On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

CLOSED !!!
Well there is some justice in the world, these two crummy Mexican Food place went belly up in the last week or so.
God they were awful. No local cooking and salty as all get out. No great or small loss. Ate at both and that was a big mistake.

Pretty neat little Mexican restaurant. Staff were very nice and quick. Food was good and the chips and salsa were good as well. Definitely has a taste of Mexico feel.

This was my first time eating here. (Myself, 2 sons, daughter-​in-​law, and 2 grandsons) The problem started when the «manager» wanted to seat us next to the kitchen doors when the entire restaurant was practically empty. When our waitress came she wouldn’t even give us time to order our drinks until she said «I’ll just bring you all water and then you can give me your order.» I had attempted to order a margarita until I was «told» I would get water for now. We all decided to just drink our water for the meal to save money on an experience I already knew was not going to go well. My son ordered the «endless enchiladas.» Well believe me they are not endless. His ended with his one and only serving. We couldn’t even get her back over there by waving and yelling woohoo! My daughter-​in-​law ordered the «3 course dinner.» Appetizer, entrée, dessert. Well her appetizer came with her entrée and the soup was cold and had mushy tortillas in it so we knew it had been sitting, waiting to be brought out. Nothing that we ate there was good enough to go through this horrible dining experience again. We finally got the server over when we were all ready to leave and I told her about we have been ignored throughout our dining there. (fyi we were the only ones seated in the Siberia section of this restaurant) I told her I wanted to talk to the manager. That’s when I learned the manager had actually been the one to seat us there. He said that he would comp the enchilada dinner and in his own words «knock a couple bucks off the bill for the soup»… I was just amazed at his «so what» manner and told him it was our first time to eat there and would be our last. I still ended up paying $ 60 bucks for this horrible fiasco. Just the clarify, this is the «On the Border» in Boise, ID. This company should be ashamed to have such a place representing them. Expensive lesson learned! I wish I could give this place negative stars!

We went to the On The Border in Boise with our 3 kids. We had been on a 17-​day road trip from California where we have Mexican food at least once a week and usually more often. We were excited to finally be able to have some Mexican food after having gone so long without it. Unfortunately, On The Border is a typical chain restaurant. It’s called a Mexican «grill» so we should have know it wouldn’t be authentic. The salsa that came with the chips taste like it came from a jar. The fish taco that I got was really fishy tasting which made me think it was not fresh. My husband liked his Brisket Soft Tacos but, again, they weren’t authentic Mexican. My kids got ice cream with their kids meals which made them very happy.
The service at On The Border left something to be desired. When we told the hostess there were 5 of us she told us that she would need to put some tables together. That was fine with us, but it seemed to take an extra long time. Our waiter was okay, but nothing special.

Went there last night for Happy Hour. Server was supposed to split the cost of appetizers between the two of us. He did that for the other party BUT charged me full price for them. I didnt think about it until after I left. So… if you go scrutinize your bill… servers like to overcharge/​double charge? Makes me angry… doubt I’ll return.

Horrible Service. Walked in around 12:35, there were only a few tables occupied and plenty of staff walking around. Got seated right away, in the open. Never got waited on. After 20 minutes I left and went elsewhere.

My posse and me use On The Border as our go-​to spot for the occasional post work unwind. We find the bar welcoming, the drinks delicious at the menus (for both Happy Hour and dinner) full of choices. The food has never disappointed and neither has the service. I particularly enjoy the Baja Combo– A tempura-​battered Hass Avocado stuffed with Slow-​Cooked Pulled Chicken & Cheese, and a Chicken Enchilada with fresh sour scream sauce. Served with Mexican rice and your choice of refried or black beans. We never feel rushed and we never leave hungry either! Located near the movie theater there is plenty of parking as well.

This restaurant is very consistent with their food and quality. We enjoyed coming here for the atmosphere and the service. It is conveniently located on Eagle and Ustick in front of Le Peep. They do have a great happy hour.

This was my first time eating from here and it was a «carry out» order. I called in my order at 1220 and arrived there at 1240. I waited another 20 minutes for my order. They did not seem busy and I felt they started my order when I got there.
Courtney (January 14) was my greeter and she did not tell why it took so long. I am not impressed with this minimal service. I will not order from here again. A waitress separate from my wait was apologetic and sympathetic to my long wait.
If you are running late on an order just let the customer know.

The food was just okay. A bit less than what you’d expect from a chain. The coffee tasted like it had been sitting around for awhile. Guacamole not mashed enough, ¼ of an avocado sized chunks. Taco shells in the basket of chips made me wonder. Not very busy when we were there yet the server had to be flagged down for condiments soon after the food arrived, about the time she should have been asking if we needed anything. Then she brought the check before we were even halfway through eating. The tortilla warming containers she placed on the table were grimy, crusted with old food. VERY unappetizing. The place in general seemed beat with a lackadaisical, untrained staff. Not at all worth $ 35 for lunch for two – no alcoholic drinks – before tip.

Great place! Daughter loved the fish tacos (compared them to ones from Hawaii!) Service was also great. Kind of pricey in my opinion but overall we enjoyed it. I would go back and will recommend it.

Surprising myself with how many reviews I’m writing for chain restaurants, but this one did well by us. Wifey and I stopped in for a snack n’ drink before a movie at Edwards 22. I had a couple of large beers and, as it turns out, it’s happy hour all day on Sundays. The big beers (no idea on ounces), which were Dos Equis Lager, cost $ 3. Whoo! Wifey had a virgin margarita that cost $ 3, which was about $ 2 cheaper than Jalapenos.
I really enjoyed the salsa, as it had something of a kick. We split the mushroom and spinach quesadilla (just fine) and «live» guacamole (made tableside with THREE AVOCADOS). As long as you aren’t expecting gold, this place doesn’t disappoint. Our server, Polly, was awfully friendly, made great conversation, and took good care of us. Food and drinks were brought promptly.

Ok where to start where to start… first off we sit in the bar and it took forever to be greeted. finally the bartender came over n got our drink orders and then soon after another server came over to get the same order. Now we don’t know who our server actually is because neither of them introduced themselves As so. Then after another long gap then bartender came back and took our food order. And then 5 minutes later the other server came by an tried to do the same… and then after that a 3^rd person asked us if wed ordered. I’m a server. This was weird. The customer should know who they are tipping. And the server should know which tables are theirs, where they are at in the ordering process and establish that with the customer. So next, my food of course came out wrong because the person I ordered through obviously didn’t care to listen to ring it in right because it must not have really been their table… No one once checked and asked if anything was ok (because I would have said no this isn’t how I ordered it). I ate it anyway since it obviously wasn’t going to get fixed… glad I paid for what I wanted :/​so along with getting the wrong meal we also got to watch the bartender/​server (I think his name was Talis) get Into some weird confrontation wih a customer in the Parkin lot outside the window by our table. The people with whom there was confrontation then came inside and asked for a manager who came out and continued to handle whatever conflict it was right in the front Of the restaurant for everyone too see as Talis moved back behind the bar proceeding to tell customers at the bartop what was going down. Did I mention I was on a date too? The entire experience was horrifying… we won’t we back. It was obvious, even tho we apparently had 3 servers, that not one cared about the service that was givin AT ALL they couldn’t even ask if our meal was ok.. never even brought us water and our ice tea stayed empty until we were leaving… it was all totally unprofessional and the last thing I wanted to do with my date was sit there and watch the staff argue with and vent about other customers right in front of us. Nice job guys. No wonder this place has gone down hill. I had to give one star in order to post this. But trust me. It’s negative stars.

Bland food. The salsa was hot but not the best I’ve ever had. Maybe I’m spoiled since I’m from Arizona and real Mexicans make it? I dunno.

Giod food
Good service. great drinks and the vibe is nice. Visit w u friends. i have been here 3 times and never been unhappy w a meal

I give this place 3 stars because their happy hour is great. They do not water their margariats down which is a plus. I have never been happy with the service at this place especially this last time we went. We sat at the bar and had this female bartender, who acted like she was on drugs. She kept repeating what we were saying and each time she would get it wrong. She brought back the wrong margarita several times and then argued with us that she was right. If it wasn’t for the happy hour, I’d never go to this place.

Terrible terrible terrible food and even more terrible service. After correcting the waiter on lemons and limes (he brought me diet coke with lemon when I specifically asked for diet coke with lime), he disappeared. Didn’t see him for at least 20 minutes. Nothing at all. When another waitress brought our food, they brought me the wrong dish. So after another 5 minutes, my dish arrived, come to discover the «fire grilled chicken» was microwaved. The texture of the chicken was still on the raw side. So disgusting. But I couldn’t tell anyone because our waiter disappeared AGAIN! Not a single apology for the wrong order, not even an acknowledgement that he had messed up.
Don’t waste your time or your money on this place.

It’s the same menu and food you’d find anywhere else in the country, for which I’d only give 3 stars, but I’ll give this particular franchise an extra star for its great happy hour specials and the bartender, Doug, who is really friendly.

Best happy hour in the area! Recently changed happy hour drink and food menu but still amazing. Staff is the best! Doug is the most amazing bartender in the world; he never disappoints. We go for the food and drinks but keep coming back for Doug’s service. Once we had a rather questionable experience but because of the food quality and Doug making things better, we keep going back. Even if you’ve had a bad experience, go back for happy hour and give them another chance.

The food was merely a «meh» in my book. It was on par with Azteca and Inca in my book. I ordered a grande chicken taco salad. The chicken was a bit dry. But, whatever. I didn’t have high expectations to begin with.
The entertainment that accompanied the meal was the best part of my experience here. And by entertainment, I mean Sierra. Or was it Ciara? Not to be confused with R&B-Pop sensation, Ciara. Where is her career these days? I couldn’t tell if she was being snappy, or if her sense of humor was just that awesome. She did a great job of making our «live» guacamole. It’s hard to mess up a guac dip. The tortilla chips — which were half of the size of my face (and I have a big head) — made eating the guac a bit uncomfortable, but, whatever.
I would probably come back here, only on the condition that Ciara performed her smash, hit single ‘1, 2 Step’. Oh, wait. Wrong Sierra. Anyways. Again. Yeah, sure why not? This is the most useless Unilocal review I’ve ever written.