On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

My husband and I are regulars here. It is our go to place — sort of like Cheers. Only Mexican. We love the food. We have always had great service. We do sit at the bar a lot — even to eat. Perhaps that is the difference. We think this is great overall Mexican food. Can’t beat the margaritas and fajitas are awesome.

I feel our area has some top notch Mexican Restaurants and this one doesn’t even compare. Service is below par and when you get your order you cannot help but think you should’ve gotten something else. I don’t think many authentic Mexican restaurants have nachos with rubber like Cheese. If you have a taste for Mexican, Bien Trucha is never a bad option. Salsa Verde (My personal favorite) has stellar food. Jalapeño Grille is another good choice and if you don’t like any of those, give Puebla a shot!

I used to live in Phoenix right across the street from an On the Border. I really got used to going there every weekend for margaritas and delicious southwestern food. Unfortunately, in Chicago there aren’t any good southwestern restaurants so whenever I’m out in the ‘burbs I try to stop at an On the Border. Over the weekend, my husband and I were driving through the picturesque Fox River Valley and realized there was an On the Border in St Charles. Needless to say, we knew where we were going for lunch.
Out of all the On the Borders I’ve tried in Illinois, this one is the best. The layout and general décor are very nice and they have a beautiful pass-​through fireplace in between the dining areas. I had the pick four combination with chicken tortilla soup (which is second only to homemade), the spinach and mushroom enchilada with verde sauce (my absolute favorite), the hatch chile chicken enchilada (seriously, why are hatch chiles so hard to come by in this state?) and the beef empanadas. Everything was delicious. My husband had the three sauce fajita burrito and loved it as well. We also had a few house margaritas. Our server, Trenton, was very nice and always there to refill our chips and check to see if we needed another round. He told us about kayaking on the river and I think we’ll have to give it a try sometime. Overall, it was a great experience and we’ll definitely be back to this On the Border the next time we’re driving around he Fox River.

Frankly just not good food =(I got the chicken fajitas, almost no vegetables and the chicken tastes like they had just microwaved it. The few vegetables I had were litterally glued to the plate cuss they were so burned. If you want Mexican go somewhere else. Waitress was nice though but that’s about it

I ordered mahi tacos and thats the first time im having them and not sure about the taste. May be its me but i did not like the combination of ingredients all together there was no flavor especially no salt.
Salsa, Chips, Rice and beans were ok.
Service and ambience were good.

Been here twice. Food both times was just «okay». Margaritas were good. My main complaint is the service. Servers unfriendly, unprofessional and rude. I live close, but won’t be returning!

I met some friends here who recommended this place. They didn’t oversell it all and my expectations were right on point.
It’s your typical Mexican-​America restaurant. You know chips, salsa, guac with all the other old standbys.
I had a classic burrito with some refried beans. It was decent for sure. My wife had chicken tacos and an empanada that was marginally better than the burrito.
One big draw back was our waitress, who wasn’t very good. She kept forgetting parts of everyone’s order. Like my wife didn’t get her salad until half way through the meal, then she forgot to bring out the dressing. You know stuff like that.
So if you’re in the mood for extremely mediocre Mexican food and below average service, this is your place.

On the Border offers Mexican food with a decent price. However, it’s not very authentic in my opinion. They offer chips and salsa like any other Mexican restaurant but I was not too crazy about the food in general and the service was not the greatest.
I can break it up into 5 categories… décor, service, food, price and overall experience.
Décor:
Was up beat, light hearted and definitely gave off an excellent feel to it. I like the vibrant colors and the beachy ambiance. Will give credit for good design on this place.
Service:
It wasn’t impressive to be honest. The wait staff was nice and curteous but service was too slow. It took awhile to get water, chips and salsa. We ordered quacomole and that also took awhile to get done and onto the table.
Food:
The food is not authentic at all. You get the standard beans, rice, burritos, tacos and etc but I can tell it’s more Americana mexican food and not authentic. Go to a Mexican mom and pop shop and you’ll notice a huge difference. However, food overall was ok.
Price:
For 2 dinners, quacomole and one soft drink the bill was almost $ 30 with tax and tip. I don’t think I got my money’s worth with this place.
Overall:
Wasn’t impressed and nothing too brag home about. I would say if you need something quick and just want Mexican and aren’t too picky then this place will do fine.

Another horrible Mexican place. Food sucks American Mexican. Just go there for the chips and beer and get out of there and go eat somewhere else. Salsa verde perhaps. Remember just the chips salsa and beer here my friend. Go see a movie right next door

Update: My family and I dropped in to give On the Border another try. First of all I will say the server was fantastic, I only wish I could remember his name. Plenty of chip and drink refills. I had the cheese enchiladas with tomatillo sauce per the servers recommendation. It was fantastic!
I am glad I gave On the Border another try.

One of my favorite place to eat when traveling and always good thing to say about the place good food and good serves!
Now for the downer– cold stale chips — –no way– the chain is not in my area so I purchase the chips at the local grocery… so when I am actually in the store I want those babies hot and fresh!
Bartender said the warmer was broke and that’s just the way the chips are… not a good way to serve the chips or a good statement for customer service.

Have been here many times, tonight was bad. We stood upfront for ten minutes before anyone acknowledged us. When we were seated the table wobbled like crazy. We finally ordered after sitting for 20 minutes and asked for a manager, we were told one was not available (we should of left but we’re hungry). We ordered and 45 minutes later received our food. Food was good, I had to ask the server three times for a new plate for our daughter. Serving a three year old in a high chair a plate so hot the server needed a towel should not be allowed. For my mother in laws Margarita the server placed it front of my daughter. Seriously, you put alcohol inches from a three year old.
I’ve been here many times and have enjoyed them, but tonight was awful. It was not busy and yet you would of thought it was slammed.
We will try again, but Monday for dinner may be out.

This is by far the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant! My family and I waited 15 minutes before a HOSTESS even came to greet us and bring us to our table and the place was practically empty! The server did greet our table right away, but after bringing us our drinks, he left my two young thirsty children waiting for straws for nearly 20 minutes! We were seated right next to the kitchen, so you’d think our service would have been exceptional, but it was anything but. The peach teas that my boyfriend and I ordered were bitter and gross! When my boyfriend stopped the waiter to order a strawberry lemonade instead, it took 10 – 15 minutes before our waiter even brought the replacement drink. Then we had to wait an additional 25 – 30 minutes before our food was even brought out to us! When the food finally arrived at our table, it was greasy and pretty mediocre. My 8 year old daughter didn’t even want to finish her refried beans, because she said they were too salty. This was hands down the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant and I won’t be coming back! The chips and salsa were probably the only thing that I even enjoyed. I don’t appreciate having to wait several minutes to be seated, and then several more minutes for service. This meal experience was definitely not worth $ 60! If you are going to be over priced, at least have an exceptional food and dining experience for every customer! I feel like I would have been better off at an all you can eat buffet!

Their 7 $ order of guacamole should cost 2 $., but the rest of the meal was great. Good service as well.

I am a big fan of on the boarder in Schaumburg/​Algonquin IL… and have written a good review for them in the past… I came to this location in St Charles several years ago and the food was awful to say the least… so I was a friend in the area, and we said lets give it a try after several years…
So here is how it starts out… we got there about 3:15 pm on Wednesday. Since it was early not many people in the restaurant. It took a while before any hostess greeted us. I noticed her in the bar talking and just standing around… so not sure why no one was at the front desk. She finally came up and greeted us and we sat down.
Waitress was waiting on one another table with about 4 or 5 women. Ordered a plain lemonade, she brings it to the table and after she walks away I am ready to take a sip and see something is stuck on the inside of the glass in several spots and things are also floating in it. I never took a sip so I knew it could not be back wash as they say… she was going back and forth several times to the other table off to the side of us and never came back over… finally she comes back to take our order and I point out the petrie dish in side my glass and drink. She apologizes, I tell her to skip the drink and just please bring me water… she never asks if we want a refill on chips, or salsa, we asked for salsa refills. (I wonder who fills up the drinks, if the servers do) and even so, who ever did would have easily noticed what was floating around and clinging to the inside of the plastic glass). I have taken several pictures and need to figure out how to upload them on this review.
Comes time to pay the bill… she brings it to us and I notice she did not take the lemonade charge off the bill. I proceed to explain to her that she needs to remove the charge. I am flabbergasted when she responds, «oh would you like me to do that»? I responded and said well of course I do considering I never drank it and the condition of the the glass and with foreign objects clinging on the inside and what was floating in it. She then says, «okay I can do that». OMG this girl was responding like some Valley Girl with no common sense or experience of any waitress or waiter I have ever encountered. We left a $ 2.00 tip and it was to make a point to the waitress… and even that was too much.
Needless to say I looked around and the floors were filthy, I wonder if or how they pass their Health Inspections.

Really delicious vegetarian option with the spinach mushroom enchiladas. Very friendly service

Ok Mexican food. Chimmichanga was really good, but our drinks were as FLAT as a runway. Tortilla chips were fantastic, as is their queso. Kind of a «meh» place. It’s WAY out of jalapeño grill’s league, but it’s alright.

My family and I have tried to eat here multiple times. There always seems to be an issue. One day it was a hair in a drink. Another day it was dirty glassware. Yesterday it was please wash your menus, they are disgusting and I need a vat of hand sanitizer before I can eat! Being a server for 15 years, I know those menus should be washed after every service and they have days of lunches and dinners on them. It’s so gross.
Then you try and go online to leave a comment and the comment section just spins and spins.
We won’t be back.
.

Based on me and my family’s weird (but VERY commendable) experience tonight, we have to leave a 5-​star review.
Went with my family on May 9, 2014 for my mother’s birthday and as a Mother’s Day type of dinner.
Server ‘Adam’ was very friendly and accommodating. Brought us refills and extra chips and salsa with no problems.
Here is the weird but cool thing:
We all ordered our food, I ordered the 3 taco-​special which comes with rice and beans. Food comes, all looks well for all of us. Only on my plate, I see ‘4’ tacos. Weird, I thought. Immediately our natural instinct was «somebody made a mistake and we will probably get charged for that.»
Adam comes back to the table and says, «Oh they gave you 4 tacos? Well, I only wrote down 3 so you won’t be charged for that.» We thought — wow that is cool. Can’t beat that!
For the record, the tacos are pretty large. I’m a big eater when I want to be, but realistically, between a helping of chips and salsa beforehand and then the actual food, after about 2 tacos — you are full. I finished two tacos and the other 2 were sitting on the plate still.
The «manager» walks by and casually asks us how everything was — we said «great, it all was very good.» We asked for some boxes for the remaining food which he said he would bring out. He then looks at my plate and says something to the effect of, «Those tacos weren’t prepared with enough meat, I’m gonna take that off your bill.»
We were flabbergasted. Keep in mind, we didn’t complain about the tacos whatsoever, and in my honest opinion, I didn’t even think TWICE about the amount of beef on them. They seemed fine by my standards and I had no complaints in the least! In fact, I even scrapped a bit of the beef off the first tacos I ate because they were so large.
I said «sir that is totally okay, we have no complaints about that hehehe» and the manager said he would «take care of it.» Whether the manager knew about the ‘accidental 4^th taco’ I was given or not I don’t know, but he took a full 10.29 off of our bill without so much as any complaint from any of us!
Adam also gave us a full bag of chips and two salsas to go!
Needless to say, our bill was over $ 12 less than what we expected and we aren’t sure why, but we feel the need to extend our appreciation and say ‘Thank you’ and we will most definitely be back again.
I can’t even tell you the last time we experienced service like this, but we are very appreciative — for whatever the reason was or maybe it was just a streak of good luck we had. Thank you On The Border!

On the Border Mexican in general is just okay. I’ve had better authentic mexican food. The queso is the only thing that is super delicious. I had a sangria, which was not too bad. I would only resort to this if there is no other mexican place around. One extra star because our waitress was extra attentive and super friendly.