Border Grill Mandalay Bay — Restaurant in Paradise

Review for Bottomless Brunch. We came here for brunch on our last day in Vegas. We decided to hang out in the Mandalay Bay because it's closest to the airport and there's fun stuff to do there. This brunch is a great option if you're flying out on a weekend and want to kill time at a nearby casino! Also Mandalay bell desk stored our luggage. Overall the brunch is good. It sure is bottomless and I felt like I needed to be transported in a gurney outta there after eating. Fun to try different dishes. I eat pescetarian when there's not vegan options and was able to eat 11/16 options on the brunch menu. So it's still worth it for pescetarians. At home, I mostly eat vegan but sorry vegans this brunch is not for you. There is a grand total of 1 vegan option (the prickly pear parfait which is really good but hardly worth it for $43 brunch). For vegetarians, there are 7 options so could be worth it (though much of the options are sweets and personally I prefer a savory breakfast). The regular menu has some really good sounding vegan options though! I'd love to come back to try them next Vegas trip since I now think I'm going to make a tradition of spending the last few hours before the airport at Mandalay :). The drinks are good here too. I got a classic margarita and the guayaba spritz which was delicious with the jalepeno tequila and rhubarb. My favorite brunch choices were the shrimp and grits, the churro bites, and the chilaquiles. Overall everything was enjoyable--some were amazing, some were closer to okay. FYI, some of the food was on the colder side. Not all, but there were a few dishes that I wish were hotter. And there are a few dishes that advertise as coming with a fried egg on the menu, but it came with scrambled. They would have been better with a runny fried egg as advertised. Also we had some friends join us later (1:45ish) and the waitress said the kitchen closed at 3 so encouraged them to order everything they wanted upfront. Go earlier if you don't want to feel rushed. Kinda lame to rush people when there's still over an hour left, but make your reservation for 12 or 1 if you want a leisurely brunch. Overall it was worth it, but not mind blowing and a few stuff that was so/so. Would still eat here again though, but probably try the regular menu. Also don't let this deter you from the brunch, another thing was that it was labor day weekend and BUSY, I would guess and hope that contributed to the cold-ish food and lack of fried eggs and rushing. It's a nice restaurant on the inside, very big and we sat downstairs...

Slightly above average corporate-esque Mexican food. Sort of what you’d expect for a casino restaurant but extra points for their creative spin on traditional Mexican dishes.

There were six of us, each with different entrees and we all sampled each other’s food.

Photographed: Enchiladas Trio (Chicken Poblano, Seafood, & Short Rib) - These were all okay but just none had that “WOW” factor. The short rib narrowly beat out the seafood as everyone’s favorite of the bunch.

Grilled Fish Tacos - Also just okay. We’re suckers for good grilled fish tacos and go out of our way to order them if they’re an option but these fell a little flat.

Not Photographed: Queso Fundido w/ Carnitas - This was actually one of the best things our group ate that day. Not overly greasy and had a fantastic flavor.

Scallops (not on menu but was a house special that day) - The scallops were great! These were cooked to perfection and almost everyone’s favorite dish.

Braised Chicken Quesadilla - It may sound crazy but the quesadilla was bursting with flavor. Very tasty. We suspect they use chicken thigh rather than the breast meat which, if so, was a great choice because this dish stood out from the others.

Steak Nachos - Another dish that was pretty good but certainly not a show stopper. Good quality of steak though.

Aguachile - Not bad but not great. We all have had better elsewhere.

Overall, a safe option if you’re on the south side of the strip and hungry for Mexican food but I probably would not recommend going out your way to eat here. You could find a better version of each dish we tried...

Found this place online when looking for some lunch. I was able to make an online reservation which I love. However as soon as I go to the hostess stand I asked how long the wait was, to see if it were possible that there was no wait time and I was advised it was about 50 minutes to an hour. So I showed the hostess my reservation instead which had about 10 minutes until my check in time. With a very rude condescending tone she advised that there would still be a wait of a few minutes. I said that was fine and my party of 4 waited for our reservation time. Once I was notified our table was ready we were greeted by another hostess who quickly said follow me and rushed us to a staircase that lead downstairs. She waved her hand and said “it’s down there” and then ran off. Without showing us to our table. We also needed an elevator as someone in our party had difficulties using that many stairs. But the hostess was nowhere to be found. Once we were self seated downstairs our service was better, although they could have been more attentive. Granted it was a busy time at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. The food however was top notch. Everything we tried had great flavor and gorgeous presentation. Would definitely return for the food. Management should definitely replace the hostess’s. On our way out I asked for the hostess’s names, one ignored the request all together and the other although did give a name, most likely gave a fake name due to her demeanor. If management can get their front staff trained in customer service or replaced all together I would recommend this place if you...