Banditos Restaurant & Cantina

One of the best mexican restaurants in Myrtle Beach. Don’t even think of going to Abuelo’s! Bandito’s has great food, great margaritas and an excellent location. Friendly for families too!

Banditos is an apt title for this faux Mexican tourist trap, er, restaurant. It’s much more akin to Tex-​Mex than actual Mexican. After eating this food at these prices, I felt like Frito Bandito had held us up like an Old West stagecoach. The restaurant is ocean-​side, so it has a very alluring appeal. The beach front outdoor patio and bar are fairly rare in Myrtle with all the hotels taking up prime real estate. The inside of the place is very attractive with typical Spanish villa colors and decorations. Unfortunately, the food fails to match the surroundings.
Started with chips and boring, flavorless table salsa. Followed that with the queso dip which was also bland, and watery to the point it wouldn’t cling to the chip. Although, watching my friend’s 5yr old struggle with it was at least entertaining. $ 10 for guacamole? Even at retail prices they are $ 1/​piece, so I can’t fathom how a couple of them mashed up with a little pico can cost that much. Really could have used some salt, lime juice and more jalapeño for my taste. Maybe it’s meant for delicate middle America tourist palates.
I ordered the $ 11 Chipotle Chicken Sandwich, which was described as being a ‘marinated’ grilled chicken breast with Swiss??, lettuce, tomato, chipotle mayo. I would have thought being named ‘chipotle chicken’ it might be marinated in chipotle sauce but no. It was just a plain flavorless, overcooked, shoe leather piece of breast that didn’t even come up to fast food level. It was like it came right of the freezer, slapped on the grill, then slapped on the bun. There was a faint smear and a vague chipotle taste in the sparse amount of mayo, but nothing that would elevate this to a ‘chipotle chicken’ sandwich. And what Swiss cheese has to do with Mexican food perplexes me. How about some chipotle cheddar or jack cheese? Ever heard of queso anejo? Cojita? Kraft Four Cheese Mexican Blend? No? Ok, «Mexican» restaurant.
I will take a Cajun chicken sandwich from Cookout at ¹⁄₃ price. The fries that came with it were just standard frozen fries with no flavor or texture. Fortunately ketchup killed the dullness of both the sandwich and fries. Yes that’s correct, I put ketchup on a ‘chipotle’ chicken sandwich from a ‘Mexican” place to give it some flavor. Oi.
My friend, who is decidedly less finicky about food, and much less snobby about Mexican food, thought the beef and cheddar burrito wasn’t too much better than the microwave ones from the grocery store. He didn’t care for the yellow rice much, but he thought the black beans were pretty good. Side note, not sure what yellow rice has to do with ‘Mexican’ food either as it’s primarily a Caribbean dish.
The only thing I can recommend is the $ 3 Dos Equis we had because it was during Happy Hour. Stop by Taco Bell and bring a spicy beefy Frito burrito with you for a $ 1. It will have more flavor than any of this «Mexican» food.
There are plenty of Tex-​Mex places around town that do a much better job at half the price. Hop on Unilocal and seek them out, your taste buds and wallet will say ‘gracias amigo’.

I had a good experience here. The good is average/​good Mexican. I had the fajitas and they did not come out sizzling which was disappointing. The drinks were good and reasonably priced at happy hour. We are outside and the view of the ocean was great. Our dogs were also permitted to sit outside with us which was great.

I’ve eaten here several times, and not because it’s good, only because it’s close to the time share I stay at & I’m too tired to go anywhere else. The adobo chicken is blech, the salsa has cumin (of which I’m not a fan), and the margaritas are bland. It’s also way overpriced. If you’re in the mood for «mexican» food, you’d be better off trying some local place that’s not a touristy chain restaurant!

Love it. The homemade Empanadas and plantains were amazing. I got the house margarita and I would order again. James our waiter was attentive and pleasant. Give this place a try. I’m adding it to my favorites at the beach. Outside dining is also a plus!

Do not waste your time. Looks very exciting, inviting and fun, but is a dirt hole. Service does not exist. We waited outside at a table for 6 for 30 minutes and did not get a single head nod or wait person. There were literally 5 servers just standing around near the wait area. I went up to them and said «can someone please come serve us or take a drink order?» they all stared at me like I was speaking martian then one said, «uh, that’s the bartenders table.» So NO service. The bar was full of Very drunk people I should say and he was the only sort of busy person there, but our table was not even close to the bar. WTF?
There was salsa and guac all over the floor. I hope it wasn’t from puking as there were so many wasted people. I’ve been around the block… this was incredulous with the lack of service, smell, dirt and drunks. Go down the street – Beach club. Very nice service.

Banditos was our most favorite beach front bar and grill restaurants. The food (I had the Classic Tacos & my husband had the Seafood Burritto) was superb! The service was great! We especially enjoyed the Live music :))). Would definitely go back

Banditos is more Tex Mex than true Mexican. Our service was very good and we enjoyed the outside view with entertainment. I enjoyed the empanadas and my boyfriend loved the seafood burrito. My southern style margarita was so-​so but his mojito was excellent!

Nice place. I had the Fish Taco and the Shrimp taco and both were great! The Cadillac Margaritas (supposedly made with Hornitos, Cointreau and Grand Marnier — if so, very little of each) were a disappointment — expensive, weak and watery. However, the ambience was very pleasant, food was quite good and our server was a great guy.

I cannot condone a place where there is no craftsmanship in the food served, where the food is hardly a notch above fast food and the bill for 5 people came out to a staggering $ 80, only to levee us feeling greasy and bloated.
«Banditos» is aptly named. Right on the boardwalk we walked in expecting Mexican cuisine. What we got instead was a repackaged pizza and «empanadas» that were akin to Pillsbury crusts.
Any place that serves you unlimited chips with salsa (which had cumin!) Should be a tip off to what you’re going to get.
The «Mexican tortilla soup» had more in common with the Wendy’s chili bowl then any tortilla soup. The best thing on the menu? Iceberg lettuce with a few slices of grilled chicken breast served on top, called a «salad».
In a word, junk food at exorbitant prices. We will not be eating here again, thank you.
The place was clean, the servers kind. If you want real Mexican food, healthy food, any sort of cuisine, I’d recommend skipping this place and keeping your wallet padded.

The location of this restaurant is prime on the boardwalk with a fantastic oceanfront view. Excellent patio and fun décor inside. I was disappointed when the bartender refused my recently issued paper ID with a photo that CLEARLY is me (just got my license renewed before vacation because it was about to expire for my birthday– and the state I live in issues paper while they mail your actual card). The bartender let me know she was going to go double check with her manager if she could accept my ID — and the manager did not come out to speak with me which was disappointing.
My party ordered the shrimp chile lime nachos, one fish tacos, one steak taco, and a shrimp and crab burrito. The nachos had mango, pineapple, shrimp that appeared to be coated in cornstarch then fried and tossed in a spicy mayo and loads and loads of miracle whip. All in all they were different but not bad tasting. Just not what you would expect when ordering nachos.
The shrimp and crab burrito was loaded with cream, spinach, and yellow rice. Less crab and shrimp. The fish and steak tacos were completely inedible. I ordered my steak medium and took one bite and immediately had to spit out the steak — it was completely raw inside and tasted like dried oregano. The blackened tilapia taco was better than the steak, the fish was just terribly bland so I was unable to eat the food. The bartender could tell I didn’t like the food so she told me she was going to show her manager she would be back (we were sitting on the patio bar so she had to go inside the restaurant). She came back shortly after and let me know she was removing the tacos from the bill. Even after that — the manager still never came out. I visited Banditos on a Monday afternoon when there were only about 4 tables combined inside and out of the restaurant — I’m not sure what the manager was busy doing but it clearly wasn’t managing their restaurant.
This place is extremely americanized Mexican food with subpar management that does not engage with their guests or staff. I felt bad for the bartender because she had to handle that situation by herself.

We had a great time here waiting for the rain to stop during the St. Patty’s Day Festival this year. Luckily we walked in during happy hour and found that wells were $ 2 (SCORE!) and the special Irish Margaritas made with Jameson were $ 4 (DOUBLE SCORE).so we sat our butts down fast. It was pretty empty at the beginning but an hour later there were no empty seats to be found.
Our server was awesome and regularly checked up on us, our drinks and munchie cravings. I sadly can’t remember his name. But we started off with screw drivers and worked our way up to the Irish margaritas which were delicious! Towards the end they were a little on the sweet side but I’m sure with the crowd they were rushing out drinks. We also got free tshirts from the whiskey company on special that day.
The complimentary chips and salsa were just perfect to compliment our drinks. We ordered a couple of cups of white queso which was also yummy. We pretty much just stayed for drinks and small bites, it was worth it and the service was amazing.
Keep it up Banditos.

Took the family here, very disappointed, ordered adobo chicken boritto, wife had steak fajitas. I ordered a beer and my wife had a margarita. Both were served in plastic cups and 12oz each. I’d rather had a bottle, wife said margarita was poor quality. My boritto had few ingredients, chicken and cheese, tasted ok, it was served with a boxed yello rice, I’ve never seen yello Spanish rice, wife’s fajitas were over cooked, tough steak and limp veggies. The salsa was good with yellow corn chips. The inside of the restaurant was hot, might as well sat outside, also the air conditioning vent dripped water on our table and almost in my plate. They did have a nice patio and view of the ocean. Restaurant is located on the boardwalk and when you consider I had to pay $ 10 just to park and eat there, overall, very poor experience.

Great location on the beach and just off the craziness of The Boardwalk!
My family was looking for a bite to eat and stumbled across Banditos and were so happy we did. Great staff. Yummy food. Indoor/​outdoor seating. What more could you ask for in a restaurant on the beach?

We wanted to eat dinner down on the boardwalk, but wasn’t really wanting seafood this time. We were thinking Mexican, when we happened upon Bandito’s. What a great discovery! We were pleased with our experience from the moment we walked through the door. Our server was great and did a wonderful job with the service.
The food was delivered quickly and arrived fresh, hot and as ordered (with only a slight deviation on my wife’s request concerning her tacos). It was no major problem, however. My wife ordered the soft tacos and they were delicious. My daughter’s beef Chimichanga was huge and she said it was perfectly prepared. My seafood empanadas were delicious from the first bite. The crust was flaky and the filling sauce was creamy. There were whole shrimp and pieces of crab meat inside. It was also nicely complimented by the tropical salsa and a spicy chipotle crema! Absolutely delicious!
I can’t recommend Bandito’s Restaurant and Cantina more highly if you are in Myrtle Beach and in the mood for Mexican cuisine.

One word– disappointment.
I was so super pumped that we found an outside bar that was on the beach– i mean really, what else could you want on vacation? So we walked down the boardwalk a ways, and on our way back we stopped here for a drink. There was dj, and maybe karaōke? We werent sure what the heck was going on with that, but again, beach bar with a dj, we’re there. So we sit at the bar (there were tables around too), and this is where the fun began…
One word. ROACHES. ROACHES. ROACHES. and not on the ground, no, on the bar top. where people are eating and drinking. BIG. BLACK. ROACHES. i cant even think about it without getting itchy. On top of that, the bar smelled like old, wet garbage. I used to bartend, so i know that some smell is inevitable, but seriously, take your trash out! The fact that the smell was that potent at an outside bar is disgusting. i guess that explains the roaches.
The only reason i gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because they had a pretty awesome drink menu with a lot of different recipes, which really sets them apart from other bars. They have a HUGE tequila selection, and their margarita menu is really different, and in a good way! You cant just go anywhere and get the drinks they offered, they were really different and creative, but they still serve your classic mixed drinks and beer. unfortunately, the other things that set them apart from other bars arent positive things. A little tlc and some clean up and this bar could be awesome, but until then, a few creative drinks arent enough to get me back.

Great atmosphere with a cool breeze on the ocean. Chill live music and excellent attentive customer service. The food was fresh and delish. Happy camper here!”

Margarita La Flaca was an excellent margarita made with tequila, lime juice, and agave… not too sweet. One of my favorite parts of our entire meal.
The salsa served with the house chips is also delicious… full of flavor and slightly spiced.
Guacamole not worth the $ 10 price tag. Bland. A little salt would have gone a long way. It could have used some spice from a jalapeño and a little more cilantro.

Food wasn’t great. Chips were stale. Live reggae music and location were nice. The bar was a little wild so maybe not the best place for families, but had a fun vibe to it. Service was excellent.
Typical Ocean Boulevard restaurant — you either get good food, service, or location, but you never get all three.

Good food and nice atmosphere on the deck overlooking the beach.
The food was better than I expected. We had the spicy shrimp and fish tacos with yellow rice and black beans. It was yummy and hot. The sweet plaintains that we ordered as a side dish were cooked perfectly.
I would recommend this spot for groups.