Border Grill

We decided to try Border Grill because we just finished watching Chopped marathon in our hotel room, and Mary Sue Milliken is the sweetest chef/​contestant ever. I love how we were drooling over her food on TV, and then be able to dine at her restaurant located a few blocked away. That’s another beauty of Vegas — almost every celebrity chef has a restaurant here! This one is located in Caesar’s Palace.
It was really empty on Sunday around dinnertime. We were seated immediately and were served chips right away along with 3 different types of salsa. I’m not a huge chips and salsa person, but those chips were too addicting. We ordered guacamole and their famous ceviche to share. For entrée, I got carne asada tacos, and for drinks, a free house margarita with Unilocal check-​in! What a deal!
Guacamole: Delicious, with huge chucks of avocado. Really fresh and bright flavors. You know how you’re supposed to eat chips with a side of guac? Well I was eating more guac with a side of chips. Literally eating the guac with my fork and just sprinkled some chips on top.
Ceviche: I don’t remember the name of the one we got, but it was on their specials menu. It had giant pieces of prawn in there, along with tomatoes, cucumber, and mango. Light and refreshing. It came with only 3 pita crisps, so we used chips again to dip the rest. I would come back to try the rest of their ceviches!
Carne Asada Tacos: The meat was a bit on the dry side, so I was a little disappointed. But nothing extra guac can’t fix! Comes with a side of black beans and two different flavored rices. I tasted tomato in one, and either cilantro or spinach in the other, but both were good.
Our waitress was really nice. She made recommendations, checked up on us regularly, and even told us stories of Mary Sue and Susan Feniger coming into the restaurant.

After wandering the mall for thirty minutes at 9:00pm trying to find a place to eat, Border Grill was a welcomed find. The service was great, and the margaritas were better! I recommend their spicy one over the house margarita!
We ordered the guacamole, carnitas, fish tacos, and one of the braised pork specials. The rice and beans were great, and I loved the plantains! My only gripe would be it’s a little pricey for what you’re getting – but hey, that’s Vegas.
Tip – check in on Unilocal and get a free house margarita!

Relaxing atmosphere and delicious food. The margaritas, carne asada tacos, guacamole, and fish ceviche were great. We were running late to a show and our server was kind enough to put our margaritas into to go cups for us. I will definitely be back again.

Great food and good location. Plus, getting a free margarita with a Unilocal check-​in is a pretty good perk!
I ate here with a girlfriend on our last day in Vegas. The location of Border Grill is really easy to get to, even though it is in a huge complex at Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops. Border Grill is conveniently located on the bottom floor of the shops right off of the Strip, but it was still fun to shop around the many stores before heading here to eat.
Our server was very nice and attentive. She quickly brought us out chips and salsa, which was all very good. I ordered the steak nachos which were delicious and a very good portion. My only complain is price, but at a place in Vegas and especially at the Forum Shops I was not shocked that the food here is a little more expensive. They do have a limited menu, so there weren’t too many choices to choose from.
The restaurant was clean, and even though it is a smaller space we did not have any trouble getting right in at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. Overall, I would highly recommend the steak nachos and don’t forget to get your free margarita!!!

In Vegas for a long weekend, then a week on business, and then stranded for three more days because of the blizzard known as Jonas. Long story short: good food, great drinks, awesome people.
We originally stopped in to Border Grill to grab a drink before a dinner reservation elsewhere. Great drinks — my favorite is the blood orange jalapeño margarita — at not too terrible prices, especially at Forum Shops/​Caesars. (Folks who complain about how much Vegas costs have no concept of it being Vegas. You think they built this glittery spot on cheap food and winners? Go off-​Strip if you want the cheap stuff.) A few days later, my coworker says she’d like Mexican for dinner, and I immediately thought of Border Grill. It’s a nice relaxed spot, the menu looked good, and I still had that spicy margarita on the brain. We shared an order of guacamole and I had carne asada tacos; they were both delish. We shut the place down, finishing out the meal with drinks. A couple of days after that, I am stressed because I’m now stranded, and I need a relaxed spot with a good drink. Duh, Border Grill. This time, it’s more margaritas and chicken poblano enchiladas. They aren’t giant portions, but it’s plenty and it’s good Tex-​Mex food. Still stranded, I made my fourth appearance tonight for drinks (mas margaritas, por favor), but it’s really because of how awesome some of the people at Border Grill have been.
To that point, my most sincere thanks to Dylan, Luis, Matt, and Betty. Dylan — my bartender and guide to all things yummy at Border Grill. He did not miss on a recommendation and is a really great guy, despite what his coworkers say about him. Luis and Matt — Dylan’s partners in crime behind the bar — were great for laughs and just chatting to this random chick who had taken up residence at the bar (me). Betty — the manager — super sweet and concerned about my being stranded. She offered up toiletries from a stash they had and even asked if I needed a place to wash clothes. I can’t say enough about how nice they all were to me this week — they could have been weirded out that I kept coming back, or they could have treated me like every other tourist that stopped in. I’ll definitely be back and will bring others with me.

Tasty, good tacos! Don’t forget to check in on Unilocal and get your margarita :)

The Yucatan Pork dinner had a great presentation, each item on the plate separated into its own section. The price was quite high for the small amount of food. The pork itself tasted ok, but it was perhaps a bit overcooked. There was very little guacamole on top of the pork, and for sure not enough for my entire meal. The rice and beans were fine, but nothing special. However, the plantains were very good, but there weren’t enough of them.

Loved it! Came here by accident honestly, Joe’s seafood had a 45minute wait and we were starving and hungover from the night before. Walked a little further from Joe’s and my eyes lit up when I saw Border Grill. I’ve been wanting to try the location in Downtown LA for brunch and lucky for me it was 1:15pm and I still had time to partake in the $ 35 unlimited small plates brunch. Woohoo! I loved the idea of small plates, almost like a buffet but everything was made to order and we could share amongst the table. Everything was pretty delicious, except I would have to say the weaker dishes were the pigs in a blanket and the lettuce cups. My favorites were the tamales and the steak and eggs. Each dish was quite creative and a pretty decent size. If you are eating alone, it might be a bit harder to try everything on their small plates brunch menu. It’s nice to have their brunch in a group setting because you get the opportunity to try everything and then know what you want to narrow in on if you want seconds. The churro dessert was a little disappointing, I wish it had more of a crunch, I think texture-​wise it would have made a huge difference, hopefully that one gets re-​created soon. Service was really kind and our waters were frequently being refilled. Saw that there was also $ 10 bottomless mimosas and wished I could have some of that. Considering the circumstance, I figured I’d save that for next time. I’ll definitely be back, really enjoyed our dining experience at Border Grill.

Came here during Thanksgiving weekend and it was pretty empty. After looking at the menu, I was kind of disappointed by the small selection of food. My friend and I shared the guacamole which was great for an appetizer but nothing out of the ordinary. I ordered the Yucatan Pork which I was underwhelmed with but I loved the plantains. My friend ordered the short rib special which was delicious! I took advantage of the check in offer and got a FREE margarita-​a great margarita! Since it was my friends birthday, we got the a free flan which I loved since I like flan and this one had pineapple and coconut.

Upon seeing the sign for their great happy hour (which is surprisingly becoming easier to find in Vegas), my mom and I decided to pop in here on the way back to our hotel. I ordered the Sangria and my mom had one of their Margaritas (only $ 5 each). I got the chicken and carnitas tacos and she ordered a fish taco. My Sangria was a little too sweet but I tried her Marg and it was really good. The tacos were decent too. They’re small street taco size so you can definitely order several, especially at $ 3 a pop. Our total bill came out to about $ 20. Our server was great and on top of it too.
It definitely wasn’t the best Mexican food I’ve ever had but for an affordable happy hour with reasonable food and good margs, I would definitely recommend it. I’m not sure if it gets busy during peak season but we had no problem getting a table in the bar.

So good, so good! Best meal I’ve had in a long time. Had an early lunch on Saturday at the Border Grill. I was starving and turned to Unilocal for suggestions. The restaurant wasn’t busy when I arrived and I was greeted by my friendly server Alex. We chatted a bit before he took my order. I said, «I’ll have the shrimp tacos.» He replied, «no, no you won’t, you’ll have the chicken pablano enchiladas.» Ummm, okay, I’m easy. Good suggestion, this dish was amazing. Fresh chips and three different salsas were brought to the table and they were really good too.
When a restaurant is that good you have to have dessert, right? I ordered the flan and it too was great. It was wearing a lovely halo of candied sugar. Hard to describe but really interesting and creative. I took a photo but it doesn’t do it justice.
Will definitely return. Saw some people eating a small plates brunch and that looked good so might have to try that next time.
Look out Alex, I will be back soon.
F.Y.I the restaurant is in the Forum Shoppes, lower level by the spiral elevator. People kept telling me lower level, but darn I couldn’t find any evidence of a lower level coming in from the casino.

It’s always nice to find food and drink that you can pretty much pay for with pocket change — Border Grill takes happy hour to a new level of ridiculous. Much like the first time I discovered 99 cent pizza in NYC (and realized it was actually good), I did a serious double take when I saw the prices.
As you would in any Mexican restaurant, start with chips and salsa. Free.
Move on to a tamale or two or three or seven. Hot, delicious, fresh. $ 1.
Order one of the tacos, or order all three. $ 2 each. Brisket was the favorite, but they were all good.
Classic beers on the menu, but we went with margaritas and sangria — both definitely worth getting. I’m a big fan of good sangria, so I remember having two or three while we were here. Big glasses, extremely aggressive prices.
We ate and drank for almost an hour, and the bill was no more than $ 15.
Crazy. Well worth it.

Stopped in for happy hour. They have decent size $ 3 street tacos which you can choose between pork (carnitas or al pastor), chicken, or fish. The type of fish for the tacos and the ceviche ($ 7) varies every few days. This time for the tacos it was Ono… Yum! Would had preferred it grilled than fried but was good. You receive complimentary chips with 3 types of salsa with the happy hour menu too. Overall great price for what you get & we enjoyed everything.
My only complaint is they are stingy with plates. My husband and I each ordered 2 different kinds of tacos and they brought it all on 1 plate & no offer of a side plate. The couple next to us got a quesadilla that they were sharing struggling to eat from 1 plate. It’s way too hard to eat like that! Needless to say I did get my own plate eventually!

I would give this place 3.5 stars. Solid place to eat Mexican food. The fresh guacamole was definitely my favorite thing that I ate. Love that you can get a free margarita if you check in on Unilocal (valued at $ 11)!
Nice décor. Good service. I got the chicken enchiladas. They were just okay. Wish I had tried the ceviche bar and stuck with that and the guac.
That part of the Forum Shops seems a bit tucked away, which seems to make this place not as busy. I would go back.

Mexican Fusion Goodness. The dishes were unique but with the Mexican flair you are expecting. I had the chicken poblano enchiladas which were quite tasty. The chips and guacamole were pretty good if a little pricy. The Stuffed Shrimp were delicious and the giant Strawberry Jalapeño Margaritas were great. Be aware that this is not an inexpensive stop but the quality and the taste are there. Not sure if I would go back with all of the other options near by but it was a satisfying meal.

Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are the creators of the Border Grill restaurant. The first restaurant was located on Melrose Avenue and in 1990, moved to its current home on 4^th Street in Santa Monica. Since then, Border Grill has expanded to Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (1999) and The Forum Shops at Caesars (2014).
We were staying at the Nobu Hotel in Caesar’s Palace, and decided to have a late 9:00 pm dinner at the Forum Shops location. It is not located in the heart of the mall, but closer to the Strip, next to Joe’s Seafood, where the spiral escalators are located.
If you use the Unilocal app, you can get a free Blanca Margarita, an $ 11 value, just for checking in. In addition, if you sign up for the VIP club, you can get complimentary appetizers, dessert and 15% off the check. In addition, Border Grill is a supporter of #NoKidHungry, and for the entire month of September they are donating $ 1 from every Roasted Tomato and Bacon Guacamole purchased at Border Grill and Border Grill Trucks.
Even though it was 9:00, we were still not very hungry and decided to share the Border Classic appetizer and the chicken poblano enchilada plate. The appetizer plate had 2 green corn tamales, 2 quinoa fritters and 2 plantain empanadas. The enchilada plate came with 3 per order, but the restaurant was kind enough to split the entrée for us. Very thoughtful.
The dinner was exactly what we needed, and, since we were VIP, we were given a small sorbet for dessert, which cleansed our palate and was a perfect ending to a great meal. After all the applied discounts, our bill came to $ 31 before tax and tip… truly a great bargain on the Las Vegas strip!

The Border Grill is becoming one of my favorite places to have brunch in Las Vegas. They ask you about your food allergies prior to ordering. I have a lot of friends with food allergies, and I have two myself. That is something that I wish all restaurants asked!
Both times I have been for brunch, I’ve left full for the rest of the day. You must order the $ 34.99 unlimited small plates. Share with your friends, try new things. The menu does change up. There are some staples I’ve seen both times: the breakfast fries, the churro tots…
Bottomless mimosas in multiple flavors are $ 10. Cannot bet that on the strip. Plus, you can take your mimosas to go. Once you’ve paid… get one more round and go shopping.
The atmosphere is fun. The waiters are a lot of fun. Will keep coming back.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Border Grill in the forum shops. Our server Matthew from Boston was awesome. We were going to go with the short Rib enchiladas that I saw everyone raving about on Unilocal,but he steered us to the Chicken Poblano Enchiladas instead with green sauce and shitake mushrooms. Awesome! Definitely a sleeper pick here.
He also recommended I try the fresh squeezed watermelon lemonade and boy what a treat coming in from the Vegas heat. I also tried the carnitas which were moist and tasty, but didn’t wow like the chicken Poblano enchiladas.
The place is probably more expensive than your local mexican place, but considering where you are and how expensive everything else is, it’s worth it.

On my most recent trip to Vegas, it was totally planned for me to visit both locations at Border Grill. I did the Border Brunch at Mandalay Bay (which you can read here –
) so with my other visit to the Forum Shops location, I decided to try their famous Chile Relleno Burger which was on Eater Vegas’ list of Top 10 Burgers to try.
Chile Relleno Burger –
Ground short rib and brisket, panela cheese relleno, pickled chiles, tomato jam aioli, arugula
This was a very solid burger! And different as well. Using a Chile Relleno for a topping was a stroke of genius since it added a spicy, crunchy, gooey-​cheese enhancement to the well-​cooked burger. I would recommend giving this burger a try. And it came with fries as a bonus.
As for the location, it’s located at the entrance of the Forum Shops where the escalators are in the the former P.J. Clarke’s space. The layout is essentially the same with the bar in the back of the restaurant and patio out in front which is great for people watching.
In terms of which Border Grill I think is better, I’d say the edge goes to the Mandalay Bay since it has that almost beachfront feel to it with their patio being outside near the Mandalay Bay Pool. Nevertheless, both locations are worth visiting and have almost identical menus including their famous Border Brunch.

I gave Border Grill in Vegas another try and I have to say. GO FOR BRUNCH!
Corazon mimosas (blood orange, passion fruit and orange juice) were yummy and bottomless. Only $ 10 for bottomless and you can switch up the fresh juice mixers too, DO IT!
Unlimited Mexican breakfast tapas– my favorite were the shrimp & grits and oysters rockerfeller. It’s a nice alternative if you’re sick of buffets or want to avoid long lines elsewhere.
Jennifer & Marcus are who you want to ask for, they are wonderful!