Bandolero

LOVE this place! It’s definitely different because the dishes are small and meant to share, but that is a fun way to dine with a group. With that being said, it can get pricey quickly if you have a big appetite. My boyfriend and I tasted each other’s plates and everything we ordered was delicious! The salsa trio is a great way to begin the meal – each salsa was so flavorful. I ordered the suckling pig tacos and they were also so flavorful. My boyfriend ordered the skirt steak. You get three and at first they looked so small to me so I felt like I was not getting what I was paying for, but by the end of the meal I was actually very comfortable-​not stuffed and not feeling hungry (which is obviously good after just eating out). My side was the sweet plantains which I definitely recommend!!! The atmosphere is dark but cool and the concept is great.

I recently returned to Bandolero after not eating there for about a year. I was so very disappointed! Everything was overwhelmingly spicy (and I love heat). The Brussels, which were amazing at my last visit, were soggy and not nearly as crispy as I would have preferred. Even the drinks weren’t nearly as good this time around. I suppose when Isabella pulled out of this restaurant, it started going downhill. I won’t be back!

Good but nothing special. The five of us went for lunch, and got a small amount of food for under $ 60. An interesting take on Mexican, but a bit pricey for what we received.
Id say it’s a great place to go to the bar and enjoy a drink or chips and salsa, but not for lunch or dinner unless you’re really craving Mexican.

A group of 5 of us came here on Friday night for a light dinner and some drinks before heading out to the Georgetown waterfront. It was kind of weird that they put us upstairs with literally nobody else, but it began to fill up a bit as the night went on. Service was pretty friendly and attentive and the food was nothing special– a bit overpriced. Honestly, the basic chicken quesadilla was my favorite thing that we got. I could have done without the Mahi Mahi tacos, the nachos, the brussel sprouts and the cauliflower… It’s not likely that I’ll end up here again.

My husband and I spotted this place last night and thought it looked good so we returned today for lunch!
At first we were a bit overwhelmed with the menu and didn’t really know where to start but we settled on 3 dishes from the main menu & one from the brunch menu to share. We went for tacos (suckling pig), a flatbread (campechano), a veg (roasted cauliflower) and an egg dish (chilaquiles). Which was plenty for two people. All the food was excellent, the tacos in particular.
The place has a bit of a student vibe, the restaurant was full and the majority were tables of large groups, probably due to the bottomless mimosas! There was a great atmosphere, but the room is quite dark!
My only complaint was the time is took to get the cheque. It was about 20 minutes from when our plates were cleared. Also there is only 1 female bathroom & 1 male bathroom, so there was a long line. If they are serving bottomless drinks in a large restaurant then need more bathrooms!

I’m still always surprised when I see Bandolero has such low ratings from past customers. I will admit, this isn’t a place you want to go if you’re trying to save a few bucks or if you’re on a time crunch. It is DEFINITELY a place you go to enjoy your food and enjoy the company you’re with!
I’ve been to Bandolero four times and I enjoyed it each and every time. The most recent time we had a group of 9 for Cinco de Mayo and we were able to get reservations easily about five days ahead of time. As you can imagine, it was extremely busy but I feel the staff did a great job keeping drinks coming and bringing food out to the tables.
We started off with the salsa trio and a couple margarita pitchers waiting for a few more of our party to arrive. Bandolero does NOT skip on the tequila in the margaritas I will give them that. They pack a nice alcohol punch if you’re into that kind of thing.
We all ordered shortly after a few drinks and the food came in a timely manner considering how many people were packed in there that evening. I got what I consider two of the best things on the menu: the Campechano and the Sucking Pig Tacos.
I know the SPT’s are a favorite of a lot of people that go there so you won’t see much but great reviews for those. The apple on top is sweet and crisp and the pork is tender and juicy. The mustard seeds that come on top also provide a little spice which I enjoy.
The campechano is my favorite thing there. It’s short ribs, chorizo, guajillo sauce and some cream. It’s freakin incredible. There is a ton of meat on it that’s so good but my favorite part about it though is that the edges of the bread are alllllllways a little charred. Love it.
I will mention also that our waiter brought us all tequila shots as we were paying for our check to say thank you! I’m not sure whether or not it was because it was Cinco de Mayo or whether it was because we spent a ton on food and drink. Either way it was appreciated.
I will be back!

I came to Bandolero for the first time a couple Saturdays ago.
It gives off a trendy restaurant vibe with the dim lighting. There are seats at the bar when you first walk in and plenty of tables all over the main seating area. This place can accommodate large groups with their seating.
I ordered a strawberry margarita ($ 9?), which was not watered down and had just the right amount of tequila. To eat, I ordered the crispy Mahi Mahi tacos ($ 12). I was quite disappointed with the portions. There were two tiny tacos — I ate them within two minutes and I was still hungry. I think that because this place is in Georgetown, they are able to charge exorbitant prices for minimal portions of food.
I came in a group of 11 people and the waiter immediately told us that he would not be able to do separate checks and that everyone would be charged the same amount of money. When my friend asked if we could split off because we weren’t comfortable picking up everyone else’s tab, he simply said, «I’ve been here since 9 AM. It would be a slippery slope if I allowed split checks.» So, it wasn’t that he couldn’t do separate checks, he just didn’t WANT to.
If you are looking to spend a pretty penny on Mexican food, I would recommend El Centro (also in Georgetown) instead.

This establishment looks really nice visually and the food is satisfactory.
However, beware while my daughter and two cousins ate dinner after a day of wedding dress shopping. My Louis Vuitton purse was lifted right off my chair. When I approached the OWNER to review the cameras that appear throughout the establishment she acted completely unconcerned. She said she would check on it. We waited then she came back and said; I have to be honest the cameras haven’t worked in months.
This is a high rent, high tourist area, she can’t afford to fix and run her cameras. I know there are free apps to run your cameras. Because I have one on my phone to monitor my home. Then she said I haven’t seen anyone shady in here tonight. I responded. I’m sorry what does shady look like? She seemed completely disconcerted and disconnected that one of her patrons had been robbed while eating dinner. She just looked at me with a disoriented affect. Then she said let me go check the locker room, 15 minutes later she returns to tell me. Well they (her employees) all have locks on their lockers.
Basically she didn’t care that a robbery had occurred in her restaurant. She never even said «I’m sorry «or anything remotely resembling regret.
Something that a normal person would say to another person under the circumstances.
It may look nice but definitely not safe. I’m just glad our drinks weren’t roofied also. A truly horrible experience.

Went here with a few friends a few weeks back for a birthday party/​dinner. We all ordered small plates like they have on the menu. The service was slow and after we left we counted up what we ordered and realized they ripped us off. They brought more food to the table than we had asked for and of course charged us for it. If you go with a large group make sure you keep track of what they drop off.
The taste of the food, I will say was great, the extra food they brought out was not. I am not sure if they really made a mistake or just figured with a large group they could add food to the bill and we wouldn’t notice till after. And who wants to complain at birthday dinner in front of the other guests.

We came here for a drink on Friday night while waiting to go bowling. The margaritas were super strong i had the El Bandolero and could only handle one! It wasn’t a very busy night so the atmosphere and service were quite nice.
The food menu looked really good but unfortunately I didn’t have time to order food but will definitely return to try a few items on the menu.

3.5 Stars
Visited Bandolero this past weekend for a friend’s birthday dinner. Our group consisted of 14 people and they were accommodating to the large group, which was a plus (dinner started at 6). However, my friend’s fiancé who set up the dinner did say that when he called the day before to confirm — they had never originally taken down his reservation. So… if you’re making reservations… definitely double check they wrote it down!
We were seated in the back near the kitchen. The place itself was pretty nice. Not too big, but spacious enough. Our waiter (Barack — very easy to remember his name!) was very friendly and helpful. He initially wanted to split the check evenly, but we advised him in advance that that just wasn’t going to work out since some of us were ordering drinks and some were not. If we stuck to the true tapas style then I understand splitting evenly, but we weren’t doing that in this case. Anyways, at first he seemed annoyed. but he handled the situation extremely well! Everyone was basically in a pair of two, so he gave each pair and number and when we ordered our food/​drinks — we’d just tell him what number to put it under.
Food — very good! I ordered the suckling pig tacos, hiramasa ceviche, queso, and tried the crazy corn too. The suckling pig tacos were delicious! I loved the apple toppings — gave it a nice sweet flavor. It was missing the spicy factor though! Some of my friends said it was spicy, but I love spicy foods and it had no heat to it. Hirmasa ceviche had thinly sliced yellowtail (?) laid across the plate and topped with a mango salsa. Super fresh and light! Loved it. The queso was extremely heavy, but was also good. They crack an egg in it, which was a bit differently, but definitely added to a creamy consistency. The crazy corn was very good, I loved the additional crunch you got from the corn nuts.
So, overall yes. the food was good BUT and this is a big BUT… I don’t think it was satisfying enough for the price point. Each tapa was $ 10-​$ 12. In my opinion, I think that’s way too pricey for tapas even if you’re expected to share. $ 12 for three tiny tacos. that’s $ 4/​taco 0_​o

Bandolero has some star dishes. However, this it isn’t a restaurant I’d return to for a full dinner. I’d come back for a few dishes and/​or happy hour.
To start with the positive, their queso and street corn both were ‘wow’ worthy. The queso dish was a relatively large quantity and ‘lick off your bowl’ worthy. The street corn was also a really unique.
The bad:
–I made reservations in advance on a pretty empty night, and they put me in a really terrible location. Probably the worst table in the entire restaurant. Immediately I felt uncomfortable and requested a move. They were able to accommodate me because there were plenty of free tables, but I was annoyed to begin with that my reservation didn’t afford me better seating.
–Our waitress offered us salsa to start off the meal. We assumed it was free because salsa at most Mexican restaurants is free. But it definitely wasn’t free — in fact it was 8 dollars I believe.
–We also asked for a chips refill, and they charged us for it! Come on, guys.
–Tacos were pretty small. Skirt steak and suckling pig were both pretty tasty though.
–Enchilado Roja tasted weird.
–Margs are very expensive and not very good. Definitely not worth the price point when you can get 6 dollar amazing margaritas as places like Lauriol Plaza. If I’m making $ 11+ on a cocktail, it better be special.
There are a lot of amazing restaurants in DC these days, Bandolero needs to improve in order to compete. There is clearly a reason why they were so empty on a Friday night.

We came here after bowling with a few friends and it was a cute place to walk into. They have two floors and the music was fun. Except in the middle of our dinner, they turned up the music so loud, we weren’t able to hear our waiter and what they were bringing and the person next to me had to shout what they were saying. call me old.
We did not do tapas style since there was so many of us, but I have to say i was surprised by the food I did have. We ordered the following.
LA MUESTRA
guacamole, masa crisps, chicharrones, 3 salsas $ 17
–Wish there was more guacamole, the masa crisps were just chips, but the chicharrones were really good with some heat. The 3 salsas were also really good.
SUCKLING PIG tacos
apple, habanero mustard $ 12
They tacos were the size of smaller than your palm, but i was impressed by the tenderness and flavor of the pork.
CRISPY BRUSSELS
coconut-​habanero sauce, lemon vinaigrette (v) $ 8
The coconut-​habanero was super flavorful
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
citrus yogurt, mint, cotija cheese, shaved red onions $ 8
The citrus yogurt was amazingly good. I think the yogurt could have been put on top of anything and it would have made that veggie so good.
I didn’t have the TUNA TAQUITOS, but they were 4 tiny little tacos about the size of a sushi roll.
Overall I really enjoyed the food here and would like to come back and try the other tacos and maybe the crazy corn. I know it was a tapas’s place and we all pretty much ordered our own dishes, but it was weird when some of us got food in the beginning of dinner and some of us got them at the end. As i am sure the waitress knew we all just ordered our own dishes.

Came to Georgetown looking for a place for dinner and stumbled upon Bandolera. The vibe seemed fun so we decided to give it a try. Our server was friendly and made some tapa suggestions and was overall accommodating. I guess for Georgetown this place is acceptable. But none of the food blew me away and since this is tapas style, at $ 5 a bite, I couldn’t justify it at the end of the night. The presentation of the food was adorable, tiny and cute. I am a sucker for little cute things. But I do have a big appetite so $ 11 – 15 tapas will run you up. I can’t even remember what we ate, it was okay, just not memorable. I did enjoy the blood orange margarita but not worth coming back for. I wouldn’t dismiss coming back to Bandolero but it wouldn’t be my first, second, or third option.

Definitely not worth the price. Probably the worst tapas I’ve had.
It was expensive and super dark. I ordered the mahi mahi which tasted cheap and was seriously over-​sauced. I could barely taste the fish because there was so much sauce on it, which also leads me to think it was cheap fish.
The service was not great. Their water pouring system is so dumb — they have tiny glasses on the table and the waiter comes around every once in a blue moon to refill these tiny, child-​size glasses.
They also give you one serving’s worth of chips with your guac. We had a party of 7 (SEVEN!) people and were originally given two small baskets of chips which is insane considering how many of us there were and how most other restaurants in DC (El Centro, Lauriol Plaza, etc) are much more generous with their chips.
Would not return. Seriously not worth the money.

Wonderful experience! I stumbled upon this gem while hanging out in Georgetown. It’s a tapas bar so you are supposed to eat a bunch of smaller appetizer-​sized dishes instead of a standard entrée with sides. This a la carte style makes it a little more pricier but the quality of the food is fantastic.
The chef knows what (s)he is doing. I ordered a pan-​seared salmon and suckling pig tacos. While the portions were small for the price, the food was made with quality ingredients. I split chips and salsa with my friend as well. This came with 3 distinct and unique types of salsa. Each complemented the other and it was a great and flavorful experience.

For the food itself, no price tag attached, I would give this place five stars. I had the fortune of coming here for a recruiting event and everything was delicious. Shout out to the vegetable tlayuda — a sort of mexican flatbread that had the crust of a thin pizza and amazing toppings of pure deliciousness. I still don’t quite know what exactly was on it — the explanation mentioned mushrooms, goat cheese, and truffle oil. Whatever it was, everything came together very well and paired with the crispy flatbread made a great combination.
The chicken and steak tacos were both decent as well but the other thing I’d like to call out is the Blue crab taco. I only had the fortune to eat one of these delectable morsels but man, it was delicious. The shell of this one is a crispy blue corn taco as opposed to the mini flour tortillas that were used for the others. The filling was full of crab meat, with hardly any fillers but plenty of flavor.
My one caveat with this place is the tacos are small, and pricey. For example, the crab tacos were smaller than the palm of my hand but close to $ 4 to $ 5 off the menu. However, even at that price, I’ll probably be back.

Bandolero is a delicious Mexican tapas place located in the heart of Georgetown. We visited for dinner after a long day of exploring DC. We didn’t even have to wait very long without reservations on a Saturday night, which was great!
My favorite part of the meal was probably the crab guacamole. Such an amazing combination and excellent start to the meal! We also ordered a number of other tapas, including: Quesadilla (chicken, veggie, or steak, queso, avocado-​poblano sauce, lime crema), seared scallops (squid ink fennel apple purée, chestnut salsa, epazote oil), tuna taquito (ginger, sesame, sweet potato, malanga shells), and shrimp fundido (guajillo tomato sauce, scallions, tequila, chihuahua cheese, lime juice).
We also ordered the tequila. It was spicy!
The only downside, probably, is that the food was on the heartburn-​inducing side of spicy. Even for someone who loves spicy foods, my esophagus burned a bit after this dinner. And for someone like my darling bf, who has a general intolerance of spicy foods, it was less than pleasant. So keep that in mind!
But other than that, it’s a great place for date night and it’s good for a group as well.

HAPPY HOUR sun-​fri 4 – 7 pm! loving the inclusion of Sundays for HH so i can shop & then relax with drinks
HH In the front bar area only! Food looked good but I didn’t try anything but my friends did
Great $ 5 finger foods options & the HH portion may be a bit smaller than normal portions on most dishes but still a great deal!
—Chips with salsa or guacamole
—Nachos
—Tacos
Sit by the front window! Staff is really wonderful

This is definitely a place you want to go with a group. The bigger group you have, the more things you can try. We originally went for Restaurant week but ended up going off that menu and eating from the regular fare.
I arrived late so I didn’t get to try all the food ordered, but still managed to eat enough to fill me up. We ordered a pitcher of the Bandolero marguarita; they ran out of pitcher, so they ended up serving 6 glasses of the marguaritas. We only had 3 people drinking the marguaritas, so they served it to the 3 of us as we finished off our previous glasses and were really good about it. Loved the marguarita! Great service– we’d order a few things at once throughout the meal and our waiter (sorry, didn’t catch the name) was really great at getting all of our particulars. One of our group has a very strict diet but he didn’t even blink when she requested for the tortillas to be switched to corn and to hold the avocado.
*Salsa Trio is AMAZING– also apparently costs money (I arrived late so I didn’t know my friends had ordered it off the menu) but I don’t regret asking for more. So, so tasty!
*Tomatillo Cucumber Gazpacho: Super light and refreshing. Loved the spoonfuls that I had– delicious!
*Cripsy Mahi Mahi & Suckling Pig tacos– both were really great and had a good balance of texture (crispy mahi mahi, crispy apples paired with the softness of tortillas and suckling pig).
*Crispy Brussel Sprouts– liked it a lot although I did wish that it had more of a kick.
*Sweet plaintains– could not stop eating more. once we got started, they went pretty quickly.
*Queso is apparently amazing as well, although I got there a little too late. It was all but ‘licked clean’ according to my friends!
Desserts:
Coconut cookies were sticky and chewy but really great. Chocolate mousse cake was so rich that I couldn’t have more than one bite. The Tres Leches was the best of the three, in my opinion. Refreshing and much lighter than I had expected.
Overal: solid ⁴⁄₅. I really enjoyed my time here, and would definitely come back!