On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in Wichita

For the longest time, I would drive west for OTB because the service at the New Market location was far better than that of Bradley Fair. However, our last 2 visits make me long for the less-than-stellar customer service of the nearest chain fast-food restaurant. During our visit a couple of months ago, we were seated at a booth back by the kitchen where the overhead light was burned out - so it was dark and in a corner. We wondered if this was truly the only open seating for 2 but on looking around, there were at least 3 tables open that had adequate lighting. When our waiter came over, he asked what we wanted to which we remarked "we won't know until we can see our menus" and asked to see the manager. I was appalled that we had to ask - could our waiter not see we were sitting in the dark? The manager finally came over to replace the bulb and admitted they'd known about the burned out bulb for a couple of hours but hadn't had a chance to fix it. C'mon now. The service and food from that point forward were average. I chalked it up to a busy night where the staff was not on their game and moved on.

My fiancé and I went for an early dinner tonight where the restaurant was not busy at all. We sat in the bar and maybe our waitress was overwhelmed with the 3 tables that were sat but she was less than friendly. We ordered drinks without incident and must say the bartender did a great job with the new Limeade Fresca. However, when we ordered, we included an order of guacamole to which she looked downright annoyed that we ordered an appetizer. Ultimately, I'd regret this order as our guacamole was more a bowl of avocado slices - counted at least 3. My fiancé ordered tacos for Taco Tuesday - there are 4 varieties listed on the menu so he ordered "one of each." When our food arrived, he got 2 tacos. Before he could ask our waitress, she had dropped our food off and scurried away without so much as a "does everything look ok?" We glanced down to notice we had no silverware and saw our waitress standing, chatting up other patrons at the bar. My fiancé yelled "ma'am" across the room twice and was ignored so he went to get her, asked for silverware, and was met with an exasperated "yes." At this point, he was too disgusted to ask about his food. My food came on 3 separate plates - a burrito on a plate; a bowl of beans; a bowl of rice. Not sure if this is just laziness or some new deconstructed plating attempt (if so, it's awful). While we ate, our waitress walked by several times, not once stopping to ask if we were doing ok or if we needed anything. Needless to say, we couldn't get out of there soon enough. We both agreed that we won't say we're NEVER going back - I suppose if it's late, and we're tired, and in the area, there could be a small possibility but overall, we won't hesitate to drive a little farther for Carlos O'Kelly's or Felipe's or any other nearby competition. Sadly, the New Market OTB is no longer...

Friday evening so you expect it to be busy. Told there was a 25 minute wait to be seated for myself, my husband and my 2 year old son. Understood and waited with the numerous other families waiting to be seated in the front area, even though we could see many empty tables. Turned out to be a 16 minute wait, awesome. But then they proceeded to seat us on the bar side in a high booth and didn't provide us with the highchair we asked for. We had to flag down a waitress because the hostess took off so fast, and when she brought us one, it wasn't going to work because it was too short compared to the high table. She was nice enough to find us an appropriate booth on the family side of the restaurant that is better fitting for a small child. Unfortunately our poor waitress was seated 4 tables within the same time frame (it looked like a large party had left and the tables moved back to their original places) so she was very busy juggling all those. But it just seemed like she kept disappearing. We ordered our queso along with our sons food, and our drinks first. Of course our drinks came first and then our sons food. When she came to take our meal order, I politely asked about the queso. She brought it out shortly after. She came back by again to check in on us with her pad out and we suspected she forgot she had already taken our order. By the time the table next to us (who were definitely seated after she took our order) recieved their food, it confirmed our suspicions. We waited a good 45 minutes for our food: chimichanga meal and an enchilada meal. Our 2 year old was done with his food and we knew he wouldn't sit any longer so we asked her to box our food up to go. It showed up shortly after on plates, and we had to box it up ourselves. Very disheartening how disorganized and untrained the staff seem to be. All of these workers were young girls that seemed very overwhelmed, despite seeming to not be very busy. Maybe the kitchen was overwhelmed with curbside and to-go orders? Regardless, there could have been better service all around. Food looked great and the little bit I ate while boxing it up was great! Too bad I couldn't have eaten it all hot and fresh.

Edit: As if all of that wasn't enough, when I was finally able to look at our receipt upon arriving home, we were charged $12.29 for Southwest Chicken Tacos that we never ordered or recieved. My original 3 star review turned into a 2...

My wife and I went to dinner tonight and we set in the bar area. Immediately we realized they were short handed and only had one waiter in the area. We understood that it was not his fault and he was trying the best he could. He brought us chips/salsa and we gave him our drink and food order. Hoping that would help him out. After about 15 minutes and not receiving our drinks. My wife went to the bar and asked for our drinks. The bartender was not pleasant at all and eventually brought my wife’s margarita. She said they were out of Michelob ultra and I requested a coors light instead. After drinking the beer and waiting 15 minutes and still not seeing our waiter I went to the bar to get another beer. She had an attitude with me and explained they were short handed. Eventually, our food came out. My wife’s food was cold and made incorrectly. My food was also cold. The waiter again said he was the only waiter and to be patient. I explained I’m not paying for cold food and drinks that I had to get myself. He sent the manager over who again said they were short handed and I told maybe he should have helped him out or sent other servers over. The bartender was doing nothing and the manager was wiping down tables. We also saw three tables get their food before us. Another couple who was never waited on spoke to the manager and said they were going to another Mexican restaurant because of the poor service and also mentioned the manager was wiping down tables and not helping serve the customers. Ridiculous and unacceptable!!! Will...