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. read more

The only part of this meal that was edible was the margarita hence the 2 stars Chips were cold no salt, they took salt off the tables. Rice used to be amazing it was starchy & bland, beans were cold the side order used to be filled with cheese on top they were cold and gave a scoop. Bean and corn empanadas was all crust barely any filling. Side of tortillas were cold and stiff they were definitely under a heat lamp for hours. This isn't just a bad night this is overpriced slop from a restraunt that used to be great!! I don't know what's going on in the kitchen at this location but the Saugus location has stayed consistent the food is still very good. Burlington has always had poor management and poor service but the food was decent , now the food has gone so down hill I was almost afraid to eat. Save yourself the money go to elsewhere this is nothing but fast food tex mex and even that's a stretch. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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

Border Cafe - Mixed fajitas beef and chicken - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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.) read more

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! read more

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. read more

Border Cafe - Cajun shrimp tacos with fries. - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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. read more

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? read more

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

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. read more

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

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

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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

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. read more

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. read more

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

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. read more

Border Cafe - Strawberry frozen margarita - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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. read more

All the food is great in here! Definitely will come back. Great service! I have the Chicken Burro which is so deliciousNot spicy at all if you can't handle spicy. Beef Carne Asada is great too! I had a bite which was very tender but with some spice. I love it but if you can't handle spice maybe you think it's a little bit spicy. for me, it's perfect! read more

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

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. read more

Not a fan of this place. They make a great margarita tho. For somewhere that should be Mexican it's hard to find something that's great on their menu. I did have the best waitress tho. Her name was Taryn. She def made our experience worth it. Shockingly, the spicy rice was good too. So the food isnt terrible I just wasnt a fan of the choices. read more

Border Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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. read more

I always loved the place. Great food serves and prices. When thing opened after Covid I noticed you change the jambalaya and then there was no French quarter chic. The new jambalaya does come close to the old one. I went in today and noticed that the FQC is back. I chose the jambalaya instead of FF and white rice. Why did you change it? You should have renamed it since it was not the same thing. Other then that things were good. read more

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. read more

Border Cafe - a plate of food and a bottle of corona extra - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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. ​ read more

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. read more

This used to be a dependable place to eat-- the food wasn't amazing, but it was varied and decent, and a very good value. Border Cafe is still relatively inexpensive, but it's no longer varied and the shrinking menu has made it not particularly good, either. I particularly take issue with the offerings for vegetarians: there are currently two options, and they are both vegetable-free. Vegetarians can get a bean, cheese and rice burrito with more beans and rice on the side, or cheese enchiladas with those beans and rice. A vegetable burrito seems like it would be fairly simple. It's a restaurant-- surely they have vegetables, right? How about vegetable fajitas? You can't have either. It makes me wonder if the food is being made to order. There are also black bean empanadas on the menu, but my daughter has tried to order them the last three times we've visited (once at lunch and twice dinner) and told that they weren't available. I think it's safe to assume at this point that they're on the menu for appearances only. The service was absolutely fine, though the food was at our table suspiciously fast (under 10 minutes), further prompting me to wonder about whether it was made to order. I don't think that this place is worth patronizing currently, particularly if there are vegetarians in your group. read more

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. read more

This used to be an excellent place to bring family and friends. Now the food is bland and taste aweful. They have most horrific combination of marinades and meats. I ordered carne asada which use to be skirt steak and rice and beans with a sides salad instead I got mashed up chunks of beaf drenched in Campbells mushrooms soup with about a tablespoon of rice that came with hard shoe string fries. Will not come back!! read more

Border Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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. read more

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Not bad for a quick bite. I like the Mexican/Cajun blend aspect. I got a burrito and jambalaya on the same plate! Not the best of both worlds but a nice alternative to going to two separate places. Service was ok. Food came out pretty quickly. I will be back for another go. Happy Hunting Yelpers!!! read more

Border Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

Came here on Cinco de Mayo and just as I thought it was BUSY. The restaurant is HUGE though so I only waited 2 minutes for a table and the food still came quickly! It was definitely noisy because there was so many people, but the music was really loud too. They bring out complimentary chips and salsa, which were just okay. Both the chips and salsa don't taste fresh/homemade. The vegetable fajitas are great though! Vegetables are seasoned really well, and come out sizzling hot. They have a large menu so I look forward to coming back and trying something new! read more

Border Cafe - Sides that come with fajitas: salsa, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream - Mexican Near Me - Burlington, Massachusetts

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