Bandera
Sacramento, CA 95825-5502
Phone: (916) 922-3524
- Price:
- $$
- Best of Citysearch:
- See and Be Seen Bar 2007, Martini 2004
- Hours:
- Mon 5pm-9:30pm, Tue-Thu 5pm-10pm, Sat 4:30pm-11pm, Sun 4:30pm-9:30pm
Editorial Review for Bandera – by Angela Schurhoff
The Scene
Waiters heave mighty plates of ribs, steaks and mile-high mashed potatoes past 30-somethings looking for love at the crowded bar. Dim lights accommodate soul-mate searchers, while mahogany booths shelter the meat-loving masses. Unless your appetite rivals that of Paul Bunyan, expect to take half your plate home. Empty tables are scarce on weekends, so arrive early and come hungry.
The Food
Start with the deeply satisfying roasted artichoke. Its smoky flavor and creamy aioli will likely win over the most ardent vegetable-hater. Pass on the cheese dip appetizer unless you live for ball-park nachos. The prime rib sandwich is gargantuan but irresistible--thinly sliced beef is stacked between soft French bread and comes with horseradish and your choice of potatoes (get mashed). The ribs are revered among meaties, and the rotisserie chicken is fantastic.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
What to DrinkThe drinks aren't cheap, but they do the trick. Try the Dean Martin martini or one of the best cosmopolitans in Sac.
User Reviews for Bandera
04/27/2008 Posted by madelaineg
What a truly godawful place, and excuse the blasphemy, but sometimes it has its uses. Overpriced would be a vast understatement for this restaurant. I echo so many here, with the paramount complaint being the stratospheric prices. Reprehensible, and shame on this place!!! What sealed it for me were the servers (this place must be a commune, no one server!) with their little scraper things to flash across the paper table covering to herd food onto, I think, the floor (done so adeptly and swiftly, I couldn't tell!). How phony and hoidy toidy and excuse my French!!!!! And that, I suppose, is supposed to make up for the obscene prices. What a cheat of a joint, belied by its exterior which advertises American food, as if it's reasonably priced and/or even good. This place's fourteen to twenty five dollar entries could have been better prepared at the Baker's Square next door. What a place, and again, it should be ashamed.
04/27/2008 Posted by holden822
What a ripoff of the first caliber, horrifically pretentious, with a menu of nearly no selections that made you feel trapped and desperate to choose something cheaper (which wasn't there!). Trapped is right: sure, my two teenage sons and I could have walked out, and in retrospect should have. We were in the area from out of town for a sleep study for one of my sons, and thought, ok, good, solid American food (as it advertises itself). We were in a dungeon after that. The menus have to be slanted to catch sparse rays of light to be read, and then what a proverbial ticket shock. Wow! I didn't want to complain or whine to my boys, so we persevered. I even ordered two appetizers. Get this: a plate with fewer than twelve chips with two little piles of dip for five bucks, and that was the cheapest thing on the menu. Whoops, a mistake: the sodas were THREE DOLLARS AND TWENTY FIVE CENTS each! Pretentiousness permeated the place, and I walked out nearly one hundred dollars lighter (yes, I tipped at the prevailing rate: I at least at some honor). A RIPOFF. The food was anything (or worse) you could pick up at any restaurant for far fewer bucks. Why isn't there a choice here for NO STARS? And the Angela Somebody here whose headline review for this restaurant raves about it: what universe do you live in?
Pros: Drawing a real blank here
Cons: Dark, exorbitant and extortionist prices, pretentious
Users Like You Also Viewed
Streets of London Pub
1804 J St
Sacramento, CA 95814
Frank Fat's
806 L St
Sacramento, CA 95814
