On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Great food! Though it is a little pricy, the portion was huge & I’m happy to have gotten the three-​sauce fajita burrito. It was very satisfying

Tbh I really regret coming here and spending the money that I did.
Our server was a fratboy type who seemed like he had much better things to do than serve us. Tipping him the usual 20% hurt me, it did.
The food costs way more than what it should, considering what it is. It tastes decent but you might as well just go to El Pollo Loco.
As San Diegans we already live pretty much «on the border». You’re better off seeking an authentic place at half the price.

Best staff I have ever had! Very helpful and Dillan was a wonderful server! Amazing food! I’ll be back!!!

Grea, t friendly, and fast service. I don’t usually leave comments but our server Dillan was such a sweet kid that was polite and on the ball. Keep up the good work and you’ll go far. Great food too!

This place was better 10 years ago. But it also wasn’t this location em that I would frequent then. Normally I got to Mira Mesa.
Anyway… Went for happy hour, kept it simple and got Flautas that were hard as rocks and Emapanadas that had a weird texture inside. The margaritas were too sweet.
The female bartender could not multitask and seemed to have a lack of a sense of urgency. We didn’t get out guacamole that we ordered and it took her about 15 minutes to remove it off the bill.
All around a disappointing experience.

Fajitas and Ritas Monday Night $ 10. Special cannot be beat! — I am a regular here for this every Monday special, where I get choice of delicious Carnitas or Chicken Fajita dish which comes with Rice and Beans, Tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, etc… plus a nice sized house Margarita, on the rocks or blended. With free unlimited chips and salsa generously refilled this On the Border deal is a must. And all for only $ 10 Bucks. Here is a big Thank you to On The Border!

If your going to list a menu on your Unilocal,try to make it right. Half the items weren’t on the menu and the prices were WAY off. A classic burrito was listed as 8.99 and in the restaurant it was like 12.39. Sat down, looked at the menu, and left.

This is not very authentic Mexican food, overpriced for what you get. I would recommend just going to an actual Mexican restaurant. The drinks are okay, but again, super overpriced.

Got here late on a Saturday night and was surprised that it was empty! I was sitting at the bar all alone. The bartender was very friendly, but also super busy getting ready to close down. I wanted to order the empanadas but they were out, so I got the jalapeño poppers. They were pretty good, as were the chips and salsa. I just wish the cheese dipping sauce was real and did not dry to a plastic looking layer in seconds. It still tastes really good. If you are looking for a late night bite to eat and drink without a crowd, this is your spot.

5 stars because Joe is amazing. Joe is so friendly he immediately greeted us with a warm smile and made us the best drinks ever. No really. the best. My friend and I came on a Wednesday and got lucky enough to have joe as our server and bartender. How do you describe an amazing genuine awesome flipping person? I will never have another server ever again unless its Joe. I must admit I’ve worked in the industry so I am a very difficult person to please. Actually I’m really not its just that most people suck. But he is the best server and bartender I have ever had in my life. I saw that this restaurant gets 3 stars but in my eyes it gets 5 stars just because of Joe!!! He is funny, cool, personable and not only was he really kind and genuine to my table but as I see him with other tables he is the exact same with everyone. Joe is doin big thangs over here.

I have dined here on several occasions. I would say that the food is fairly comparable to El Torito. On my most recent dining experience I was disappointed that it took far too long for our entrees to arrive. I ordered the cheese enchilada and the fish taco and the items were good.
The servers are typically helpful and the establishment is kept clean. My only reason for continuing to dine here is when my parents are in town and they recommend it. For this style of food I would rather have an adventure to Tijuana.

A lot of people are expecting the Mexican food here to be as good as a favorite mom-​and-​pop-​hole-​in-​the-​wall place or like a high-​end (high-​priced) 5 star restaurant. Realize it’s your typical Mexican chain restaurant with average prices. Gordon Ramsey’s high-​end perfectionism is not in the kitchen, people. Be realistic for what your paying.
Went here to celebrate after receiving some good news on a Monday evening. The place wasn’t super busy, which was nice considering I have twin toddlers who get antsy when sat for too long. Our waitress was very nice and accommodating (even I knew that we were a bit of a demanding/​chaotic table to wait on and she truly handled it with grace), and once we placed our orders the food came out fast.
I had steak fajitas and a virgin piña colada, my husband had the same but with a regular margarita, and our children had some sort of sampler platter and a quesadilla entrée (which took a while to figure out to order for them). The fajitas were very good and satisfying, as was my drink, and none of it upset my sensitive pregnant stomach. I rejoiced because to finally be able to eat and drink something with flavor felt amazing. My husband enjoyed his food and drink, too.
The kids didn’t really touch their food, but they’re two and that’s just how two year olds are. They did happily eat up my husband and I’s rice and beans though! They also enjoyed some of the piña colada I ordered.
For what it is and what you’re getting for the price, along with the great service we experienced and a good atmosphere, this place gets four stars. It lost a star because there aren’t exactly any vegetarian options on the menu (one of my sons refuses to eat meats) and the menu isn’t totally kid-​friendly. But they were as accommodating to our needs regards that as you could hope for so that was nice.

The food was mediocre
The service was incredibly slow it was ridiculous, they came around every hour to ask if we were okay, we waited for our food for about 45 minutes, than the wait in between drinks was ridiculous .
The only reason I’m giving them 2 stars is because the margarita specials which were 1.82−89 (something like that). Which I only consumed 2 of because the there were no servers, well they were but they weren’t assisting us.
Won’t be returning anytime soon :)
and bad customer service smh

I’m impressed! I am always the one who basically drinks my bowl of salsa with my chips and the bartender (we sat at the bar) brought both of us our own bowls of salsa for our chips and salsa. That’s a plus! I always have to ask for my own and this time I didn’t! He quickly greeted us and asked for our drink order. Within seconds I had a HUGE deliciously and might I ad strong margarita on the rocks. After only a few sips I feel my drink!!! Yay!
Wow! Back to the service, the bartender just asked if there was anything else on tv we’d like to watch. He went to categories and searched for football, then even handed us the remote to search on our own! Wow, why again do they have only 3 stars?! Hmm
The bar is very very nice! Great place to watch football with several large tvs all around. Many beer selections on tap and very great service.
The chips are very fresh tasting and the salsa has a very good taste to it with just the right spice. A little spicy for the weak but perfect for me! We ordered some of the queso with meat added, it’s good. Has a different flavor to it I’m unsure of but its not bad, very creamy. Probably I’m just used to the Tex-​Mex style being from Texas and all. I ordered the bandera which had three different enchiladas. Favorite is between the carnitas enchilada with verse sauce and the Barbacoa with ranchero sauce. Overall rating 4 stars for great service, strong drinks and good food.

This place has a really good value on food and drink, the staff is very friendly and the food is awesome. I ordered the big burrito steak and it was a really good portion for the price that I paid. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a quick cheap meal and don’t want a ritzy restraunt.
Parking is great and we didn’t have any issues, we didn’t experience any issues with our visit so there is no reason to shift the rating in such a way.

First visit**
Salsa and chips are endless: D
The combos I think are really cool cause you can create your own plate and it’s reasonable prices!
I order Chicken Tinga enchiladas, delicious!!!
The tortilla was soft and nice juicy tender meat inside (some places the meat is dry ugh) my enchiladas was topped with their sour cream sauce! So good!!!
I will be coming back because they have some really great enchiladas (create 3 choice combo is $ 12.79 I believe!)
I didn’t order anything off the happy hour menu, but the couple beside us did, and drinks and food were flowing so I’m assuming they have good happy hour too!

It’s good. I don’t understand Unilocal snobs.
There are a lot of great, local restaurants, and this isn’t one of them. It’s Americanized Mexican food, but it’s consistent and reliable. If you aren’t happy, you can complain to management like any bar and grill.
Tonight, I had enchiladas. They were good. I’ll likely order them again when I come back for this clearly better than 3-​star restaurant.

So we discovered a really old gift card in my wallet yesterday. A chili’s/on the border/​maggianos/​macaroni grill gift card. We decided to try on the border when we discovered there were locations in San Diego.
When we walked in, it was obvious that all of the restaurants were related. My husband said «whoa, a Mexican Chili’s.» There will always be people who don’t mind the casual chain restaurant culture, but I’ll just preface the rest of this review with the declaration that this culture isn’t us!
I intended to use my age old «enchilada» test. I judge my Mexican food by how delicious their enchiladas are. It was nice that on Monday’s they had all day happy hour. However, we weren’t looking for happy hour food. We WERE looking for brews though, and were disappointed to only hear a few local beers on tap. I suppose the chili’s culture also prefers domestic beers as well.
Granted, I could have asked for clarification on the grilled enchiladas, but I was not expecting enchiladas that were thrown on the grill. I was expecting grilled chicken. That is definitely my fault for mistaking my choice, and with that said, I’d give On the Border another shot, but I thought it was odd that I struggled so much to find regular chicken enchiladas on the menu.
The salsa was not good. It tasted like pureed pace with tons of preservatives. I preferred eating the chips on their own. Their tortillas are DELICIOUS. I love homemade tortillas and was looking forward to dipping these in my enchilada sauce… wait there wasn’t any.
This is American Mexican food. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this place isn’t bad. There’s obviously an audience for it since the restaurant had quite a bit of business. I’ll give it another chance… now that I can learn from my ordering mistake.

The fact that my boyfriend called this place a «more expensive Taco Bell» definitely says something. Warning: If it’s Cinco de Mayo, their Taco Tuesday special doesn’t apply. That is what I learned for my first time deciding to celebrate «Cinco de Drinko.» Because it was Cinco de Mayo when trying this place out for the first time, I will not comment on the 30 minute wait. I’ll just focus on the food and the service.
I was disappointed that I couldn’t order tacos according to the Taco Tuesday specials, but I’ll let that slide. On the plus side, my boyfriend and I got margaritas off the happy hour menu, and they were probably the best thing about the meal. Despite it being busy, we got our food fairly quick. I ordered the brisket tacos (3 brisket tacos with beans and rice as a side), and he got the 2 barbacoa taco combo (which also came with beans and rice). Honestly, his plate was less than $ 1 or so cheaper than mine, and I had one more taco. I don’t think getting an extra taco is worth it though…
My meat didn’t taste like anything really. It was topped off with melted cheese, onion strings and some type of BBQ sauce. This was their interpretation of brisket tacos, I guess? In my opinion, I think they would’ve been better without the BBQ sauce. I think a traditional brisket taco, like a type of street taco, with hot sauce would’ve been a better take on it.
Then again, it is pretty much Americanized Mexican food. I say that for a few reasons: 1) the tortilla wasn’t cooked (hence my boyfriend calling it a more expensive Taco Bell) 2) I don’t think authentic tacos have onion strings 3) nor do they have BBQ sauce 4) melted cheese, especially jack cheese? 5) when I asked for hot sauce, the waiter gave me the salsa that comes with the complimentary chips. I didn’t try my boyfriend’s barbacoa tacos, but he didn’t like them very much. Disclaimer: he is Mexican and knows authentic Mexican food because of his grandma’s cooking (hahaha).
On the other hand, our waiter was nice. I think a standard thing would be getting me water (I met up with my boyfriend and he’s the one who was seated first), but I guess not. Also, I specifically said «no onion strings,» but what did I find on my tacos? Onion strings.
I did like the live entertainment during Cinco de Mayo, though… A female singer and two musicians with her. Maybe next time, OTB!

I met up with my guy for an early dinner at On The Border and, although I’m always skeptical of chain Mexican restaurants, we both left full and happy. On The Border managed to impress me!
We each ordered off the create your own meal menu. I chose a side salad with ranch and a chicken and sour cream enchilada with rice. He ordered a Caesar salad, chile relleno and a mushroom and spinach enchilada.
I always manage to stuff myself with chips and salsa, which are quite delicious here. The chips are oversized and the salsa has just the right amount of spiciness. By the time my food arrived, I was already getting full but I managed to eat my salad and half the enchilada and rice in large part because it was so good!
My boyfriend enjoyed his entire meal as well. He asked for a side of the green chile sauce and was blown away by it. This is especially impressive as he’s from New Mexico, where green chile is king.
Our waiter was hilarious and we appreciated his sense of humor. He also did a great job of making sure that we were taken care of and refilled our chips and salsa for us.