We are blessed to have amazing taco and burrito spots in OC. But for tortas... Bandido's can't be beat. They have their sauces to a science. The green is my favorite, but the red is what you need with their carne asides. Meat is tender, hardly ever dry. The buns come toasted and wrapped with care. Service is speedy, and the cucumbers are fresh. When I'm abroad, there are always things I want to bring back to the OC - better public transit, affordable housing, universalized healthcare... But you know what those places don't have? They don't got the best goddamn tortas. That's right. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Best tortas in the County - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

I've been here about 3 times already and this place has not disappointed! I drive out from long beach just for this spot because it's halal friendly and they have sooo many great options! Each time the quality is consistent and on par. The service is great, attentive, and friendly. I absolutely love how they have the interior decorated currently due to the World Cup. It just makes it so much more lively and fun. My go to is the classic birria soft taco. It's so simple, but so good. They don't skimp out on the meat here at all. The taco is full of birria and you can add your own toppings (cilantro, onion, salsa etc) from the salsa bar. It just tastes so comforting and flavorful each and every time! read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

This spot has great queso birria tacos and tacos al gobernador. Their birria is *halal*, which is a huge plus! My husband tried their burrito and wasn't a big fan, but we both agreed that the tacos are definitely the standout menu item. My biggest shoutout goes to Lupita. She is incredibly sweet, welcoming, and made us feel right at home, like we were having dinner at a relative's house. While waiting for our food, I noticed how well she handled a busy rush with kindness, patience, and a smile for everyone. She truly works amazingly under pressure and provides exceptional customer service. We'll definitely be back for more tacos and because of Lupita. She is an absolute gem and deserves a raise! read more

Likes: + Scrumptious tacos. My fav: cabeza (head). So flavorful and fatty! + Taco Tuesdays (originally $2 each) are $1.50 each! I get full off of $12 worth of tacos. Delicious money-saver! + Splendid sauce bar. They've red sauce, green sauce, diced onions, cucumber slices, and lemon wedges. The green sauce is bomb! + If you order in Spanish, the staff respond in Spanish. + Pleasant ambience. . Decent amount of seating inside. Non-likes: - Sometimes they don't pick up the phone at all. - Limited parking. Tues evenings can get crowded. - In the past, they have run out of their signature cabeza tacos if you come later in the day. - (Apr '26): Crowded and slow on a Tuesday. Waited 30min for my order. And yeah, they still don't pick up the phone. What a drag... . Note: Last year people were hospitalized due to this establishment's unsanitary violations. read more

After hearing great things about this place I decided I had to stop by for Taco Tuesday. Parking can be hectic as the lot is small and it gets pretty packed on Tuesday evenings. The inside seats about 20 people or so, we were lucky enough to snag a booth. The line was pretty long but our tacos came out in a reasonable amount of time considering the number of people in the store. I got an incredible amount of cabeza, asada and pollo tacos. Cabeza was the clear best with asada in second. The pollo wasn't bad, just didn't compare to the others. Cabeza melts in your mouth and has excellent texture though the portion seems smaller than the other meats. We were told that there was no more green salsa which I was excited for, but right when we had finished devouring our tacos they brought out a fresh tray of verde which bummed me out a little. Tacos were delicious though, and at $1.50 a price for Taco Tuesday that's a great deal. I will definitely be back, hoping they have some verde ready to go next time. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

A great taco shop with seriously delicious food! The birria tacos were packed with flavor. If you're gonna get more than one taco then just make it a combo because the beans and rice are also yummy. I also got the shrimp burrito thanks to the nice cashier's recommendation and the burrito was filled with large shrimp and veggies. So good! Also, their hot sauce is not the watery kind that lacks flavor and heat. It's the kind that's thick and spicy! I highly recommend this taco shop! read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Birria Combo 3 Tacos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

We will definitely come back! The lady was super pumped to have us dining there for the first time and she helped us order. The asada, carnita, then queso birria tacos were all finger licking good! Then that red salsa was the cherry on top. The only call outs we have were there was fat pieces on the meat (personal preference not have that) and the beans had a smokey flavor. read more

I've been wanting to try this place so we finally came yesterday. And the more I think about my interaction, the more disturbed I'm getting. We ordered at the register and there were 3 parties there ahead of us waiting for their orders. So we sat down and waited for our order. Even my nephew said it's taking awhile. I said, it's probably bc people are picking up for the party. However, when 2 parties after us was getting their order, I went up to ask. That's when the cashier said calm down, let me check for you. Ummm... I wasn't doing anything that warranted that comment. And I did not and do no appreciate that comment. If I wanted to make a stink, my voice would have been more agitated. That left a bad taste. She went back and finally brought back our try. And I tried to be very polite and said thank you. Even though, i didn't do anything wrong. My nephew said there wasn't much cheese in the quesabirria taco and the mulita definitely was not like the ones we usually order from food trucks or other places. I should have read more carefully that they make their own corn tortillas but they are THICK!! We just scrapped the cheese and meet off this mulita. Overall, it was ok for us. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - My - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

*HALAL FRIENDLY* Already planning my next visit! So so soooo good, great price points, excellent service, more than enough seating available indoors, and just a great experience overall. I ordered the crispy taco birria and quesa taco birria and both were 5/5 for sure. Next round I'm definitely getting at least 3 quesa taco birrias -- the sizes were honestly decent but it was so good I know I'll need at least three. I am also really excited to try the rest of the menu!! read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Birria Tacos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

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This is my favorite burrito place (when they make it right). Burrito is so good when it's right, they keep all 5 stars I usually like doing the burrito with half al pastor and have Cabeza no beans. The Al pastor is a little spicy so I'm working up a sweat while eating but the Cabeza is SO TENDER. I think their burrito is around $10? It's a decent size where I am stuffed if I ate the whole thing Their green sauce also has a little kick. They have a sauce bar on the side so you can scoop it yourself. Red, green, limes, and cucumber bar I tried their horchata and it was on the grainy side, probably wouldn't get it again. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Burritos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Tacos El Bandido Express is located in Tustin in the center next to my favorite Thai restaurant, Manaao. I should have read the Yelp reviews before I came here because I was in for a disappointment to say the least. I only looked at the average and they have a 4.2 rating. I ordered a little bit of everything. I got two BIRRIA TACOS, 2 CARNE ASADA TACOS, 2 AL PASTOR (pork), POLLO (chicken) TACO, and CARNE ASADA FRIES. The inside was cute and the cashier was nice. The order came out quickly. The restaurant had an inviting, smoked meat smell and it was pretty packed on Sunday around noon. I couldn't believe how many customers there were when we left. Unfortunately, this was one of the worst taco spots I have been to. The carne asada, al pastor, and pollo tacos were all super dry and overcooked. The onions and cilantro at the salsa bar looked sad, and I did not get any cucumbers as they were yellow. It looked like the cucumbers had been left out for days and not refrigerated. Thankfully I didn't anything from the salsa bar except for the onions and cilantro as I later read reviews afterwards about people getting food poisoning. The carne asada fries were a huge disappointment as well. The fries tasted frozen although there was a ton of carne asada on them. I did not like that there were raw onions on my fries and I just removed the sour cream since I'm not a fan. I would give the tacos a 2 star and the carne asada fries a 1.5 star. The birria tacos were the best of the bunch- 3 stars. The tacos were deep fried and had a generous filling of meat which was flavorful... although the taco shell ended up falling apart in my hand as I was eating it. The taco shell was a little soggy. I ended up getting a little stomachache after my meal. I will not be visiting here again. Better luck next time. read more

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Bomb af for being halal tacos and the Taco Tuesday deal we littt price us great salsas are nice and hot and cucumbers are always there to cool it off. They always got a good movie playing too service is quick as well read more

Great tacos, great prices, especially Taco Tuesday deals $1.50. Can't beat that price. Love their sauce. I wish they had onions and cilantros separated though, as I feel there aren't enough cilantros. I took off one star because I always go on Tuesdays and they never pick up the phone because they are too busy, so I have to order then wait. It always seems to be too understaffed on Tuesdays. read more

4.5 stars Tacos El Bandido Express is located in Tustin just off the 5 freeway. They specialize in birria but they also sell classic tacos, burritos, tortas, and quesadillas. It's located in a small plaza with some parking. The tables and benches inside were a little outdated and torn. We ordered the soft taco birria ($3.50) and the quesa taco birria ($4). The soft taco was decent and the birria taco was not as crispy because I got it to go but I liked the cheese. We also got the cali burrito ($11) and the asada fries ($12). The burrito was pretty big and there were good portions of the meat and the fries. The fries had a good mix of guacamole and sour cream but I thought it could've used more cheese and pico de gallo. The burrito and fries were both well-priced compared to other restaurants I've been to and the portions for the most part were very good. Overall they were actually some of the better Cali burrito and asada fries I've had in Orange County. The meat in both were seasoned well and actually bigger than the typical dice-size but some pieces were really chewy and I couldn't swallow whole so I spit them out. They have a salsa station that also has cilantro, onions, limes, and cucumbers to grab while you wait for your food. read more

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came here on a weekday evening for dinner and was left pleasantly surprised that tustin has a good, affordable taco joint! THE ORDER: -asada fries ($12) - i like they they aren't stingy with the ingredients and the fries are completely covered. do think they could add more pico tho! fries are also seasoned and not just fried and nothing else like other places. -asada / al pastor tacos - two layers of tortillas and comes with a guac like sauce and a big scoop of meat. meat quality is ok, but still enjoyable. -birria 3 taco combo ($13 + $1.50 for cheese) - comes with small scoop of rice, pinto beans, and a cup of birria. those tasted as expected. the birria tacos were good tho as it came with good amount of meat and lots of cheese! PROS: -price is good -taco tuesday deal! $1.50 per taco -good mix of meats and type of food -parking is easy CONS: -meat quality seemed ok, but for the price i get it OVERALL: been itching to come back and try some other menu items! give them a shot! read more

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Tacos El Bandido Express is the go-to taco spot for my little high schooler mentee. We had time for a snack so we decided to stop here for a quick bite before heading to our event. The interior was really outdated and dirty. The seating area was randomly arranged and the booth seats were ripped and sketch. The tables were dirty. Cringe. They have a salsa bar but it could use a wipe down too. The hallway towards the bathroom had a really nice art mural, but I could do without the extras if the essentials were taken care of. My little mentee had a Quesa Birria Taco ($3.75) extra crispy and I had a Carnitas Taco ($2.32) and an Al Pastor Taco ($2.32). Considering express is in their name I was surprised how slowwwww the wait was. And it was extra excruciating cause the sun was doing down and beams were shinning directly into the seating area, and the shades were not pulled down. I felt so sweaty and gross. When we got the tacos I thought they were average. Not great but not awful. Not good enough to be my go to taco shop, but if I get dragged I won't resist. I might just ask to get it to go to eat elsewhere. read more

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For years I've always driven by this taco shop, but I decided to finally give it a try last night. I was really craving a Cali burrito, and Tacos El Bandido Express did not disappoint! The carne asada, cheesy fries, and other toppings (I added lime, hot sauce, chopped onions between each bite) were so delicious! I can't wait to order it again, but I know I should give their other items a try next time! Shoutout to the cash register lady who took my order on Wednesday evening, she was very kind. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Cali Burrito - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

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It's been a while since we visited our favorite place in Tustin! They just have THE best food ever. I love love LOVE their shrimp tacos and fish tacos. They are a must for me. The staff is super nice, patient and food comes out fairly quick! They have a watermelon drink that is very fresh, doesn't seem like they use artificial flavors. We try to stop here anytime we are in Tustin. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Taco Gobernador, Fish Taco, Quesadilla Gobernador, VIP Bandido Fries - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

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Omg I love this place. My FAVORITE burrito spot. It gets pretty crowded on Tuesday's forsure, so sometimes there's no seats and usually by the end of the day they run out of cabeza. But I always get the burrito with half Al Pastor & half Cabeza. The Al Pastor is a little spicy but that's what makes it so good. That is my go-to order, sometimes I get the Carna Asada fries but the burrito usually fills me up. 10/10 read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Burrito with Al Pastor & Cabeza - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Delicious food very flavorful will definitely be stoping buy again! Service was great as well read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Quesataco birria - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

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They serve the best shrimp tacos in town!!!!!!!!!! Service is great, ambience is average but who cares when the food is finger licking delicious!! Their shrimp tacos are to die for . Spicy, fresh , tangy , with that extra kick of cilantro and lime ! How could you not try ? Ten on ten read more

The food here was just okay. Nothing amazing nothing to make me want to come back. Unfortunately 24 hours later and I'm having stomach cramps and some minor food poisoning. I'm not the first to report this. If the owner reads this. Please for the love of God take care of the meat properly and dispose of older meats. Dont let meat sit out and get old. You're going to lose your business the longer this goes on. You need to turn this place around with proper management. The lady that gave us our order was pleasant and helpful. read more

They have a pretty good taco tuesday deal for $1.50/taco! The line to order wasn't long, however the food took a while to come out. We got the asada tacos and asada fries, the asada fries were amazing. It was completely loaded and the fries were slightly crispy which is extremely rare compared to other places. The tacos were good as well, they come with a salsa verde cream type salsa on top. Solid spot read more

We love to come here for the taco Tuesday pricing and the food is great. Recommend to come early as parking lot can get full fast.

I came by here on a Saturday for lunch with a friend after taking an art class nearby. This is located in a small plaza where parking can be challenging. There is street parking available located the block after the plaza. Soft birria tacos 4/5, ok so the birria was good, you should also order the consume so you have extra sauce and I regretted not ordering the crunchy tacos for this as I was worried they'd be hard shell tacos that I'm not a fan of but my friend got them and they looked amazing. I was full after just 2 tacos so maybe order 2 and see how you feel since they stuff these up with birria meat. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Crunchy birria tacos, soft birria tacos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Amazing delicious crunchy salty Birria you must get it with a consume. Their menu is huge highly highly recommend I also got one of their shrimp tacos, grilled everything on top - was incredible. They have a fantastic serve yourself, salsa/cucumber serving station....and I will definitely be back!!!! And amazing service. Everything is fresh made to order! read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Shrimp taco and Berria crunchy tacos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Came for the $1.50 taco Tuesday special and was very pleasantly surprised. A lot of meat and cooked really well. My favorite was the cabeza. They also have a nice salsa bar with thick salsa and onions/cilantro. I ordered a birria plate to go for $12 and it was soooo much food. Enough for 2 people easily. It seemed like that was what they were most known for since a whole menu board was dedicated to it so couldn't pass it up. Would definitely come again as the service was also great and there were plenty of seats that were comfy and clean! read more

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They take long to take your order we walked in the person in front walked to the back

Whenever I am in the area, this is my go-to place for mexican food. I often have a hard time finding a place that has good tacos and equally good tortas. I would say that this location gets my stamp of approval for both! The service is great and their quality is consistent. Sometimes the parking next to Tacos El Bandido is limited. But there is another parking plaza right across the street that also has available spaces if needed. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Carne Asada Torta - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Other than Tacos Manuel we love coming here to get our Mexican food fix - especially for the street tacos! For the quality and price this is a very affordable spot. All protein offered is charged at the same price, unlike other places. All Except for newly added "Cecina for + $1." A month ago they updated their menu and pricing. They took off some items to condense the menu. The taco pricing used to be $2 each and now it is at $2.25. Despite the increase it is still cheaper than most taco spots in this area. This is not full service restaurant but a fast/casual one. When you walk in you'll see the menu board up behind the counter. When you're ready just place it with the staff at the cashier. They'll call out your number when your order is ready. All staff have been pleasant and courteous. The wait time hasn't been bad at all. I think the longest we had ever had to wait was about 15 minutes for take-out. We never dined in before but perhaps one day for the birria ramen! Reasons we love this spot: (1) Yummy tacos are topped with guacamole! Asada & carnitas is our fav. Flavorful meats! (2) Delish handmade corn quesadilla. (3) Burrito is packed full. Generous on the protein. (4) Condiment bar where you can grab/add your own toppings! - Cucumber slices, chopped onion/cilantro, lime, super spicy red salsa, and delish creamy Jalapeno salsa (FYI - I noticed the past 2 months it is spicier than usual) Taco Gobernador is good but IMO could use one more shrimp instead of 2. The item I would avoid getting here is the Fish Taco. read more

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10/10 always look forward to eating here if I'm around. halal meat options. Have enjoyed everything I've eaten here. Been here maybe 10-20+? times. There's complementary lime, sauces, cilantro/onion, etc. as much as you want. Not stingy with the meat. burritos, tacos, and quesadillas all great. People saying shop cleanliness. It's not that bad, just not too many staff working sometimes. it's not a sushi restaurant, there're napkins to clean the table before you sit down, the food is good, who cares :) read more

3.5/4-5, while waiting for our seat to be called at Manaao we decided to walk the strip mall plaza and stumbled upon Tacos El Bandido Express. We ordered two carne asada tacos and two al pastor. The carne asada was surprisingly dry but the Al pastor was juicy and meaty. They have a bar of onions and cucumbers etc. service was really nice read more

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Love this place so much! If you come here you have to try the shrimp burrito! The service is great and the staff is friendly, food is always fresh, and condiments are always stocked and fresh! read more

Los tacos de carnitas y al pastor muy secos la salsa roja muy espesa y disque guacamole y muy tardado el servicio

I LOVE TACOS EL BANDIDO! Their burritos and tacos are so good. I heard their corn tortilla is hand made as well read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Burritos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

This place is delicious. The Bandido Fries are a personal favorite - loaded with pastor and chorizo, grilled onions, cheese, and thousand islands dressing. They are like animal fries on steroids. The tacos are great and packed with meat. The pastor, chorizo, and carne asada are my go-to tacos here. Beware the red salsa is extremely hot and makes me sweat every time. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Bandido Fries and carne asada tacos - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Got some carne asada tacos for 3 of us. It tasted fine and the red salsa is super spicy. I love spicy foods and it was like a 8 or 9 out of 10 on the spicy level. But this is more a reminder review for myself because the next morning all 3 of us had a stomachache. Note to future self, probably want to avoid coming here unless you want to be in the bathroom all morning... read more

My family LOVES Mexican food. We probably eat more Mexican food that any other food type. We've been all over the place and we've traveled extensively, and we almost always find a Mexican food place. I decided to treat my stepsons to a new experience. We found Tacos El Bandido Express on Yelp and decided to give it a try. My first impressions were not good. When we entered the place, it appeared to be abandoned. I wondered if perhaps it had gone out of business and they forgot to lock the doors. (j/k) There was nobody in the place. There was nobody at the cash registers. We didn't see any employees walking around. The metal racks in front (which probably hold things like chips) were totally empty. The cooler with drinks was sparse and nearly empty. There was a TV mounted (Way too high) on a side wall playing old movies. We waited until somebody finally came to the register. Just about then another customer walked-in the building to pick-up their to-go order. The cashier talked over us to help him and didn't acknowledge our presence. Odd. When he took our orders he behaved like we were interrupting his day. His responses were clipped and short. We asked questions about the food, and he gave very brief responses. I suspect he was stressed because they were short-handed and the restaurant management isn't staffing the place properly. We enjoyed the art mural on the wall, and even though the TV was at a break-neck height, it was nice to have something to watch as we ate. The food was forgettable. Nothing special and nothing different than every other fast food style Mexican restaurant. I was really surprised how expensive the food was considering the fact that it was not a full-service restaurant. We used the men's room which was dirty and low on supplies. The floor looked like it handn't been mopped in a week. I really wanted to like this place because I wanted to discover somewhere new to go. But forgettable food at elevated prices in a dirty environment with an apathetic server won't inspire me to return again. Yes, everyone can have an "off" day and perhaps that's the case, but let me tell you that first impressions are important and can make or break a business. read more

Tacos El Bandido Express - Anybody home? - Tacos Near Me - Tustin, California

Went last Tuesday 7/29/25 for the taco Tuesday deal and got severe food poisoning. 3 of 3 of us all got food poisoning with indigestion, nausea, and vomiting. I got the tacos and my friends got tacos and a burrito and we all ate a little from the salsa bar. I used to like coming here but I will never again because I never want to relive that food poisoning. Also don't bother trying to call, they never pick up read more

the tacos are delicious and the price isn't too bad! discovered this place while scrolling on yelp for suggestions and it didn't disappoint! small little shop, but everything comes out quickly. the workers are sweet too :) read more