FORKS, KNIVES AND FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Bottomless Chips in a Bowl

Photo By Kevin Bautista/The Chameleon.

By Kevin Bautista
Chameleon Food Blogger

If there’s one restaurant that I would never get tired of, it would be On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.

I love anything that has to do with Mexican food (authentic or Mexican-inspired). Of course, I don’t eat that kind of food on a daily basis. When I have a hankering for it, though, I head over to On the Border.


The atmosphere is lively, especially on Fridays and the weekend at dinner time. The staff is nice and the service is pretty good. I must note, however, that On the Border only exists in Illinois suburbs and not within Chicago city limits. I go with my friends to the St. Charles location.


An exciting part of the On the Border experience is the bottomless chips and salsa. No matter how many people are in your party, and no matter how hungry you are for chips, you will always have the privilege of asking for more at no extra cost!

Photo By Kevin Bautista/The Chameleon.

This restaurant serves Mexican-style cuisine at very reasonable prices, with the average dinner entree price hovering around $11. My personal favorite is the Ranchiladas, served with Mexican rice, black or refried beans, two cheese & onion enchiladas, and a small steak cooked to perfection. My mouth is watering as I think about it.


I wouldn’t stop my recommendations there, though! Another very awesome dinner item to try would be their Create Your Own Fajita with steak and grilled vegetables and Monterey Jack cheese. My friends love to get the Southwest chicken tacos, which are three tacos with Mesquite-grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, chile sauce, and fried onion strips served with beans and rice. The possibilities are endless!


I cannot stress enough how awesome this place is. The chips are insanely awesome, the salsa is perfect, and the queso dip is heavenly. The entrees are amazing and I get excited every time I see my order come to the table!

What’s even more awesome is the fact that they keep in contact with some of their customers via twitter. I mention them every now & then, and they respond almost all of the time. As a matter of fact, I mentioned them in a tweet about how awesome they are about a month ago. They replied to me with a direct message thanking me and asked me for my address because they were sending me a surprise. When I checked my mail about three weeks later, I find an awesome letter with $25 worth of free food & drink coupons! Social networking is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

If you ever feel like eating out, definitely keep On the Border in mind.

Catch Kevin’s “Forks, Knives and Food for Thought” every Thursday.