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    On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

    2.9 (296 reviews)
    ModerateMexican, Tex-Mex

    On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina Photos

    ON THE BORDER MEXICAN GRILL & CANTINA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

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    Reviews With Photos

    Chicken Grande Fajita Nachos
    Rachel C.

    I haven't been to on the border in so long! There was no wait time on a Friday night. They give you complimentary chips and salsa which is great. I got the coronarita ($10) and the grande fiesta chicken nachos. They tasted great especially for the price point. This is a great spot for more affordable options.

    Classic Chimichanga
    Sigdia S.

    Came in after going to the LEAD festival that was right behind the restaurant. Found parking easily surprisingly, there was no wait when we got in. The place is a little out dated and the place inside is ok, clean but not like super fancy BUT the food was sooo good! I was very happy with my chimichanga and my boyfriend was very happy with his combo plate he had. Server was nice, food came quickly and the best part THE BILL! The price was great! I was very pleased! Place was better than I expected. I'll be back soon!

    El Gran Papi pt2
    Monica D.

    I live very close to this place however I've only gone a handful of times because this is not my type of Mexican however yesterday with horrific weather and not feeling well enough to make anything I ordered from here, honestly, because it was the cheapest delivery. I got the Gran Papi, a smorgasbord of different items. It would not let me get delivery unless I spent $20 so I also added chips and guac to the order. Everything arrived earlier than expected and packaged very well. I enjoyed the items a lot more than I thought I would.

    A Grilled Shrimp Border Bowl
    Elizabeth A.

    On the Border used to be one of my go to spots, especially in college, but in recent years, my experience has fallen short. Today, May 4th... my husband and I went to have some drinks and food to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. When I tell you.....there was barely any indication (other than the attached photos) that it was Cinco de Mayo weekend and the location was pretty much dead. (Years ago, I went to a cinco de Mayo party at another on the border location where the entire parking lot was converted into a party with live music and great specials. I am not sure why all locations don't do this or some sort of celebration being that they are a Mexican restaurant. ) I was unimpressed & bummed, quite frankly. The bowl was really not great either. I ate the shrimp and left a good portion of my food behind. On another note, my margarita flight was okay - & only $10 and I am a sucker for their chips and salsa. On another note,

    Mexican Grilled Chicken
    Chris J.

    Amazing food and service! Gabriel was an amazing waiter! I got the Mexican grilled chicken with a side of beans, and it was great!

    Mexican Grilled Chicken
    Eduardo C.

    The experience can certainly be a hit or miss - depending on your server. When we walked in, the greeter was assisting her team members told napkins/utensils. When she came over she seemed to want to sit us ASAP without much of a greeting. Fortunately, the experience changed when our server Ashley greeted us at the table. She took our drink orders (margaritas of course!). She also made some recommendations and when she came back with the drinks we were able to order. Grilled chicken and rice - very good and low carb. Enchiladas - OK , wouldn't recommend Fajitas with rice and beans - very good! Food was ok, Ashley was great!

    Sanjay G.

    We were there yesterday (28-Jun). Not sure whether it was weekday evening or the sun is setting on this joint, the restaurant was almost empty and only 2-3 tables were occupied. anyway, we were a party of 5, got the table, and settled ourselves. Gianna was our server and she did a good job. Usual- Nachos bucket came with 5 bowls of salsa. We ordered below Drinks: -------------- Mangonada Margarita: No doubt, the best cocktail on their menu. Sweet mango mixed with chili powder (Spicy Tajin), tango taste, and frozen it is. Perfect.!! Mango Margarita: Margarita with Mango- it was good Mojito Clasico Cherry Lime Rum Rita: Rum with lime and cherries Pineapple Rum Punch All drinks were amazing and we don't have any complaints in that department. Appetizers: ---------------- Border Sampler: Chicken quesadillas, Nachos, Flautas, and Fajita chicken (we asked to replace steak with chicken and they obliged) Guacamole Live!: Gianna came up with all the ingredients and made live Guac. it wasn't mixed properly as Guac came with Appetizer and this live Guac - the taste was totally different Entrees: ---------------- VEG Burrito: Can't comment as we had one veg person and seems he wasn't much interested in this Chicken Fajitas: Fajita is my fav dish in Mexican cuisine and never ever have I got a less quantity like this (in the picture). Fewer Veggies, and less chicken (chicken taste was good though) but they just cut breast pieces and served them simply. Fish Tacos 3 Pc: this was the worst item we got. The oil in which fish was fried, was very bitter in taste. Mexican Grilled Chicken: it was good. all the items come with side dishes like rice-beans-guac-tortillas. fajita and tacos: disappointed us. I guess the only item we liked was Mexican grilled chicken. overall Drinks- Good Appetizer- Good Entree: not good Brownie Sundae- We had a birthday boy in the group so they provided brownie Sunday for free...

    Outside
    Chris E.

    Pretty much your typical Tex-Mex casual food chain restaurant. This is the only On The Border I know of for many miles. In fact, it's the only one I've ever seen in the state, hence why some might not know it's an actual chain. If I were to equate it to American casual chain restaurants, you can say this is the Tex-Mex version of your local Applebee's or Chili's. I've never dined in before, but I have done take out a few times from On The Border and the food is just what you'd expect - casual, hit or miss and a whole lot of calories. Before I ordered, I actually read a few not so great articles on the unhealthiness of On The Border, but since we were sort of desperate for a quick meal, my family and I decided to do a quick pickup because of its proximity. The menu is a what's what of casual Tex-Mex - Tex-Mex style nachos, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, burgers. You get the point. Nothing is going to be "authentic" Mexican. Some of it will actually taste decent, while other things will downright turn you away for life. In the past, my wife and I have ordered the classic burrito and combos consisting of the different enchiladas (beef, carnitas) they offer. I WILL admit we actually enjoyed our meals somewhat. The classic burrito was shockingly pretty tasty. Albeit it was simple with just ground beef and refried beans inside, but the signature queso they included really, really gave it a boost. In fact, it was ALL about the queso for the burrito. In addition, the combos, which include rice and beans, aren't actually that bad. The enchiladas are not authentic at all, but it's Tex-Mex. It still has flavor and fills your appetite. The one thing that we really loved was the fact that they included 2 huge bags of tortilla chips with our orders. It's surprisingly a large serving of chips and, to be honest, I've never seen so much of a complimentary item included with an order. Is it wrong to say at the end of the day we were satisfied with our meals? Maybe we were starving like hungry hippos, but we really didn't have many complaints. The food wasn't bad. With all of the above said, I do have to admit, we DID order from here because we were using a Doordash deal, but we surprisingly had no regrets about using it here.

    Mixed fajita catering
    Stefan H.

    Have only ordered catering. The mixed fajitas are popular, and the steak is always tasty and tender!Other than their house made chips, portions don't look particularly generous, but there's enough food for the number of people odered for.

    Bullshit excuse for a strawberry daquari. They used margarita mix

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    Ask the Community - On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

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    Jose Tejas

    Jose Tejas

    3.8
    (1.5k reviews)
    10.4 mi
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    We've been going there since 2008. It is our family go to for Tex-Mex. The quality of the food has…read morealways been good. I can't remember a single bad experience with the possible exception of when they were first figuring out how to serve to go orders during COVID and they forgot part of our order. Expect a wait during peak hours but that should tell you something. Not the absolute best I've ever had, but you won't be disappointed.

    Parking: Plenty of parking available…read more Service: There was about a 20 minute wait when we went at 6:30pm on a Saturday. My husband put our name in for a party of four and gave his phone number for the text notification but the hostess accidentally entered us as a party of two. Thankfully, the table that was ready was large enough for four but it could have caused an issue. As a note, she remembered and realized she mistyped it and apologized immediately. Our waiter was friendly, though the service had a few hiccups. My chicken quesadilla (which I ordered as my entrée) came out well before everyone else's meals. When boxing leftovers, he asked whether I wanted the sides, sour cream, and salsa included. I said no, but when I opened the container the next day, everything had been packed together anyway. Food: The chicken quesadilla was delicious and generously filled with shredded chicken. Drinks: The frozen strawberry margarita was excellent. It was filled to the brim and stronger than what you typically get at a restaurant. Overall, I'm chalking the service issues up to it being a busy Saturday night. We'd still happily return to Jose Tejas whenever we're in the area.

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    Javelina

    Javelina

    3.8
    (594 reviews)
    13.2 mi
    $$

    Been going to the UWS location for years but I was in the area needing to kill time so decided to…read morestop in for Happy Hour. Sitting at the bar, it was only me one other patron and the bartender (with the host nearby). Had a great time talking, it was a slow day so we all really had a great time. I went with the white queso ($8) from the HH menu and then tried the fried cauliflower($9). They were good, breaded thickly with a great spicy sauce. All went great with a beer on tap, whatever was on HH that day.

    About once a year I get an overwhelming craving for fajitas, and Javelina seems to be one of the…read morebest places in the city to find them. Conveniently located near Union Square/14th Street on the Lexington Avenue Line, Javelina is fairly easy to get to from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. The restaurant itself is downstairs from the street, but not quite a basement. There is a bar when you first enter on the left, and tables back to the kitchen. The space is usually quite loud, and it can be a bit cramped at times. Don't be surprised if you find yourself raising your voice a bit to keep up. Upon seating, you will (eventually) be offered chips and salsa, and someone will take your drink order. Things can take a bit of time here, especially at busy times, so do not expect the top tier of restaurant service by any stretch of the imagination. The menu features fajitas, and I cannot imagine ordering anything else. The queso is a lovely appetizer, though the trio feels a bit small for the price. If you order fajitas, you will notice another shortcoming of this restaurant, the tables can feel a bit cramped. This is something that comes with the territory in Manhattan dining but do not feel surprised if you end up having to rearrange things on your table to accommodate a delicious platter of sizzling fajitas. The fajitas themselves are fine, and probably the most consistent I've found here in the city. I would not be surprised if there were better places for fajitas elsewhere but in my research this seemed like the best option. Requests have been missed before in my experience (I recall ordering a certain salsa that never came) and because the waiters seem a bit overwhelmed, it hard to address it before you'd want to eat. Overall, this place will scratch the itch for fajitas, but the service is lacking. I'll probably find myself wanting fajitas again in the future and return, but every time I visit I find myself just a little bit disappointed that a good restaurant is not great.

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    Margarita

    On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina - mexican - Updated July 2026

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