Monday, July 6, 2009

On The Border (Northlake)

Last week my wife and I were in the mood for some PF Chang's. It's one of our favorite restaurants because of its Mongolian Beef, Lettuce Rolls, and Great Wall of Chocolate. We split each of those dishes, and we get out for a relative bargain.

So, the other day when we went, we were greeted by a HUGE line of people. So we hopped in the car, and drove down the parking lot (Yes, I AM that lazy) to the On the Border. After all, it serves margaritas -- how bad can it be?

We walked in the door, and were promptly seated. The place was packed, and I was surprised that we had a table, until I realized that it was the table next to the kitchen. UGH. That's always a noisy table. Well hopefully, the margarita would make everything better.

We sat at the table, looked over the menu, and after a few minutes we made our decisions. Unfortunately, we still had not seen our waiter or chips and salsa yet. After I was beginning to think that we had been forgotten, our waiter came by with chips and salsa, and took our order.

I ordered the Southwest Chicken Tacos, and a frozen margarita. It should be noted that I consider the Southwest Chicken Tacos to be Mexican-inspired -- NOT Mexican food. The meal consists of "Two grilled flatbread tortillas stuffed with mesquite-grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, creamy red chile sauce and crispy-fried onion strings." Yes, you read that right -- Mexican food with fried onion strings. Hence part of the reason I called it Mexican-inspired.

The Margaritas arrived quickly, and we dove in to the chips and salsa. The salsa was surprisingly sweet. Almost a little too sweet. It's as if the salsa was too hot, so they threw in a HUGE amount of sugar to counteract the hotness. The margarita, however, was quite delicious and I started slurping it down.

Our food arrived, and I've gotta give them credit, the meal was quite good! The flatbread soft-taco shells were yummy, and the filling (which consisted of the chicken, cheese, sauce, and onion strings) was delicious! All of the individual flavors played off of each other, and mixed together to create some amazing flavors. It had a ton of salt, was loaded with calories, and was nothing like Mexican food -- but it was pretty good. I was surprised.

Score:
Atmosphere: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 2/5 (We waited a long time to order, and for the check)
Total: 9/15
Price: $$ (Just under $20 per person)
Kid Friendly: Yes. They have a kids menu, high chairs, and a cement floor in case your child likes to make a mess on the floor. :)

Conclusion: It was a surprisingly good meal. It tasted like I'd imagine TGI Friday's would taste -- if they had a Mexican inspired spin-off restaurant. The food was overly salty, loaded with cheese and sauces, and tasted nothing like Mexican food. I wanted to dislike it, but I couldn't help myself and continued to eat every tasty bite.

Restaurant Info:
On The Border
8315 Northlake Commons Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
p) 704-921-1166
http://www.ontheborder.com

No comments:

Post a Comment