Banditos Tacos & Tequila Maple Lawn — Restaurant in Maryland

OMG, what a terrible experience at Banditos Maple Lawn last night, 2/27. I am local Howard County and eat out often, very frequently in the Maple Lawn area. We popped in to get dinner at Banditos last night and the place was pretty empty, common for a Monday night. We opted to sit at the bar, which had a total of three or four people sitting at the entire bar. We were greeted in a couple minutes by a bartender, who introduced herself as Tami, Toni or something like that. She said it very quickly, and was not looking at us. No biggie, we had a menu. The guy sitting next to us said he was ready to leave and asked her for his check, and she began speaking to him. She was right in front of me and would not look at us or engage in the least - it was embarrassing, we were literally right next to each other. All we wanted to get a drink and an appetizer and then order dinner. These two proceeded to talk for the next 10 to 15 minutes and she would not even look our way, or say anything...."hang on a minute, be right with you", "please go sit somewhere else"..... nothing. We had to listen to this entire conversation. She was local Howard County.... she played basketball, he was local Howard County and lived in California. He was back in town for a couple months because he had a lawsuit going on with some insurance company, where did you go to school... on and on - - it was brutal. And she would not, repeat would not, meet our eyes or even acknowledge us. After about 15 minutes, we finally just left, and she never even looked up - even the dude was embarrassed. On the way out the door, when met with a quizzical look by staff, we mentioned that we could not get served and we're heading over to Libs Grill. They laughed and responded that they were surprised it took this long for her to run us out or something to that effect. This was our third time at Banditos and definitely our last. For what it is worth, we go to Hudson Coastal next-door, Libs down the Road, Steel-Fire which was in the spot before Bandidos. All are good with decent service, this place is the outlier. We will not dine there again. I would recommend you...

My girlfriend and I drove up to Fulton today to go to Now massage. She had noticed Bandito Taco and Tequila on her last couple of trips to the area so we decided to pop in and give it a try. Upon walking in, we were instantly greeted by the hostess with a smile, an in-depth description of the food and she was able to field questions we had regarding how many locations the restaurant had, etc. We were then promptly seated and we met our server Ri. She gave us some suggestions of what to order and let me just say that her suggestions were spot on! We had the Peruvian gold taco, the Seoulman Korean taco, Barbacoa, chorizo, and Birria. All five of these tacos were outstanding! By scanning a QR code at the table and downloading their app we received free chips and queso to go along with our meal. The entire experience was pleasant, but the crème de la crème was the service that we received from Ri. She was very cheerful, quick to make us feel welcome and extremely knowledgeable about the menu. We had made the mistake in not noticing that two of the tacos which we ordered came with flour tortillas, and before they even made it to the table, she was able to get the kitchen staff to get our order the way that we wanted it. I will return to this restaurant and not only for the great food, but the amazing service. She totally exemplifies how any server should act, carry themselves and represent the restaurant in which they work. I left a five star review, but I wish I could leave her a 10 star review. We definitely recommend checking out Bandidos if you happen to be in the Fulton area or if you’re close enough, it’s worth the drive to experience the food, the atmosphere, and hopefully get Ri a server. Thanks for the great lunch and looking forward to visiting...

Oof…a bit of a letdown. I was excited to learn that a taco joint was coming to Maple Lawn! I also purposely waited a few months to let Banditos get their sea legs before reviewing. Some things they’ve gotten right, others still have a way to go. First, the location can’t be beat, and they have outdoor seating with roll up doors for the warmer months. Service from the moment we arrived, all the way through our meal was spot on. Emily was patient, friendly, and efficient. Based on service alone, Banditos earned 5 stars. We started with the Tres Amigos…Banditos version of a dip sampler featuring guacamole, traditional salsa, and queso. The outstanding feature was the chips…they’re great! They are thick enough to have some real bite to them without falling apart at the first crunch…nice! The dips were good, but nothing that blew me away. We followed with a tour of the taco menu, Al Pastor, Birria, Chorizo, avocado, and beef. I was anticipating something really special as the menu indicates layers of flavor are specially selected and there are no substitutions. The corn tortillas were somewhat leathery, but at least they did not fall apart. That said, all the tacos were good but definitely more bland than we anticipated. For sides we had black beans and refried beans. The flavor of the refried was great although they were pureed into oblivion with no body remaining. The black beans unfortunately followed the taco pattern and were fairly bland. If you’re asking whether or not I’ll return, the answer is yes with the hopes of giving more stars and a more positive review. I’m rooting for you Banditos, let’s improve some of those flavors to match the service and get some...