Border Cafe

My favorite Mexican restaurant in all of Massachusetts. Every location– Burlington, Harvard Square, and Danvers is always consistent, delicious, clean, and a great time.
They prices are so cheap it’s crazy and the food quality is a 10. The only thing I don’t like is that if you get half chicken half beef on your salad or fajita you have to pay double, they don’t understand how to split it but it’s ok because their service, food, and drinks are so amazing.
The atmosphere is great for family lunches, friend dinners, coworker outings but definitely not a date spot, way too loud and fast. Your whole meal comes out in like 5 min everytime.

Only place in boston that makes they’re chips in house. Me the wife and our daughter went there to day for lunch
When we where seated around loud white collor lunch rush people I asked if I could be seated somewhere else. The manage had this real friendly look of annoyance and the lady said no we don’t have service at that table (it was two tables down from the loud people) the jumbola was like a salt lick. My wife got steak fajitas witch was so salty mainly the onions so salty it was unedable. I got the weak ass shreaded beef burrito. It was mostly made of tortilla and a hint of meat. That was at 12:30 and I’m still shitting. Fuck that place

The food is always great when come here. I love the blackened chicken fajitas. Comes out on hot skillet. The best. Always packed but never waited more than 5 min for a table.
Food is spicy but it’s Tex-​Mex so… that’s the theme

Just there for my first time waiter John S was our server. He was delightful, made the experience that much better. Especially helpful w our doggie bag. Great fresh food, too!

Food is average. Service is horrible. We made a reservation as a big group and came at the same time. Then the manager said that we couldn’t sit together and we had to sit in two separate tables because we were party of 14. And in border café combining table is impossible. So we sat separately. Then another big group walked in, right in front of us, and sat together as the manager himself helped them to pull the table together. We asked the manager why that big group could sit together. He said, «oh it was not convenient for us to pull the table together for you big party.»
Pleas as a big group, don’t come to border café for any party. Coz it is inconvenient for them to pull the table…

Loved this place. Its a huge place and has a good ambiance. The food is also great. We got sangria and strawberry maragritas which were just OK. They do serve a very generous portion of chips and salsa.
There was one «Shrimp with rice» appitizer, this was just amazing. Highly recommend this dish. Rest on the menu enchiladas and jambalaya were also great.
Its one of the best tex mex places, I have been to. Highly recommend this place.

I like this location. I usually go to the one in Harvard square but came to this location yesterday with my co-​workers.
I love their house salad and blackened chicken. I order them together and make my own salad concoction. Their enchiladas are good as well but anything with massive amounts of cheese is going to taste good.
The service was decent, it was quite loud but that’s the atmosphere here so it’s OK.
I’ll be back when I am craving the blackened chicken and delicious dip that it comes with. YUM.

Different vibe than the Harvard square location, probably in part due to the more abundant lighting, which I am a big fan of.
The chicken quesadillas are always a popular choice and they are so big, you will definitely be taking half home for later. On the other hand, the house salad is only $ 4.98 and is more than big enough to feed a person, especially in combination with the endless chips and salsa.
Drinks wise, you have to get a strawberry margarita (slush) or try the sangria.

I was in Massachusetts for business and staying at a hotel located near the Border Café. Decided to stop in after briefly looking it up on Unilocal.Being a Texan, I’ll eat Mexican food anywhere I go and be happy about it. I couldn’t get a seat because it was so busy and because some Yankee broad decided her purse needed its own bar seat. Whatever, I left. This ended up being a blessing in disguise as it lead me to discover Wegmans, which might be the best grocery store ever graced with my presence.
Later in the week I decided to give Border Café another go. There was no host at the host station so I seated myself at the bar. Now Unilocal calls this place a Mexican restaurant and judging by the dos equis, corona, and tequila bottles I spied behind the bar, I felt confident that this was a Mexican establishment. I quickly realized that this place only serves bottles beer. No. Beer. On. Tap. Weird, but ok.
I opened my menu and discovered that Border Café couldn’t figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up. There were Mexican options, sure, but the majority of the food options were creole. Not that I’m complaining here, because both of these should be on the food pyramid in my opinion, but again, weird.
The bartender served me chips and salsa, which lacked heat, but tasted ok. I ordered the eggplant royale, which is fried eggplant topped with lump crab and cheese. I also got jambalaya as a side. This was a gamble on my part, because a lot of things can go very wrong with a dish like that. My gamble paid off though. The food was delicious. Very glad I paid this confused establishment a visit.

By far not the best Mexican restaurant I’ve been to, but as for overall experience (cheap prices, good food, free chips and salsa and quick decent service) it is always a good lunch spot, especially for those who work around the area!
I also love getting a side of veggies, such a good portion at a very reasonable price!

Great food and cheap!
Love the blackened chicken fajitas!
Salads are great
Margaritas are very tasty. Frozen strawberry or regular on the rocks.
I worked at the Border Vafe in Daugus many years ago, for many years then at the Burlington location when it first opened. I can report that the kitchens are clean and the food is very fresh.
Only downfall is no dessert… unless you count the birthday ice cream cake.
They do that, along with have uncomfortable chairs so people are in and out.
Weekdays my family is in and out in less than an hour
Outdoor seating, weather permitting

Just as excellent as the Saugus location. We may end up making the Burlington location our regular, being that we have had less than great service in Saugus our last few visits.

My coworkers and I came here for a goodbye lunch. It is a spacious, clean and well-​themed restaurant. We were greeted by a friendly host and seated immediately. Our waitress Melissa greeted us warmly soon after we were seated and got us settled with nachos, chips and drinks. I ordered the grilled salmon salad. The salmon, while a little bit small, had great flavor and was cooked perfectly. The portion was perfect for lunch. My coworker got the grande salad and loved it. My other coworker got a half and half fajita and said it was very tasty. The prices were also very reasonable.
If you like Mexican food, this is the place to go. Great food, great service. I will definitely come back!

This place is the change up for our usual trip to the Chilis down the street if we plan to spend a little more for slightly tastier and more creative Tex Mex. I love the fajitas. All the ingredients are fresh, the guacamole is delicious and I love the pico. They have options of sides of beans or rice, which are both standard nothing crazy.
The drinks are moderately priced. I thought the standard margaritas were more sweet than would be expected and next time I will be having beer as they have the typical dos equis and whatnot inexpensive.
My mexican obsessed friend had the enchiladas and said they were standard affair but definitely good.
Atmosphere wise, this place can be crowded and it is typical a pretty loud and bustling place. However service always seems to be reasonably quick, even if we have had to wait for seating on occasion.

I always enjoy coming here — except for the crowds, which can be crazy. But, if you are up standing (literally) to be called and being in a noisy place, you will enjoy the food. They somehow have achieved the mix of both a busy bar scene with a restaurant that has lots of kids.
The unlimited chips and salsa start things out well. They clearly make the chips continually as every basket I have ever eaten here has been piping hot. The salsa is chunky with clearly defined ingredients. The guacamole is also flavorful and chunky — just not unlimited or free.
I personally enjoy the very large plate of fajitas. Ask for extra veggies. (Or, get the vegetarian fajitas.) The Camptown Shrimp appetizer and the Jambalaya are also really good choices.

My experience at this Border Café location for lunch last Wednesday was a first; and not in a good way. It was my first disappointing meal here or any other Border location ever over the course of many years. As luck would have it, I had a skeptical client in tow. His reluctance was predicated on thinking Border Café was On the Border, a big Tex-​Mex chain that he dislikes. While our food came out quickly, service at the bar was inattentive and unfriendly even though it wasn’t busy. I had to stare at the bartender, hoping to get his attention and a refill on my iced tea; ditto for my client. He never asked how our meals were. If he had, I’d have told him that the skirt steak in my fajitas was flavorless and chewy. When I asked for the check — which I didn’t notice was on the bar the whole time — he just slid it across the bar without a word. On this day, service and food needed serious quality control.
I noticed an unusual spate of negative reviews lately. Seems this location has staff performance problems in the front of the house and the kitchen. Management should address them or risk losing longtime customers — as in many years at the Harvard Square location — like me.

Safe tex mex food. Like kids? Then you should come here.
Food is cheap. Filling. Free chips and salsa
It can get crazy busy on the weekends. On the earlier side of things. Because of course people bring thousands of kids. But it is open later so that’s good too

Delish– I just love this place. I used to be a bit turned off by the fact that it’s a chain, but that’s become a plus in my book as of late. You always come back and get the same, consistent experience.
Chips & salsa? Perfection– they’re warm and thin and perfect. Vegetarian options? A+ (they even have a vegetarian section on the back of the menu– thank you!). Ability to customize entrees/​sides? Yes & yes.
Black bean & corn empanadas are out of this world (though probably 8000 calories). Salads are hearty and on point. Fajitas come with house-​made flour tortillas that are nice and thick.
This Burlington location is my favorite (vs. the busy, busy Harvard Square). It’s so spacious and parking’s not even an issue! Love it.

So pretty good Tex-​Mex and Cajun grub if your looking for that sort of thing (which I DO from time to time). Some items on the menu are really pretty tasty (Camptown Shrimp app, Jambalaya, Fajitas, Guacamole and chips to name a few) and some maybe not so much (Crawfish Étouffée — maybe try this dish closer to the source — sorry folks some things needs to be fresh i.e. Crawfish). Beers /​Drinks and especially the Margaritas are cold, strong and tasty. Food and service is quick and good. Make no mistake this is no linen tablecloth eatery but it’s not a fast food joint either. Give it a shot for drinks or grub it a good value.

Border Café should just be renamed «Value Café». Not much is authentic here (although the gumbo can make a pretty solid case). I don’t go here though to be whisked off to some remote Mexican village or the Bayou… I go for no frills, cheap but still decent food and drinks.
I prefer this location over the Route 1 or Harvard Square haunts. I was actually in Harvard last weekend and there was still over an hour wait at 9 PM! Forget it on the weekends on Rt 1 as well. Now, a random Tuesday or Wednesday night after say 7:30 PM and you won’t need to wait any longer than 15 minutes here, wait until around 8:30 and there shouldn’t be a wait at all.
I’m not a big booze drinker but Border pulls me in with a margarita and I don’t feel any less manly ordering a non beer here than if I was at some swanky bar. Nothing wrong with a little wait for dinner when you can go and order one of these delicious, $ 7 concoctions and start the night off right in the waiting area or at the bar. And if I do want to stick with my usual beer choice, Modelo is one of my favorite from over the border (well at least in name, they are «Mexican»).
Free chippies and fresh salsa are at your table within 30 seconds of sitting down every single time, always a great touch. If you don’t start everything off with a $ 2.50 cup of gumbo well then there is no hope for you. Save some of the chips and top them with the gumbo, added bonus! Watch out though, if everyone at the table didn’t order one with you and ask to try it, it’s going to disappear a lot quicker than you’d like. Why didn’t I just get the bowl again?
While the catfish étouffée has been my go to entrée the past seven or eight times, I did try the seafood enchilada during my past visit and it will now compete for my heart each time I’m here. Stuffed full of crab, shrimp and crawfish with a tinge of spice, I savored every bite. The portions of beans & rice could be a tad bigger or were at least smaller than I remember, they were adequate and well seasoned. I skipped the salad altogether, a few tomatoes and iceberg made me yawn.
Service has always been professional and courteous even if a little flaky at times. I get thrown off by the white coats, did the chef just come out to greet me? I timed pieces of our entire last visit and here is what I came up with. Time to be seated from checking in until we were: 13 minutes. Time it took to receive chips/​salsa: less than 1 minute. Time it took for entrees to arrive to the table after ordering: 11 minutes
I struggled between four and five stars but settled on the most because there are few things wrong with BC and just the time frames above are what put me over the top and keep us happy. Keep doing what you’re doing, keep the prices low and we’ll keep piling through the doors like cattle.