Bandido's Mexican Cafe — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

I purchased the Sonora Shrimp under their "On the Lighter Side" section of the menu while at the nextdoor brewery. Bandido's provided the menu and brought over the food. I had not planned on ordering, but had missed lunch and dinner and needed something to hit my protein goal. I ordered the Sonora Shrimp.

I have to say, with great hesitation because I don't want to drag anyone down, that this was the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten. There were five dime sized shrimp buried in sauce and cheese. I would have been better off microwaving shrimp at home, which is a shame because I was ravenous. I was disappointed and could practically see my $15 burning in front of me. I tried, but after I picked out the few shrimp I really couldn't eat anything else. It was certainly not a "light" meal nor anything that I imagined. They sure weren't as shy with the sauce, cheese, and rice as they were with the shrimp.

I would have spoken up, but they were serving from across the street and I was not in their restaurant. I pray that the quality is better if you are physically there. I felt compelled to write this review so that somebody with a lick of sense can change things. However, I will not be giving them my business again.

Please note that I was not IN their restaurant. The attached photos are my leftovers from the evening prior. So they don't look like they did in their prime, but I assure you it wasn't much different. This is after I sifted through to find my five baby shrimp. They were buried in the sauce graveyard. "On the lighter side" my tail.

I hate to see Mexican food disrespected like this. I hope things improve. They at least have to change their menu description. This was not "seasoned shrimp (...) grilled to perfection." It tasted reheated and totally unseasoned. You can't hide the fact that you gave five measly shrimp by covering it in cheap filler. Especially...

I am VERY disappointed. I've eaten at this place since the beginning of my freshman year and loved it. However, the prices on the menu have noticeably increased. Bandido's was the only affordable Mexican restaurant within walking distance to campus I liked.

I went for lunch today. I ordered To-Go for my partner and I. My interaction with the, I guess, owner rubbed me the wrong way and definitely helped me decide that I will never patronize this business again. Oh yeah, my huge family won't either once I tell them how the owner treated me.

I got some salsas from the salsa bar to-go with my food (I can't eat it unless I add pico and onions to it). I got enough for me and my partner since I ordered for 2 people. I asked the owner where the salsa tops were and he asked how many I needed. I said 7 (which is on the low side, I usually get many more at dinner). He visibly grimaced and said "you can't get that many. You can get 2 or 3 but no more." He went and got the salsa tops and came up to me and said "next time you pay for it".The worst part was that there was no limit posted on the salsa bar for to-go orders and he didn't tell me BEFORE I got the salsas.

He talked down to me like I was some kid who barely had enough money to pay for the food. That was so insulting to me, after I have eaten here regularly for over 4 years.

Bottom line: The food is okay, definitely not good enough to justify increasing prices or the stinginess/rudeness of the owner.

Sorry, Bandido's, I am going to have to GLADLY let you go...which is unfortunate because I really liked the wait staff...

I honestly wish I could rate this as “no stars.” This was the absolute worst service I’ve ever experienced. Arrived at the restaurant and it wasn’t very busy. The football game we attended had a few minutes left (but we left early to avoid the rush). Waited for our table for about 20 minutes, which was fine. Got seated and it took at least another 15 for our waitress to come bring us waters. We ordered our meals (and I ordered a drink from the bar) when she came to our table with the water. It took another 15+ minutes to get that drink. We waited 45+ minutes for our food orders to come out and a majority of them were wrong and weren’t hot at that point because they must have been sitting for quite a while. While the waitress apologized for the wait, she never checked on our table/our experience the numerous times she passed by. It took us getting her attention to even acknowledge us. I can say without a doubt that I will never come back to this restaurant, and will never recommend...