On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

I had family visiting from out of state and needed a restaurant close by. I never ate here before and my husband insisted we give it a chance (he had gone to them when he lived in Colorado). It was so good that we came back 2 days later. Their chips are SO good. And I got the steak burrito. It was amazing!!! By far my new favorite restaurant, I can’t wait to go back. My husband also loved his food as well (I can’t remember what he got tho) the service was a tad slow but nothing to get upset about and we were enjoying the food and company too much to care :)
Will definitely return soon!

I cannot give lower than 1 star. We walked into the establishment and stood at the door for 5 minutes before realizing that no one would seat us. Then we went to the bar and seated ourselves. We waited another 5 minutes and made eye contact with two individuals who were more interested in a personal conversation with another co worker. We walked out, still hungry. We probably won’t be back

I’ve been to several On The Border locations and this one was not up to par. We arrived around 5pm on a Sunday with larger group of 6 people with two guests who are deaf. Our server was less then please to deal with what seemed to be an extreme inconvenience to her. She was short with us and seemed to be jarred by any sort of request we had.
Our meal took quite awhile and no soups or salads came before the meal. We asked our server about the salad our family member ordered and she said «well your order is already up so I’ll have to bring it with everything else». Once our dinners arrived they were cold. I had a cheese crisp and chicken tortilla soup. Both cold, I told our very irritated, hurried server that it wasn’t even warm and she took back the soup I told her I wanted to keep the cheese crisp because I was very hungry and didn’t want to eat without my party. Once she (actually it was two others who brought out the orders — our server seemed irritated by us and made little effort to attend to our table) returned w my soup and my sister in laws soup they were beyond hot, I was shocked they would bring it out like that. My chicken tortilla soup had little to no flavor. The crisp was fine for it being cold, would have been good hot.
We had to ask multiple times for waters and drink refills. My brother and mother split chicken fajitas and they were cold and dry.
It was just a very blah, uneventful (but annoying) experience with bland cold food. Not the normal experience I’ve gotten from other locations.

I go there for the tortilla soup… they changed the recipe… not as good…
And server TJ… if you order a margarita… my wife and the table next to us both did… he likes encourage you to put a shot of liquor to make it smoother… what he doesn’t tell you is it doubles the price of your drink… kind of a sneaky way to jack up the tip…

I DIDN’T WHAT TO GIVE IT A STAR BUT IT WAS A MUST… We went here on Saturday 10÷07÷15 for dinner. Sorry to say we’re not happy at all. There was six of us. We ordered our dinner and waited for about 20 minutes. The waitress asked if you wanted anything to drink. So my husband got margarita with the melted shot or whatever its called. Anyways when the waitress finally came to give us our drink she spilt the liquor and got all over my husband shoes and my husband’s pant leg. We didn’t realize it until we left because it was dark in there. Finally they asked us if we wanted chips and salsa. 20 more minutes came and we finished the chips and salsa. She never came to check on us if we needed anything else or refills. When our food got there they forgot about my son’s food and had to wait a little longer. Well when I got my food I ordered the ultimate fajita and it tasted like metal and the rice tasted sour and I ordered black beans but instead I got refried beans .The service was just so horrible that we just wanted to leave. When we got home my kids complained to me that their stomach was hurting and I started throwing up. I will never come back here again first of all the people there were rude giving my family and I weird looks because to me it felt like they are being racist.

We ate here early in the year and was pleased by the food and service, so we tried it again. Nice misters on the fringes of the covered patio to help with the heat. My wife had steak fajitas, and I had a brisket quesadilla, both from the lunch menu. Chips and salsa were really good, but the main course for both of us wasn’t all that good (too much gristle in hers, not enough brisket in mine). Good service. Probably would go back, but we’ve had better.

I just got a new iPhone installed the Unilocal app, signed in opened it, With All this spare time I have because. I’m still waiting for the sever to take my order. I’ve Ben here so long that I’m thinking of leaving but I’m sooooo hungry. They still have to take y order and make it! Smh, ugh… Still writing … There’s a Osaka across the street.

Good clean restaurant with good food. But the best part of this place is that we have never received poor service.

OK I’ll go 2 stars. We went about 630PM on Sept 16, 2015. There were 7 of us. My chimichanga was not covered in sauce, because the guy asked me if I wanted red or green and I took the less picante (hot) and he said that’d be red, but the sauce was dark brown and in a tiny metal cup on the side. So far so good. But !!! the shredded beef was super, super salty, a pain to eat… the salt just RUINED THE TASTE. Order taken reasonably soon, but a lot of confusion as to who ordered what when they came with the plates. They ID’d each dish and asked whose it was. So my chimi was kinda’ dry and again, horribly salty. I ate half and brought it home. Still salty. My wife was very happy with what she got, but for my dinner, 2 stars, no mas, es todo (no more, that’s all). Lo siento mucho (I’m very sorry). :-(
I don’t think I’ll go back. I like BACKYARD TACOS up on University Dr in Mesa a WHOLE LOT BETTER.

I took a friend from out of town there yesterday for lunch 9÷17÷2015. We got there about 11:45
Ordered lunch I am sorry to say it was the worse lunch I had. The shredded taco was dry could hardly chew the meat the soft one was the only thing I ate on my plate the beans were terrible tasted sour the rice had no taste at all. The waitress was good but did not even ask if everything was ok because I would have told her they need to fire the cook. Don’t understand with this negative feedback why they do something about it. I was really embarrassed taking someone here and the food was not even eatable .
9÷24÷15
iI was contacted by the manager Craig and told me he was sorry to hear about my experience and said they wanted to make it up. I will try it again and see what happens. I love there margarita’s especially the Watermelon. I was glad that they took the time to address the issue that I had with my meal hope the next time will be better. Love Mexican food.

On the Border is a great place! We’ve come here twice, in the past 2 weeks, and both experiences were wonderful! ! The watermelon margaritas are amazing… make sure to get an extra flavored shot added to it– I love adding the Madori! The fresh chips, and salsa are always plentiful, and irresistible! ! They have weekly specials, and the food is nothing to complain about. Both times, our servers were very friendly, accommodating, and very attentive!

Yummy drinks, great price. Didn’t expect this place to be a great joint from the outside looks of the place but solid food and fun atmosphere. Got the «ranchiladas» and chicken nachos. Both Delish!

Well, let’s break it down.
Seated in bar…0 minutes
Greeted…3 minutes
Chips…6 minutes
Salsa…10 minutes
Order taken…20 minutes for appetizer only
App arrives…30 minutes… and it was cold
More salsa…33 minutes
Asked for actual food order… did not occur
Napkins and silverware… did not occur
Asked for refill of drink…50 minutes
Arrival of Bill…10 minutes after asking
Not a good trip.
Now I will say that I have had bowel movements more Mexican than the food here, but I do generally like this place… just not today.

On the Border is to Mexican Food as tofurkey is to turkey… it’s gross… seriously, don’t come here. Go to Taco Bell… or Del Taco.
Are you still reading this? Ok, well, I must admit… my expectations were a bit higher than they were received. One the Border is honestly like a «Mexican» Applebee’s… no seriously, it’s very very generic.
We had chips and salsa, also known as half taco shells from «The Bell.» They were chewy and weird… but tasted ok if you could get past the texture.
We also ordered the stacked nachos… don’t do this. Nothing about these nachos were stacked… as the bottom was dry and baron. The chicken flautas left nothing to be desired… they were boring and a bit dry.
All in all, icky food… like, super icky. Tasteless and about as close to «Mexican Food» as Hot Pockets are to Italian Food. Word of advice, don’t do this… don’t come here if you want good food.
The only reason for my «uno» star is because our server was great. Very attentive and friendly… just wish he would have talked us out of ordering more than just booze.

Went to this place on a Wednesday evening. Not to busy… which is always my first concern. but I gave it the benefit of the doubt since growing up this place had great food and service. Well that was shut down real quick.
The service was really good our waitress Ria was super accommodating and agreed with us when we had issues with the food. She really made sure we were getting what we paid for and that our experience was good. However, the issue came along when we ordered the pick two fajitas. Steak and chicken was our choice.
When it came out the server boy or whatever you call him… kept yelling our order like we were incompetent humans and if we didn’t answer right away he would get super frustrated and just push our plate in front of someone. He also cussed in front of a table full of children. Mind you there were 8 of us. so patients is the key with big parties everyone knows that. ON top of that the steak was four of the thinnest pieces of steak I have ever seen… it looked like bird food. Here to find out they weigh their food and cheat you out of it… so that’s disappointing. I mean this place is no where I will be going back to especially with a person who cusses in front children OVER FOOD!!! Come on people! The only reason I would go back is for Ria’s service but nothing else.

Had dinner tonight and ordered the mango salad. It came with out mangos and a couple other ingredients listed on the menu so I sent it back. The waiter said he was going to take the cost of the salad off my bill, forgot to do so and then deducted the full amount from my gift card.
This experience, mixed with overall slow service is why I give them one star.

Been coming to the Power Road ‘On the Boarder’ location for over a decade, seems we got to know everybody over the years. Lots of good times!
Solid 4 star food with 5 star service, my favorite franchise in the far east valley.
Well … franchise’s being franchise’s a corporate action was bound to happen. With virtually no personal turnover in 10 years, the corporate weenies no doubt cleaned house to make the numbers look better. Only ones left are Larry, Curley, & Moe. (Sorry I couldn’t help myself)
But seriously there were only 3 employee’s left that we recognized, felt so lost we simply quit going … can you say… Boring!!!
Only because our bank is next door did we finally stop by on St Patty’s Day around 5 PM. Surprise, surprise we got a decent hand made Margarita … OK … lets stay and eat. While the happy hour specials are … & have always been ‘seriously’ uninspiring, I’d have to say the ‘regular menu’ food was back on par.
We’ve been back 2 more times now and surprise, surprise, each was a 4 out 5 star experience. They say time heals all wounds, not quite sure about that, but at least things are starting to flow again around here. Hell they even have Don Julio ‘Anejo’ & Micro brews on tap now.
A revamped Happy Hour menu with a small discount on the ‘good beer’s’ & margarita’s would have my posse back on a regular basis.
C’mon you weenies, loosen up & let the good times roll.

Alas, it’s finally over. It’s the night where you have that final blowout fight with your significant other and you realize it’s just not worth it anymore. We had the Steak and Chicken Fajitas and the portion size was enough to starve a small child. After calling over the manager, I realized that this location is doomed. He proceeded to argue with me over portion sizing and couldn’t level with me that having a Fajita portion so small that you could only make 2 small tacos out of it was just not right. His only solution was to not charge me for the «extra» portion they brought out, which was also laughably small.
I’ve been going to On The Border since I was a little guy, and truth be told this experience just ruined it for me forever. Every time I go back the portions get smaller. The good news is that there are plenty of other locally owned places here in the area offering reasonable portion size, and care for their customers.
On The Border, R.I.P.

Waited 15 minutes, no service what so ever, even after asking the hostess numerous times. We will take our business elsewhere

Food is good. Don’t come when it’s busy or on the weekend, the service tends to be horrible. Especially in the bar
We definitely come for the food, not the service. You can get similar food at Chili’s, with much better service.
To be fair, the staff are typically always nice and apologetic about the delays, but it always seems a little understaffed.