav P.
Dec 6, 2024
Good drinks. Mediocre food. Too expensive.Banditos Tacos & Tequila is a flashy Tex-Mex restaurant located in a hub of fantastic bars and restaurants. It's flashy decor and loud music bring it a lot of attention, but the lack of quality food stuffs and high prices makes it lacking in what I sought after, a place to get drunk and eat some tasty food.Banditos serves up a variety of mix drinks and is the only reason I'd recommend going. The drinks are creative and many incorporate tequila but you'll find other liquors available as well. I thought it was very strange that my $12 drinks were served in clear plastic cups. It took away from the anything fun or special from what should have been an enjoyable overpriced cocktail.The appetizers were the only food highlight for me. The complimentary chips and salsa were nice. The chips were still warm from being freshly fried and seasoned with a bit of chili powder. The salsa tasted house-made with a good amount of heat. We also ordered the Quesabirria Dip which was another plate of nachos and a beefy, umami cheese dipping sauce. It was very tasty, but extremely heavy and I couldn't eat more than a few chips worth.The tacos were the biggest disappointment of the meal. They were small, more vegetable than meat, and while the menu boasts a large variety of unique taco types, everything "creative" tasted terrible. The Korean taco which was described as Kalbi Short Ribs, Kimchi, and Pickled Cucumbers. Well, with two pickled vegetables and very little meat, all I tasted was vinegar and crunch. Same goes for their Nashville Hot Taco which didn't have enough meat or heat, making a mess of two great cultural dishes. The more traditional tacos such as the Carne Asada and Carnitas tacos were fine, but they were still lacking in the filling.The prices are STEEP, but hidden. Alcohol prices don't even appear on their online menu and you're paying $6 or more for a one-bite taco. Everything portion feels smaller than what it should be for the price and the pictures online use very small plates to make the food seem larger.Even the decor is misleading. From afar, you see artwork of celebrities and Mexican icons but in skull makeup. But up close, everything is AI generated with extra fingers and unnerving facial expressions. The music is fine, but at too high of a volume and half their TVs were playing the same ads on loop.Everything about Banditos from a glance appealed to me, but lacking in quality in their food, drinks, and atmosphere makes me only recommend this place if you're in the area and desperate for tequila.
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Carlyn M.
Nov 11, 2024
Recently visited Bandito's with a friend on a Sunday evening and ordered the Birria Tacos combo, which came with black beans and rice. I also added a side of street corn salad. The food was tasty overall, though I felt the salad was missing a little something. Hummm maybe a particular cheese to give it that extra authentic flavor.The atmosphere at Bandito's was cool with the artwork like Lil Wayne. That was neat. Loved it! We stayed for a bit after dinner to try their Spicy Margaritas, and they did not disappoint! The spice level was just right, adding a nice kick without overpowering the drink. Perfect way to end the evening. And of course I'll be back!! The margaritas have me in a chokehold!
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Lisette F.
Oct 20, 2024
We tried carne asada tacos, mahi mahi fish taco, short rib taco, bang bang shrimp taco, Nashville hot taco, and Mexican street corn--all absolutely delicious. The service was excellent, and the spot has a great vibe with stylish decor and cool wall art. Plus, the drinks were amazing! They also have two happy hours--check it out for the exact times, but I think it's a great idea! I'm already planning my next visit because I'm craving that Mexican street corn again, and I definitely want to try more items on the menu
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Ieshia T.
Sep 17, 2024
Not my first or second choice.Banditos has one of the best margaritas around and I am definitely giving them credit for that. However, that's where it stops. There is so much room for improvement when it comes to the food, you wonder why can't they take that extra step to get it right.Like all of us Yelpers, I looked over the menu before I arrived to decide on what I wanted to eat but I couldn't find anything that I liked besides nachos. I ended up boxing those up and taking them with me convincing myself I would eat them later but did not. I don't know why but the queso on the nachos actually wasn't horrible and maybe because my standards are already so low. Since they're labeled as a tequila bar they do have multiple tequila and mezcals to offer that I will be back to try.
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Ifeoma I.
Dec 7, 2024
Banditos is a great spot to stop by at either alone, or with friends and loved ones to enjoy some Mexican drinks and bites. The ambiance is great and the walls are covered with some cool paintings. Although there's a lot of alcohol we were also able to walk in with a couple of infants as long as we weren't seated at the bar. The service was also great, our waitress was super nice and attentive.
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Starr D.
Jul 25, 2024
My very first experience at Banditos Columbia was not so great. Started off with fully loaded nachos, which was not bad, also ordered beef empanadas which was empty inside, other than some cheese and countable pieces of ground beef, the inside of the empanadas was basically empty. Service: horrible. There were about 4 tables at the time when we were seated. Our waiter was a tall young male. He walked past us couple of times before came over to acknowledge us. When he was taking our orders, he was only looking at my husband, like I was invisible. After he took my husband's order, he walked right off, before I was even able to order anything. Ugh.... We had to wait till he came back around after 5-10 min to place my order. With service like this, there's no way I will stay nor to order anything else. Atmosphere of the restaurant of quiet during our visit, they were not busy at all, with several servers just hanging around the bar. Don't think I will return to this location, my time is too valuable to gamble for another horrible service experience with mediocre food. Do not recommend.
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Helene K.
Feb 14, 2025
I came for happy hour on a Friday 5:50pmon Valentine's Daythe music was great, good ambiancemy husband and I were seated at a boothour waiter , JOSHUA, promptly gave us a tour of the menu and took our order .we each ordered margaritas and tacos.Out drinks and food came out quickly and were deliciousJoshua made sure to check on us every few minutes and we could not have asked for a better waiter. it was not my first time at Banditos (Columbia, MD, location) but it was the best service I ever had.Thank you Joshua !HK
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Eric W.
Feb 6, 2025
Great service and food. Our bartender, Fern P, was amazing! A festive and secluded setup.
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