I know what you’re thinking… brunch at a Mexican restaurant?   Banditos Bar & Kitchen (1118 S Charles St) boasts a slogan of “Mexi-Cali Meets Maryland”  and the breakfast menu is a mash-up of the normal Mexican restaurant items with a breakfast twist.. an egg of some sort (scrambled, omelette style or over easy).  I must admit, it’s different but oh so good.

My friend and I arrived around 11:00 am on a Sunday morning and immediately found a seat at the bar. I’m always nervous going to Federal Hill on a weekend because of scarce parking, but the earlier the better because we found metered parking on the street right outside of the restaurant.  All seats were open at the main bar area and there were two large parties in the back room area.  We were greeted by an enthusiastic friendly bartender who gave us menus and explained the $15.00 bottomless mimosa option and of course we ordered that.  After looking over the menu, I ordered The Bossdilla and my friend ordered the Breakfast Nachos.

The Bossdilla is a hybrid for Boss Quesadilla. What makes it boss? It’s packed with meat — steak, sausage, bacon, chorizo… you name it.  The steak was very tender, juicy and flavorful.  I normally don’t like my steak cut up and put into salads or sandwiches because Chipotle does such a terrible job with their chewy steak, but I definitely liked the way Banditos prepared their steak.  I do think they should have just stuffed the egg in the quesadilla instead of serving it on the side. Just put everything in there and make it extra boss.  The breakfast nachos gave me food envy.  The crispy homemade chips piled high with cheese, salsa, onions and chicken topped with an egg was heaven.  Of course we didn’t finish our meals because the portions are so big, which I like.  When you visit Banditos make sure it’s on an empty stomach.

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