Food and Ambience needs overhaul! The waitstaff is the savior of this restaurant. I have eaten at this restaurant in the past and really enjoyed the food. I will admit that it has been a few years since my last meal there. My wife has food sensitivity so I usually eat at restaurants that can accommodate her needs, I go to Mexican restaurants with my friends. We decided to go to Border Cantina and try it again the last time it was only fair. Big mistake! Lots of poorly prepared food. Corn chips were full chips on top of crumbled chips all tasted reheated. Enchiladas no flavor and the sides were a mess. Chicken taco had no flavor and I had no idea what the beaf was. Sides over cooked and runny. Where is Gordon Ramsay? read more

Border Cantina - Good question, beaf and chicken tacos and chicken Enchiladas De Pollo - Mexican Near Me - Novi, Michigan

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Used to go here so thought I'd see how it was now. Service was very good, drinks were good and reasonably priced. But the food was not good.... Not good at all. Ok....i hesitate to use this word but food was awful. Everything was smothered in cheese, and lacked flavor. Also it was cold in the room. I did ask for the heat to be turned up and they obliged without hesitation. However, management needed to "read the room".... If all your patrons are sitting in their coats at dinner, why do I need to tell u to turn up the heat? Look, I'm sure they are probably short staffed, and doing the best they can. However, With so many other Mexican options I probably won't be back. It's a shame as my server was very very nice. read more

Would never recommend this place. Subpar Mexican food. Plus , Oscar, the waiter added $50 to his tip on my debit card. I've posted this numerous times and it gets pulled off every few weeks. Hopefully Oscar is fired by now. I will never go back. They will never get any recommendations through the shady behavior. read more

First time here and We could probably come back again to explore the many more. I got there right before the dinner rush came in. We were seated at a table that was near speaker and the music was so loud that we asked to be moved (loud rock music just did not fit the vibe of the restaurant). They seem pretty determined to get somebody at that table because the next group of people were placed at that table and they also complained about the music. When the music is so loud that you have a hard time hearing the people in your group, it's just not a good thing when trying to catch up with extended family members. We were served chips and salsa and it was good. Not excellent, but not bad. Personally I prefer a little more seasoning and cilantro for salsa. Really did enjoy the taco salad grilled chicken. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was some guacamole on it. I can't recall what my husband ordered but he really enjoyed it too. read more

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Over the years, I've visited this restaurant many times. I love the steak fajitas here and almost always order it when I'm here. What's not to love about a sizzling platter of rare steak with vegetables, cheese, guac, and sour cream? This time around, I was in the mood for enchiladas. They have several versions here, including vegetables, cheese, chicken, and beef. Since I like variety, I opted for the trio for a taste of cheese, chicken, and beef, topped with verde and Rancheras sauces. In addition to the fajitas, another reason to visit is the corn cakes. Since they sell corn cakes separately, I got enough to enjoy the rest of the week. I may need to learn how to make them myself as they are irresistibly good. I noticed that the online menu also listed items à la carte and selected a tamale and a taco to be enjoyed, as well. I knew there was too much food but also knew that leftovers would be perfect for dinner the next evening. I savored both. The meal was well packaged. While restaurants were opening up (I don't recall what percent occupancy), Border Cantina continues to attract larger gatherings, enjoying drinks, food, and camaraderie. read more

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Trust me when I say they do not water down the margaritas. Thank you. My husband had two and he is napping. I drove. It is hard to find good Mexican but no shame on them. read more

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Service-pretty slow at the bar, considering all the known regulars were taken care of for almost 15 minutes before we were...the cold beer is good. The food was bland, left a funny taste; but good portions...ambiance is old, a bit cluttered. Haven't been in about 15 years and most likely it would be another 15 before trying it again. read more

No stars! The food is terrible! We will not be back! This used to be the best Mexican food in the area! Not anymore! Chips were "old" tasting, salsa was watered down and the Coke was flat. I ordered the veggie combo and I could not tell if there were refried beans on the tostada.The refried beans were so watered down it seemed like about one teaspoon of beans on the tostada. The rice did not have any taste, watery and mushy. Yuck! Only 2 other customers in the restaurant at 12:30p. read more

Border Cantina - Stale chips - Mexican Near Me - Novi, Michigan

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So sorry! This used to be one of our favorite places! We have been coming here for at least twenty-five years and it was our go-to place back in the day. Our kids grew up eating here but now I would not bring my family here, I only come here when I am eating with others that still enjoy it and I want to enjoy their company. For us, this place went downhill a while ago. The food stopped tasting good and the portions seemed to shrink. Many times we would come here and the service would be horrible and the salsa taste like bland chopped tomatoes. Today the server was especially kind and went out of her way to be friendly and engaging but I would still not return for a regular family meal. It started with the chips, they tasted like bland dry crackers. They not only needed salt, they tasted like they needed a bit of oil. My taquitos were so bland I had to salt those as well. They changed their recipes so much, nothing tastes like it used to, including the sauces and the guach. Plus when my kids were younger, they used to give you a large portion of huge chicken fingers plus a huge amount of fries. Now they tenders so not even come with fries. I have eaten out enough to know that it is very rare for a chicken finger plate to not come with fries. So the server brought us the "kiddie" chicken finger plate because it "came" with fries instead of the chicken finger plate and a side of fries. It was tiny so she kept on insisting that she would have the back make more chicken fingers. She asked us at least three times if we wanted more but failed to let us know she would charge us for them. That was quite bogus since we did not ask for more, she kept on asking if we wanted more. So, the "kiddie" meal was priced at the same price as an "adult meal" plus she charged us more, so then this "kiddie" meal ended up costing multiple times more than any regular meal. Seriously! Ridiculous!!!! I personally cannot be their regular customer anymore. We have our favorite place where the chicken still comes with fries and the food is consistent and tasty. So I cannot say I recommend this place at this time. read more

Border Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Novi, Michigan

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First time I've ever been. I'm all too familiar with Tex Mex chains. It's a mixed bag so you just never know what you're gonna get. Even restaurants that tend to be good will have an off day now and then. I kept it safe and ordered a chicken taco and beef enchilada lunch special. It came with a side of rice and refried beans covered in melted cheese. What I found unique about this dish was it included a corn cake shown on the right side. This was such a refreshing change from the usual and the meal overall was quite satisfying. I will say my waitress was a little bit absent throughout my visit despite it not being very busy and I had to flag her down a few times just to get things, but otherwise not a bad experience. read more

Border Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Novi, Michigan

This was my daughters place to visit and when she is in town she expects her mom and I to go with her. I am a little surprised at how much the food quality has deteriorated in the last few years. It is like they have not recovered from the COVID shut downs. We may try it one more time, but for the record I really think this and many other restaurants are victims of some bad years that was out of their control. Good luck and hope they improve. read more

This used to be our 'go to' place for Mexican food. Lately, however, the food has been lackluster at best. Don't know what happened. New cook? Food has no taste. Salsa bland. Rice bland. Beans just a brown mushy pile. Ordered pico de gallo. Could identify components, but again, no flavor. Really disappointing. read more

Great customer service and always willing to accommodate special requests. Could drink margaritas and eat the delicious chips and salsa all day long! Highly recommend trying the MeltDown Margarita the chambord is the perfect topper and is DELICIOUS! Check out this great family restaurant for some seriously great food and service! read more

Border Cantina - The Meltdown - Mexican Near Me - Novi, Michigan

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I met a business friend for a mid-week lunch. We've eaten here several times before, as the Border Cantina has been here for years. The food was as good as we remembered, and our waitress was great. I recommend having the Tacos Mexicana or the street tacos, both of which were great. The restaurant has a full bat, accepts credit cards and also has plenty of seating. It's a little dated inside, but the restrooms were clean and I really like the food. Border Cantina is a great place for lunch or dinner with friends or your date. read more

We've been looking for good nachos for a long time. It seems noplace makes an actual, worthwhile nachos anymore. Most of what we've seen is just an appetizer with some chips, and a little bit of stuff glopped on top. And not very well I might add. You get that nasty cheese "sauce" or a tiny bit of something or other meat wise and mostly chips. We've also been looking at this place for awhile and I have no idea what took us so long to get here but I'm sad it took so long. As a "starter", these nachos were a whole meal for the both of us! Now, I have to preface this by saying that we were immediately seated and upon this seating lickety split there were chips and salsa on our table. Chips were no doubt made there, they weren't warm, but still good! And it wouldn't be a trip to a Mexican restaurant if I didn't drop a splotch of salsa on my arm off of a chip on the way to my mouth. And of course another on the table. We got the large nachos "starter" with chicken and haven't been this impressed in a long time! Everything on these was fresh, she said the Jalapeños were pickled but they were still crisp! Everything on these was fresh and plentiful. They didn't just put some chips on a plate and plop stuff on top, these Nachos were crafted, built, and baked! And you know what else was throughout. . .real shredded cheese!! I don't know if I'm being overly happy about these but they were "real" Nachos! If you like Nachos, just get here and get some! We both had a Margarita to go with it, and let me just say, nobody light a match! LoL! It was strong, but really good! And our server was every bit as wonderful as well. Can't wait to come back and try other things, if we can get past the Nachos!! read more

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It took forever to be served, especially for a Mexican restaurant. When our food did arrive, nothing was hot. In fact it was barely warm and the flavors were just ok. Mexican Fiesta is 10 times better. The place is also very load. I will never be back. read more

Probably the worst Mexican dish I've ever had, 2 stars was being nice because the service was very slow on top of it. This is all I'll say because other diners seemed to be enjoying their dinners. read more

Best margaritas around town! Super yummy fajitas, came out sizzling. Bar is half off apps so that's always awesome!

Had dinner tonight at an old favorite restaurant after being away for awhile and it was as good as we remembered. We were greeted as soon as we walked in. Waitress was friendly and attentive. Had the fajitas and they were very good with large portions. Came out from the kitchen quickly as well. We'll be back soon! read more

Not sure what any negative reviews are about, we have been coming here for years, and I'm so thankful they made it through the shutdown! I personally think Malena is the BEST manager they have ever had! She's very professional, you can tell she loves her job and I have NEVER seen her be rude to anyone! In fact we always have our birthday parties here, because we love the food!! Had my husbands last week! A+++ for food and service! read more

I was steered in the right direction with the Cancun quesadilla! The shrimp were so fresh and plump. There were plenty of shrimp to make you feel like you got your monies worth. Much better than the lobster/shrimp quesadilla from Bahama Breeze (and I was a super fan).I added a side of rice which should probably just come with it like the rest of the entrees. The rice had carrots and corn and a little sauce on it, very moist and tasty. Friends enjoyed their chicken quesadilla and beef burrito as well. House margarita was OK, it wasn't fake/electric yellow so that's a plus! read more

Food was terrible-the only thing that was good was our server. The chips tasted stale and overcooked. The guacamole may have been frozen and had no seasoning or taste to it. And the fajita chicken burritos was mostly unseasoned chicken with a bit of cheese and veggies. Definitely not worth visiting for dinner anymore. It seems like there is no attention given to the quality of food that is served here. read more

Went on a whim as my wife confused it with in the border, so we give it a shot. Was ok, chips were really good but the meat on the burrito I had was forgettable. Was expecting burrito to be stuffed with the toppings inside but it was all put on the outside, I didn't care for that. Not horrible, but with so many mexican restaurants in the area it will be awhile before I go back. read more

Our food was ok, the service was not good and the chips were the worst I've ever had at a Mexican restaurant. They were thick, favorless, had no salt on them tasted a little burnt. My wife ordered a Sangria and it was cloudy!? The only think we could think of was there was pureed fruit in it. read more

I'm going to be flatly honest here. I've had TONS of better Mexican food over the years. I'll even go on record here and say that I've had better from On The Border and TACO BELL. The point of that phrase is that, those aren't even Mexican food and somehow had better flavors. I've never had Mexican that was LACKING FLAVOR. For $50 I expected better than what we got. Our order - 1) Queso Blanco with Chorizo - Bland, super bland cheese with a spoonful of what tasted like kroger brand chopped chorizo. The flavor was not even that of cheese,.. it was just a liquid. 2) Side of Taquitos - These were a massive disappointment. I could have bought Jose Ole frozen taquitos and had better. They were way overcooked, and it was lacking in both flavor and filling. The chicken chunks that were inside was dry as the Sahara, and the shell was overcooked (some blackened). The fact that they served it was startling. $9 for FOUR cut in half on a bed of lettuce and pico. 3) I got the Combo platter with Beef Burrito, Beef Tamale and Chicken enchilada that came with rice (which was rich in tomato flavor and overcooked), beans (which tasted like they were from a can, and bland). The chicken in the enchilada wasn't bad at all, but you can get the same flavor from chicken in a crock pot with a can of salsa. That's it. That's what it tasted like. The Tamale was the weirdest tamale I've ever had. The filling was lacking and mushy, and the tamale itself was dense and flavorless. So the two "flavors" mixed together was disgusting. The beef burrito,..... I don't know what I was expecting with this. It was literally just beef inside of a rolled soggy burrito shell. And that is what it tasted like. 4) Wife got the combo platter with a Bean / Cheese toastada, Chicken enchilada and a beef burrito. Came with the rice/beans that was on the other one. B/C Toastada was (but this isn't FULLY on them, it was a pick-up order) soggy as heck as it was placed on top of the other items, but this should have honestly been placed in it's own container. The beans were the same as what came with the meal, so no shock there at the store bought feel. Chicken Enchilada was pretty meh. The chicken was flavored well, but everything else was soggy and disgusting. Beef Burrito was the same as my order. Seeing a pattern here. All in all, with tip, this was over $50. What we were served up, probably shouldn't have been over $20 at best. read more

My favorite place to get a margarita. Rolls Royce 3 G's and a Mercedes! Service is always really friendly and quick. They have outdoor seating in the summertime. Disclaimer: Food is OK. But I still recommend coming here for drinks and appetizers. read more

This has to be the worst Mexican restaurant I've been to. Stoped by here for lunch last week. The lunch menu was pretty limited. The chips were not fresh. They tasted like they were made a couple days before and just reheated. The salsa was ok. I ordered a chimichanga off the lunch menu. A chimichanga is supposed to be fried and crispy. Theirs is soft and doughy. I didn't even bother eating it. I took a couple bites, payed for my lunch and got the hell out of there. read more

A bit less Americanized Mexican food. Cheap, most entrees are $10 to $13. Excellent margaritas. Combo entrees are the way to go here. Busy and loud esp on the weekends. No reservations last I checked. Pretty good salsa especially the medium hot one. Very casual, good for groups and kids when not busy. read more

Food wasn't hot. It was poorly seasoned. The taco shell was stale. The chips weren't fresh. Will not be back.

Probably the best and most consistent Mexican restaurant in the Detroit metropolitan area. We've been going there for 30+ years. Service is always good, and some of the servers have been there since then, too. Very casual and friendly atmosphere , always clean, prompt, and reliable. Have hosted parties there. Patio also available. read more

Tonight's meal was very good! We were seated and served quickly. There seemed to be a lot of large groups tonight in the section my husband and I were seated in. I would have preferred to be seated away from the groups. They tended to be be pretty loud. But, the waitress, Kayla, was just as attentive to the larger groups as she was with us. Kayla was excellent! As always, the chips left a lot to be desired. But, if you ask for the hotter salsa, it does help. Besides, I needed to save room for my chimichanga. It is a large portion, bursting with seasoned ground beef and lots of cheese. It may not be authentic, but it is tasty. The prices are reasonable, the food is good and the service was fast and friendly. I have been here many times and will continue to return. read more

Been a new owner from what I hear, for a bit now. We didn't go because we didn't think we liked the food. We were wrong! Baja Fajitas are outstanding! Comes with homemade ranch! Street tacos are so good. Be careful on the margaritas. They sneak up on you. I read more

Well, I've had a lot of Americanized food and this is some of the worst I've ever had. Totally drowning and cheese with no flavor from herbs or spices. The queso had the consistency of chicken noodle soup and lacked flavor. In what you're looking for is melted cheese over meat and beans with no authentic spices. This is the place for you. read more

I visited Border Cantina with a couple of my girlfriends this past weekend and I was very disappointed. The food was just alright but more than that the service wasn't good. When we were first seated inside we wanted quite a while. It was extremely noisy and no one had waited on us so we asked to be moved outside. Again, we waited at least 5 minutes without anyone coming to our table to take our drink order. We had to ask for our server for anything to happen. Service wasn't bad after we finally got waited on but after we finished our meal, the umbrella from our table flew off and knocked everything over on our table. Luckily, we weren't hurt. Sad thing is, there wasn't a response from any of the staff. The guy cleaning a table near us saw it happen and didn't respond or check on us. When our waitress walked up she was only concerned about the umbrella that was on the ground. Our bills were paid and we were shocked so we just got up and left. It was a crazy experience from start to finish and I'm sure the lack of attention and empathy comes from management. I won't be back again. The food isn't worth it. read more

The chicken nachos were poorly prepared. Not going back. Soggy chips. Tastless chicken

These negative reviews definitly didn't get a justifiable experience at border cantina. Me and my dad have gone here at least once a week and when I say that we get the same thing every week. Some weeks are better than others, but we have a great experience just being around the friendly and affable staff. (By the way get a Combo dos next time you go, you won't regret it.) read more

This place has gone so far dowhill. I've lived down the street from it for 30 years and it used to be one of my favorites. A few months ago I ordered a nacho, but when I got it home, it was just the toppings with no chips!!! How can someone make nachos and forget the foundation?!! Then yesterday I ordered carnitas street tacos. They were SOOOO salty that I couldn't eat them....and I'm a person who loves salt! Don't know how they're staying In business. I'm done. Won't go back. Period. read more

Pretty much a run down Mexican restaurant with poor service, expensive drinks and a chair that unbeknownst to me at the time, was snagging my sweater while I was having lunch. We got there for a group of 20 of us to celebrate my parents 60th wedding anniversary. Yes it was a big group but for the most part the place was empty. Because it was a cash bar I walked up to the bartender and ordered 4 margaritas ($8 each which were mostly ice served in a mug). Got done with our lunches and we had to move our empty plates off to another table because we brought a cake, asked for small plates (for the cake)..... no forks. Even with all that I thought so I don't need to come back but my brother-in-law told me not to move again because my sweater was snagged on the back of the chair and it was pulling it apart. He cut the threat and upon a closer look, there was a metal bur on the back of the chair and it was pulling on my sweater. read more

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This was my first time eating at Border Cantina. The chicken enchiladas were good, atmosphere was pleasant and the wait staff was friendly and attentive. I'll be back. read more

So disappointing- the bathroom decor hasn't been updated or refreshed since opening 25 years ago. A step below an elementary school bathroom. At least those are clean. Service was poor- bringing chips salsa, no plates, brought nachos, no plates. Server was clueless. Fajitas were not seasoned at all, chicken tasted reheated, precooked, peppers and onions were steamed and sitting in steam well all day/ night. The worst was the poor excuse for rice, a Mexican staple. Mixed undercooked, rushed rice and old, sitting in the steam well rice together, was awful. Of course the manager was apologetic and removed items from the bill when informed, but really, kind a blew a beautiful Saturday night drop in dinner. Wake up! Won't be back wouldn't recommend--- could have gone nearly anywhere else. If you don't care about food it shows. read more