Casa de Bandini

Cilantro Shrimp and Enchilada Combo!! Mouth watering goodness served with all the tasty sides of a Mexican restaurant. The servers here know how to make you smile and laugh, they have good table side chat, and they're fast!

From the front entrance to the outdoor seating there are multiple picture worthy spots + the music and crowd that comes here are great to be around.

Perfect outdoor dining spot!

Food is consistently good.
Staff is friendly and on it.
Caddy margaritas never disappoint.

I hosted a dinner here during SDRW for my Fun Diego Ladies MeetUp group. 5 of us ordered from the prefix menu and 1 person ordered from the regular menu.

The food was excellent, large in quantity, and very reasonably priced.

Our server was so bad (forgetful) that it was entertaining for us to see how much worse she could get. She basically messed up everyone's orders after asking us multiple times what we wanted. The restaurant was packed inside and outside, so I can understand how overwhelmed the staff may be. Our waters were never refilled even though we flagged the staff down many times. Regardless, we really enjoyed our dinner and had a wonderful time.

The chips and salsa were amazing! I'll be back for that alone!

Decent Mexican fare, strong drinks and overall good ambience. This restaurant was packed on a Monday evening and required reservations. There were very few vegetarian options available. We ordered a combination vegetarian platter, Flautas, Chicken and avocado enchiladas and chilli rellano. For desserts we ordered Tres Leches and Flan. Food had good flavor albeit a little salty. Portions were large. Desserts were good. Recommend that they increase their vegetarian/vegan options.

Heard great things about this restaurant.
We were seated and waited about 7 minutes before someone took our drink request. We also ordered our dinner at the same time.
I saw our drinks sitting at the bar for over 10 minutes while our waiter was yucking it up with other waiters. I finally went up to the bar and got our drinks, our food was being served as I got to the table.
Waiter was all over himself apologizing.
He never came back to ask if we wanted another drink, took forever to get our check.
The food was excellent.
Really poor service.

Came here to try out for the first time through Restaurant week and it did not disappoint! The portions were large and great for price and everything was tasty! I shared carne asada street tacos, chicken tortilla soup, carne asada and shrimp plate, and ended with the mango mousse cake. The salsa tasted better from the street tacos compared to what was served at the table. The soup was filling and had lots of chicken and goodies. The mango mousse was surprising to me as it was somewhat frozen and reminded me a little of ice cream. Delicious! On top of all that, our waiter was wonderful! He was attentive and had no problems with splitting the bill between 3 couples. All in all, I would come again! Beautiful seating outside (and much quieter compared to inside!).

Homemade tortillas that are rolled on the thighs of virgins.

It's getting harder to find places like this in North County. You get all of the fun "Cinco de Mayo " ambiance, along with a diverse menu of higher quality dishes. Prices are reasonable for this type of experience.

- Able to accommodate larger parties.
- I've never had a bad meal or margarita here.
- Old Town tourist trap without the hassle of Old Town parking.

Food tip - if you remember that Mexican restaurant in Bird Rock called Su Casa, they had an incredible "Mexican Pizza". Casa de Bandini calls their version the Cheese Crisp Special ( flat tortilla generously layered with refried beans and your choice of tender shredded chicken or succulent beef. It's then topped with melted cheese and garnished with fresh avocados and tomatoes, a dollop of creamy guacamole, and sour cream.). This is my recommendation if you're looking for something different.

The food here is delicious. They have a wide selection of authentic Mexican dishes to satisfy whatever your palette may be craving, and they certainly do not disappoint!

I've always been a big supporter of family, owned and operated businesses. I think that is vital to any community in order to help maintain and foster a sense of pride in one's hometown. Casa de Bandini is definitely a family run business that's located in The Forum Shopping Center in Carlsbad, California. However, it did used to be located in Old Town, San Diego. (That's where I first fell in love with it.)

The incredible people who work there, the amazing atmosphere, the culture, and the wonderful Service are all things that will pop out at you when you try this place! Whether it's the first time or the fifth time, if you're like me, you will notice these attributes every time you visit. I highly recommend this wonderful establishment.

We stopped here on our way home to Temecula after spending most of the first part of the day at UCSD Medical Center in La Jolla. I had an MRI done and needed to fast. Needless, to say I was starving!

Upon entering, we were warmly greeted by a very friendly & exuberant young lady and seated right away. In the meantime I'm checking out the decor, taking in the beauty of it all. My eyes were drawn to the beautifully crafted wrought iron chandelier hanging adorning the entry over the hostess counter. The interior was richly decorated with what appeared to be frescoes and the various lighting throughout lent to a feeling of muted opulence; definitely a feast for the eyes. Enhanced by the feast on the table!

Our server Jose greeted us and quickly introduced himself and took our drink orders in one smooth swoop. Another gentleman brought us chips and salsa. Yum! We emptied the chips bowl pretty quickly and they brought out another one. Jose returned and took our orders, which came out very quickly. It smelled and looked so good! Even better was that our meals were delicious! I was impressed! The portions were generous. Jose was wonderfully attentive and anticipated our needs. That's great service!

We can't wait to return here!

Awesome place to bring a visitor from another state. They are always packed but they will they to accommodate you as soon as they can. Make sure to make a reservation ahead of time. The food is delicious and very unique. The place is good for a work happy hour or family get together. The pineapple dish is my favorite.