On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

nitely recommend! The food was great as well! 

e had used a private chef. Call the catering department at 888-682-2287 and ask for Lisa. She was great. 

ey need to hire Brinker International as consultants to restore the operations and reputation of On the Border's rich history and success! Since Pappas won the auction and took control of On the Border they have made many changes, which has cost them what little customer traffic the chain retained, until then. Those changes will never restore the operations and profitability, because Pappas doesn't understand the history of On the Border and what led to their success, until Brinker International sold them. Even thereafter, for several years they continued to maintain reasonable customer traffic – because they retained the recipes and flavors pioneered by the founder – which set On the Border apart from all the rest of the TexMex crowd! On the Border's unique history really began “On October 29, 1982 – when David Franklin opened the "On The Border - South Texas Cafe" at the corner of Knox and Travis streets in Dallas. The concept was built around three flavors familiar to anyone (like me) who grew up in South Texas: mesquite wood smoke, fajitas - and tequila.” “This mesquite flavor is infused in everything we fire up here at On The Border and has been part of our DNA since 1982." (Our Story @ ontheborder.com) It was their unique flavors that their Mesquite wood grilling brought to their beef and chicken entrees – and that real tequila brought to their Margaritas that was unmatched by any other TexMex chain - which is what brought them their success! Pappas Restaurants “didn't get the memo – and – don't get it!” And it will cost them dearly – because the TexMex segment of the market is over-crowded with a lot of “average” competition. Only the chains that find a unique niche or appeal will succeed – that will not be the Pappas Restaurant redux of On the Border! On August 16, 2025 we visited the restaurant on Market Place, in Irving, TX, which had become our location, since they closed their restaurant on Belt Line. But... sadly... we will not return to that or any other On the Border location, because the new owners have changed all the menus and recipes for their menu items. In an obvious effort to cut costs – which included dialing up the air conditioning to an uncomfortable temperature! But – successful restaurant operations are not based on cutting costs and abandoning their rich history that brought them their success. They are based on finding and maintaining unique market niches, that appeals to their customers, and the successful promotion of those factors that distinguish them from the rest of the competition. Those even included Jake McGrudder (the manager) bringing in talented entertainment to the Beltline location on selected nights a few years ago, which filled the patio and bar. No longer - at On the Border - gone is the wonderful Mesquite smoked flavor or all beef and chicken entrees. Gone is the wonderful fresh cilantro flavor of their great salsa. Gone is their great corn tortilla chips, which were heavy enough to hold salsa or quacamole without breaking. Gone are their great Margaritas... their margaritas were light, without any tequila flavor. I could go on and on... but... that should be enough. While the customer traffic at that location had been down quite a bit since the Covid 19 scare, that location had begun to increase its traffic in recent months – especially the carry-out traffic. But, we noticed the traffic was almost gone when we visited on August 16, 2025 – especially the carry-out traffic. Clearly, everyone has decided On the Border is no longer unique among TexMex restaurants, for the reasons noted above. They've completely abandoned their menu and unique flavor history, which made them so successful when they were founded and while Brinker owned and operated them. Those days are gone, never to return – just like their customers!

y well and we are very pleased with the service. The servers were professional, quick, and did a great job of keeping the food trays full as people were getting food. They did a great job at the end of the night too with leaving the remaining food in a way that people could still grab food while the servers packed up their stuff and left as planned. I checked in with them a few times to make sure everything was good.