On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

We had dinner here on a Thursday night about 7pm. We waited about 20 minutes before being seated. Everytime I’ve been here it always seems to be busy to my surprise — usually there are people drinking margaritas in the bar area.
My wife and I have tried many items from the menu, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas — it really doesn’t seem to matter what we order because the food is really mediocre at best. The chips are fresh, but the salsa is slightly spicy with lots of cilantro. It’s halfway decent, but not great. On our recent trip, I ordered the fajitas and was given a pinch of shredded bag cheese, then had to wait 5 minutes until the server brought the tortillas. The picture on their website and on the menu shows peppers with the fajitas, sadly I only received onions with mine. I asked for a soft drink refill and it arrived later with no ice — how often does that happen? Overall the food isn’t bad, its just not that exciting.

My wife and I have a 3 ½ and 1 ½ yr old and this is our go to Sunday lunch spot. They have coloring books for the kids and grande meltdown margaritas for Dad. The kids like to go see the guy cooking in the window. The food has been very consistent and wait staff is friendly. We usually sit is the bar are where it is first come first serve. We eat here at least 2 times a month.

Shockingly terrible. Food had no flavor whatsoever and done was not edible. Never going again.

It’s crazy how much this place has gone downhill since it first opened. If I had written this review then, it would have been 5 stars. Last night was the third consecutive time we have visited with awful service. It’s so insane how poorly managed it has been when we were there. My review is only about the service for my last three visits. The food is actually very good to me (for a chain Mexican restaurant) and I haven’t really been disappointed with what I’ve gotten.
Visit #1: No hostesses working that night. Took at least 5 minutes for one of the servers to walk over and seat us. 20 minutes until we were acknowledged. Dirty tables everywhere. I don’t know why they don’t hire bussers bc I have never been there without filthy tables everywhere. No manager in sight.
Visit #2: Seated right away by the hostess. Another 20 minutes to be acknowledged. Sat right next to a filthy table that needed to be cleared. Manager looked clueless walking past it numerous times and did not even attempt to clear it. I’ve worked in restaurants before and when it’s busy, managers roll up their sleeves. Not here.
Visit #3: Seated right away and greeted by our server right away (yes!) — but then had to ask for chips and salsa. Okay fine. After we received our queso we had to wait for additional chips. Fine again. After sitting for 30 minutes (no exaggeration) and watching numerous other times who arrived after us get their food we started wondering if there was an issue. We see our server entering in an order and coming to our table right after and saying «your food should be out soon — the big burrito takes longer to cook.» No it doesn’t, a burrito does not take awhile to cook. Ive been to chipotle. You obviously just rang in our order. Finally a manager brings our food out and admits that she forgot to ring it in. Do not lie to us, we’re not idiots. If she had just been upfront with us we would have totally understood bc things happen. The manager seemed completely complacent and did comp our meal but the issue I had is the lying and just poor service for a third time. Also, our empty queso/​salsa/​chips bowls just sat on our table the entire meal. No one clears tables here! It’s such a crazy concept. Again dirty tables and a manager just wandering around the restaurant.
Last night was my final straw. We will not be returning when we have other options in the city. Such a shame bc the restaurant is such a nice space and it’s just ruined bc of poor management and service. In the beginning it was so clean and managers were present and stopping by tables but I guess that was probably just corporate getting the place up and running.

Two star for food, worst service ever, two times been there, nobody come to service, stand there like this restaurant it’s gonna closed, no one care the customer came in, don’t know why, and dirty environment, must be easy to be a waiter there

Not sure what’s happening here. We visited on Wednesday and 3 out of the 4 attendees were dissatisfied with their meals. This has always been our ‘go to’ Mexican restaurant and Grandma was in town for a visit and requested Mexican food. Extremely disappointing since we raved about it and were looking forward to our normally enjoyable meal.
J.K.

Constant service issues. Every time we’ve there service is confused and very slow. I left today after 25 minutes with no service.

Very popular place! Call ahead and make reservations especially if you are a large group and anytime close to happy hour.

I visited On the Border for lunch and the food was okay, nothing to write home about as this IS a chain restaurant.
The server, Anna, was very pleasant and started off with the complimentary tortilla chips and salsa. We added a bowl of queso ($ 6.29) to go along with the endless supply of tortillas that Anna replenished without a need to ask. Lunch was starting off well!
I got the $ 12.99 special that included a choice of appetizer, main course and dessert. I chose the chicken tortilla soup, chicken fajitas with mexican rice, refried beans and soft tortillas and the brownie sundae. My guests got the border sampler platter ($ 12.99), which consisted of chicken quesadillas, steak nachos, chicken flautas and the traditional fixings (guac, sour cream, pico de gallo and queso). My other guest got the create your own combo ($ 10.79 for three) consisting of a crispy beef taco, beef empanada and enchilada with Mexican rice and black beans.
All of the entrees were good, with the fajitas coming out smoking hot on a cast iron plate with grilled peppers and onions. I was provided a small plate of traditional fixings (see above). The soup was good consisting of a chicken broth with rice, cucumbers, tomatoe, avacado slices, chicken and topped with tortilla strips. The fajitas were good too, (l burned my finger touching the cast iron plate!). My guest who got the border sampler platter enjoyed it all but the chicken flautas, which they thought were overcooked and dry. My guest who got the create your own platter said that the food was tasty as well. We had to get to-​go containers because we filled up on those endless chips, salsa and queso before our meals arrived. The brownie sundae arrived with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was enough that the three of us shared it and it was good.
The meal was good and Anna was a pleasant and efficient server. The bill, in addition to lemonade for one of my guest (water with lemon for the rest of us) came to $ 47 plus tip. Pretty steep, but it was worth it as l only come here occasionally.

It’s a chain so you would expect to get the same service and food no matter what location you go to. This one is about as good as any other. The food is decent and the prices are pretty good when you come during happy hour. The house margaritas are pretty good and cheap. I stopped in for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It was crowded in the dining area so I sat at a booth by the bar. Service was friendly and fast. That bumped it up to 4 stars for me. Overall I will be back and enjoy some of the menu items.

Our group felt like Mexican, and while La Palapa was suggested I had never been to On the Border so we opted to go here. It’s easy enough to get to, in a shopping center right off 175, and the place is very clean nice-​looking. They are deeply committed to their theme, in that their limited beer list has several Mexican beers available and the only drafts are Dos Equis. They do have an extensive menu, although most items are offered with other items and as combos so it can be rather confusing. My Baja Combo was good enough, it came with chicken and cheese in a wrap and a very interesting fried avocado. Our server did a great job keeping up with our group, but ultimately this is a chain that feels like a chain and I think I would have been happier at the other place.

If you want a quick and good happy hour come here. House margaritas are delicious and only $ 3! Can’t go wrong with that. Two of these is all you need. The food is pretty good too. Queso is amazing.

Went here today with a friend for lunch. We both had the enchiladas which were good but mine were pretty cold when I received them. The waitress was very friendly and the chips salsa and queso was very good.

Its a cozy place to hang out with friends, foods are average. Chips and salsa are great. Hostess and server are friendly. Place itself is great.
The food takes 10mins wait but the free chips and salsa will do the works.
All in all its worth coming back.

I go here every now and then. Free chips with fresh salsa. The staff is always friendly and service is good. I love their cocktails especially mojitos and mango strawberry margarita. I am huge fan of their Grilled Enchilada with avacado. Its not too cheesy and have perfect crunch from grilled shell and creamy texture from avacado.

Oh geez… On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, how I have placed this review on the back burner hoping and praying that I would eventually get enough good experience here to rate them higher. I have been to this Elkridge location a million times, including every Wednesday during the summers of both 2013 and 2014, due to my margarita-​obsessed kickball team. Therefore, I have tons of knowledge to drop:
Let’s talk service: I can’t say anything about the hostess staff since I have always engaged my business straight to the bar area. The bar service helps you within 10 minutes of sitting down, not always fast but they are very busy so I understand. When sitting at a bar area table you don’t always have the actual bartenders serving you and this is quite pleasant since they are bombarded with never-​ending drinks to make for not only the bar area but the entire restaurant – This is a fact that I believe many people forget when writing reviews and waiting for their drinks. The waiters and waitresses in the bar area are all pleasant and accommodating. Many times I came in here with 10+ people every week and we could wait up to 30 minutes for a bar area table, however, they would make one for us when tables became available. There is some great outdoor seating available at this location for those perfect summer days and the staff that deal with outdoor seating is separate from inside (I believe they don’t have additional tables inside to take care of) and tend to be way faster.
Lets’ talk food: When you first sit down you are supposed to receive a complimentary basket of corn tortilla chips and salsa. Who doesn’t love free freshly made corn tortilla chips and salsa?! COME ON! The salsa has just the right amount of heat and body to it and the chips are HUGE and when empty, they even give you more (happy feet dance). Their menu is broken down for the health conscious people (like myself) and has a «Border Smart» area that contains entrees for 590 calories or less orders. This is super accommodating, especially if you are going to down three margaritas and need to know how much calories to work-​off tomorrow. The fajitas, big bordurrito, classic burrito, enchiladas, and Mexican grille chicken are my go to orders. Please note that their sour cream sauce grosses me out. I always remember to order my burritos without it! Their taco salad, classic chimichanga, three-​sauce fajita burrito, green Chile carnitas burrito, and mango chicken salad were pretty bad (flavorless, bland, boring, tasteless and not worth the money).
Let’s talk specials: On Saturday and Sunday’s this location has «Border Brunch» from 10am to 2pm which includes brunch entrees starting at $ 5.99, $ 2.00 mimosas and $ 3.00 Bloody Mary’s. Their mimosas are a bit dry due to the low-​cost champagne they use and the Bloody Mary’s are water-​logged. «Enchilada Mondays» is available all day on Monday and consists of two enchiladas with rice and beans for only $ 5.99. You can choose from Beef, Chicken or Cheese (if you smile and ask politely they will add onions). «Taco Fix Tuesdays» is available all day on Tuesday and consists of $ 2.00 tacos. Wednesdays are known for their «Fajitas & Rice» and are super packed but with good reason: $ 7.99 chicken fajitas, $ 3.00 House Margaritas and $ 5.00 Corona Margaritas. Then of course they have a Monday through Friday Happy hour from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and a late night Happy Hour, both consisting of $ 2.00 beers, $ 3.00 margaritas, and appetizers starting at $ 2.00. I would advise you to stay away from ordering appetizers during happy hour, they are WAY too small and you are strictly getting the amount you are paying for. Seriously. I cautioned you, so don’t get irritated when you see a spoonful of gauc on your plate.
Let’s talk alcohol: Sangria swirl, Strawberry swirl, watermelon margarita, strawberry margarita, and coronarita are the greatest drinks to order! Yes, it is true that their margaritas aren’t that strong and me being only 129 pounds can drink three of them and pass my little handy purse Breathalyzer test.
Let’s talk over Unilocal reviews: I would have to say that the Unilocal reviews for this chain restaurant are a bit harsh. I would still rather come here then attempt to «make my own Mexican food at home,» really guys? One must obviously venture out of their comfort zone and try more than just one entrée or plate of something to give a bad review, unless their experience was God awful. But in the end the food isn’t THAT bad, especially with other Mexican restaurant chains in the area going out of business (pretty sure Don Pablo’s is now Buffalo Wild Wings (ew)). Also I saw something absolutely horrendous in a fellow Unilocaler’s review who has decided to guide people from On the Border and up-​to El Hidalgo. DO NOT GO THERE, you WILL get food poisoning. Please read my Unilocal review on El Hidgalgo before venturing that way, it could save your stomach/​time/​money/​maybe even life?!

Clean restaurant, attentive service, Mediocre food. I got the healthy chicken fajita taco dish — not bad for less than 400 calories… good space to have a work lunch.

On The Border has always been a trusty default Mexican location.
Their salsa is the worst of any Mexican restaurant due to it being so salty. Chips are huge but also a bit too salty. Queso is thick and yummy. The Hatch Chili Carne Tacos with black beans offered decent spice and is one of the more authentic dishes but a server never returned with my request for some super spicy salsa.

The happy hour here is ridiculous. $ 3 margaritas ($ 4 for a giant one!) and $ 2+ appetizers. My friend and I got two giant margaritas, flautas, avocado fries, and two orders of empanadas (a surprisingly filling amount of food, especially with the free chips and salsa) for less than $ 20 total. We left totally satisfied — not bad at all!
Can’t say that I would come here for a regular meal, but the happy hour is hard to beat!

I hate chain restaurants, but this is one exception. I absolutely LOVE this place. Its kind of embarrassing, but that’s alright.
I mainly come here for the chips, salsa, & queso, to be honest. I always order the same thing, two crispy tacos with rice & black beans. I have veered from my normal order and I am always disappointed. Don’t order anything other than tacos and you will be fine, but that’s just my opinion.
If you have room for dessert, please do yourself a favor and get the Khalua ice cream pie. Amazing.
This location is fine. Never really had to wait, but then again we only come during odd ball times. The service can be kind of slow at times and they seem very stingy with their napkins (those tacos get messy!).