On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Basic Mexican food. The service is not great but when you get your bill. Watch out… the server will add his own tip to the bill even when you leave a tip. Dishonest servers

I was a new customer and they offered complimentary queso. In addition, they had a DAIRY FREE menu so I was able to try the enchiladas at no cost to my stomach.
Dave was a phenomenal server with a great attitude & manners. He was able to service more than 4+ tables without error on the patio. We took up the opportunity for their Monday special (endless enchaladas) and as soon as my friend had finished his last bite of the first round, he had already asked him if he was ready to reorder. If their employees are this delightful to customers, the entity itself must be doing something right.

Basic Mexican food but has nice vibe and decent portions for the price. Nothing blows you away as far as taste but chicken empanadas and table side guac were definitely the highlights. If you drink, go for the regular margarita over the skinny, the sacrifice of calories was not worth the taste. Patio is really nice if weather permits. Casa Bonita in Libertyville has better drinks but food is close to the same and On The Border is a little cheaper.

Just last week visited Uncle Julios in Skokie and today On The Border without a doubt
on the Border was a better value and the service was fantastic our server Viviana made
our dinner special. Uncle Jullios service was very poor if I could give it less that one star I
would. The management in Skokie seemed not to care and the training of the staff needed
attention.
Uncle Julios will open up in Vernon Hills and needs to have a better and more caring
staff than Skokie. I will never return to Skokie even if the dinner was free. If I could give
On the Border more than 5 stars I would. I would recommend it to friends and Family
and will return.
Once again our server Viviana was excellent and went out of her way to help. I also
noticed other servers and how good they were with customers. I spoke to the manager
to tell him how great everything was.
I hope On the Border reads Unilocal and maybe the management of Uncle JULIOS reads
it as well.
ken T

I have to give props to the bartender. continously makes great drinks through the night when the place is usually packed… food is great as well. I will say there is usually a 15 – 30 waiting to be seated if you go around dinner but that only tells you they are good. I just sit at the bar. place is nicely cleaned. people are very kind

My original review was for the wrong On the Border. How embarrassing! Anyway, I actually did try this location over the weekend and had a great lunch. I got the pick three combo (as usual) with the tortilla soup, spinach and mushroom enchilada and hatch chile chicken enchilada. Everything was delicious. My husband got the border ranch burrito and loved it even though he, surprisingly, couldn’t finish it. This has never happened before. He’s usually a bottomless pit for burritos.
The drinks might’ve had something to do with it. Our waiter, Ruben, recommended we get the drink special and make our margaritas doubles. We did. Needless to say lunch was a lot of fun and so was the movie we went to afterward. Can’t remember too much about the plot though…
The service was great and the location is perfect for lunch while you’re shopping. I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m in the area.

My family and I have been to this location several times. The food was pretty good but the service was slow on a few visits and my water glass was actually really dirty on our last visit. Cleanliness is a must, so we didn’t return.

The ambience was good. Everything was on time. I got the combo which had an enchilada, empanada and a soft taco. Everything was so delicious. Will definitely come back here.

I was impressed with On The Border this time.
Very good service: We were in a rush and asked the server to bring out our food quickly, he was very enthusiastic and brought our food out within five minutes! The waiter was very attentive throughout the whole meal and made the experience very enjoyable.
The food: the chips and salsa are great, probably the best in the area, the actual meal was good but wasn’t great; the food tasted good, but was lacking some overall flavor.
The atmosphere is very good, it was crowded in the restaurant but we were seated very quickly. I would recommend this On The Border, for a chain, it is much better than some of the non-​chain popular Mexican restaurants in the area like Casa Bonita.

The fact that you would carry something on your menu 3 weeks ago, decide to take it off, and then pretend like it never existed is beyond me. Your plates are always cold and it’s shameful that you use «Mexican» in the title of your restaurant.

Wow. Party of 10. Wrong drinks * 3, wrong meals * 2, quesadillas with random bits of garnish and carrots, cold food, awol servers, non existent management, lying about discounts, shrugged shoulders when faced with complaints. Only positive thing was didn’t get hepatitis — but probably cause food was frozen.

Holy frijoles, my wife and I both realized about 15 mins into our visit why we have not been back here in years.
Service is slow and there is no FU on food after drop offs.
I could somewhat handle the poor service if the food was decent, but it was just plain awful.

Coming from Texas, finding a good tex mex has proven real difficult oddly. This is my favorite spot so far. I go here for my mexican food fix if near by. Chips and salsa are good, margarita frozen are delicious esp compared to some of the so called top margaritas joints in Chicago (pssh). Strawberry and raspberry I usally get and never been let down. The nachos with grilled chicken for appetizer, Chimichanga my typical go to and they do it well. Frequent customer. Staff is all nice and attentive. Parking is in the lot no issues. Can’t wait til next visit Cheers

I continue to struggle to find a go to Mexican restaurant in Chicagoland. Yes, many have their favorite taquerias. There are the Las Palmas fans, the Lalos ones, and we all know these are not authentic Mexican restaurants, they are go to comfort spots. My fav of the bunch is On The Border.
Always fresh light chips, and great salsa, reasonably priced, fresh food, and good bar drinks. I like the fish tacos and fried chili rellenos, allot. My friends think the fajitas here are the best.
The quality is the same whatever location you choose.

It was my first time here and I have to say excellent food and service!
My family and I came here for my birthday about 45 minutes from where we live and we are coming again!
Our server was Emily and she was so nice and I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted and she knew everything and helped me out so much!!!
You get so many chips and they’re great aside from what everyone says that they’re big. So what? They would be too small and you’d complain your fingers were getting in the sauces.
We got the live guacamole and that was awesome, you get so much!
I had the combo and it was delicious. Definitely coming here again.

Two stars is generous.
Where do I begin? My boyfriend and I came here as a last resort for dinner, I had never been here and he hadn’t in a long time but neither of us will be returning.
We were starving so we got an appetizer (we got the empanadas) it took forever and they were disgusting but we ate them anyways… you know how it goes when you’re hungry…
As for our meals… he got BBQ tacos which had almost no meat on them but a huge pile of fried onions and sauce. I got a chimichanga, it actually wasn’t awful lol (hence the two stars) but nothing to write home about.
After arriving home we both felt sick, I fell asleep on the couch to try and sleep it off and woke up an hour later to my boyfriend puking in the bathroom. He threw up 3x and then was done. I can neither prove nor disprove that the ralphing was from On The Border but I do know that any time anyone says «empanada» my stomach turns.

I love Americanized Mexican food. LOVE. I like actual Mexican food, too, but I’m not a snob. Who doesn’t love queso and extra large margaritas?!
I’ve been to this location a handful of times over the last ten years, and I’m always happy with the food. The service, however, has never been stellar and seems to be getting worse. We had a very intrusive waiter the last time we were here– he offered us more chips, and when we accepted, he told us we should have ordered more food. He made a variety of other comments like this throughout the night, and he clearly found himself amusing, but we definitely didn’t.
The food is always good– the salsa that comes with the chips is better than typical restaurant salsa, although the chips are awkwardly shaped and therefore difficult to dip. The fiancé usually gets a combination and is always happy with it. I (of course) get nachos every time. These nachos are high quality– each chip is constructed individually with cheese and toppings, and the whole plate is broiled so they are crispy. They come with a little pile of lettuce, sour cream, jalapeños, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Overall, these are solid, 3.5 star nachos.

I wasn’t always a fan… Been here once or twice like 7 years ago and hated it! Recently had a craving for Mexican food from somewhere new, and decided to re-​try this place.
Placed an order for pickup and was very happy! I was shocked at how much I enjoyed their tacos, as well as their delicious chips/​salsa! And keep in mind this was even 15 minutes later after driving home!
Since then, I’ve been back a couple times for pickup, and once for dine-​in. I am now, officially, a fan! And will be back.
The food is great, the prices are a smidge high, but kinda average. The employees have been nice. and they’ve got a great atmosphere. They’ve even renovated their outdoor seating area, and it’s adorable! Def give this place a try.

I’m not really sure how to start this review. On the Border has been around for a while, but it is new to Schaumburg. This restaurant has been open for a couple of months.
Pros — it’s clean and bright. Their menu is diverse, offering a broad range of Tex-​Mex cuisine. Their «Guacamole Live» is their version of table side Guacamole. Their servers are very attentive, almost to the point of being annoying.
Cons — it was a strange experience. The servers were too attentive. The chips and salsa bowls were never empty. Drink glasses were filled before they were empty. When we ordered, my wife and I shared a combination fajita — steak and chicken. They offer three options for vegetables and three choices for sauces. We asked if we could have the traditional pepper and onions with the fajita meat, but could we also get some of the «diablo» on the side. They forgot to bring the vegetables diablo, and frankly we forgot too.
At the end of the meal, the server stopped by to ask how everything was, and apologized for not bringing the side of diablo veggies. We said it was no big deal —
Then the manager came over. He said he was sorry about the fajitas. When we asked why, he mentioned the diablo vegetables. It was almost like they were tripping over themselves to each apologize more than the last one. But, what made this upsetting was the manager went on to throw what seemed like everyone else working there under the bus. It wasn’t his fault — tr he computer systems are confusing and people don’t generally order food the way we do. He had to show the server, who didn’t know what he was doing, how to enter the order correctly. Then, the kitchen staff wouldn’t know how to handle an order like ours…
For goodness sake, we ordered steak and chicken fajitas with their options of traditional vegetables and sauce, but asked if we could have a side of the diablo vegetables.
What could have been a pleasant family turned into something that was not a fun experience. I feel bad for the people who have to work an that environment where their manager places blame for little, unimportant things, on the company, their systems and his co-​workers. We will not be returning. Ever.
I can give a restaurant a second chance if there is a problem with the food. I can give them another chance if the service is fair. But, making something out of nothing then blaming everyone else (including us) is too much.

I came here on a Friday evening.
This place can get very busy as they don’t take reservations. I believe they had just gone through some renovations so the place was packed with people checking out the changes. We had about a 20 minute wait. They have a bar area where you can pick up a margarita while you’re waiting for your table.
We were seated and waited on by a nice woman who was comical throughout our meal. She was genuinely happy and made our experience worthwhile.
They start you off with the classic chips and salsa which were on point. We had enchiladas as an appetizer and they were very good. They were served with a spicy cheese dipping sauce.
For my entrée I had the three sauce fajita burrito with rice and pinto beans. I don’t like sour cream so my meal turned into the two sauce fajita burrito with cheese and salsa split half and half on top of my burrito. This is the kind of burrito that you have to eat with fork and a knife which I enjoy doing.
The food was great and service was better. Despite the wait it was a great experience.