On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

I don’t come to this place often at all, but food was very delicious and good sized proportions. Our waitress was training and she was doing wonderful, I wish I could remember her name! The waiter helping her was very humble and the wait time was not long at all, even though they did seem busy. Overall I recommended this place for some yummy Mexican food. And Taco Tuesday’s!

I’ve been looking for a good cantina happy hour for a while now. Just found my new go-​to margarita place!

The food was not good at all, it lacked a lot of flavor and very salty. The ground beef enchiladas were prepared very poorly. I also feel the price was very expensive.

Definitely recommend the happy hour.
— $ 4 large domestic
— $ 4 house margaritas
— Warm tostada chips and flavorful hot salsa
Queso is $ 3. Warm and a bit runny but satisfying.
Black bean dip is a steal and the interior is invitingly traditional.
Great place to grab drinks/​snacks before a movie or watch the big game!

Came here last night to get a few drinks and was told there was a 25 minute wait which I could understand if it was full, but the only area full was the bar everything else was dead with only 2 – 3 tables bring used. After my friend pointed out that over 20 tables were open the host replies «I know but that’s what they told me to say, I’m sorry» I couldn’t believe it and left to go elsewhere.
Also the food here is beyond disguising! I ordered the taco plate with black beans and rice. The «steak“‘tasted like it was imitation and all fatty to the point I couldn’t even eat it. Plus instead of the waiter saying «would you like something else?» he just said «not good oh sorry took the food away, left the bill and went back to watching whatever game was on» I simply paid and left if you need anything just eat before hand and come for happy hour
Also when you check in here they give you a free side order of cheese! Seriously, that is extremely stupid who just eats cheese by itself?! Try harder if your even trying at all

I have nothing but great reviews for this place. We came for lunch, some say it could be a late lunch, 1:30 pm. It wasn’t busy at all, and were seated promptly. Our server was very attentive and brought us chips and salsa immediately. I love their chips and salsa! We ordered drinks and was brought them right away. The lunch menu was still going on and both my coworker and I ordered from it. I had the 2 shredded beef tacos with rice and beans– very very filling. And my coworker had the chicken tortilla soup and salad– serving size was bigger than expected!
I will definitely come back here and wish they would open one local to where I live. Can’t wait to come back and try other things.

I understand many people hate this place because of its bastardization of Mexican food, but I think it’s pretty great. On the Border is to Mexican what Olive Garden is to Italian… not necessarily gritty and authentic and 100% fresh, but still really damn tasty.
Every time I come into this location, there’s no crowd, and we’re seated immediately. There’s some nice shaded outdoor seating with a gorgeous view, so if you don’t enjoy the dim bar-​like interior with the AC blasted on high, consider taking a table outside where it feels more like a cantina!
The waiters are super friendly and got our orders perfectly; even though the menu says «no substitutions,» they accommodated our customized orders with no complaint. He refilled our drinks without us asking, and offered us more chips and salsa (complimentary!) when he saw we were out.
I got a grilled chicken enchilada which was perfection. Super chewy yet crispy tortilla with tasty, smoky filling. The cilantro & lime rice is AMAZING, so always get it over the Mexican rice (it isn’t fluffy and airy like Chipotle’s c&l rice… it’s more textured, and comes with corn. SO GOOD). My dish also came with black beans which were overly salty. The salsa verde that came on the side was good too. The only other item I’ve had from here are the tacos, which may not be authentic and juicy like the ones you find in Oakland food trucks, but still really good. The prices are a bit steep compared to mom & pop joints in the Bay Area, but it’s quality service, really good food with large portions. I probably wouldn’t make my way out to Hacienda every day to eat here, but it’s somewhere I’d take a friend to treat!

Came here on a Tuesday night, and was seated right away. Pretty dead on Tuesdays.
Setting: Fairly large restaurant, with plenty of booths and tables. There’s also a party room in the back to host a private gathering.
Service: Even though there were hardly any customers, it took quite a while to flag down the waitress. However, there were only two working waitresses for the entire restaurant, so I understand that she was busy (On The Border, have a bigger staff on Tuesday!). Aside from the wait, the waitress was extremely kind and had a good sense of humor.
Food: I ALWAYS order the steak fajitas. In my opinion, they have the best flour tortillas and meat combined. It’s a pretty large dish, so I usually share with another person.
Make sure you check in here! You can get free, hot queso (cheese) dipping sauce for the complimentary chips.

I went here for the first time today. Its a thursday night so there wasnt really a wait. We decided to self seat ourselves at the bar and a waiter immediately brought us chips and salsa. His name was Chris I believe. Excellent customer service. My boyfriend drinks SO MUCH water and he constantly came back to refill his water. He also joked around with us and was checking on us pretty often.
The chips are unlimited and with a Unilocal check in you get free queso dip :))) super yummy. I got the fajita chicken quesadilla and its nothing special, but it was very yummy.
My boyfriend got the chicken flautus (i think thats how its spelled) and they were basically just chicken taquitos. He said he liked them!
Overall im super happy with my experience here and will definitey come back soon!!!

You know you’ve become a Unilocal snob when you would never consider walking into a 2.5 star restaurant because you know what it means: just ok. And that’s the best way to describe On the Border.
We were having a team lunch and On the Border could definitely seat all of us. And then some — the place was pretty much dead. I take it this place does well during weekends and the summer, with the movie theater right there, but for a Monday lunch it was dead. But considering Rancho Grande and a lot of more authentic Mexican restaurants are in the area, I would have preferred them.
The menu is like a «more authentic» Chilis. Tacos, fajitas, burritos, quesadillas, and salads. Of the lunch group, most got salads or fajitas, one got a brisket quesadilla which sounded good, and I got the chimichanga with chicken ticka.
It made me miss Tijuana Flats. The chimi wasn’t as crispy as I would have preferred, but I liked the fact that I could get it «wet» however I wanted. I went with queso. The chicken was okay, but left me with chimi burps the rest of the day. Mmm, spicy.
Overall it wasn’t a bad experience, and if you are a local and doing movies and food, probably not a bad option. But unless you are local, you can do better at the independent spots.

Came to eat around 3 PM for «Lunner» and it wasn’t busy at all. The service was excellent at that time maybe because it was 3PM. We had about 3 different staff members tending us which was awesome. They refilled our drinks, got us more chips, and tortillas.
I ordered the Monterey Chicken Fajitas and it was great. The chicken was served on a hot sizzling plate and it came with onions, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, beans, and rice. The tortillas were made on a hot stove and they made them fresh. They also give you complementary chips and salsa!

went to the 49ers Rams game and before the drive home the next day me and my wife stopped by, our last experience wasn’t good but we got some complementary coupons to give it a try again, I swear man food always taste good when you dont have to pay for it lol I didn’t get our server name but he was awesome he kept stopping by to ask us how was the food, refills etc.
me and my wife both ordered the sampler (steak nachos, chicken quesadillas & chicken taquitos) everything was delicious especially the hot queso dip which i dipped everything in, we both got full & couldn’t finish it all so after a 2 & half hour drive home guess who had leftovers for dinner? will definitely be back again

My husband and I came here for a couple of drinks before our movie. We ordered Cadillac margaritas, and they were way too syrupy sweet, and the Grand Marnier was already poured inside, not a shot on the side. I felt like 12.50 was way too high of a price point for those. The house margaritas tasted tangier, and were a way better price. We enjoyed the house made chips, and I liked the fact that they make tortillas there. The ambience was very nice with a fireplace, but the ladies restrooms smelled treacherous! I’m not kidding. Like toxic waste!
However, they gave me a free queso coupon for checking in, and I thought that was pretty cool. We’d probably go back for happy hour, the empanadas really caught my eye.

Shared a border sampler with my friend. They were out of chicken flautas so they gave us extra quesadillas. The portion is pretty big, we couldn’t finish it between the two of us (although we weren’t that hungry and only looking for a snack).
They had a happy hour menu but we didn’t even know they had happy hour and no one showed us the menu till after we had already ordered.
For drinks, bartender recommended the Acapulco Punch because it had the least amount of alcohol. He said it had more juice than alcohol but all I could taste was the alcohol. I believe him when he said the drink wasn’t strong, but it was poorly made because all I could taste was the alcohol.

I come here only because its across from the theater when I want a quick beer. The food is pretty lackluster Tex-​Mex and the margaritas aren’t phenomenal. However, they serve cold beer at a reasonable price especially during happy hour. You’ll get complimentary chips and salsa; and for a couple of bucks you can also grab a quick appetizer for a few bucks.
Just a heads up, you’ll get a free cup of Queso dip with a Unilocal!check-​in.

Chips and salsa are good as what I remember from previous visits.
Unfortunately on my last to 2 visits here, the quality of the food appears to be deteriorating. Not sure if it has anything to do from the corporate headquarters side, or it’s just this particular branch.
With over 160 branches located in the US and other parts of the world, you would have assume that they have nailed the consistent quality issues — apparently not.
On my most recent visit, I ordered a combination EL PATRÓN combo which consist of carne asada, beef enchilada with red chile sauce, cheese enchilada with red chile sauce, tamale with red chile sauce, crispy beef taco. Overall the food is definitely not up to par and let’s just say, I had a better beef taco from Jack in the Box with my Bro the night before.
To flush this all that with the promotional Watermelon margarita. We made a wrong choice and should of stuck with the Grande Cadillac house margarita that we normally get.
Would think about it again about returning, the next time im in town

Every once in a while we stop here from work for team lunch. Just an average chain for Mexican cousins. The best thing I had today was the appetizer Firecracker Stuffed Jalapeños. It was stuffed with chicken & cheese and then deep fried, great flavor. For lunch I had Hatch Green Chili Chicken Burrito and virgin Piña Colada for drink. They were alright.
#comebackmaybe

My husband was excited to be back in the East Bay and we decided to meet up with some friends for drinks since we were staying nearby. The reason we stopped here is because the other place was completely booked. We waited about 25 minutes to be seated.
I wasn’t very hungry but got my daughter a quesadilla and rice. I decided to order some queso for the guys to enjoy their drinks. Our server actually took our food order first. Then came back and took our drink order. I ordered a margarita while the gentlemen ordered beer and shots. One of our friends made sure to order an Iced water and well all chimed in stating we all would like iced water.
Our drinks took awhile but luckily my daughter’s food was out first so she was occupied eating. We all sat there and waited for a while to receive our drinks. The queso came out but one of our friend’s drink order was incorrect. It was a beer. It took two times for them to get it right. Our server apologized. Then we were almost served someone else’s food. Then a plate of guacamole was dropped on our table. We were completely confused. No one wanted to touch it. We were completely disappointed and we didn’t even order any main dishes. Our server went missing several times and we had to ask someone else for our check. When we were about to leave I wanted to take a sip of my iced water, then noticed that none of us were ever even served our water. It was so disorganized.

I expected nothing and yet I was still let down.
On The Border is your typical chain faux Mexican food, and it shows. Margaritas have almost no alcohol, tacos are dry and BBQ sauce is provided with the brisket. Can’t say I was really impressed.

I usually come here for happy hour with my mom and aunt and I really like it here! I don’t usually drink, but they do and they’re usually getting margaritas. They’re a good size and pretty strong. Along with drinks with deals during happy hour, they also have appetizers. We usually get an order of nachos to share amongst the table and then order our own entrees. The happy hour nachos are huge and come with all the works. It has meat, cheese, beans, guac, sour cream, etc. It’s a pretty good deal. They also have a bunch of other stuff on the happy hour menu.
I really enjoy their quesadillas and steak fajitas here. Their quesadillas are loaded with meat. It’s extremely filling so I love that about it them. And their steak fajitas are delicious! It’s comes on a sizzling plate which allows it to cook to perfection. The steak’s a little pink just how I like it. There’s also onions and peppers sizzling on the plate. It’s so delicious with their flower tortillas and sour cream. And they give a lot!
This place is the spot to come to during happy hour when you’re craving Mexican food!