This place will always have a soft spot in my heart. Moved here in 2000 at 16 and whenever I'm in the area I HAVE to stop here. Really wish the other locations hadn't shut down. This one is the last of a dying breed of great, quick, and delicious Mexican fare. Wish I had pictures to post but the food doesn't always last that long. I normally get the super burrito with chicken but sometimes I spice it up with chorizo. Messy but delicious! read more

Im writing this one for the unhappy reviewer who stopped while on a road trip, just to clarify the La Bamba experience for any other Yelpers. La Bamba is a college town restaurant, famous for serving burritos to drunk college students when the drunk parade starts after the bars close. La Bamba burritos as big as your head are well loved and well remembered by many Big 10 students. The Madison location used to be just off State Street, but moved out to the burbs some years ago. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very cold and cafeteria style; get your food, eat and get on your way. I would not go here for a sit down Mexican meal. Most folks go for one thing - the burritos. My personal fave is the mini combo con todo! Including that famous hot sauce. It's been sixteen years since I graduated college, but every time we drive by East Wash we have to jump off 94 to get a La Bamba. You crave them, wolf them down, and then think, meh. It's alright. (Not as good as at 3:00 a.m. after many many cheap tap beers). The tacos are good as well, and they do have pastor. I even pack a cooler and haul some up to my old college roomie in Mnpls. Hint: they taste even better the next day, after refrigeration for a day, and they do freeze well. So if you want to try this wonderful burrito as big as your head experience, have at it. If you want a nice Mex-American meal with frozen margaritas, this is not your place. read more

I really like the tacos here, they are on soft corn tortillas. Tuesday and Sunday are .99 tacos. My friend tried the nachos and didn't like it, the chips were a bit stale and when we they asked if we wanted everything on it, we said yes, expecting the normal toppings but they threw lettuce on the hot fake nacho cheese and sour cream. I have back to this place a few times and I've learned my lesson to always get the tacos. Great price and fills me up. read more

Just as the one in Monona, I like La Bamba. They have very raw, "you know what you're eating" food. A lot of people who will probably low-rate this place prefer places like Pedros or Taco Bell with mystery sauces and fake ingredients abound. The food here is amazing with my favorite being the Veggie Nachos and Bean/avocado burrito. Hot sauce adds a lot of flavor to both and is absolutely necessary in my opinion to get the full experience. read more

We ordered two "steak" burritos and two veggie burritos and had them delivered. They were 95% iceberg lettuce and white rice...and the veggie ones were ordered with NO RICE. What a ripoff! There has to be a better Mexican restaurant in Madison! read more

Their steak burrito is KING! Their burritos are as close to a Cali burrito as you'll find around these parts. I was so sad when the La Bamba in Appleton closed. Now we visit the Madison location whenever we are in town. Still one of my favorite burritos to this day!! read more

Love this place. Good, fresh made food, that is not to pricey. It might be a chain, but does not taste like it. The hot sauce had something that so many other sauces don't have, flavor. This sauce brings a good heat, but has a flavor to it that adds to your meal. read more

Service was quick, people are friendly, able to explain menu items. I ordered the Quesadilla and it was huge. Very good. The only negative was it could have been warmer. read more

This is exactly the type of Mexican joint you would expect in a college town. It's fairly cheap, fast, and they are open late as fuck on the weekends so you can sop up all that alcohol you just drank. Although the burritos are their main advertising point I would say they are about on par with chipotle. If you go on Sunday or Tuesday the beef tacos are on sale and you can get three for under 4 dollars, which is what I go there for. The hot sauce is really, really good so make sure you get some extra. read more

I have to say that I love the super nachos they have here they are covered in juicy meat and beautiful cheese with all the toppings. But when it comes to tacos they are dry and not exactly exploding in flavor like the nachos. I've heard that when you go you should always have one of the right cooks making you're tacos I wasn't told which one but I'm assuming I didn't get the right one because they weren't good at all. If it wasn't for the nachos and the fact the people were very nice while making the food I wouldn't be giving them 3 stars. ( Side note, I don't know the name of the guy but if you want good tacos the guy with the mustache is the best cook there, at least that's what I'm assuming because there is only ever 2 people there he was one of them) read more

La Bamba is a pretty good cheap, 'authentic' Mexican food joint. It's the closest I've been able to find to the taco trucks I'm used to from back home in California. Is it perfect? No, but it's close. The super burritos are huge, loaded with stuff, and pretty tasty. My only real complaint is the cheese they use. They use sliced cheese on the burritos and liquid cheese on the nachos. They should shell our for shredded cheese to put them over the top. And maybe black beans, in place of refried pinto beans I suggest the asada burrito, add rice. Make sure you ask for extra hot sauce as it's really good. read more

I love this restaurant. We usually do Uber eats from here and I am never disappointed. The beans and rice are super tasty. They usually come with every dish. The cheese quesadilla an the chicken enchiladas are great! Both dishes are cheesy and have wonderful flavor. The prices here are super cheap for everything that you get. I will definitely order from here again. read more

What a terrible experience. We have been on a road trip vacation for two weeks and we have relied on yelp for dinner every night. This was the first time we have had a bad meal. The tortilla chips were room temperature and tasted like they had been sitting out for three weeks. Three chicken taco salads at $8.50 each were tiny and were without chicken, beans or cheese. They were basically rice and lettuce on a plate. There was no value whatsoever in our meals. We would have been better off at Qdoba across the street to Chipolte a couple of doors down. Don't waste your time or money. read more

Love this place! I am working on my Spanish and I ordered in Spanish. They were very patient with me and kind I got exactly what I ordered and it was delicious!! read more

The food has gone steeply downhill here. The burritos are soggy and flavorless. Avoid the "beef" tacos. The filling is mostly cornmeal and it looks like pig diarrhea in a tortilla. The guacamole has more cilantro and sour cream in it than anything. Not sure if it even had avocados in it. Don't get the onions after 3pm. They start tasting distinctively fishy after that. Pretty sure these have made me sick on multiple occasions. Seriously, this place is like the archetypical "crappy Chinese food that takes too long to make" of the Mexican food world. Go to La Mestiza, A La Braza. Or even Taco Bell before you set foot in this place. read more

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in town because the food is delicious. The burritos and the retried beans are awesome. The people who work there are friendly and always happy to see people in. Good place to catch a soccer game, and the hot sauce is great. read more

Steve L put it as good as one can say: "It's a college town burrito chain..." If I was drunk, it was late and I wanted to eat something, this would suffice. However, sober, its disgusting. There are only refried beans. The fillings in a veggie burrito consist of rice and hot sauce and refried beans. Mexican, its not. Good it is not. Cheap, I guess. There is better out there. There is much better out there. read more

Having just moved to Madison from Los Angeles, CA, I have been fiending for some legit tacos. I just tried La Bambas Tacos Al Pastor, and while they aren't what you'll get at a taco truck in East L.A., they are pretty darn good. My friends and I consider ourselves Taco Aficionados, and I will say that the 5 tacos and large horchata has me full and thoroughly satisfied. Definitely a must-try for some pretty-darn-close-to-110% authentic tacos. read more

My guess is that their burritos do not typically feature plastic in the filling, but I will not be returning a second time to find out if this was an accident or a trend. You can keep your burritos de plástico, La Bamba. read more

I love La Bamba. Great food, authentic, quick and cheap. I personally love the steak tacos with cilantro and onions (traditional tacos) and the steak burrito. My BF always gets the fajita meal with is enough food to feed 2-3 people (or have lots of leftovers.) The only thing there I'm not a huge fan of is the ground beef, so I just dont get it. Everything else is amazing! and there open late. No more Taco Bell for me. read more

I didn't wanna give the one star it deserves a minus one the food has turned super horrible the past couple years I I would rather eat jail food you could not give me a burrito from this place for free but the lemonade is awesome read more

We were so excited to try this place. We ordered three burritos, one was served ice cold and the other two had hardly any meat- and it wasn't the meat we ordered. Totally disappointed and felt like we just wasted money. read more

They charge you for everything now like 1$ for a tiny side of sour cream? What is this Taco Bell?? Burrito wasn't even that good this time, very watery. Cheese wasn't melted inside. I'll go somewhere better, that gives free sour cream. Thanks! read more

This is the best late night food around! Midnight any day of the week I know can rely on La Bamba. I get a regular sized burrito or a couple tacos; great meat selections, always have tasted fresh. They are heavy handed with the cilantro and onion, which I appreciate. Very kind staff, fast service. Accommodations in the restaurant are very basic but more isn't needed. Very affordable. Try it. read more

Went in and ordered a bean and cheese burrito with nothing else and they gave me an sloppy burrito (granted it was about the size of my head) but half of it was lettuce, and tomatoes. I wanted to ask for a new one but this place just seems the type to spit in your food. Very disappointed. read more

Worst quesodilla i have ever had. It was more lettuce and beans than actual cheese which I'm pretty sure is not how a quesodilla is normally made. read more

Aweful! Ate there twice now and it is way overpriced and not good at all. We got a burrito, a cheese quesadilla and a tiny thing of cheap chips with this weird cheese sauce and it was 20 dollars! Bad food, definitely never going back there again! read more

This place should really be called "La Basura." All joking aside, a friend and I each ordered one of those "Burritos as Big as Your Head" (or whatever that sign says at the front of the store), and I don't know what the heck is in that meat, but it was utterly disgusting. About a quarter of the way through that burrito, I threw it away. Taco Johns, Taco Bell, you name it, it will likely do a better job than this place. I don't get how this place is in business. Obviously, I'm not coming here again. read more

Authentic mexicans, I love the burritos, and they are willing to customize them. I get the super sized beef with no lettuce, added avocado, jalapeno and sour creme. I would give it 5 stars, but sometimes it hasn't always agreed w me. I think the lettuce was to blame, so I ask them to leave it out. read more

Best flipping nachos ever !!!!!! Will be going back for them again soon and it's not expensive at all

I really like the food... I'm not going to lie this is 5 star food if you're drunk. Which is completely awesome! It's 4 star for any other time because it makes the quota for having veg options and really good flavor and they've cleaned it up a lot! I just don't like how sometimes it's too cold and It's very bare.... but those are my only complaints! The people who work there are always sweeet!!! read more

My coworker Rick has been telling me how great this place is for a very long time, I finally decide to try it the week I leave .. WTF was I thinking ... Why didn't I listen to him earlier ... OMG I love their hole in wall style mexican food ... Being from LA it brought back to east LA, it was very authentic ... They had tortas which I wanted to get but I decided to go with the burrito .. It was delish!!! They grill it, and their salsa is La Bamba .... read more

The front counter lady sneezing without covering up should have been the only sign I needed, but I had already handed her my card to pay for the food. When we received the food, it was good, not great AND my husband and I had to pay the price for it for a whole week after, if you know what I mean. I say nay! Never again! read more

The food and the staff here are gross, but........ I do believe they have the best salsa in the city. I come here for rice and salsa only!

Food is ok..you have to know what's good..(fajitas and rice pretty much)...kinda pricey, open late....everything is extra and extra expensive ..a mini sour cream container costs .75c .cilantro is extra...soda is ridiculously priced...I always feel like I am getting ripped off when I buy food there..overall ok place to go when nothing else is opened read more

Wasnt sure if 4 or 5 was earned but gave it a 5 for overall....Was there on Saturday night (usually only go for a special late night meal after work). Last time they forgot my quesadillas but lesson learned, check your order. Very tasty, love the spicy mexican sausage. I always leave some cash since they are very nice and accomodating... Thanks Amigos! read more

What can I say? It's West-Mex, basically a sit down version of Taco Johns but with less adobo seasoning. I would've taken it, considering the food seemed not flavorful enough. I got chicken tacos, rice and beans. Everything was pretty mediocre. read more

I just love these people, I used to have my brother pick up food all the time when i was sick. I get the same 3 steak tacos, and rice, green sauce, my son gets super steak nachos! I enjoy good food and great customer service! They have it under control every time! read more

Been coming here for YEARS (close to a decade).... still not sick of it. I stick with the steak tacos, although burritos are good. Definitely "authentic mexicans" working here, without a doubt. A lot of them don't speak the best english, so it's good to make sure you either a) tell them what you want in Spanish or b) repeat your order SEVERAL TIMES. I had issues with them always putting onions on my tacos/burritos but now have it down to a science the best way to prevent this. They tend to be a little forgetful and don't have fancy taco-bell-style video screens showing each order, so you gotta have a strategy if you're picky about your toppings. Definitely not the best, and not really cheap either, but ... I'm hooked. Open ridiculously late every night, too. read more

If I could give this less than one star I would. Took over an hour for my food to arrive and when it did everything was cold. Took a bite of my burrito and it was cold and slimy. Gave the burrito to my roommate. He offered to pay me, told him it's not worth anything...hopefully the quesadilla is better but I doubt it...feeling hungry for REAL Authentic Mexican! read more

La Bamba - Quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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