I have eaten here a number of times. It is usually very busy, but I have never had to wait more than 5 mins for table so far. All of the food I have had so far is extremely delicious, especially the veganized cheese. I am not vegan, but I have tried it and it is something special. I prefer it to most real cheeses, as other places use cheap real cheese and this is better than that. My one issue with the restaurant is that when you buy nachos they provide you with extremely small amounts of salsa, sour cream or guac which is quite expensive. I really wish they would up these sizes so that you could enjoy a solid dip on your chips.

We went to Bandidas based on the reviews that we have read. We were not disappointed in the least! The only one draw back is that it is vegetarian with no meat options. However, there are plenty of items to choose from - and all looked tasty!

We started with the small nachos (which was a loaded with toppings), and for mains my other half ordered Dani's enchiladas with rice and beans, and I the house salad with added roasted yam and tofu.

He found the enchiladas a little sweet for his liking but was still impressed with quantity and quality. I really enjoyed my salad - and I couldn't even eat it all!

Ambiance is not high end, but more of a comfy feeling. I loved that none of the chairs or dishes matched.

Service was very pleasant and attentive. Even though they were busy, our server still managed to come and check on us a few times.

Dinner total for 1 litre white sangria (really good!), small nacho, enchilada, and house salad $50 after tax. Saturdays the sangria is on special for $15 for 1 litre.

We will be back!

I have been meaning to go to this place for ages and I finally made it and man do I regret not going sooner! The food was amazing, every one was starving and barely anyone could finish their meals. Probably because we had the nachos first, which were more toppings then chips. The service was good enough for a busy saturday night and when the drinks came there were no complaints to be had. I will back there again soon, maybe tomorrow...

This place is on Commercial and 12th. You won't miss it. There's free and metered parking around the area. This place is absolutely delicious: fresh ingredients, hand-made tortillas, and great mix of flavours. Great for sharing too. My friends and I only had enough stomach room for 3 tacos (Ronny Russell, Wolf and Goat, and Estelle) and the Dave's enchilada. The Estelle and Ronny Russel were the best out of the 3 I ordered. The enchilada was good (melted cheese and savoury spicy tofu), but I probably wouldn't get it again. I'm going to try their nachos next time. I'm more of a taco fan.

Ambiance is pretty good. Small, cozy place that looks like it will get very very busy on the weekend. They use empty jars as cups. It's kind of neat. My friend had the tequila lemonade and she said it was really tasty.

PS. No meat here but the waiter "guaranteed we won't be disappointed" and we weren't.

I love Bandidas! I come here pretty regularly and am always happy. The food is delicious and consistent. I've had the house salad, tortilla soup, enchiladas, Ronny Russel, Estelle and Wolf & Goat burritos/tacos. You can get the burrito bakes with sauce and cheese. I've also had breakfast here and find it equally delicious! The benny's are made on cornbread muffin tops with salsa instead of hollondaise. The food doesn't make me feel weighed down, as it's fresh and nutritious. Love the small feel of it, and the service is pretty on point. The owners are always there working in the kitchen and it really feels good to be there.
Go! Eat!

Whatever bad reviews Bandidas has gotten regarding their bad service, I think they’ve remedied that now. These reviews were posted around March 2009, when Bandidas was still very new. Indeed, when I went around this time, service was slow, but it was absolutely PACKED – and the atmosphere was buzzing with a great community feel and super-friendly staff.

I’ve been back twice now and the speed of service has improved a great deal. They are still very friendly, but now the food seems to be cranked out much faster. I think they’ve hired more people and the new-restaurant craze has died down. But even when they were super busy, our servers for each of our visits were very attentive and helpful.

Food: Mexican (especially American-Mexican) is usually associated with loads of cheese and meat dripping with grease, but the food at Bandidas is super healthy and knock-out tasty.

My husband is from the Southwest with Mexican relatives. Let’s say we are VERY picky about our Mexican. Although this is a vegetarian/vegan place does not serve "traditional" Mexican fare, we both agree Bandidas makes amazing food. So far, we have had the Ronny Russell, Estelle, Leona Gail and Camillo tacos/burritos – and the Los GLD nachos (huge and bountiful). They are all very, very tasty – and fresh. I’m generally a meateater, so I love that breaded walnuts, chipotle tofu, pumpkin seeds and roasted pineapple can make me totally forget that there’s no meat in these dishes. Somehow, they manage to balance all these flavours to make meatless dishes taste incredible. On top of that, their prices are perfectly decent for the tastiness and portion sizes they serve.

Ambience: I love the simple, low-key décor. It has a retro-hippy kind of feel that makes it inviting, unpretentious and comfortable. Really fits in with The Drive community. It’s also nice to see they are kid-friendly, with a shelf of kids’ books and toys ready if needed.

In summary: This is a great little restaurant and I would most definitely recommend it.

When I think mexican, I usually think of texmex with lots of processed cheese on fried tacoshells and loaded with greasy ground beef. Think again. Bandidas makes their own corn tortilla unlike any tortilla wrap i'd have before (think smaller and thicker, almost polenta-like in texture), topped with fresh ingredients. I enjoyed my "Estelle" tacos, which had roasted pineapple and chopped fresh tomatos, which made it on the wet side, but still delicious. Washed down with a pink lemonade of half order cranberry soda and half order lemonade. My companion appeared to have enjoyed his "Ronny Russell" meal. We went midday, and it was nice and relaxing, with no hub of children. The restaurant does seem to be child friendly, with crayons and paper handy to keep kids busy. Will try to get the window-side table with two rocking chairs next time.

I read the other reviews on the website but neglected to clue in it was an "all vegetarian" taqueria... I begged for some chicken, beef, or even fish... to no avail. The ladies behind the counter could see my visible disappointment, but I stuck it out and had the three "Linda May" tacos washed down with an ale for 10 bucks (lunch special)... I told them I would spread the word to my veggie friends.... The tacos were nice and semi-crunchy and everything the bandidas used for the filling was ultra fresh and visually appealing. However, I do think they should put "vegetarian" in their name to make sure people know it's not your typical taco place.

We finally managed to grab a quick bite at Bandidas Taqueria last night, after wanting to eat here for quite a while now.

We started with some fresh guacamole and corn chips, the guacamole was very tasty and left us wanting more! Following this, we shared the house salad with yams and the 'Estelle' tacos. The house salad was extremely good, the ingredients were so fresh and healthy tasting, the addition of the yam added almost a caramelized taste to the dish. The tacos tasted wonderful, with just the right combination of toppings - the pineapple being a great addition to the dish!

The staff were very friendly and courteous, and the bill set us back $32 including tip and two non-alcoholic drinks. I would definitely recommend this place for a cheap, healthy meal.

There are restaurants for people who don't know how to make scrambled eggs and wouldn't know good food if they were crushed by a giant slab of wagyu. There are restaurants for people who know how to cook and know what a Berkshire is. Bandidas runs dangerously close to the former.

The food is actually quite decent, though not outstanding. We did like their own home-made corn tacos, which was quite tasty. But aside from that, the only people who would give this a big thumbs up are those who can barely turn Kraft dinner into something edible.

Their management skills are also SORELY lacking. The couple ahead of us waited about 5-10min. to have an empty table cleared. And then another 5-10min. for them to be seated and get a menu. And then we had to wait...
Then there was the food. We had the taco's (which as I mentioned, quite decent) and their breakfast. The Breakfast had salsa, roast potatoes , 1 chunk of roast yam (yes, seriously, just 1 tiny cube) and generous tidbits of mystery carbon, (a.k.a. burnt bits), a few shreds of cabbage, beans, scrambled eggs and a piece of cornbread. Hey, that was kind of tasty too! But you'd be less impressed if I told you about an hour had elapsed since we stepped into the restaurant before we got our food. (Oh, we were lucky. The couple ahead of us still didn't get their food by that time).

??? Most dishes on the menu are variations on the taco or breakfast. Nobody in their right mind would make all of the stuff "fresh" for each order except the eggs. So I'm asking, do they know how to cook for a restaurant? A lot of that stuff should've been prepped that morning, so it should take no more than 10-15min. to deliver any table.

On the plus side, the price is decent, the food is decent. On the negative side, it definitely is not worth the wait for such unimpressive food. Except for the corn tacos, I could've whipped up the entire meal (yeah, including roasting the potatoes) and eaten it in less time than it took them to deliver, and it would've been just as tasty.

Unless they shape up, I'm seeing them heading for an epic fail, as there is no way they can achieve enough turn over to pay the bills.