South of the Border

I heard some great things about South of the border, so of course being a local, I had to check it out, as I was currently eating at another Mexican restaurant in desert hot springs, and I must admit, I am disappointed. Our waiter was Jose, and he hardly asked us if we needed anything, didn’t bother to refill our drinks without being told or following him around the restaurant, and found him standing at the register numerous times talking on his cell phone. Very, very unprofessional. The food was okay, but we were lucky to be serviced room temperature food because if we waited any longer, it would have been cold. I WOULD NOT recommend this place to anyone. Not to mention, you can see into the back of the kitchen from our booth, which of course was NOT a pretty site to look at.

This place is absolutely amazing!!! Visiting from out of town and always hunting out a good Mexican food restaurant is what I do.
We first found this place by way of Unilocal and it did not disappoint. We always try places when out of town by looking at reviews on Unilocal,and once when we were so famished and didn’t we so regretted it! Anyway we found them with the directions feature in the Unilocal app.
We walked in and were greeted and seated. A big booth in the back room. The set up of the restaurant is a little strange it has the front room then the upstairs back room where we were seated. Our waitress was absolutely a sweetheart so nice and super friendly. Brought us chips and salsa took our drink order.
Three of us had the combination plates with enchiladas rice and beans and my husband had the Chile Verde. All of it was authentic tasting and fresh. The rice was fluffy and flavorful as many restaurants can really miss the mark here. The beans had that real authentic refried taste. My enchilada was packed with cheese and the sauce was amazing. Husband said his Chile verde was fantastic, tender flavorful and not too spicy, just right.
One really nice touch the owner, a gentleman who I can’t remember his name came around and talked to each table to make sure that everyone was happy with what they were eating and everything was good. Very nice and chatted up for awhile and we enjoyed his conversation.
When in the area again we will definitely come here again over any other Mexican food place.

If you want a place for large groups SOB is good. I just think there are several other restaurants that have higher quality mexican food in the D.

Love their lunch specials. Love the family owned treatment

Everytime I come here or order carryout, its the best
Burritos, tacos, & rolled tacos

Stopped at South of the Border for lunch and all was as excellent as we remembered from previous visits. We hadn’t lunched here before but the beef tacos, enchilada & the chicken & guacamole tostada salad really filled the bill. The chips & salsa alone were unusually good! Highly recommended!

Dog food ?? I think so !, my dog can make better Mexican so called food !, if you like meat boiled in water with no spices or flavor then this is for you! Don’t waist your time or money please!, how do they stay in business… Horrible!!!

We came here during our stay in DHS. We arrived and were greeted and seated promptly. They brought us a nice basket of chips and salsa. The salsa tasted nice and fresh with a little heat. The server was very nice and polite when he took our drink order. Their sign outside said Authentic Mexican Food but after perusing the menu it was decidedly not authentic. No carne asada, frijoles de oya, mole, etc. It is basically mex-​american. My wife ordered shrimp enchiladas, i ordered the chile colorado burro and my daughter ordered a taco combo. The food came out fast and hot. My burro was smaller than i expected and the chile colorado didn’t taste fresh. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. So my wife starts in on her shrimp enchiladas. She almost finished her first one when she pulled a hair out of her mouth. We called a server over she went to get our server. He promptly apologizes and takes her plate and says he’ll get a new plate. At this point i am completely put off eating any more of my food. Our server brings back my wife a new plate, which to her credit, finishes completely. In conclusion, the service was decent but our server never asked me if i wanted another margarita. My cadillac margarita did not come with a shot of liqueur. The food was also good but not great. The hair in the food was pretty much the kicker. No excuse for that and there was no offer to comp the dish although we were offered a free ice cream dessert for the inconvenience. If not for the hair, i would’ve given maybe 4 stars

I am almost hesitant to write this review, for fear that too many people will discover this place. Delicious, affordable, and a habit. My coworkers and I used to come here once a week for their happy hour menu.
The owner is a retired Matador, and it is a family run business. The restaurant has a very antique vibe to the décor, and many of the chairs and tables are a beautiful solid wooden high top design you so rarely find. There are plenty of pop culture references on the walls. There is a very Old Town San Diego feel to the place, and I feel as if Zorro is about to step out from behind a curtain at any moment.
I highly recommend the margaritas, as well as the fajitas. The chips and salsa are fantastic — you could almost make a meal out of them alone. The tacos are about what you’d expect — amazing. But the nachos are to die for. They make them with this muy delicioso enchilada red sauce, y es perfecto! Okay, I tried.
Probably the only thing I’m not a fan of is their beans and rice. They aren’t necessarily «bad,» but the rest of their food is so good the sides are almost unneeded. Fortunately many items are available on the A La Carte menu and you can skip the sides if you want.
I have never been disappointed at South of the Border, and the food is very palatable to American tastebuds. There isn’t anything too exotic on the menu, and the chef aims to please. If you they didn’t get your order right they will send it back and make it right.
The owner is very friendly and likes to greet the regulars if you are lucky enough to be one.
The best thing about SOBO is you pretty much avoid the tourists crowds on busy weekends. Of course, that will probably change once more people discover this local gem of a restaurant in DHS! It gets busier and busier everytime I go.
At the end of the day, there are probably 100 Mexican restaurants in the desert, each with their perks. But how many of them are run by a real life retired Matador??? Seriously, how many? Because if you’ve ever seen a Matador in action, its a miracle he survived all of those angry bulls and lived to be a restuarant manager! So support South of the Border, people! This guy’s awesome!

This is my «go to» lunch place whenever I’m in Desert Hot Springs. It one of those quintessential small town Mexican places that serves great food, has excellent service, and takes pride in making its customers happy. Today I had the tamales, which were excellent. We also asked if they had horchata, which I didn’t see on the menu. Turns out they make it themselves, and it comes in a giant glass and is served with a huge smile! I’ll be back.

We thought we didn’t like margaritas until we ordered on here. In fact, I’m writing this review while awaiting my second. Similarly, I’d never enjoyed a chile relleno until I ordered one here. I’m now a convert. Plus, and this is major, the wife is unwavering vegan and she likes it here.

It’s rare to find an authentic Mexican place that has vegan cheese! Great vegetarian menu with lots of options, and excellent margaritas — I usually find margaritas too sweet, but these were not. Prices are really reasonable too.

Authentic mexican had the taco enchilada plate
Awesome changed the enchilada to beef it was a plate of love. Glade we found this place

This is our #1 Mexican food restaurant we go to, when we come to Desert Hot Springs. The food is fantastic and my fave drink of choice is the margaritas. Peach and mango!!! Service is great. Always! Parking is tight, so CARPOOL! The owner is an older gentleman who is SOOOOOOOOOOO nice! EVERYONE in there is SUPER nice!

This place deserves a 0 and should be shut down. Upon walking in, you can smell the sewer and grease trap that needs to be replaced.
We should have left but we were hungry and wanted a cocktail and chips and salsa. Ordered an inedible shrimp cocktail (fishy Mexican shrimp), and steak picado with the worst flour tortillas (store bought and microwaved) hard as a rock. Sent everything back, paid check, Never to return!!!
Eat at your own Risk! Health dept needs a call to inspect that place.

Today, Mother’s Day we ate here for the first time. We ordered shrimp fajitas. It also came with side of beans, rice, guacamole, pico de gallo, and a little lettuce. Tortillas and sour cream, chips and salsa. It was a lot of food. I also had a glass of sangria and my boyfriend had a glass of Sharps NA beer.
The wine was a large glass and excellent. The food was great. The salsa was very tasty. Came with tortilla chips too. For dessert I ordered flan, it had whipped cream on it too.
Restroom was very neat and clean. The service was prompt and the food was hot. Will be back for sure.

So, I had a hankering for a crunchy beef taco after soaking in the pool. I’ve had my share of Mexican food, I live in LA. This is not fancy but it’s straight up old school DELICIOUS!
The crunchy beef taco had the perfect ratio of crunch to chew. The beef was shredded and delicious, the cheese was a nice grated sharp cheddar, pure bliss. No, this is not your «carne asada» style taco with soft corn tortillas you may find at a taqueria. This is the kind of Mexican food you were probably introduced to as a kid-​big hot platter of food, always with re fried beans covered in melted cheese and Spanish rice.
The chicken taquitos were also delicious, and the cheese enchilada was saucy, cheesy, gooey goodness.
The salsa that came with the chips was the best I’ve had.
And the servers were all great!
Just a solid, family run, old school Mexican restaurant.
If you want «fancy» polished, mall Mexican, go down the street. There’s a Mexican restaurant that looks like it belongs at Disneyland, and probably tastes like El Torito.
I prefer mine old school.
South of the Border is now my new favorite restaurant in Desert Hot Springs and I’ll for sure be back on my next visit!

Wowzers!!! I was so lucky to stumble upon this little gem recently while I was vacationing in palm springs. It is a little mom and pop joint and it was the only thing open late at night. After trying to go to a chinese restaurant up the street that was closed we saw this place was open and decided to go in for a quick bite. Both my boyfriend and I were looking for a light meal so we ordered four beef tacos and two chicken tacos to share (yes this is considered a very light meat for us) Boy were we delighted when we took our first bites. It wasn’t healthy or very light, but oh my god they were the best tacos I have ever had. They had the crispy outer shell that was fried, plenty of cheese, sour cream and lettuce. Yummy I have been craving those tacos almost everyday. Whenever I make my way back to Palm Springs I will make sure that I pay them a visit!

This was our first time in DHS — normally we go to PD and know the restaurants over there much better. Since we’re vegetarian, it’s always a challenge to find a non-​chain restaurant that doesn’t use lard to cook their bean or chicken broth for their rice. I was very pleased to find South of the Border on Unilocal and noticed one of the other reviewers mention that they had a vegetarian section on their menu! The chips were freshly made and warm and the salsa was delicious — but watch out if you don’t like spicy… it’s hot — Yum!
I had the cheese enchiladas and they were perfect — gooey cheesy with the right amount of black beans and vegetarian rice.
The service was great. Della checked on us several times and the food was prepared quickly.
This will be our new Mexican place when we’re in the Palm Springs area for sure.

Over the years this establishment has slowly and continuously been improving specifically the interior décor. What was once neglected and decrepit is now flourishing with updated furniture, change in layout, and relaxing aura.
Food has always been steady but it seems to taste better now with a fresh and clean surrounding and friendly staff. Prices are reasonable, portions are adequate and experience matches the bill.