Bandoleros Café — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

Bandoleros cafe can only be described as a hidden gem. And hidden it is, tucked in an unassuming strip mall, between an insurance agent and an RC hobby store. Don't let the vinyl sign fool you, this place is here to stay.

Walking in you can see someone took great pride in building this place. All the decor is subtle, but makes it feel warm. It is immaculately clean (restrooms are, too!) top to bottom.

To start, I was greeted and seated promptly in the tastefully appointed faux-gray-wood adorned table on the similarly gray wood floor. Someone here loves grayed wood! The booths looked comfortable, and the wood chairs (mahogany this time, not gray!) were, as well.

I received my coffee and a complimentary pink and white pan dulce. Pan dulce is not my thing, but this was quite good. I was told they were made in house, which makes it that much more special.

The coffee was standard for a cafe: a little paper pulpy and thinner, but a bit stronger than similar places. I'm pretty picky about coffee,, so this isn't surprising. It definitely was drinkable, and there was a creamer and Half&Half selection on the table, for those so inclined. They also have espresso based drinks. I would likely choose a cappucino next time.

The service was prompt and attentive. Everyone looked genuinely happy and I felt well cared for throughout. My coffee was refilled a couple times, once without me noticing. When they noticed I was using regular cream, they brought more with the cup, without asking, which was a nice touch.

I ordered the chilaquiles Verde and added braised short rib. I'm very glad I did on both counts.

The generous portion of chilaquiles Verde was covered in a rich, thick, and deep green sauce with little translucency, like something freshly blended. It popped with a ton of flavors, was well balanced and had a nice, bright acidity at front. Heat was mild.

The chilaqiles chips were tasty & texturally excellent, maintaining a softened crunch throughout the meal, which is no small feat!

The short rib was truly special - spiced wonderfully with sumptuos and complex flavor that exploded as the meat melted in your mouth. It was well worth the $6 upcharge. I just wish there had been a little more, as it was enough for maybe half the quantity of the rest of the dish.

The dish was finished with ripe avocado, crema, cotija, and micro cilantro - all great choices and of excellent quality.

On the side of the chilaquiles was the two eggs on beans. I had ordered eggs over medium and they were perfet - the fried white was cooked through and the yolk was still soft, but thickened. It was just right when broken open and combined with the Verde sauce on the chips. The refried beans were a nice surprise, with a bit of bonus chorizo and cheese placed on it, hidden under the eggs.

The restaurant seemed to get more crowded on this Sunday as it got to be 11, with many multi-generational families coming in groups of 4-8. There looked to be a bit of a wait outside by the time I left. I'm guessing this might get to be the norm, as word spreads.

The kitchen in the back was spotless and the two cooks were friendly and smiling, playfully working with one another. This is generally an excellent sign of a well managed and positive work environment, which is always good to see. When I told them they made really good food they brightened even more. Keep kicking bootie, guys!

Prices were mid-upper for a cafe, with most dishes running $14-20. It included more latin inspired breakfast and brunch items, french toast, and the basic "American diner" breakfast fare. Given my experience, I would steer toward the latin side, as this seems to be where their magic lies. They seemed to be doing some brisk take-out business, as well.

All told, the coffee and chilaquiles with short rib was about $30, tax inclusive. I'm a good eater and maybe got through 60% of the plate, of which the last 20% I ate just because it was so good! It's definitely of a shareable size - at least if your partner doesn't try to hog the avocado.

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Sunday Sept 8 2024 around 1 pm, a very hot afternoon around 100 degrees outdide in the sun, no breeze. We drove by Bandoleros Restaurant for a Sunday brunch and saw lots of families waiting outdoors to get in ! Talk about a testimonial to what folks will do for a good meal ! We decided to come back on Moday afternoon and try the restaurant. So Monday Sept 9th at around 1 pm we got parking right in front of restaurant, no outside lines, and a couple of tables free inside. We noticed the interior was new. New floor. New tables, beautiful eating counter. TV sets showing the menu items. Great 1st impression. And it gets better with a little glitch on the side. Waitress was happy, smiling and attentive, brings our menu and takes our drink order. We are at table 14. A second Waitress drops by to take our drink order. So we told her another waitress took our order. We noticed lots of waitresses at the restaurant, there was no shortage of waitrer personnel. An indicator of good service for thier clients . Wife ordered Horchata Aqua fresca drink and breakfast open face sandwich a Bolillo..and i the Jamiaca Aqua fresca and a Mandos Hash breakfast

I noticed my order mentioned roasted chile in the ingredients. I asked my waitress if it was spicy, she said no. She was a Latina waitress. Well i should have known, not to ask a Latina waitress if the chile is 🔥 hot. I am a Latino, who does not do well with hot chile. However, my Latina wife, Oralia loves New Mexico Hatch Chile, she was raised eating that stuff. So one loves Chile and the other does not

The food presentation was excellent Iike a work of art. Beautiful, our compliment to the Chef. Food was delicious. But too spicy for me. Next time i order an item with Chile as an ingredient, i will absolutely know it will come with Chile 😁.

There is a dessert that was not on the menu. In case you want to try it. I noticed a huge high cake with decorations on top of it, on my neighboring table with a young couple. He told me it was a "Tres Leches cake" that was not on the menu, but you can ask for it. Just don't tell them you heard it from me.

To sumerize:

Excellent quality of the food, beautiful presentation , great service, high quality food. If ingredients on menu says chile, it...

Wow what a special place! My husband and I were in town for the weekend from Colorado and I was looking for a breakfast spot on Mother’s Day that wasn’t somewhere we’ve been before, nor any typical chain. I came across a video on Tik Tok for Bandoleros Cafe and knew we had to try it.

We knew by the amount of people waiting outside that this place must be loved. They are first come first serve, you have to put your name on a list and wait to be called. There is no waiting inside the restaurant which was fine for us. We ended up waiting maybe 30 minutes or so. Luckily it was just two of us so we were sat at the bar. I could tell larger parties were waiting a lot longer but again it was Mother’s Day. This is a smaller restaurant and of course bigger parties tend to linger longer so I can see where this adds to the wait time. It is worth the wait though.

The restaurant itself is clean, vibrant and light inside. In fact I didn’t know what to expect from it being in an older somewhat run down strip mall but don’t judge a book by its cover. The staff was very friendly even in the midst of trying to get people seated and served.

On to the food…delicious is all I can say. Presentation is beautiful; flavor is incredible. I got the chilaquiles roja with carne asada and my husband got the egg/potato skillet. In addition we go the Abuelita chocolate latte and vanilla latte and these were some of the best lattes we have ever had. In fact at first we said we were going to get an iced version to go but then ended up being so full that we couldn’t. To top it off they give you complimentary pan dulce as a starter which we dipped into our lattes and drooled over the goodness. The experience was amazing, and although we don’t get to Cali very often these days when we roll back through we will...