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604-568-8224
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2781 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5N 4C5
Mexican cuisine menu with veggie tacos, burritos, and nachos. Brunch daily until 3pm. Large community table seating. Also operates a food truck. Open Mon-Fri 12:00am-12:00am, Mon-Sun 9:00am-12:00am, Sat-Sun 12:00am-1:00am.
Category: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, Ovo, Mexican
Reviews (27)
First Review by christine_bean
Contributions +46
Funky & Charming Mexican Restaurant with Delicious Vegan Options! - Edit
Bandidas Taqueria is a funky Mexican restaurant in the hip neighbourhood of Commercial Drive. Their menu features lots of vegan-friendly and gluten-free versions of classic Mexican meals and dishes like tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, etc.
I ordered four of their mix and match tacos, all of which were very flavourful, unique and delicious. My favourite was the one with roasted pineapple! Their vegan horchata made with soy milk was also amazing.
The restaurant was cozy and casual and had a relaxed, charming and welcoming vibe and the decor was unique as well. There were large windows at the front, allowing in lots of natural light and the interior was spacious with lots of seating. The service was friendly and fast as well. The music was quite loud but other than that, I loved my experience eating here.
I would recommend Bandidas Taqueria for anyone wanting healthy, vegan and gluten-free Mexican food for a great price. I will definitely eat here again when I return to Vancouver.
Pros: Vegan and Gluten-Free Options, Delicious Mix and Match Tacos, Welcoming, Relaxed and Cozy Atmosphere
Cons: Loud Music
Contributions +42
Best meal I ate in Vancouver - Edit
My husband and I took a recent trip to Vancouver and we ate breakfast here. It ended up being my favorite meal of the trip. I had the vegan benny. Amazing!
Contributions +121
Absolutely amazing!!! - Edit
I have been here an uncountable number of times because I love this place so much. The burritos are such an amazing price and you get a big sized portion and they taste like heaven. I have taken meat eaters here too and they love it. It is so delicious I would eat it every day if it was closer to where I lived. I love you Bandidas!!!!!!
Pros: Most delicious burritos in Vancouver, Cheap, Big portions
Contributions +20
tacos y burritos - Edit
My new favourite restaurant, shared enchiladas, burritos and tacos, got everything veganized, delicious.
Pros: veganizable menu, close to sky train, whole foods
Contributions +501
Amazing! - Edit
I can't believe I'd never been here before. One of my friends told me this place was ok but not on the must try list. I disagree. I REALLY liked this place. I only ordered a small lunch because I knew we were having a huge dinner later. I regret not ordering more. I had the tacos with the walnuts and apple and they were the best tacos I've ever eaten! My husband ordered a huge enchilada and I'm surprised he finished it. It was ginormous. The only downside is we went at a weird time during the day and it was still packed. The music is insanely loud but the food was totally worth it. Sad they didn't stay 24 hrs like they had planned to earlier in the year.
Pros: Best tacos!, Interesting flavour combinations, Neat artwork
Cons: Very loud, Always seems to be busy
Contributions +52
Why do I keep going back? - Edit
Update:
I gave this place another shot a few months ago (which took a lot of convincing) and I'm glad I did. The attitude of the servers has changed from majorly snotty and stuck up to friendly and accommodating. The food has drastically improved and I order the drool worthy enchilada almost every time I go. The vegan caesars are killer and loaded with picked carrots which I could eat all day every day forever and ever. The one continuing problem is the wait. It is always packed and I've waited almost an hour before. It'll be nice when they complete the renovations and expand so this problem becomes less of a deterrent. It's also going to be 24 hours! Awesome!!
I'll tell you why, because I like creative vegan mexican food. I make it on the regular at home and it's a staple. However, this place has been bland time after time and the staff are simply horrible people. The flavours have improved a bit and the portions are a good size for the price but being treated like a POS is not the way you want to be treated when spending your hard earned dollars in any establishment. I'm always surprised at how packed it is considering how awful the staff are. I can't go back based on principle at this point. My tacos are pretty darn tasty too so I'm stacking to home cooking these days.
Updated from previous review on Monday October 20, 2014
Pros: Lots of vegan options, Huge portions, cool atmosphere
Cons: Lineup, took a long time to improve, they serve animal products
Contributions +30
THE BOMB DIGITY - Edit
This place is one of my favourites living here in Vancouver, fresh from T.O. It is always lovely to pop over to Commercial Drive to grab my delicious vegan tacos and burritos, I love the Wolf and Goat taco/burrito. I usually get a whole bunch of different ones like the Leona Gayle and the Connie's. Whatever you get it is going to be great. Price is great for what you get!!
Pros: DELICIOUS, GREAT PRICE, Easy to Veganize!
Cons: Would love to see an updated interior!, I'm imagining like a rustic desert look, It would be bomb
Contributions +49
Great vegan options! - Edit
They have amazing vegan and vegetarian options here, I dont think i've seen any meat on the menu. Mostly everything can be turned into a vegan dish here! Their nachos are great, and I think it's called the 'wolf' taco, but that was great too. The food is always super fresh tasting and the staff love to joke and laugh with you. I also had a vegan spiked horchatta, it was a bit strong imo but it was very good. Went there twice, both with my vegan friends and my meat eater friends and everyone loved it!
Pros: vegan otions, fresh food, interesting
Cons: very busy
Contributions +13
best veg enchilada ever!!! - Edit
order the chipotle tofu enchilada with the house salad!!! soooooo good ❤️
Pros: good side salad, good portions, cool atmosphere
Cons: slow service, busy (long wait time), cramped
Contributions +26
Really like it! - Edit
Having just read the last review of Bandidas I'm surprised by how different that person's experiences have been to mine! I've never had terrible service (although I admit I've had some definite apathetic service there) and I've always found the food to be really tasty. Particularly the enchiladas. I usually order the same thing each time because it's so good. It's usually packed and noisy, but I like it. The prices are reasonable too.
I only have one negative point to add: when my friend from the UK visited she went here by herself, and being the first restaurant in Canada she went to didn't realise that tipping 15% is the norm here (it isn't in the UK). After paying the bill and walking out, the server literally chased after her telling her she thought she was being rude for not tipping! Whilst I can totally understand that not tipping would indeed be insulting to the server, it was genuinely an honest mistake to make and my friend left feeling completely mortified. I'm sure this could have been dealt with in a kinder way.
Pros: Tasty enchiladas, Daiya cheese can be subbed, Good prices
Cons: Noisy, Not always very engaging staff, Long waits for tables sometimes
Contributions +76
Great vegan breakfast - Edit
Love the vegan breakfast options. Especially Huevos Ranchero-style tofu scramble.
Contributions +6088
Healthy, Delicious Mexican Food - Edit
Based on other HappyCow reviews, I had a feeling this restaurant was going to be a good choice.
It was later in the evening, and most veg-type restaurants close in Vancouver. Not Bandidas! They were open until 1AM.
Upon arriving, after looking through the window at what others had ordered, I had even a better feeling about this restaurant.
I ordered the tostadas with vegan cheese. Yes, this is a vegetarian restaurant, but all of the dishes can be made vegan. My dish was wonderful. Flavorful without being too salty or spicy. A fresh habanero sauce was put on our table, and I decided to spice things up a bit on my plate.
The portions was ample, the prices were reasonable, and the food was delivered to our table very quickly.
This restaurant is one of my favorites in Vancouver.
Pros: Fast service, delicious food
Contributions +174
Busy, and with good reason - Edit
Like a lot of the good restaurants we went to in Vancouver, this one is randomly located on a road that otherwise looks like a suburban strip mall. It was very busy, and we soon found out why - the portions are large, and the food is tasty and filling. Recommended.
Contributions +167
A really cool find - Edit
This Mexican vegetarian restaurant is in a great area with lots of other veg eateries and health food shops nearby. I had the fajitas and they were excellent. I was dining with two omnivores and they were both happy with their meals too. For dessert we had the vegan choco-chip coconut cake. It was excellent and one slice was big enough for three to share!
It was open till 12am so i went back for take-out later on. I got the house salad with tofu. It was great and i'd definitely come back. A really cool place with friendly staff.
Pros: Good food, Plenty of vegan choice, Friendly staff
Contributions +156
amazing! love it - Edit
This is one of my favourite Mexican spots They are fully vegetarian so I don't have to worry about finding some meat in my food as it happens in those "vegetarian friendly" places.
I've been to Bandidas only once and I ordered soft tacos and tortilla soup. Besides that I also had their homemade lemonade. Everything was delicious and I will come back for sure.
Pros: Delicious food, Vegetarian! No meat, Lots of options
Cons: far from downtown :(, small restaurant, not enough sitting
Contributions +151
Yummy - Edit
I had the Ronny Russell in a bowl as I wanted it gluten and corn free. I also had it vegan.
It was a yummy bowl of food with roasted yams , blackbeans , avo , rice , and cabbage. It was very good and tasty.
I also had gluten free and vegan apple crumble. Very good.
Pros: Big portion, Yummy, Good price
Contributions +385
I had Better Brekky - Edit
title says all
Cons: busy, tight, line up
Contributions +1652
Great burritos! - Edit
Everything here is vegetarian and can be veganized, they have vegan sour cream and Daiya cheese. You don't even need it! The Ronny Russell burrito with roasted yams and onions and the trimmings is my favourite! The enchiladas are also super tasty.
Problem is there is always a longish wait outside and the dining room is quite noisy but the food is worth it.
Pros: Vegan options
Cons: Long waits outside, tables close together
Contributions +293
My go-to restaurant on The Drive - Edit
My favorite is the Stella burrito, but I've pretty much tried them all.I love how you can veganize anything. It's all pretty fantastic.
I also adore their two-bite vegan brownies and I any time I see that they have their vegan apple crumble on the desert board I almost always get it.
Depending on the time of day it can get pretty busy so sometimes you'll have to wait a bit. It's worth it though because you get a great meal in a really nice atmosphere with pretty helpful staff.
Pros: lots of vegan options for dinner/lunch, great atmosphere, good value
Cons: new breakfast menu not as vegan-friendly
Contributions +378
Great vegan burritos! - Edit
The jicama salad is really good, and the vegan nachos with homemade sour cream are good too. The vegan burritos made enchilada style are still my favourite though! For drinks, the vegan horchata is delicious, and the hibiscus ice tea is very refreshing.
Updated from previous review on Saturday May 29, 2010
Contributions +60
Walnut filling on homemade tortillas - Edit
Bandidas makes their own corn tortillas and fills them six different ways. My favorite is the Camillo which is filled with a spicy breaded walnut mix. The crunch really gives it a nice heartiness. Poblano pepper stuffed with beans and rice makes a great dish of comfort food. The soy milk horchata is my favorite. But don't miss the vegan two-bite brownie.
Pros: Lots of options, homemade tortillas, environmentally low impact
Cons: can be busy, parking may be hard to find
Contributions +42
Yes please! - Edit
I was sceptical upon entrance (it was noisy and crowded), but it was so good! I got the vegan burrito and some kind of salad (the name escapes me), and both were absolutely delicious.
The service was okay. They were friendly enough, and there were no problems with our food. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pros: good portions, yummy
Cons: crowded/loud at times
Contributions +1990
Vegan-friendly and eco-friendly - Edit
Having grown up near the Mexican border, i'm a bit spoiled when it comes to Mexican cuisine and i tend to be reluctant to try Mexican food restaurants too far from the source because i'm usually disappointed, but i couldn't resist the temptation of a vegan-friendly, eco-friendly Mexican joint while passing through Vancouver. The three items i sampled at Bandidas didn't disappoint - they didn't blow me away, but they definitely didn't disappoint. The enchiladas with mole were quite tasty (though i'm not partial to the vegan "cheese" so next time i'd order without).
What i didn't love about Bandidas was the atmosphere: it was quite noisy, and the servers i had weren't especially friendly - they did their business efficiently and after taking my order didn't speak a word to me even though i was sitting right at the counter. They were busy, and it showed. If i were to return, it would probably be only during off-peak hours.
What i *did* love about Bandidas was their commendable efforts toward sustainability (which you can read about on their website). For that, i add a fourth star to what otherwise would've been a three-star review. I look forward to the day when more restaurants follow suit...
Pros: vegan-friendly, laudable efforts toward sustainability
Cons: noisy, not the best service when busy
Contributions +58
Good Mexican style cuisine and has IMPROVED! - Edit
I was just here again, last Thursday Sept 30, 2010 after an absence of a year.
I think they might be reading these critiques, as my points were all addressed!!
1) They now provided, free of charge, some tortilla and gaucamole for my lunch.
2) The price, for a very large burrito with salad, was now reasonable, around $10.50
3) Portions are much much improved: I finished all of my meal, including a delicious salad. However, my lunch partner only could consume half of their burrito!!
So, I am now moving up my recommendation to 5 stars!!
Way to go Bandidas!!!
Been here a few times. They have a pretty good variety on the menu. But I would agree with other reviewers that the cost is high for the portion provided. They aren't very generous, and charge for every little thing ie don't provide you with salsa and tortilla chips for free like non-veggie Mexican restaurants.
I would go again, as the food tasted good, but would like to see them lower the prices.
Updated from previous review on Thursday November 19, 2009
Pros: Tastes good, Cool place, Good portion size
Cons: Much better value now
Contributions +23
Busy place, decent value for money. - Edit
A group of 5 of us went here on a Sunday. We knew from reading reviews on other sites that it would be busy -- they serve brunch until 3 pm daily, as well as the regular menu. We got there about 1:35 and waited 1/2 hour for a table. That was ok, we expected it. If there were fewer of us, we would have been seated earlier. Due to the full restaurant, it started out a bit noisy but settled down after about 2:30.
Everyone ordered something different, and everyone liked their meal. Only 2 of us are vegetarian -- it's good when omnivores like it too. I was a little disappointed by mine, The Vegan. It didn't have as much spice as I had expected in the tofu scramble. I had some bites of my husband's meal, a baked burrito. Very nice.
The drinks come in glass mason jars. They have regular coffee and tea as well as herbals, organic soft drinks and a full bar menu.
The portions were so big, no one could even consider dessert but everyone except me finished their meal.
Service was ok, nothing special. Nice selection of music.
One huge bonus of this place is that they strive to be carbon-neutral. They have composting behind the building and receive their deliveries by bike or on foot, not by delivery trucks.
Overall this is a nice addition to the Vancouver veg. restaurant scene and I would recommend this place over the Naam (similar type of place) any day, partly for the better selection of vegan options and better selection in general.
Pros: good selection of vegan options, carbon-neutral!, good value for money
Cons: can be busy/need to wait
Contributions +16
A great addition to the Vancouver vegetarian scene - Edit
This is a welcome addition to an area of Vancouver with surprisingly few vegetarian options despite its alternative community feel. The restaurant is casual and friendly and the food is tasty. Although I would argue that the food is more expensive than it should be for what you get, the best part of this restaurant is that they will veganize any menu option for you, replacing eggs with yams, cheese with Vegan Gourmet cheese, and sour cream with their delicious in-house vegan sour cream.
Pros: good food, vegan options, casual atmosphere
Cons: slightly pricey for what it is
Contributions +28
Tasty - Edit
I really enjoyed the food here. It is unique, slightly off the mainstream of mexican food, but very tasty and flavourful. Very reasonable prices. The atmosphere and staff are open and friendly, however the decor leaves room for improvement (not very mexican at all). Overall a great little place to eat.
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