Caitlin Claire
Three tacos nestled on a plate.
From left, Bandit’s cauliflower, beet, and pork shoulder tacos.
You’ll find a lot of corn at Bandit Tacos & Coffee. Coffee, too — and even a little chocolate. All are ancient seeds that humans have been harvesting, roasting and consuming for centuries. But while coffee and chocolate have devotees who can spot the geographic origin of their seed of choice from a mile away, corn has yet to be similarly embraced.
But it is at Bandit. The restaurant is getting the corn for its housemade-daily corn tortillas from Mexican farmers and places small placards at the order counter that announce the sourcing of that day’s corn. I would love more information about what differentiates the variants of corn. I didn’t notice a significant difference in flavor from tortilla to tortilla, but still it’s no small thing to be able to enjoy tacos made with fresh, tender corn tortillas every time.
I do wish that the kitchen wrapped its tacos with the customary two tortillas. By using just one, the tortilla is usually lost to the fillings, and on more than one occasion it disintegrated before the taco was finished. Since the restaurant is doing such purposeful work with the tortillas, why not two?
The fillings are thoughtfully put together. I came back repeatedly to the short rib taco, which at its best balanced a pink center and an alluring crust with simple accompaniments (avocado, onion, cilantro and lime) that lifted the whole thing up. (At less than its best, it was pretty chewy.) The coffee- and chocolate-rubbed pork shoulder in the “Bandito” taco skillfully carried those flavors. The oyster mushroom taco surprised me with its depth of flavor and balance of textures, both meaty and delicate at once.
Bandit leans toward the contemporary American hipster taco, with nori and kimchi flavors in the cauliflower taco, and blue cheese and walnuts in the beet taco for a combo straight out of a California cafe’s salad menu. The former was more effective as a taco than the latter, but neither was particularly satisfying.
With most of the tacos, I found myself wishing for just a little bit of oomph. The tempura-battered fish in the whitefish taco was crisply fried, but could have benefited from a sauce to smooth out the flavors. The meat in the chicken taco was similarly dry, a shame for thigh meat. And the potatoes of the patatas bravas taco, without appreciable crunch or browning, were disappointing.
If texture is what you crave, look to the shatteringly crunchy tostadas. Even though Bandit is not open for breakfast, as its predecessor Porter was, you might mimic a morning vibe with a cup of coffee alongside a tostada with avocado (it’s really a south-of-the-border avocado toast) or a fried egg (pair it with that short rib taco for a steak-and-eggs experience).
The delicious smoked whitefish would make a weird taco, so I’m glad it’s on the tostada menu instead.
Elsewhere in Not Taco Land, the pozole is a big, hearty bowl, and the portion of guacamole served with a paper bag of tortilla chips was much more generous than it initially appeared.
Sides of escabeche and black beans are skippable. While the heat level of the escabeche was welcome and pleasant, the rest of the flavor was all vinegar, rendering the vegetables indistinguishable. The beans were bland and still a touch too gritty.
Save your coin and calories for the churros and champurrado. The delicately fried churros looked like miniature cacti and I loved it, whether it was intentional or not. And if you like to dunk your churros in something chocolatey, the rich champurrado is almost more pudding than a mere hot chocolate.
Back in its planning stages, Bandit was slated for the space that is now Harvey House, and it’s hard to imagine two restaurants more dissimilar in their approach. But they work surprisingly well as neighbors. Bandit has a tremendous aesthetic and food that shows promise, if not always immediate success. Judging by the traffic filling its indoor and outdoor spaces, people clearly want to go wherever Bandit takes them.
Bandit Tacos & Coffee
640 W. Washington Ave.
608-720-1110; bandit-tacos.com
Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
$4-$13
