Border Cafe

My husband and I came here for dinner with our 2 year old. I was skeptical about whether we would be seated because we had just come over from Yard House after being given a 45 minute wait and the place was packed, but we were immediately seated! I’d say this is a family friendly restaurant as they had a great menu for kids and the ambiance was suitable for little ones. Our waitress was so friendly and attentive. She brought out our daughter’s food asap and consistently came back for check ins, and margarita refills. Food was spectacular! I’d recommend the fajitas and their house margarita. Much higher standard then your average chain Mexican restaurant. I feel like a lot of restaurants have lost their hospitality when it comes to small standards like water refills and check ins - but not here! Unfortunately didn’t get the name of the waitress but thank you! We can’t wait to return and hope to make it a regular family eat out spot.

Very few gluten free options. Fyi - Gumbo is NOT gluten free. Nice atmosphere, good service. Food was alright. The gumbo had few shrimp or meat whatsoever and a little salty. The chicken salad was average. The last dish- I forget the name - was also significantly average.

Ordered the quesadillas in beef and chicken. For a more simple dish I was expecting more. The beef was chewy and the chicken lacked flavor. There might be a dish here that is worth coming for but this was not it. However our waiter was extremely nice and helpful.

Beautiful vibrant place going with the theme. Very busy place during the evenings. Enough parking space surrounding the place. Open sitting options available. Vegetarian options are available. The service is prompt and efficient. Starting Nachos with Salsa and later added cheese sauce and guacamole were perfect to taste. Enchilada,Burrito , Empanadas were good but have eaten better at some other places.

I took my dad there for lunch. The food was very good, as always. The reason I am writing this review is because to the waitress. She was right there when we needed something. She was very attentive and everytime she came to the table she greeted us with eye contact and a big smile. I think her name was Isadora. She is an asset to your company and she provided us the kind of customer service that people rarely receive.

Food was delicious and service was good. It was only me so I was a little surprised I had to wait about 10 minutes to be sat. It's so loud, I think because the floors and ceiling are wood and it's so open with nothing to dampen the noise. I literally had to scream to my server to place my order.

Still hands down the best texmex meal ever. And so cost effective . The prices for food and drinks is unheard of these days.

I'm in town from Boise Idaho to see my grandparents. My grandpa wanted to take me here for lunch. I got the shrimp tacos that came with fries and he got a beef burrito that came with jambalaya. Everything looked great amd tasted great. Our waiter was super nice and everything came out pretty fast! Definitely a great spot!

The border continues to deliver fast yummy Tex-Mex food. The menu seems to be back to full-menu with some changes and additions post-Covid. - I wish they would bring back the original French Quarter chicken. It's back on the menu, but it's made with chicken tenders versus one piece. Hopefully, the sauce will be the same. - drink seems smaller now but same free refill - More options on the kids menu - they do takeout now! The service is fast and friendly, and it's still the same vibe with a neon lights, loud music and wooden tables. Outside seating when the weather is warm and plenty of parking with its own private lot

My go-to for Mexican! Fun atmosphere good food and our server Grace was fun quick and efficient! Sweet girl we had a great experience

I attempted several times to order online and after no success. I called to place an order over the phone the manager said sorry I can't take orders over the phone . I asked why not and told him I attempted on the website and door dash he informed me that the owner made a policy that everything has to be prepaid for takeout. I have ordered several times over the phone and have gone to this location since it opened. I supported this location during COVID when they started offering takeout (over the phone) I guess I will have to go elsewhere with my business that has a common sense approach. Even on this website(yelp) it has a call to order button?

Started off loving the chips and salsa and also loved my shrimp tacos. The chipotle aioli with the tacos was truly "chef's kiss." The margaritas were good, but a bit watered down and on the pricier side. Service was decent. Being someone who lived in Texas, the country music and Texas decor took me right back, especially after visiting the week before. They allowed my friends and I to chat for hours - a gesture we truly appreciated. All in all, a delightful spot for gathering with friends.

You could improve by placing a menu on your website, rather than the order online option, which isn't available until 4:00 pm. Why do so many restaurants do this these days? I know, because of the pandemic, but there are so many restaurants I avoid because I cannot access a menu to see if I'd consider eating there!

Great food and always reliable. Also has a fun vibe and free chips and salsa! Also the frozen strawberry marg is always amazing.

This was one of my favorite restaurants.Then they slowly removed everything my wife and I enjoyed.Especially after Covid.My favorite was catfish Madigraw which they claim was what made them famous. Never go back

Good service. Crazy that ownership says no dessert options. Not great for a birthday.

Nice place to eat! They have a great selection of Tex-Mex favorites. My wife loved it.

I hate to write a negative review, but hopefully management sees the low reviews and makes some changes. I went to border cafe for the first time for lunch on a Sunday. I have always seen the parking lot full, so I assumed it would be a great restaurant. We ordered appetizers and some entrees. Everything was blah, all the food seem frozen and fried and tasted the same. My salad had a tomato that had a moldy spot. I was going to tell our waiter, but he seemed overwhelmed and I did not want to bother him (since I knew they would not remake anything and just remove the moldy tomato). Honestly, I could buy frozen stuff from a grocery store and it would taste better. The waiter did forget to include our 2 margaritas on the bill, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

Oh Border Cafe. How I used to love thee. Understandably things had to change after Covid. But then you did the unthinkable. You changed the Tejas Chicken recipe! YOU CHANGED THE TEJAS CHICKEN RECIPE! You made a staple of my order for the last 20 years inedible. And now, you changed your salsa recipe. The salsa recipe I can get over... but the Tejas... unacceptable! I just cant take anymore disappointment. Not sure who made the decision to change things that weren't broken just to save a few bucks. But now you've lost a faithful customer. Maybe someday I'll try again. but too many changes and not for the better.

So sad that this once-great place has gone so downhill. Went and everything was just sad. Chips burnt. Chicken over cooked and dry. Some of our once-favorite dishes were severely downgraded and executed really badly. Rice was kind of gross. Many favorites not on menu anymore. Service was INCREDIBLY slow. I guess that's what happens when a great small local chain gets acquired by a big restaurant group.

I'm disappointed to say that Border has not been able to return to its former glory after the pandemic. The menu is still limited, many easy and cheap to crank out dishes have replaced old favorites like chicken Guadalajara and french quarter chicken. The service has not been great, many tables sit uncleared, no silverware or napkins when we're seated, nowhere near the old capacity, so prepare to wait. Also the prices have significantly increased compared to 4-5 years ago. We used to be able to get in and out for ~$25, tonight it was $50. Blackened chicken was dry as a bone today, which has NEVER happened in the 100s of times I've been here. Really sad to see this happening. At least the chips and salsa are there for me.

First visit and we WILL return. We had frozen margaritas. They gave us chips and salsa. We ordered guacamole. The chips were hot and crispy. Salsa and guac very tasty. Entrees were good portions and delicious. Not long wait time for anythin

Went for lunch recently. Food and service were really good. Guacamole is creamy and delicious

Understaffed. Had to wait 10 min to be seated in a half empty restaurant (with many other parties). Fajitas, chicken were overcooked, dry. So much worse than what we had experienced 10 years ago in the chain's other locations. The only plus: nice waitress.

Was once my favorite restaurant, but has gone severely downhill. Prices have doubled since COVID. The menu has been trimmed significantly, including my favorite dish, French Quarter Chicken. Food quality is poor. The jambalaya came out as a clumped mess of black goop with 3x the salt. Fajita portions seem reduced and do not come out sizzling. Please turn this around!

OMGterrible food... jambalaya is dark brown, Margaritas watered down, very not good for folks who enjoy texmex or Cajun food.

Wow. The restaurant hasn't changed in fifteen years. Nothing. The decor. The menu. It's all the same. Boring as Hell and the menu is bland. I came here with a friend and the hostess was a bit rude to me. I sucked it up and had a seat at the bar. Again, the food was fairly mediocre and they only have TWO beer choices and only in bottles. Not what I'd call selection. The service was also pretty bad. They rarely checked in on us. That might be. A staffing issue as everyone seems to be suffering from it, but it was still lackluster. The ONLY reason this place is still open is because it's located across from the Burlington Mall and they get the overflow traffic when all the other restaurants in the area are full. They either need to sell the place or revamp EVERYTHING.

Great fajita Chicken salad. Great atmosphere. It took a little bit to get service at the bar but wasn't too long of a wait.

border cafe in harvard sq!! lost it too a fire! sad day!! wish they wound rebuild..doesn't look good

Predictable and passable enchiladas at an average price point. This is an acceptable location for a casual meal and is very kid friendly.

My wife and I have gone here for years. We love it, and over all the years, the quality has never wavered. I care not one whit whether it's authentic Mexican or not. Everything there is delicious. The portions are sizeable, and in fact, I just finished my leftover fajitas for lunch. We both had fajitas (her, chicken and shrimp, me, steak and shrimp), I had two margaritas (with Cointreau), and my wife had Sangria. And of course, they bring you tortilla chips and salsa. The atmosphere here is fun and convivial, and the service is great. Tab? 98 bucks pre-tip. If we had two wishes, we wish they would bring back blackened swordfish and plantains. (There's no dessert here.)

I ordered steak fajitas and it was way too spicy and loaded with blackened pepper! It ruined my expectation of tasting a real beef fajita. I've tasted a multitude of beef fajitas from coast to coast and this beef fajita lost its beefy taste to a loadful of blackened pepper. Please do not blacken the steak. Keep the beefy flavor and taste. Sad to say I am not coming back here for beef fajitas.

If you want bright lights, very loud surroundings and burned tortilla chips, look no further than Border Cafe! This joint should be on Abilify because it doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it Mexican? Is it Cajun? Who cares, it's bad. Really, you really should just avoid it altogether. We returned the chips because they were burned. The new batch was just warmer. The salsa could easily be bested by any generic grocery store equivalent; what was fobbed off as 'salsa' was really chunky tomatoes with a lot of watery juice and an onion. No real spice going on in this. The enchiladas were the highlight of the evening. They were merely passable with no outstanding qualities either way. Lots of cheese on them. But the rice & beans that went were a desiccated pile of crusty rice, dried up black beans and a staff who just did not care. The "jambalaya" that was served with one of our entrees was the most vile incarnation of that dish I have ever partaken of. The State of Louisiana should immediately file a Cease & Desist order because this is an affront.

It's a great local Mexican food place! The prices are very reasonable, and you get a lot of food out of it too. The servers there are super nice, and the decor inside is so cool!

Nice place. Busy. Smelled nice. I have to recommend, the fajitas. Particularly the beef fajitas. The flavor. The juiciness. The smokiness from the grill, the beautiful char and char flavor. What a beautiful pairing. I will definitely recommend anyone in the Burlington area to try out this place. Top notch

I've been to border cafe plenty of times but I went twice with a friend of mine because I was telling her how the food is really good here. The service is terrible. The first time I came with her I was kinda embarrassed because it was her first time and the waitress was really rude to us. The service was rushed and I felt like it ruined our dinner. The 2nd time was last night and I felt like it was rushed again. The waitress took away our chips and salsa without asking us if we were finished. Even though the food took forever to come out..it was delicious and my strawberry frozen margarita was so good..Just the service sucks.

Border Cafe is so precisely calibrated. It's big, friendly, delicious and as consistent an atomic clock. There are plenty of great, accessible things on the menu, but I've been a Border Cafe Fajitas Person for two decades and I don't plan on changing any time soon. It's great every time. The Burlington Border is conveniently located with a parking lot that can handle the volume. And the mall is nearby if you want to walk off the ten pounds of chips and salsa you're sure to eat.

Foos was absolutely terrible. All salt, and everyone in our party had same impression. All 8 of us.... Disgusting and will never go back.

What a great find for an out of towner! Welcoming atmosphere and pleasant staff and customers! I knew this was a winner from the moment I sat down. FREE chips and salsa! Decided to go for the Cajun shrimp tacos. Two healthy tacos with an over abundance of shrimp, even some under the fries. And the chipotle, mayo, man I died and went to heaven. Reasonably priced and well worth the stop. I'll definitely be back. Only downside was the limited beer selection unless you're hooked on Mexican beer.

How do you go from 5 stars to 1? Well, it's pretty easy actually..... My wife and I dropped in at 8pm on a Saturday evening. Less than half the tables were occupied, including several booths. When the charming hostess tried seating us in one of the cramped wooden tables, my wife very politely asked if we could sit in a booth. The hostess never replied but instead walked over to the booth, plopped the menus down forcefully, and curtly yelled "Enjoy". Message received. We rotted there for over 10 minutes, not being acknowledged in any way. On the way out the hostess and several waitresses were busy chatting at the host stand. There are so many options in that area for dining it's ridiculous to put up with that nonsense. This has been our third subpar experience in a row and we won't be back for a 4th. Too bad.

Chicken Guatajiagua was my favorite dish, well worth the 20 minute wait. I was very disappointed when they removed it from the menu. I've been a handful of times since but never found anything I liked as much. Then they dropped my favorite appetizer, the popcorn shrimp. Once your favorites are gone, why bother going back? There's nothing left for me there I can't get closer to home.

Just call it "Horrible Onion Land" ! Ugh. This recent order was so oniony that 3 out of 4 people in group could not eat it. This used to be one of our fav restaurants. Never again.

The food was a complete disappointment. The best part were the chips, not even the salsa or the queso, which was definitely processed yellow cheese. It was crowded, which is fine, but even though my party was standing right by the hostess, she seated same size parties who came after us first. I ordered beef tacos: the beef tasted boiled and covered in bbq sauce. The rice tasted like rice pilaf and was gooey. The worst part was the restaurant had zero hot sauce. Supposedly "Mexican" dishes but they didn't have any form of hot sauce... no tapatio, no cholula, nothing.

I would give negative stars if I could. Sat down and was given water, chips and salsa. The chips had a bad taste and the salsa was nothing more than spicy tomato sauce with the occasional onion or pepper. After three I was done. I order the chicken fajitas. When the waiter brought out the food, he left it on the serving tray next to the table. OK, I guess I will serve myself. After I took my food, a waitress came over to take the tray away and asked if I needed anything else. I said no, I will get it myself if I do. The table next to me laughed because they saw the waiter leave and me serving myself I then looked at the meal. I was given a tortilla cake. 4 tiny tortillas stuck together they were tearing. So I used the knife to separate. When I say tiny, I had small tacos that came in larger tortillas. 3.5 inches at best. Onto the chicken, it was 6 chicken tenders. Not sliced with 3 slivers of onion and 2 peppers. Is there a pepper and onion shortage that I am not aware of. At this point, I had decided they couldn't pay me to eat this. So there was no point in calling the manager. After all, how effe tive could they be if this is what they are calling food and service. I just put on my jacket and left. That should be enough for them to realize their food and service is ridiculous and should just close the doors. ​

This is an option for when you want a reliable, large restaurant for drinks and food. Their chips are excellent -- warm and perfectly crisp. The food comes out quickly and hot. Unfortunately, their food is consistently extremely salty, so I can't actually recommend it for tasty food. It's really a shame because other than the salt level, the food is solid.

I typically don't leave reviews but this time I felt it necessary. The staff was very accommodating and sat our large group right away when I called ahead which was great. Drinks came out quickly as did warm chips. However, it took most of our dinner time to realize that my dairy allergy would affect what I choose. Our server apologized but in reality, she should have known ahead of time. I also asked for things that weren't spicy since the side could be spicy. My new item was ordered and came out once everyone had already paid so I had to take it to go. Unfortunately for me the tacos had jalapeños in it (aka spicy) which I didn't know about it till after I took a big bite back at my hotel. That should have been the second flag when I asked "is the side spicy". We were treated well but the attention to detail for spicy and dairy allergy should have been written down. The manager could have comped that meal considering the delay and the size of our group. The menu can just be updated to reflect that as well.

Basic Tex-Mex, service can vary depending on who you get as a server, it's either really good or really bad, crap shoot. Mothers day wasn't crowded but the food took forever , rice and beans came out cold and the shredded chicken tacos were extremely "wet" had to drain the liquid out to eat them. The French quarter chicken is awful, it used to be my son's favorite dish but they changed it to chicken tenders & changed the sauce...why change what wasn't broken??! Shrimp tacos are decent always consistent. Price point is hight for quality of food and portions have reduced in size drastically. It's good for a quick "fast food style" meal on the go.

I came here largely on the strength of recent Yelp reviews, figuring this would be a great evening. Not so much. I don't know, maybe we caught the entire restaurant on an off-night. It took a solid ten minutes for the hostess to even greet us which was funny because when we arrived, there was just one couple ahead of us and no one behind us, but by the time the hostess came to us, there were five parties behind us. Sincerely, I was seconds away from just walking out before she finally arrived. The waiter was fine until he dropped off our food. From there, I'd have had an easier time finding someone under federal witness protection. Pretty sure if we'd decided to just walk out, he wouldn't have found out about it until a good hour after we split. Alas, we stayed for a very, very long time before he finally resurfaced to hand us our bill. The jambalaya tasted like burnt ass, but the waiter would have never known that because he never bothered to check in. My daughter and I were going to order the salmon until he told us they were out of salmon. I honestly have no idea why waiters aren't trained to tell customers what they don't have right from the start. Simple, right? "Hi, welcome to Border Café. Just so you know, we are out of the salmon this evening. Can I start you off with some drinks?" And why does everything have to be "blackened?" I actually asked, "Do you guys know how to NOT blacken chicken? You know, just.... cook it?" He legit said no. "Y'all can't pull it off, huh? Can't quite make the magic happen? Y'all don't own an oven and some olive oil? Okay, I'll try your quesadilla with chicken that, somehow, is advertised as NOT being blackened, thanks." Doubt I'll be coming back any time soon, if at all. It's sad, too, because I really WANTED to like this place.

We ordered food to go we requested extra large jambalaya rice on the side and we received a spoon full of rice, which I will link a picture below. we paid extra money to get extra large jambalaya rice on the side. Knowing how cheap they are with their rice portions we were willing to pay for extra portions. I was soo disappointed in Burlington borders cafe I was so mad when I got home after looking forward to eating boarders I'm still starving after eating. Smh will not go there again.

Absolute Nightmare! Avoid at all costs! Highly doubt they make it another 6 months! No one cares about a thing.

Visited Border Cafe around 5 PM on a weekday after noticing they have brought back my favorite dish (French Quarter Chicken). Although not actually the same as before it was delicious. The chicken is deep fried breaded tenders not pan fried breast meat but the lemon pepper sauce was spot on. The chicken is on a bed of white rice and you get one side. Cornbread is no longer offered. The service was friendly, quick and efficient and the overall experience pleasant. My only complaint is the relative noise level which has always been an annoyance to me. In the end I am excited to find the new iteration of my previous favorite dish.

This place is so bad! I wanted some Mexican food. We were staying in the area for appointments at Lahey Clinic. Two Margaritas. There was NO tequila in either of them. I ordered some I takeout, and it truly was hugely disappointing. Portions were tiny. And the food was truly boring.

What happened to this place??? Used to be good, but tonight we ordered 4 dinners, all cold and overcooked and SALTY!! Did i mention salty?

Food served cold. Bar was sloppy. Slooooooooooow service. Beer was cold. Thank God. Other than that - I pass on the return...

Great spot for Enchiladas. Did not like the chips they provide, imo they are really salty. Not sure if they add extra salt once they're made. The Margaritas are decent and the ambiance is chill.

I had the salmon tacos with grilled broccoli. Son had the combo fajitas. Skimpy portions. Not worth the $$$. Side of guacamole did not taste fresh. Salsa tasted liked bottled. Chips were horrible. $90 dollars wasted. Won't be back.

Prior to Covid, we would dine at Border's at least twice a month. I don't know what happened to the menu, but it's very limited now. It used to have so many more items but it's now been cut in half! There used to be so many fun fruity margs to choose from, now there's only strawberry. The mango was my fave before. For food, I usually ordered the catfish but am so disappointed that it is no longer offered. Our chips must've been the end of the batch and they were all crumbled pieces so that was a bad way to start our meal. House and strawberry margs were ok. The glasses are small and there's too much ice. It would help if they at least filled the drink to the brim, but it was much below. Not worth it. Too bad they don't do pitchers ... but this is how they make their money with the individual glasses. Pastelitos - anything fried tastes good! These were extremely salty. You'd pick one up and just felt grainy salt on your fingertips. Half and half fajitas - too spicy, I think they put too much black pepper. Did they dump the entire container in? Also, it didn't arrive sizzling like I had seen with other tables. The Jose rice was better than the jambalaya but it also had a lot of salt. Chicken enchiladas - drenched in cheese and it tasted fine, my side of jambalaya was a bummer... super dark, salty and spicy. Did they change the recipe or chefs? This is not at all what it was before. Salmon tacos - they were ok, a lot of salt too. Wish there was more salmon in them. The jambalaya was a bummer again. Beef burrito - it was ok but wish it had more beef. The burrito was sort of a skinny sad looking one. Just drenched in cheese to cover it all up. And the jambalaya was not great. Kids meals were sad... you have 3 choices: cheese or chicken quesadilla or chicken fingers. So no tacos? Like really? Also, it says it comes with skittles or m&ms at the end? Never got it. I think the chefs just over season the crap out of everything to get you to buy more drinks. Smart move because my kids never finish their waters. I ended up splitting my glass with them. Sad to say, but this is probably our last time here. Wish they would bring back the entire old menu. I'm sure I can't be the only one missing the old food and drinks.