Bandito Burrito of Madison

We go here every week. We love the white cheese dip with beans and the bean burritos. I do think the food is better at the Governor’s Drive location but I love the margaritas here. The staff is also very good to us. They normally know what we want as soon as we walk in the door.

I had been looking forward to eating here tonight, but never again! First of all, when looking at the menu, my first thought was that everything was overpriced. I ended up ordering their # 1 plate of a chile relleno and a beef enchilada which cost me $ 10.36 with tax. Both were absolutely awful. I don’t know where the cheese was in either food, and where was the tomato sauce? I also never before had a relleno that was filled so much with grease, that I had to pat it down with a dozen napkins. Also, my Spanish rice tasted and looked a bit like it had been sitting around for awhile. My chips were okay, but my salsa came frozen. We were also cold sitting out on their porch. The waitress did ask our group if we wanted their big open windows closed, but people were not really paying attention to her at that time. The only good thing this night was the service which seemed speedy, but I would have preferred them spending more time on my food so it would have been palpable.

Jesus, why did I come back here? I guess time heals all wounds, but this is a reminder in why I should never forget the lessons of history. So the service was actually pretty quick this time around. Unfortunately the food was as terrible as ever. You can get a Jose Olé burrito from the Kroger around the corner, it will cost you ¼ for what you pay here and be twice as good. My water was the best part of the meal. I had the specialty «bandito burrito». It was basically rice and salsa with some chicken thrown in that tasted like it came out of a can. The difference between this one and the one on Governors is astounding. According to the guys who run the one on Governors, this place began as an affiliated business but never paid their dues so they left them to their own devices. If I were the owners of the name, I’d be suing to stop the damage they are causing to the brand. The beans, burritos, and beer selection at this location is nothing like the one on Governors, let alone the ambience. The original Bandito Burrito is a unique place with a unique feel and a unique taste. The Madison location seems like they are trying to be Casa Blanca, but also be Bandito Burrito. Guys… You can’t do both, and truth be told Madison doesn’t need another Casa Blanca. We need a divey burrito place serving good tasting food with a great atmosphere. Step your game up. There are less than a handful of places I can confidently say that it will take a lot to get me back, this place is one of them. Terrible food, terrible ticket times, terrible drink selection, terrible atmosphere. This place just has nothing going for it. Stop trying (and failing) to class up the brand, pay the people on governors what you owe, shown some humility, and have the masters show you how its done. I would be in your place every week if you were worth going to. This place is right around the corner from my house but I still can’t be convinced to go here. You want a good burrito in Madison? Don’t come here, go to La Placita. You want something else mexican? Chapala or Casa Blanca. This place has very little to offer that is competitive with any other business in their space. Super disappointing considering how great the original Bandito is.

I love this place. The staff is so friendly, they make you feel like a regular the minute you walk in. I’ve been here many times and I’ve never had a bad experience or meal.
I have family visiting from out of town and I introduced them to one of my favorite places. Everyone enjoyed their food and we were all happily stuffed and ready for a siesta.
Train specials are fun albeit confusing.
The atmosphere is very casual and fun.
It’s a great place for groups of friends to meet up or a couple of families to dine out together. Just make sure your kids know how to behave, otherwise you will be going home with a handful of kittens. ;)
Just check it out. You will probably have to park in the back for a while due to the construction out front, but its totally worth it.
The super nachos are my absolute fav! Melissa and Connie are awesome.
Look, just go check it out. Its too cool to miss out on. The prices are decent. Here’s an example of our check: large cheese dip (which came in two edible bowls, super nachos (me), a combination plate (Chile rellano, chalupa, beans and rice), and four margaritas (two each). Grand total: $ 43
It was worth every penny.
Atmosphere: fun, interesting, and charming.
Food: delicious
Service: awesome (Melissa went above and beyond)
Should you go? Hello Yes!

+ a fun place to go with friends, but not my favorite haunt.
+ discounts on beer (?) and cheese dip when the train rolls through.
— service can be slow, but the menu states as much.
— restrooms are serviceable, but I try no to have to ‘go’ when I’m there.

I was in Madison for a conference, and the front desk attendant at the hotel suggested every get the Green bean burrito.
Madison’s historic downtown district is truly adorable, so I was anxious to try out the dining. establishment. Bandito Burrito was darling. There were dollar bills all over the place. The servers were really sweet. They had true Southern hospitality.
The menu was quite simple although I would have like black beans as an option. I did notice there are dollars off some items when a train comes through. A train did come through, but our food items weren’t part of the special.
The salsa was chunky with a kick, and the chips were fresh. I ordered the Raven burrito, and I was sorely disappointed. I know it was homemade, but it tastes so much like the microwavable bean burritos (which I actually like). There wasn’t anything that stood out about the burrito. The other young lady with me agreed that the burrito was meh. One gentleman had a fish quesadilla, and he like it. Another dining companion had the steak quesadilla, and he LOVED it.
Although I won’t be returning, I do feel that it is worth trying out.

I really appreciate all their vegetarian options — Oscar Nachos, no carne burrito, green bean burrito, raven burrito (with white cheese sauce on top) are all excellent choices. The hot salsa is very good. I don’t care for the cilantro in the mild.

Well, many people had a bad experience at this place, but oddly, we didn’t, luckily. We started with chips and salsa, then, the food. The chicken tacos were good, since it’s my favorite. Every time a train passes, which happened like 5 times, you got… I forget if it was $ 1 off liquor or a free one, but anyway, I chose Sprite instead. It was good, but we were literally the only ones there, and here was only like 2 – 3 workers, so it took longer than we thought. But overall, it was great!

Reading the other reviews, y’all got chips and salsa?! Not us.
We went there for lunch today for the first time. Atmosphere was pretty cool. Went to the counter to order and wasn’t greeted by the grumpy order taker (we were the only ones in line). No smile, no good morning, no hello, no nothing. I said good morning and told him it was our first time there. There was a stack of paper menus in front of the register, with a pen hanging from the ceiling, so I took the pen and started to mark on the menu sheet what we wanted. He told us not to, just to tell him what we want. No problem, but why the pen and paper order menus, then?
Ordered a taco salad for $ 5.00, 2 tacos at $ 2.50 each, and 3 sodas at $ 2.25. Order came to $ 23.34. Sounded awfully high. I tried to pay the order taker at the register and he grumpily told me to move over to the next register to pay (take 1 step to the left… I thought of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld!).
I paid, then suddenly heard a worker scream out an order number. Not call it out, but truly SCREAM it out. Scared the bejeebees out of us! That was our food already, so I took the bag from her and we sat down.
The food itself… taco salad was boring and nothing special at all. Taco bowl, beans, ground beef, lettuce, and cheese, with a small container of sour cream and salsa on the side. Wished it had fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, etc. Tasted OK, but had to add a lot of hot sauce to jazz it up.
The tacos were smaller than Taco Bell and felt half as light. Really… $ 2.50 for THAT? Should be 75 cents!
The drinks were a cup of ice with a little soda, at $ 2.25 each. Pricey. Then I started wondering why the total bill was so high and looked at the receipt. The menu listed the taco salad as $ 5.00, but I was charged $ 8.50. No idea why.
The icing on the cake, though, was the pre-​added gratuity. of $ 2.12. Gratuity is supposed to be based on service, not automatically added, especially to a place that is a sub-​standard Americanized Mexican fast-​food, order-​at-​the-​counter place. It’s like ordering at a McDonald’s counter and they had an automatic gratuity to the order taker.
And the worker who called out the order numbers for food that was ready? She screamed… SCREAMED (!!!) out each number, once about a foot away from a customer’s ear. Horrid, and drove us, and other diners, crazy. There was no reason for that and did nothing but irritate diners. Won’t be back.

Unlike everyone I think it’s as good as the other one with bigger portions and live music. Just get the green bean burrito…

This place has went way downhill. Used to always be packed on lunch, now barely anyone is here, even on a Friday. Servers are rude, food is overpriced, and the wifi doesn’t work. Save your money and drive down the street to Casa Blanca.

Finally got down to «downtown» Madison to try this place out.
First off, the place is really large. If you had a huge group they could easily accommodate you here. There’s a very large patio area too which is a big plus. The place was practically dead when we got there around 8:30pm on a Friday night.
First impression of a Mexican place is always the chips and salsa. They were placed on our table very quickly and we started munching away. The salsa is very good with a nice kick to it and the chips taste fresh and crunchy. They kept us well filled up on both chips and salsa. HOWEVER, aside from that the service was really slow. Our drinks came out slow, and so did the cheese dip we ordered and ultimately our food.
The menu was a good size offering all the typical Mexican dishes with a few twists here and there. A giant burrito (their specialty Bandito Burrito) was what most in my group ordered and enjoyed. I got the beef chimichanga which I didn’t really like at all. I assumed the beef was going to be «fajita beef» but instead I got something more like pot roast. It was actually kind of gross, I wish the menu had stated more explicitly what kind of beef you were getting. My boyfriend’s chicken chimichanga was pretty good, but certainly not the best I’ve ever had.
The cheese dip was unique. Aside from the dip itself being very typical it came in a crunchy bowl (somewhat like a taco salad bowl but smaller). So not a drop of cheese dip was wasted because we got to eat the bowl.
One of the cooler parts about this place was the train specials. When a train came through you could order a margarita for a dollar off (the tracks are right outside the front door). Considering that the train came through twice while we were there that’s a pretty awesome deal.
My boyfriend loved this place so I’m sure we’ll be back. I’ll just have to try something else next time.