OnThe Border

What OnThe Border does

On The Border, operated by OTB Hospitality, LLC, was a 44-year-old Tex-Mex fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 1982 and headquartered in Irving, Texas. At its 2007 peak the brand operated 166 locations nationwide, offering Mexican-inspired menu items such as tacos, burritos, and margaritas in a sit-down casual-dining format, supported by a Club Cantina loyalty program and SMS marketing to the keyword BORDER (267337). The technology stack was standard commercial POS and online ordering with no proprietary systems, and revenue was generated entirely through in-restaurant sales, gift card e-commerce, and mobile ordering to a fragmented general-consumer/casual-dining segment.

The chain experienced persistent post-2008 sales declines, multiple ownership changes, and ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025, closing 70 underperforming locations before being acquired at auction by Houston-based Pappas Restaurants in May 2025. Pappas reduced the footprint from approximately 60 to 33 units, then to 28, before shuttering all company-owned restaurants effective June 12, 2026. One week later, on June 19, 2026, OTB Hospitality, LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas, reporting $752,945 in assets against $6.2 million in liabilities, with Pappas Restaurants listed as a creditor owed more than $4.7 million. The entity's operating status is closed; only independently-operated franchise locations in California, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, and South Korea remain open under the brand.

Name

OnThe Border

Legal name

OTB Hospitality, LLC d/b/a On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Website

https://ontheborder.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

On The Border was a Tex-Mex fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 1982, serving general casual-dining consumers with tacos, burritos, and margaritas. Operating status is closed after Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June 2026, with only franchise units remaining.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Mexican & Tex-Mex Fast Casual (THAFABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

Keywords

• Tex-Mex restaurant
• Casual dining chain
• Mexican cuisine restaurant
• Franchise restaurants
• Family dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Irving

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OnThe Border operates a Tex-Mex casual dining restaurant chain offering a menu of Mexican-inspired items such as mesquite-grilled fajitas, tacos, burritos, combination platters, and margaritas, served through dine-in, to-go, catering, and online ordering channels. The brand also monetizes a customer loyalty program (Border Rewards) and digital gift card program to drive repeat visits.

Product overview

On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is a Tex-Mex fast-casual restaurant chain operated by OTB Hospitality, LLC. The company's core product is its restaurant dining experience offering Mexican-inspired cuisine. The business also maintains a loyalty program called Club Cantina and operates a mobile SMS marketing program for customer communications. As of June 2026, the company has transitioned to a franchise-focused model following Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with only independently-operated franchise locations remaining open in South Dakota, Florida, Nevada, California, and South Korea.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-in Tex-Mex restaurant service
• To-go / online ordering for pickup
• Catering service Catering packages featuring Tex-Mex menu items (fajitas, tacos, sides, and beverages) for group events, parties, and office/casual gatherings.
• OnThe Border gift cards Prepaid gift cards (including e-gift cards) that can be purchased and redeemed for food and beverages at OnThe Border locations.
• Border Rewards loyalty program Free-to-join customer loyalty program that rewards repeat dine-in and to-go purchases with points, special offers, and member-only promotions.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Texas RangersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026On The Border is a Proud Partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, indicating a sports marketing and sponsorship relationship.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Del Taco: Del Taco is a quick-service Mexican/American chain operating across the U.S. It competes with On The Border for value-oriented Mexican food occasions, particularly in California and Nevada where On The Border's surviving franchise locations operate.
• Qdoba Mexican Eats: Qdoba is a fast-casual Mexican grill chain offering burritos, tacos, and bowls. It competes head-to-head with On The Border's Tex-Mex casual dining experience at a comparable price point.
• El Chico: El Chico is a long-established Tex-Mex casual dining chain operating primarily in the South-Central U.S. It shares On The Border's Tex-Mex menu positioning and sit-down dining format and serves a comparable family/casual customer.
• Moe's Southwest Grill: Moe's is a fast-casual Tex-Mex chain serving burritos, tacos, and quesadillas in a similar value-oriented, counter-service format. It directly overlaps On The Border's core menu positioning and target customer.
• Chevys Fresh Mex: Chevys is a Tex-Mex casual dining chain with a similar sit-down, margarita-centric concept to On The Border. It is one of the closest direct competitors in the casual Tex-Mex dining segment and has experienced similar category pressures.

Broad incumbents

• Chili's Grill & Bar: Chili's is a major casual dining chain owned by Brinker International. It competes with On The Border for the same casual-dining occasion and value-oriented customer, and has absorbed Tex-Mex-adjacent traffic as legacy Tex-Mex concepts have declined.
• Taco Bell: Taco Bell is the largest Mexican-inspired QSR chain in the U.S., owned by Yum! Brands. It competes with On The Border at the value and lower-priced end of the Mexican food occasion, particularly for tacos and burritos.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Chipotle is the dominant fast-casual Mexican/Tex-Mex chain in the U.S. with thousands of locations. It directly competes for the same consumer occasions as On The Border and represents the structural competitive force that has driven traffic away from legacy Tex-Mex casual-dining concepts.

Emerging players

• Rosa Mexicano: Rosa Mexicano is an upscale Mexican restaurant group with a focus on premium dining experiences and craft margaritas. It represents the higher-end Mexican dining segment and competes with On The Border for occasions when consumers want a more elevated Mexican experience.

Regional players

• Pappasito's Cantina: Pappasito's Cantina is a Tex-Mex concept operated by Pappas Restaurants — the same parent that acquired On The Border in May 2025. It demonstrates Pappas' internal Tex-Mex capability and explains both the strategic logic and limits of Pappas' attempted OTB turnaround.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ontheborder
• Facebookfacebook.com/OnTheBorderMexicanGrillandCantina
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/on-the-border

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OnThe Border