On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

I’m approaching regular status here and I don’t mind at all. As a fan of authentic Mexican food, this is not the place you would want to go. The food here is chain Tex-​Mex but the consistency of the quality of food is great. Only once have I seen anything weird happen and it was rectified immediately by management. Speaking of which, the managers and the serving staff are half the reason why I come here — they really make sure you’re taken care of and that is hard to find.

Had the pick 3 combo with a chicken tostada, beef empanadas & beef enchilada. Complimentary chips & salsa. Food was good. Service was baaad. The young girl was nice enough at first, but once the food arrived she seemed to forget about us. She constantly checked on the table behind me, and would run off to get whatever they asked for, but would never make her way back to me. Kept trying to get her attention but no go. It was so frustrating. When she came to drop off the check I brought it to her attention but she didn’t seem to care, didn’t even apologize.

Standard Americanized Mexican food. Nice décor. Decent food. Good service. Nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about.

pretty standard tex-​mex. a little overpriced if you ask me.

This place is a disgrace to Mexican food. The only thing redeeming about it are it’s late hours and it’s tortilla soup.
The salsa is bland.
Service is always prompt and friendly.
Just say no, y’all. Just say NO!

A decent Tex-​Mex chain with only a few problems.
Have you ever eaten with someone at a Tex-​Mex joint (or are YOU the culprit?) who, when the chips and salsa come, grabs the salt shaker without consulting anyone else and begins shaking like crazy over the chips? I have, and it’s not a great first impression. On the Border saves the salt-​fiend the trouble because they serve their chips pre-​salted. What I’m trying to tell you is that the chips are VERY SALTY!
I don’t understand it. The chips are delicious and the salsa surprisingly tasty. Why ruin that by effectively crumbling Lot’s wife over your chip basket? Well, the good news is that you CAN request the chips without salt, but they don’t have them already ready, so you have to wait for them to whip up a salt-​free batch. Normally, before you can warn them they’ve already brought a salted basket to your table too, so there goes that.
On the Border has a large and heavily used outdoor patio area with a gorgeous view of Golden Corral and N. Monroe St. AND, if you look carefully, you can almost make out picturesque Lake Ella across the street. Service during my trips has always been efficient and friendly enough, if not spectacular or memorable.
Now, for the food, it definitely does not taste like your standard «Mexican Restaurant» but a little change can be enjoyable. I don’t like the rice as much here as I do the Spanish rice at, say, El Jalisco down the street. On the other hand, the refried beans are awesome and don’t taste like they were heated out of a can like they do at most places.
On the Border offers a lunch menu, but I’d say the prices were about two dollars more than the equivalent at a normal Tex-​Mex place. They also offer occasional promotions like the all you can eat Enchiladas for $ 8.99 which I chose to have a lunch one day since the regular item I wanted was the same price. To my surprise, my favorite enchilada was not the beef as it usually is, but instead I just loved the chicken enchilada and even the cheese & onion enchilada (which honestly sounded kind of unappetizing on the menu).
Another thing to definitely try at On the Border are the dishes they offer featuring the Hatch chili from New Mexico. I have never had this chili anywhere else so I have no true point of reference, but during one visit I ordered the hatch enchiladas and the Hatch chili sauce (green in color) really made for a unique meal.
On the Border offers a full bar and margaritas but I haven’t drank alcohol here myself. I also seen during past visits what appears to be an employee making tortillas in the back of the restaurant, and, if true, adds a little bit of cred to to this chain eatery.
All-​in-​all, On the Border is worth a try if you want Tex-​Mex but maybe want to try a different take on the genre.

My husband and I were visiting FSU and decided to stop in for dinner on our way back to the hotel. There wasn’t a wait on early Saturday evening. The hostess was very pleasant and seated us immediately. We were approached by our «helper» she notified us that we would be having a different server, but she would be helping the server with our needs. I asked if I could substitute the rum in my drink for vodka and they were happy to do so. We received our chips and queso, the queso tasted a bit burnt-​on and the chips were pretty salty, so we didn’t eat too much of it. Our entrée’s arrived in a timely fashion with no problems. Overall the service was excellent and the atmophere was nice. We were just a little disappointed in our appetizer.

My last experience here left me with no desire to return. The food was OK, but service was terrible, and the kitchen ran out of their standard rice. Really? Rice? While this restaurant may have been enjoyable in the past, our two-​hour experience signaled the end of my visits to On the Border. Even the free dessert offered by the on-​duty cook can’t convince me to return.

We do repeat business with this restaurant. The food has been pretty consistently good and management is attentive to customer needs. We absolutely love the Guacamole Live, and I also like the empanadas. Service is good, and they have no problem adjusting a dish to your specifications. Food comes out fresh and hot and pretty darn tasty. The only time we had an unsatisfactory meal, my friends said something and the manager came right out. He apologized profusely and comped the meal, then gave all of us coupons for our next visit. Excellent customer satisfaction tactics and we did go back. The restaurant is clean and generally comfortable, staff are well trained.

The Fat Guys try to avoid chain restaurants because they lack originality, and corporate guidelines mean diners should get reasonably consistent, predictable foods. OTB is no exception, but it makes for a decent meeting place and usually can be counted on to provide an okay meal. This location is no exception.
It had been awhile since we visited OTB, and the décor has been cleaned up and the menu changed. It makes a better first impression.
Friday evenings are generally quite busy. With the nice weather we decided to sit on the outside patio that, unfortunately, faces and insanely busy Monroe Street. The patio is inviting — just be aware of the traffic noise.
We arrived early enough that the restaurant wasn’t jammed. Still, it took a bot of time to get service. Our server was quite friendly when she did arrive. Maybe we caught the shift change — management take note, please.
If you’re going to OTB for MEXICAN food, be aware that there’s only passing resemblance to true Mexi food. As with most chains the food is decidedly Amer-​Mex.
To be sure, OTB makes a decent salsa for the chips. I’d prefer more heat, but my partner found it quite pleasant. We decided to skip the apps and go right to the entrees. My wife chose enchiladas, her perennial favorite go-​to, and paired it with tortilla soup. I saw Hatch Chili Steak Fajitas and that was all it took. Hatch, NM, is known for its fire roasted green and red chilis, and since I can’t get to Hatch, perhaps Hatch could come to me.
My fajitas arrived properly sizzling, the smell of the onions permeating the air. The Hatch chili sauce was on top of the fajita mix, but somehow the flavor didn’t manage to make its presence known. The steak was tender and well flavored, the onions and peppers done just enough to still maintain some snap. I opted to move the cheesy topping to the side. Rice and bean sides were acceptable but not a standout in any way.
My wife’s entrée arrived cold. Not warm — cold, probably a victim of being plated and waiting for my entrée to finish. We had to send it back to the kitchen for a reheat, but got a remake. The entrée was acceptably warm, but still not HOT. Sadly, the soup arrived barely luke warm — better than the cold dish that was first delivered, but not properly done (note: I’ll send a food back to the kitchen for one retry only).
The food was okay, but even a small kitchen can do better than this. If OTB doesn’t have a kitchen manager, perhaps the manager on duty should review plates immediately before delivery to patrons. This simple change would add immensely to customer satisfaction.
Will we return? Not for awhile. We’re looking for a more Mexican style eatery. OTB is predictable — visit and make your own decision.

OTB serves us a good variety of mexican food. There location is great — near campus, and not too far from the Interstate. The food came out fast & hot, service was prompt, and everything was tasty!

I went here for a birthday dinner and they were really fast in setting up a table for 9 people. Waitress was very helpful and patient with us in getting our drink and food orders. So, good service from start to finish.
They have the ‘all day happy hour’ special with 2 for 1 classic margaritas and believe me, they were great drinks!
I had a great time, they had many TVs by the bar if any of us wanted to keep up with what sports event was going on, food came out in a timely manner.
I ordered an appetizer as my main entrée and it was just filled me right up, it was a large plate of the Fajita Quesadillas and it was delicious. I ate the whole thing, it came with a side of guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.
You can also join their ‘Cantina Club’ online to receive special offers and restaurant exclusives. I became a member and recieved a coupon to use for a free dessert. Let me tell you, as full as I was, I’m glad I did not pass up dessert. I ordered the Sopapillas, which I should describe as a flaky pastry dough covered w/​cinnamon sugar and chocolate and honey dipping sauces. It satisfied my sweet tooth :)
Overall, I had a great time. I would most certainly recommend this restaurant to anyone based on my experience there.

Best salsa in town. Get the guacamole LIVE… not the pre-​made stuff. For a chain restaurant, the quality of the food is great… fresh, predictable, and full of flavor. I usually get tortilla soup or order ala carte, so my bill is always minimal, and I leave feeling satisfied. Fajitas and carne asada dishes are really worth it if you are looking for something a bit more filling.
On occasion, the lunch service can extend past 1 hour, so that can be an issue. Otherwise, thumbs up!

Please don’t make the mistake my classmates and I did and assume that at a chain restaurant like this one you’ll get something predictable and decent. In the mood for totally generic Mexican, we decided this was a safe bet. Our expectations were low, we were hungry, and boy did we make a mistake.
First off, the service was terrible. The waiter was too casual with us, maybe because we were about the same age, but it always makes me mad when people think this means I’ll excuse shoddy service. When we ate all our chips he actually said he would have brought us more, but our food was almost up and he didn’t want us to ruin our meals. Uhm, we wanted chips anyway, and said as much, but I guess he thought we were joking because we didn’t get any. Then, I had specified I was a vegetarian, but of course my cheese enchiladas had chicken in them. The waiter’s response as he took it back to the kitchen was «That’s not my fault!»
So I finally had my food, slathered in a random (only?) vegetarian sour cream sauce. It was heavy and gross. The beans tasted weird and the rice was undercooked. Somehow, they messed up everything. We all had stomach aches after and felt nauseous. The one plus was that we had a good chuckle about how terrible it was.
I’ve been to On the Border several times before and always thought it was okay, but definitely would not recommend this location. I still am kind of grossed out when I think about it.