On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in McKinney

Probably the worst experience I’ve had at an On the Border. It pains me to say that because i worked for several of these restaurants many moons ago. We got there at 4 o’clock on a Sunday, not more than two tables in the entire restaurant, but for some reason we waited 30 minutes for our food to arrive. Was told the kid’s meal was the hold up. When we did get our food, it had obviously been left in the window for quite sometime. Fajitas were not sizzling, but were dried out there in top and just not good. Our tortillas were also old and crunchy, which is a shame because you guys make great homemade tortillas..when they’re fresh. When we ordered, We asked for guacamole specifically, but did not receive any with our meal. When asked, the server told us they ran out and that guacamole takes a long time to make...which we should have been informed of well before. We told him we would still like some. 30 minutes after we finished our meals, he brings us the tiniest ramekin of guacamole I’ve ever seen. We all laughed in disbelief that he would have the courage to bring that out after we’d been finished eating for nearly 40 minutes. The server was nice enough for the most part, but did absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. In fact, he actually caught an attitude the second time we asked about the guacamole (we were extremely nice to him). All this happened, like i said before, when we were one of two tables in the entire restaurant. I manage a restaurant, so I know how stressful the industry is, but I also know when there is NO excuse for such an awful guest experience...and this was one of those occasions. I will also add that I never ever leave bad reviews, but I feel management should be aware of the service their guests are receiving in hopes it will be improved upon...

My family & I decided to go out for dinner, we typically love On the Border. When we arrived we were told the wait would be 15-20 minutes. Being that it was Saturday night, we expected to wait. As we looked around the restaurant we counted 12 tables that were available with 6 families waiting to be seated. After 20 minutes we were seated. The manager gave us Free queso cards (for our next visit) and apologized & said they were having computer issues. We were given chips & salsa & then we placed our drink order. We waited 25 minutes for our drinks after we were told at least 4 times they were coming. I finally asked if we could at least get some water. Our drinks arrived & then our waiter told us "your food should be out shortly. I'm sorry for your wait" we then reminded him we haven't yet been able to place our orders- he looked shocked & said he would be back to take our orders soon. We realized they were short staffed & really just tried to enjoy the night. After we had waited over an hour, and the waiter passed by again & stated "our order would be out soon" ... I let him know that we STILL had not placed our order & to just bring us the check. The manager made eye contact with us several times but never came over to talk with us. Our menus were still on our table so it was clear we had not ordered yet. After waiting another 10 minutes the waiter came and told us we could just go. So extremely disappointed with the lack of courtesy & service that we experienced last night at the McKinney On The Border. If you value your time at all, avoid...

See EDIT below as well: I normally am fairly positive about On The Border. I have been going to this location since it opened - I'd say, probably 30 or 40 times over the years. The services is normally decent, and I like the food. Last night, as a party of 4, we were sat, and that was it. Nobody ever came by, despite it not being remotely busy. After fifteen minutes of waiting, I asked the host who should be serving our section - he said he didn't know. Bruh, YOU ARE THE HOST... I asked the server at the adjacent booth if he knew who our waiter should be. Nope, he has no idea who handles the booth next to the one he is at. I don't know what is going on at this location, but it was by far the worst OTB experience ever, and has to be in the running for worst restaurant visit ever. This location needs a top down shakedown and staff revamp. Can't recall such poor, unaware service, really ever...

EDIT: We gave this location another try - and what a difference a month made. We were greeted by Kennedy, who was friendly, professional, and took us to a perfect booth, told us her name and to ask her if we needed anything else. Then, our server Elizabeth came, and she took tremendous care of us - friendly, attentive, with a perfect demeanor. Our food was very good, as it usually is at OtB. So a 2 star review goes to 4+, as it should be, and it often is at this location. Kennedy and Elizabeth are assets, keep them...