Taco Bandito

when I read ‘no frills’ somewhere, I immediately think of Taco Bandito. I’ve been there several times — during my lunch break — and yes, only because of their deal. For about 6 $ you decently fill your belly with rice, beans, sauces, onions and one choice among steak, chicken and so on. It’s ok, not much different from a food vendor on the street, but you can sit down.
Plus: they are quick — guys sweat hard and cook in front of you — food is tasty and the (Chinese?) lady taking orders doesn’t mind explaining things if you are not sure. The often bizarre clientele is part of the experience. Interior are simple, but: I always feel it’s creepy to have those huge mirrors in a small restaurant (and I know they are meant to give you the impression the place is somehow bigger), maybe I don’t like to see myself eating while trying to have a conversation.
Hasta pronto, Taco bandito :)

Extremely friendly staff and food was delicious at a great price. Very fast service.

its awesome! so good and cheap too!

Since chipotle’s Ebola craze I haven’t had Mexican food in months. Decided to give this place a try and it was an amazing choice for lunch. Great low price and tastes better than chipotle.

this place is my go to spot. the food is fresh and portions are good for the cost which is minimal. so looking to not break the bank this is your new lunch spot.

The steak tacos are cheap and worth it. They are so good. The enchiladas are really good too. Then whatever you get add guacamole and you’ll be set. I recommend going. Especially if you’re in college. It’s cheap filling and fast

gross. This is Taco Bell style Mexican food. Flour tortillas and sour cream. Knew I was doomed.

Pretty typical cheap fake Mexican food. I ordered delivery but in my experience these places are usually run by Asians. I got the steak and chicken lunch combination which was decent, they give you fajita veggies instead of lettuce/​tomato that other places generally give. I ordered a side of the ranchera salsa which was absolutely terrible, definitely avoid it.

I’ve never written a review under 3 stars, because I’ve never experienced any service that deserved a-​less-​than-​positive review… until yesterday. Now this case is super strange, so bear with me.
I work at an office near the Flatiron building in Manhattan, and since I really love where I work, I order food to the office for myself frequently — I would rather sit here and eat with my coworkers in our kitchen area than walk around, trying to find a place. Yesterday, I ordered my one burrito and side taco from Taco Bandito to my office, and received my confirmation e-​mail. All was well. Here’s where it got strange.
I received a call 20 minutes later to my cell, from a woman named Denise, who mumbled, «umm, yeah, your food is here.» So I went downstairs to the lobby to retrieve it, as per usual. In the lobby, there was not a single soul (I work weekends, this is normal). I walked outside, there was no one with any food. So I called the number back that had called me, and it was — get this — the Home Depot next door. Now, you think, «they just dropped the food off next door, no big deal,» right? Except I ordered the food to the 5^th floor, noted on my order, a floor which does not exist in this Home Depot.
So, I walk into Home Depot and ask for Denise. The poor woman behind the counter is very confused, and says there are three Denises who work there. I explained my tale and she walked me around the store to each Denise. Each woman was very, very confused about my story and had no recollection of calling someone for their food.
About 7 minutes later, one of the Denises comes up to me in her Home Depot smock, holding my Taco Bandito bag in her hand, looking at the receipt, and says, «Oh, I’m so sorry. I was so confused. You’re Anna?» Which is not surprising, because why should Denise, who works at Home Depot, not Taco Bandito, remember anything about the food I ordered to my own building, which has a different address from her place of employment? I apologized to her, took the food, and left.
The reason I’m so, so bothered by this is that I’ve never ordered food from Unilocal,or Seamless, or anywhere for that matter, where the person delivering didn’t call me. Or if they don’t call me, they make sure the food is in my hands before dumping it on a poor Home Depot employee and scurrying away.
This was super disappointing, and while the food was great, it took me a good half hour to track it down, and if I didn’t go searching five floors and all over a giant Home Depot, I wouldn’t have found it.
Again, I’ve never written a negative review, so I’m giving stars because the food was decent — but this is by far the most disappointing service I’ve ever experienced. :(

Never ever come here. Absolutely horrible experience. They should not even be opened. Del taco and Taco Bell is more authentic than this place. They don’t even deserve one star. They only have ground beef and chicken with flour tortillas and hard shells. Who does that?

Popped in for a quick bite. Pleased to say this place is awesome. I had the steak tacos and they were fantastic. So cheap, too! Worth it!

The SO and I needed a place to eat that was quick, cheap, and with decent ratings in Chelsea, so we stumbled across this no-​frills Chinese-​owned Hispanic-​cooked taco shop in a prime area. I wasn’t expecting much based on the prices and the ambience and décor of the restaurant.
Décor: none. It feels like a ghetto Chinese take out spot, to be honest.
Service: the guy taking our orders was actually pretty nice.
Food: mediocre. You get what you pay for. For $ 5.75 I got the steak enchilada and it was edible, but one of the least exciting enchiladas I’ve had. I went with the green sauce and it was not spicy at all. The steak inside was acceptable, but doesn’t come close even to say, Chipotle steak. Too much cheese on top of the enchilada and the bottom tortilla was soaked in steak grease. The rice was okay and the beans were black beans, but almost mushy to the point of refried beans. My enchiladas also had green peppers and onions in them like they were fajitas… weird.
3 stars because it wasn’t disgusting, but wasn’t that great either. It was an okay meal for the price.

I moved here recently from SF and I’ve been looking long and hard for Mexican food that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’m happy to say that I found one! It’s hard to compare Mexican food outside of SF (because there’s so much good Mexican food there), but this place is as close as I’ve found so far that is near the quality of a Mission burrito. It’s not quite the same, but it’s still delicious! Their grilled chicken is smokey and fully of flavor. I eat here at least once a week. Definitely recommend for folks who love Mexican but on a budget.

Is it the best Mexican in NYC? Not by a long shot. But is it quick, tasty, and satisfying? 100%.
If you’re in the ‘hood and you need a quick bite, you can’t do much better than steak and guac on a fresh tortilla. With juicy bits of steak, sauteed onions, plenty of guac and salsa and sour cream in the bag, you’ll be in and out in a few minutes and only out about $ 3.50 including a bottle of Poland Spring.
Plus, they’ve got a handy mirror along the wall so you can check to see if anything’s in your teeth before you leave. I only mention this because several people felt the need to do so right in front of me as I was eating, which was quite appetizing.

They’re open until 11pm. Chicken burrito was $ 6.50. Overall, the burrito was satisfying and cheap. It’s not great Mexican food by any means, but you won’t have any trouble finishing the burrito. I would recommend you get the burrito without lettuce.

I’ve only ordered delivery from this place, so I can’t speak on the restaurant itself or staff. The food is really good (fresh) and cheap as ever. The delivery is insanely fast too, which is awesome and the food always arrives hot.
Recs: Nachos, enchiladas, and quesadillas — this is definitely my go to spot when i have a hankering for tex-​mex.
The only downside is that they close around 11ish daily. I really wish they’d stay open longer. This would be awesome for ultra late night grub.

Just saved my stomach from serious hunger pain… Stocked in the office for a late night, the delivery was prompt and if not the best Mexican food I ever had, the food felt delicious.
Thank you

These are truly, seriously my favorite tacos in the city. They’re massive and inexpensive in addition to being painfully delicious. I don’t know where they get the steak from but they seem to know exactly how to cook it down to the second.
It’s not often that I’ll go out of my way to go to a place to eat, but I do venture here. Guilty pleasure of sorts.

My friend loves this place and he orders from here regularly. It is a cheap & tasty place, def a place to go when you have been drinking and have those hunger pangs!
Was it good? It hit the spot.
Was it tasty? Yes, but lacking something.
Was it pricy? No.
Would I go back? Next time I am around & been drinking.

I came here today after a meeting around 2:15 PM. I came in and was immediately asked by one of the men behind the counter what I wanted. I let him know I wasn’t sure and I was still looking. I looked at the menu and I decided on 2 steak tacos with soft flour tortillas as opposed to the fried corn tortillas.
When they were ready, I was asked if it was to eat in or take out. I said I would take it to go. They were put in a bag with a small container of salsa and a small container of sour cream. When I went to eat it a few minutes later, I saw two containers in the bag. One had the salsa and I thought the other one was salsa so I dumped the salsa container on one steak taco. Only after I finished that steak taco did I realize the other container had sour cream not salsa. Oh well.
The steak was seasoned well but a little tough. Also the cheese was not melted on either taco. But then again at the price I paid I can’t expect perfection.