Bandito's Burrito Lounge — Restaurant in Richmond

This will be lengthy 3 of us were out to celebrate a friend completing her post graduate education on a Tuesday night (7/30) in search of a 'taco tuesday' sort of deal - we landed on Bandito's by recommendation. The only deal available was for $2 rails in which they used Aristocrat only. Thanks but no thanks.... We were given free chips and salsa, which is always pleasant at a Mex-inspired restaurant but after a few bites, our entire party agreed the salsa was overbearingly salty. Out of concern for other customers who may have high blood pressure and just wanting better tasting salsa, I notified our waitress, Sammy (who's name we didn't even get until ordering shots halfway through our meal) and her response floored us. She said, "Well...the chips and salsa are free...so you don't have to eat it if you don't want to.." 0_0 I told her that it's not a matter of it being free....IT'S BAD...and I asked if there was a way we could possibly get a fresh batch. Sammy said, "Yea well it all comes from the same place so it's all gonna taste the same so...." No apology or effort to help make the first round of our first ever visit more pleasant. We could've left then but it was already around 8:45pm and we only came as a backup to our first choice closing early. We ended up having to use our complimentary lemon juice and water to cut the saltiness out.

Food finally comes out and looks amazing and actually was amazing! But let's get back to our service. Again, it was to be a celebration so one friend wanted to order shots and asked Sammy what tequilas were available, because we all refused to drink the Aristocrat. She begins to list them and for whatever reason includes pricing as they were getting more expensive??? She finally gets to 'Don Julio' and my friend gets excited and says THAT ONE (because it's his preference) and ordered 3 shots for our table. Again she makes it a point to announce "OK those are around $12 a shot". My friend says "Ok great" Apparently they rang up $14 ea and she announces that - but then followed up with a couple..a bit worrisome "Are you sure?!?!" which made my friend feel slightly offended because she did say it using a tone as if she was concerned he could afford his bill. Pretty rude.

She brings out the shots in the most absurd way ANY OF US had ever seen!!! The shot glasses had ridges on the bottom, obviously used for stacking and storage..................she brought out our shots stacked upon each other...where the bottom of a glass was inside the liquid filled shot below. At this point, we're all wondering what the hell is up with this waitress and this place if this is how they serve their customers on any given night - with attitude, untactful service and presentation of what may appear as unsanitary to others. At this point the friend who ordered shots decided enough was enough - he was never coming back - one of the worst service experiences of his life - no tip for Sammy from him. Well that didn't matter. She kept his change without even asking if he wanted it back.

I say all this to say - Bandito's may need to retrain their staff on basic things expected like tact and having couth. One star is for the cook who is clearly the star of the show. The other star is for the food. None of us are ever going back or ever recommending this place to anyone...

We love going here for happy hour and ordering drinks and dinner. We've been here several times in the past few months, and look forward to it. The last two times, however, we've encountered a problem. We were greeted by a pleasant waitress who took our order, check on us the appropriate number of times, etc. When it came time to pay, we did, obviously expecting change. When our change arrived, it was minus the coin change that we should have gotten. Although it was only 38 cents, we didn't appreciate being deprived of the change.

We always tip 20%, and this time was no exception. In addition to the waitress (named Elisabeth) not returning our coin change to us, she also didn't provide enough ones to give her a 20% tip. We would never tip less than 20%, so the only alternative we would have had would have been to tip 30%. When I asked for 5 ones for the five, Elisabeth said the restaurant didn't have any ones and she might be able to dig up the ones from her purse. I agreed to this, as I really do not appreciate being forced to give someone a 30% tip. The thing is, the place was full of folks at the bar, drinking and smoking. I cannot believe that a bar would be running low on ones.

When she brought the 5 ones and the 38 cents back to the table, she brought 38 pennies!!! She was clearly bothered that I'd requested my own change back. I left her a 21% tip.

About three weeks before this, the same thing happened. Elisabeth brought our change, but without the 31 cents. I couldn't find her to ask for my change, so I asked another waitress, who brought it to me. Again, I tipped the usual 20%.

I'm wondering if this is a restaurant-wide policy, or if this waitress is managing to make a few extra bucks each day by pocketing the coin change from her customers. She's pleasant enough, and a good waitress, but I feel that keeping someone's money from them, no matter how small an amount, is stealing.

This location probably does have a percentage of its clients who do not tip. The thing is, the ones who do tip should not be expected to make up for those who don't. If there's a problem with tipping, they should just add a gratuity to the check automatically. When I go to any business, I want every bit of my own money that's left over after my purchase. I also want to decide for myself whether I leave a tip that's in excess of 20% or not. Bandito's should investigate...

Abridged Version-

This is one of my stand-by places to go to- I like this place a lot. The Voodoo Idol had sliced hot dog instead of spicy sausage as stated in the menu. When queried, the waitress insisted it was spicy sausage. They took the item off my bill, but the waitress again insisted it was spicy sausage.

Detailed Version-

I've been coming here for years, and the service, food, and atmosphere have always been good, quick, and responsive- on a normal day meeting my expectations for the place and their usually better standards, I'd give them 4 stars. However, on a recent visit, I was disappointed to find slices of hot dog instead of spicy sausage in the Voodoo Idol, one of the best (and most expensive) dishes on the menu.

Now, I'm a grown man, I know the difference between hot dogs and sausage, and I know what sliced hot dog looks like, but the waitress tried to convince me that they had not changed their sausage, this is what they've always used, and asked if I wanted something else or to take that one away. I said I'd think about it. The rest of the burrito was fine and up to expectations.

I couldn't let it go, though. I suggested a discount as a compromise, and she went to ask the manager. Ultimately, the decision was made to remove the item from the bill. I felt a little guilty because I was ready to pay something for it and I didn't go in setting out to prove someone wrong. But don't advertise spicy sausage and then serve me regular hot dog! It’s a clear case of cutting corners and that's almost insulting to the customer on a couple of different levels. Ultimately, the waitress insisted it was spicy sausage. I will be keeping an eye on this...