On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Incredible service. Pleasant atmosphere. Killer skinny margarita and steak/​shrimp fajitas. Everything was cooked properly and they even subbed out my flour tortillas for corn tortillas. Delicious. Will definitely be back.

We got a lot of food for our money. Service was good and the food was great. I would go here again in a heartbeat.

What the heck is wrong with the other reviewers? Have they ever eaten Mexican before???
I agree with Michael N. Our server looked like a model too. Ha.
The only thing good about the meal was queso and chips and our server. She was wonderful! The enchiladas and chicken was super bland and the rice tasted like a microwaved pack of uncle bens. The ground beef taco was fine if you’re like me and love Taco Bell on poorer weeks.
Overall edible and fine but NOT WORTH $ 40…

If your hungry for some salty tex-​mex this is your place. It’s good and it will fill you up. The fish tacos were fried more like tempura. I liked that they were really crispy but too salty for my taste. I like the spinach and mushroom enchilada because it wasn’t swimming in cheese and tasted fresh.

EXCITED ABOUT EATING BY ERNIE HIERS
This edition of Excited about Eating takes us not far from home to On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina in Concord.
According to the restaurant, «Border-​style means mesquite-​grilled meat, fresh ingredients, hand-​pressed tortillas, and sauces made in small batches.»
Dora here. Definitely a kid friendly establishment. Visitors to their tortilla prep station at the back of the restaurant receive a ball of dough to take back to their table. Great strategy to entertain the kiddos.
I was looking forward to tasting the Grilled Mahi Tacos. A few minutes after ordering, though, the manager approached the table and informed us that they were out of Mahi. She apologized and offered the fried fish or salmon as a substitution. Salmon tacos? Hmmm. No thanks. I opted for the fried fish.
The fish was good, crispy on the outside. The cabbage and red chile sauce complemented without taking away from the flavor. I liked the crunch of cabbage over ordinary lettuce. I’m on a healthy kick, though, and would’ve preferred the grilled Mahi over the fried alternative, but appreciated their coupon for a bowl of queso for the inconvenience.
Dora here. Good thing they had my Brisket Tacos. I didn’t have a Plan B. :)
Pretty, right? Just invites you to dig in. I don’t know what’s going on with hubby’s plate, but they lost points for presentation.
My brisket was tender. The onion strings added a great textural element and the jalapeño in the BBQ sauce a little kick. The vegies were firm and colorful. Overall, I enjoyed the fresh, vibrant vibe, and I didn’t leave stuffed like some Mexican restaurants. Maybe that’s because hubby sampled one of my tacos? :)
We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.
Ernie & Dora Hiers — Fiction, Faith and Foodies Blog

We had James as our server; he was outstanding! Excellent service, food, atmosphere, etc. James was very professional, was always one step ahead, knowing what we would need before we even thought of it. One of the best dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. I ordered a fajita burrito, my date couldn’t decide so she just named a bunch of ingredients she wanted and James said «alright we’ll make it happen.» I love that! Next time I’m in the area I’ll absolutely come back again. Oh! And the Avocado Fries are the best appetizer I’ve ever had!

Really? This place is just okay. Everything was way too salty and the waitress was terrible. If you feel like shoving large amounts of food down your esophagus quickly, this is the place.

Guac was fresh but very basic and tasteless. Fajitas the smallest portion I’ve ever received in my life. The tortilla chips were over salted. Overall, busy and overrated and not great. Would go back in a pinch but not as a first choice. The place was clean and service was professional and friendly.

This was an amazing date night! We started with simple chips and salsa. Then when the food came, I was amazed! I had the Baja Combo and a margarita. The Baja is something I have never seen before! It seemed like an egg at first glance, but inside this fried and stuffed avocado was a true delight! It is stuffed with chicken and cheese… yes, INSIDE the avocado! I have no clue how they did this, but it was delicious! It had the creaminess of the avocado, but the rich flavor of the chicken and cheese inside. Along with this came black beans and Mexican rice. The margarita was delicious also and a great way to compliment the flavors as well as cleanse your pallet due to the rich flavors. I can’t wait to go back! The staff was friendly, but due to them being busy, less attentive than I would have liked.

I love this place especially on Tuesdays! Such great deals!
We discovered their all day Taco Tuesday deal a couple of weeks ago. $ 2 – 4 tacos all day and they are hefty tacos too with the fixins included (not just meat). I go for the $ 2 veggie tacos, they have nicely seasoned squash, zucchini and bell peppers. For veggie tacos, that’s ridiculously awesome. My boyfriend likes the $ 2 chicken tinga tacos. Also big and flavorful. This is your place is you want to celebrate Taco Tuesday.
The happy hour prices are amazing as well. I have posted pics of all deals, I gottchu. The happy hour deals are valid during Taco Tuesday as well, double score. Very reasonably priced drinks though I’ve discovered the margaritas are too sweet for me. We stick to the $ 3 shots and $ 4 22oz dos equis. The white queso is my favorite item on the HH food menu.
This place definitely won’t let you down. And shout out to our server Neil, he is super awesome. Everyone can learn a few things about customer service from this guy! Plus he whips up a mean and spicy salsa, yum. Amazing job, keep it up.

We tried this place for the first time last night and big were we pleased. Since it was a nice day out, we sat on the patio. Our server brought us chips and salsa. Their chips are huge, btw, and the salsa is addicting. Our server was very attentive about refilling our salsa. We also ordered the frozen strawberry mango margarita swirl, which was very refreshing and delicious.
My husband ordered the baja which is an enchilada, with chicken stuff avocado which is battered and deep fried and is amazing! I had the $ 12.99 combo meal which comes with a soup/​salad, entrée and dessert. I got the tortilla soup, which was delicious, the grilled chicken fajita and we both shared the brownie sundae. Everything in our meals was perfect. All in all we had a great experience. We will be back to try more stuff but I don’t know if I can pass off on the brownie sundae, knowing it’s so good!

I went here on Monday night after a quick trip to the mall. It was the best Mexican restaurant I have eaten at. lots of menu items that are Mexican themed. I had a awesome pulled pork sandwhich thing that had avacado and jalapano peppers on it, with a side of fries. the white cheese dip is so fresh and amazing. I couldn’t stop dipping my fries in it. My friend had the big burrito and a salad that came with an avocado dressing. The dressing was good too (as I was dipping my fries in it: P) The watress was great and loved interacting with us. she really made the meal awesome. the portions are big so we had leftovers which I ended up devouring later that night.

I went here on National Margarita Day with two of my friends. They were running a special for $ 2 house margaritas and $ 5 coronaritas! We all opted for the $ 2 house margaritas. The waitress then suggested we each get an additional shot on the side that was only «a dollar more.» We all agreed and ordered them. When our bill came, the additional shots that were only «a dollar more» were actually $ 1.39 each. It was not a big deal, but obviously for some people something like that might be. We ordered 3 rounds, so it ended up being another $ 5 or so on our bill which wasn’t a big deal. This is also one of those restaurants that does not list the price of drinks on their drink menu.
We just ordered some appetizers with our drinks which came out fast and all tasted good. We got a special loaded nacho that was a featured item, chicken fajita quesadilla, and queso dip.
This is located on the outskirt of the Concord Mills Mall which means it can definitely get BUSY at times. When we arrived it looked like there was going to be a long wait, but luckily everyone ahead of us seemed to be large parties and we were seated right away.

I go here about once a week. If you go try to sit in mandy s or neils section. All of the waiters are great but they are my favorite. We get the loaded queso and some other food as well and we are never disappointed! Ps. Save room for the brownie!!!

Excellent service, great food, and the Milagro margarita is superb. It’s everything you could ask for in a chain restaurant, without the hassle of bad service or sub par food.
I’ve been to this location on 3 separate occasions and every experience has been exactly the same. Wait staff was attentive but not pesky, food was ordered and delivered to table within 20 mins of us sitting.
The margaritas particularly the Milagro which is not displayed on the menu is a fine choice it is made table side with Agave nectar.

Hostess was like a young model — I was stunned/​caught off guard by her looks — she asked «How many?» and I said «two adults and four kids» — problem is I only have two. LOL. Promptly seated and then Eddie, our server took over. Love their chips and salsa — the chips are like half taco shell size! The chicken taco salad and my onion and cheese enchiliada platter were both only $ 7.99 each. Huge portions and very good. Love their black beans with queso blanco. Parker turned five so we had the waiter gather his crew for a Birthday Song. Apparently you have to stand up and swirl a red napkin shouting «Toro, Toro!» He was brought a complementary brownie sundae. The waiter wanted to make sure that Parker wouldn’t be too shy or embarassed before they did their thing; that was a nice touch. Our glasses never went empty. Solid food and effort from a chain restaurant.

This is regular tex/​mex spot weekly.
Chips, salsa, queso dip, tacos, fajitas, salads, etc it’s all good.
Service is top notch.

For my fill of TexMex this is it.
I haven’t been home since Xmas so I do miss, oh do I miss, El Chico’s.
For OTB
chips = 3.5 as they are served huge (the ½ of a tortilla style) and decent texture. No different that the Restaurant style in a bag from the grocery.
Salsa = 4.55. Why? It has bite. Spicy but not overwhelming. It showed me that I’ve been outside my LA heritage for quite some time as I am losing tolerance for the heat level. But it’s cool~ I’ll build up my palette again for this spice and Cajun spicy.
Service = 3. What I love: the chip and salsa guys drops his to do as soon as you sit. What I don’t like… we were charged for tortilla’s. So much for being new and not knowing anything because nothing was explained. But at least things were kind of prompt and not overly hovering.
Dinner = Ultimate Fajitas and that’s a 4. To my surprise Shredded pork, zucchini, squash was included. It was almost as if we were having Hibachi but the veggies are cut thicker.
Specials = Yipppeee. Monday — Wednesday catch a deal.
They don’t have Coke Freestyle here but seems like only one place in town even does. So, oh well.
The butter isn’t real butter. It’s margarine. I guess I’ve been spoiled by WIsconsin for so long that I forget butter may be a treat. It’s amazing how I have developed because I can clearly tell the difference between the real and synthetic stuff (I got that from a Dane county farmer «synthetic,» lol).
Anywhoo, I would recommend.

My family and I love this place! The chips and salsa are so addicting my husband and I end up getting more cause our girls divulge it! They even end up eating our salsa. My favorite dish is the New Mexico. I love chile rellenos! My favorite alcohol drink is the Sangria Swirl so delicious!

Probably the best chain I’ve eaten at.
I had the street-​style carnitas tacos, because I’m always all over stuff with carnitas. The soft corn tortillas were on the tiny side (even for street tacos, which generally annoy people because they’re so small.) but they heaped the pork on, which made he tacos not so skimpy even though the tortillas were small. The pico de gallo and avocado slices were a good touch too.
Probably the only thing they should do to the dish is add more cilantro, actual taqueria tacos usually have copious amounts of it, and the places I go are definitely heavy handed.
The service was good, although for some strange reason my dad’s food was brought out beforehand, and no indication was given that the server couldn’t carry it all, etc. Just «oh here’s your enchiladas». He did show up two minutes later with the other three dishes, but those two minutes were kind of awkward. Might have been that the kid was new?
Over all, definitely a solid choice.