Mexican restaurants they're a dime a dozen, but fine-dining ones with genuine Mexican cuisine, elegant environment, and top-of-the-line customer service, are very rare to find. So naturally when I heard of the newly opened Bandidos Tacos & Cantina Restaurant, located at the Rosedale apartment complex in Lynchburg, Virginia, owned and operated by brothers Alejandro Arellano and Jesus Roberto Arellano, sons of the well known and very popular, La Carreta Mexican Restaurant, I had to take a drive to Lynchburg to experience first hand what the hype was all about. In addition to Bandidos, the owners also co-own the trendy "Hueso Loco" in downtown Lynchburg and Jesus Roberto Arellano also operates "Papa Gallo" at the River Ridge Mall.
And what can I tell you, my high expectations of this new Mexican Restaurant were not only highly realized but amazingly so. As I approached the restaurant shortly after they had opned at three o'clock in the afternoon, the simple, yet beautiful contemporary architectural design of the building with a fenced outdoor patio with tables with pink umbrellas, and a counter with windows adjacent to the indoor bar, and with a gigantic, colorful skull head decorating the area, I knew that I was into something good.
Once inside, I was pleasantly surprised by the extraordinary decor of the place. Creative and one-of-a-kind items such as the Host's station in the form of a large stock pot, a beautiful designed open waiting area, an open kitchen where you could watch the flames rising as the enthusiastic cooks prepared your food, a lit around bar with interesting design stools, booths that were elegant yet comfortable, electric candles that looked so real, and a ceiling that itself was a work of art with a colorful ceiling mural, giant lamp shades hanging down, and an amazing colorful blown glass ceiling sculpture at the the entrance.
The restaurant had just opened its doors and yet it already had customers seated at some of its booths and at the bar. A friendly young lady greeted and gave me a warm welcome, escorting me to a booth in the back of the restaurant with a nice view of the open kitchen and the bar, where I could watch the action of the cooks cooking and the bartenders crafting premium cocktails and mixiology. Even though their drink menu included three interesting Mocktails, they were flexible enough to make me a Virgin Mango Frozen Margarita. I had an opportunity to meet one of the co-owners in person who was behind the bar at the time seeing that everything went as scheduled. He was very friendly and kind, and very impressed when he found out that the 4th on the list of the Top 50 Most Prolific Yelp Elites came to dine and write a review on the experience.
Not long after my server Paula, who was fluid was very friendly, efficient, and spoke fluid Englis, came by and took my order. I started out with a few appetizers. First I had a Carnitas Street Taco. The presentation was splendid and the taste was amazingly delicious. The carnitas were well marinated and cooked just right. Second I had 3ct of Beef Empanadas. They came covered with chopped lettuce, tomatoes and a special sauce. They tasted amazing. I loved the shredded beef inside, which was tasty and juicy. Then I had what I always look for in restaurant's menu and hardly ever find the genuine one. This was the Pork Belly Guac: a crunchy crispy chicharron paired with fresh guacamole. The genuine "pork belly" or "chicharron" is a cut of fried pork skin that has a piece of pork meat included with the pig fried skin and fat. The one you usually see is the crackling fat one. In the one served here, they should have fried it a bit longer so the fat would be more crunchy, but it did had a nice piece of meat attached. For my main course I had the Texas Fajitas Grill. It had high-quality chicken, steak, and shrimp. The only thing missing wad that my server didn't bring it out while the skillet was still sizzling, as I saw another server do. But since the restaurant just opened, she needs more experience with the timing of bringing out the food. However, the quality of the ingredients, way they were marinated and cooked was superb.
As the Grand Finale I had a Tres Leches that was exquisite, but immensely large. Two person could easily share one, especially after having a large meal. And finally what impressed me the most was the very reasonable prices for the items on the menu
In conclusion, I highly recommend this authentic Mexican restaurant with some unique items on the menu. I had an extraordinary dining experience there. read more