Fine Dining - On the Border: Mark Wahlberg, Bankruptcy, and the "Worst Mexican Chain in America"

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

🌮🔥🍹 On the Border: Bankruptcy, Bottomless Calories, and Marky Marg Madness 🍹🔥🌮 This week, Trent Tucker (@thegotspod) from the Geek Off the Street podcast joins me to break down the chaotic history of On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, a chain that once lived under the Chili's corporate umbrella at Brinker International before getting unceremoniously left behind. On the Border has had a rollercoaster run. We unpack the Mark Wahlberg-backed Marky Marg (where he didn't even show up for the toast), and celebrate the undeniable appeal of Guacamole Live prepared tableside. Plus, Trent pitches a zero-gravity ramen restaurant, and we read Yelp reviews in the style of a late-night local TV lawyer commercial. 🌯 Formerly a Brinker International Sibling to Chili's 📉 "Worst Mexican Chain" According to Men's Health 💸 Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and 40 Sudden Closures 🍹 The Marky Marg Featuring Flecha Azul Tequila 📺 "Why? Because You Can" is the Most American Slogan Ever 🥑 Guacamole Live Steals the Spotlight 🚀 Trent's Zero-Gravity Ramen Restaurant Pitch ⚖️ A Yelper Who Sounds Like a Personal Injury Attorney 💬 COMMENT BELOW: Is tableside guac enough to save a struggling chain? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: Trent Tucker | IG: @thegotspod Patreon Producers:Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van Patreon Subscribers:David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers: Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Robert McLaughlin, Jewell Hermann, Renae Michael 👉 NEXT WEEK: We actually eat at On the Border and put it through the Chili's Test to see if it can hang with its former corporate sibling.

On the border Mexican grill in Cantina, a chain that recently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was once named America's worst Mexican chain by Men's Health magazine. On the border is a Tex-Mex joint out of Dallas, Texas, just like Chili's. But unlike Chili's, their father walked out on them as Brinker International once owned on the border before deciding they don't love them anymore. It's like the end of hope floats, but instead of a devastating performance from a little girl, they just make guacamole live at your table. This week on the show, I'll Mark Wahlberg, my knowledge,

directly into your margarita of curiosity, so that you two may know everything I've learned about on the border Mexican grill and canteena. Then we'll direct our attention to the people of Yelp to see what they're saying about the very on the border we just drove five hours to experience. Stay tuned. This is the fine dining podcast.

Your table's ready. Take your seat. What is Tex-Mex? How would I define Tex-Mex? It's Mexican food. How they do it in Texas? Like, honestly, I don't know. I've kind of had both.

And I think Tex-Mex feels harder, like crunchier, I guess. I feel like I consider a lot more like fried food. This is not a formal definition. But that's how I interpret it. The only thing that I know about Texanaks is that they put chili beans on their burritos and call it wet burrito. Is that accurate? A wet burrito feels like an L.A. thing to me. Okay.

But beans, yeah, that's something that I guess I grew up seeing. I feel like every Mexican plate, every Texican, every Tex Mexican plate had beans on it. But, yeah, I don't know. I'm not helpful. Hello, and welcome to the fine dining podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants. to Chili's. I'm your host Michael Ornellis, and in this podcast, we learn the history of our favorite restaurant chains one week before seeing how they compare to Chili's in week two. This week on the show, it's all about the history of On the Border, which was at a time one of the most prominent

Mexican chains in the country. And joining me to talk all about it is a podcaster who completes the set for me, so to speak, as his co-host of the Geek Off the Street podcast has already join me for an episode on Sonic Driven. If he were a comic book, he'd appraise as a 9.9 in mint condition. It's Trent Tucker. Thank you for having me, Michael. Hello, welcome.

I do not want to bring up the fact that, well, I will bring up the fact that Mark was first on your show. Yeah. But I'll leave it alone at this point. Yeah. Well, I mean, there is an expression of saving the best for last. Good save. I don't think that's what I did.

But that is a way you could, no. No, I went an alphabetical order. All right. I was trying to think of the letters of our names, but yeah. You're right. I was, that was a Hail Mary. I didn't even think about him when I said it. And if it would have been wrong, I would have just been, well, reverse alphabetical.

Well, thanks so much for coming on, especially thanks for making this really long drive. For a little bit of background, you live in Riverside, which is like, what, hour and a half, two hours outside of L.A.? Yes. And there was. an on the border restaurant down there in Eastvale, very close to you, right? And I was like, oh, that'd be the perfect place for us to go. So I kind of locked you in as my guest for on the border. And then it closed.

They declared bankruptcy. And they closed 40 stores. And so now the next closest one is in Escondido, which is near San Diego, which, long story short, two to two and a half hours away. Not close. you drove from Riverside to me this morning and then hopped in my car and then we drove two and a half hours the other direction to go to on the border eat there drive back and then you're going to have to drive back to rivers so like this is a full day on the road for you so

thank you so much for doing it that's that's the point i'm trying to make oh yeah yeah yeah thank you for having me man totally worth it i think so far but um i will say i did try to go to the on the border one in Eastvale last week to see if it was still open just to make sure. Trying to scout the joint. Just to see if I can. Yeah. Had you ever been? Never.

Never. Yeah. I'm a bit of a Mexican food snob growing up in Southern California. So that was probably the main reason why I didn't want to go. Yeah. I mean, I do find that like with Mexican food, mom and pop restaurants are just almost always the way to go. I can't think actually always of the way to go. I can't think of a single Mexican chain that outshines like just my local.

There's a place in North Hollywood called Mucho Mas. And it's just such a charming Mexican atmosphere. It's a one-off restaurant. Pretty sure it's just like family owned. They had a fire a few years ago and they were out for like almost two years. And then they opened back up and I was so happy. I've been there a few times. And they're one of the few places.

Like usually when I find a restaurant, I get the same thing. Like I find the thing I like and then I go to that restaurant for that thing. This is one of those restaurants where every time I go, I'm like, I'm comfortable, completely ordering different every time, they have never served me wrong. I'm actually the exact same person. If I find one thing I like, I will order it every time. If I find one thing I don't like, I'll never come back. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll swear off.

Yeah, yeah. I give my girlfriend a hard time for that because, like, we'll go to Zanku chicken and she'll order beef and then be like, well, I didn't really like it. I was like, it's Zanku chicken. The chicken is the thing. Don't swear off it until you've at least had the signature item. And then we went again, and she had the chicken. She was like, this place rules.

And I'm like, yeah, it's us. It's us. Okay, so you have no history with on the border other than trying to scout it out. I don't have any history with on the border beyond just knowing it, like knowing of it. And I know of it because I remember seeing its name on Chili's gift cards as like another place where that currency was good at. It's like those two in Maggiano's Little Italy. But now on the border has new ownership and we will get into that. But yeah, I'd never been.

And I always thought that the name, like, it's not racist, but it feels like it's fine. It's really, it's not racist. It's not. But it doesn't feel like you're allowed to say it. Is that a relatable feeling? Do you see that or am I reaching? It wasn't until you brought it out in the open. So, yeah, and that's all I can think about now.

It's racism. Yeah. That's a pattern from your. drive today. It was just constant. I was like, you can't use that slur. Anyways, we're going to cover the history of On the Border. We're going to jump into

this week's Eat Deats. A little tequila-inspired brainstorming by three friends led to the first on the border opening on Knox and Travis Street in Dallas in October 1982. Originally called On the Border South Texas Cafe,

the casual canteen a quickly became known for its mesquite grilled fajitas, strong margaritas, and lively patio vibe, all part of the founder's vision to share border-style Tex-Mex with the world. I wish any of the tequila-inspired ideas I came up with led to anything remotely like a franchise, like a successful restaurant chain. Yeah. Yeah, I don't drink, so I've had no good ideas. Well, neither if we, apparently.

Right, right. Yeah, yeah. The Dallas flagship sparked steady expansion through the Dallas. the 80s and 90s, and in 1994, Chile's parent, Brinker International, scooped up the growing chain. Brinker franchised new locations, and by 2001 on the border had over 100 restaurants across the U.S. even reaching around 160 by 2007 at its peak. That year also saw the brand go international with its first overseas canteena opening in Seoul, South Korea. Is that one of the ones that's still open in Seoul? I think they actually have like seven.

or eight locations in Seoul from what I found. And then when they declared bankruptcy, about half of them closed. But Seoul doesn't seem like a place where I would expect Mexican food to take off. I mean, American-style Mexican food tends to do pretty well because we border Mexico.

I've heard horror stories of what, like, English takes on Mexican food is. You know, it is big in Tokyo. When I went to Tokyo, Mexican food is kind of a high demand thing, like a street food type thing. Yeah, so maybe...

I know a lot of American food is just kind of exploding in Asian countries, which is terrible for me because I don't like cheese and it feels like all these, like, specifically Korean food is really starting to use a lot more cheese. I'm just like, no, stop it. You don't eat it. You don't eat it. You don't have to do this. Your food was, your, your, your bulgi was good before or whatever. That's Korean beef, right? That is, yeah. Okay, yeah.

On the border built its reputation on big, bold, Tex-Mex flavors and portions. The kitchen fires up mesquite wood grills to sear special marinades into its signature fajitas, and it became famous for table-side guacamole live, which is fresh avocado smashed right in front of you. Add in the house-made tortilla chips and salsa and jumbo margaritas as essential accessories, and you've got the flavor identity that kept guests coming back for border-style indulgence. Now did the Vahita idea come from Chili's or other way around? I think they were doing it before. And then Brinker was probably like, look at how your brother does it.

They clearly have a favorite child. They got rid of one. They got buyer's remorse on an adoption. Can you imagine? It must be nice in the restaurant industry to be able to just get rid of one son. You know, you can't do it. I'm not going to go further into that. Yeah.

No, no, please. Elaborate. I want to know. I feel like, you know, we're having a crisis with a growing population. If you could, you know. So population control. Maybe more people would want to have kids if they knew they had, you know, a redo button. I don't know.

Yeah. But also it does feel redundant to have Chili's and on the border. Okay. Yeah. Because they, they, Chili's is Tex-Mex. It also has a pretty substantial, like, American food side with, like, The triple dipper, lots of fried food, a burger menu that's popular, baby back ribs, which aren't inherently Mexican. But they did start off with fajitas and like chili, like literal chili.

Oh, okay. Or like the things that launched chilies. Got it. Okay. So, yeah, I don't know. It seems maybe like they scooped up on the border because they wanted to control the competition or something. Who would you scoop up if you were like, I need to take out my competitor. Uh, as a, as a Chili's owner?

As a podcaster. Oh, I'm sorry. As a geek podcaster. If I had the power. If you were Chili's, if I was Chili's, who would I scoop up? You're a sniper on the roof with a chili pepper on your shirt. Who's in the crosshairs? Oh, man.

It would have been Red Lobster one point, but I feel like, I don't know. Maybe they're not doing so well now. I feel like they're very overrated in general. I don't love Red Lobster. But, uh, yeah, I heard they went bankrupt. And then I haven't heard that they've, like, I've read headlines that are like, Red Lobster is making a comeback? And I'm like, is it?

Yeah. Maybe because they got rid of several locations, only the good ones are left. I don't know. But that's not a comeback. So. Yeah, the one in Riverside closed pretty recently. So, yeah. The Red Lobster.

Yep. So dang, Riverside's just like, we don't want chains anymore. Yeah, no. Things go to Riverside to die. We want meth. Yeah. Or isn't there a big meth issue in Riverside? Yeah.

I was originally supposed to be where they shot, where they're going to shoot Breaking Bad, I think. Oh. It was just too hard to get the permits. Yeah. How are your teeth? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Back in 2007, on the border rolled out a quirky ad campaign themed, why? Because you can. Featuring talking Mexican folk art masks on the walls, lusting after the food. The playful commercials on the border's first TV ads in years, captured the chain's fun-loving vibe, essentially encouraging guests to treat themselves because you can. And the person in charge of making that decision, what was their ethnic background?

Oh, I don't feel like I'm allowed to speculate. But it very much just feels like that is the most American campaign that you can have. Just like, yeah, sure, why not? There's no consequences. Yeah, yep. I don't know. I've tried avoiding talking about Cali. counts lately just because they're they're just so different for everyone in terms of what they

mean and all that but on the border is kind of next level like the veggie fajitas worth 1,300 calories on the menu that is crazy and then for that same place to be like why because you can seems weaponized right yeah to say at least yeah yeah like what may vegetables are like Free. Yeah. No, I mean, I wanted what the, uh, with the meat component of the vegetable fajita was. Uh, wasn't more bell peppers and onions or? Oh, you mean like what the, what the substitute was?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I speculated it might be cauliflower, but I really don't know. It may have just been the bed of veggies that your steak or chicken or carnitas or shrimp would have been served over anyways. I don't know. But that's crazy. Yeah. A vegetable dish that's like two thirds of your daily.

calorie, like recommended nuts. Yeah. On the border teamed up with actor Mark Wahlberg in 2003 to debut the Marky Marg cocktail made with Mark Wahlberg's Fletcha Azul tequila as a limited time special, even hosting a live virtual Cinco de Mayo toast with the star to promote it nationwide. A virtual toast sounds lazy. What year was that?

2023. 2020. It was just two years ago. Oh, right. All right. So how's his restaurant doing? Is that a right comparison to say what Walburgers? Yeah.

I don't, I think. I've given zero of my mental bandwidth to Walburgers. Yeah. I've never been. I don't really care that much. Maybe I'll try it someday. I'm not opposed to trying it. I just don't care.

Right. The connection I'm trying to make is that I thought the restaurants weren't doing well. So pairing him associated with food to promote a drink for a different company. But this was his tequila company. Oh, okay. So it wasn't even like linked to the burgers. But yeah, I don't know. Just the idea of like, hey, let's get Marky Mark on a Skype.

And he'll just raise a shot glass. And everyone at an on the border nationwide will be like, Happy New Year or whatever it is when the, when the Marky Mark drops. Yeah, now I want one of those because I saw him on. Because I saw him on a screen. Yeah. I don't know.

I don't know how excited I'm getting for a virtual toast. If Mark Wahlberg came into the on the border that I was in, I would also probably not care that much. Same thing. Yeah. I still wouldn't have bought the drink. Yeah. I'd be like, okay, cool. Yeah.

You wear your underwear on the outside. I'm sure you would hate to hear that. He would ruin my career if he said, if you heard me say that. Yeah. I think he would ruin my career. Over the years, on the border has hit a few bumps. A 2012 salmonella outbreak at the on the border in Washington, sickened over a hundred patrons and led to a flurry of lawsuits.

And in 2019, the company paid $100,000 to settle an equal employment opportunity commission lawsuit after employees at a New York location were caught racially harassing a black co-worker with slurs. Can you be specific about the slurs? I literally can't. I'm not allowed. Can I be specific about it through? A quarter of you is allowed to. You were breaking down your, your background to me.

So you are mildly allowed to. Yeah. I get a number of passes here and there. Yeah. So I don't know. I cannot say Mexican slurs and I'm a quarter. But not that it's like on my wish list. I'm not like over here like dying to like throw slurs around.

But sometimes you're like, but could I? Can I get away with it? You can't. Don't do it. The menus hefty calorie counts have drawn fire. two. Men's Health magazine infamously named on the border the worst Mexican chain in 2010, citing enchilada platters topping 1,600 calories and desserts over 1,000 calories each. I tend to side with the restaurants.

No. I think it's all about portion control. I guess. Yeah, to make your decisions. If I want to eat it on the border, that's all I can eat that day. It's like all you can eat for a couple days. Yeah. Like, I didn't want this food to go.

I made sure I ate the meat because I just am like, I don't want animal product food waste. Personally, that's like, that's my philosophy on not finishing stuff. If it's just like, eat the meat, eat the thing that died for you.

If you leave some bread on the table, you're fine, you know? Yeah, but it did feel a little extreme, I think. Like, I,

like the lowest calorie count item we got was like 700. And yeah, we split everything. So all that's halved. But like, they, I don't know what, they're doing that those numbers are so inflated compared to other places.

Because it's not like it tasted extra oily or extra buttery or extra, you know, whatever. Yeah, because then it kind of makes you question what the quality of product is they're using that inflates those calories. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Okay. All right. So, yeah, I just don't get it.

And I'm not a bodybuilder. So I'm not looking to consume like Michael Phelps amount of calories every day. On the border's ownership journey has been a roller coaster. After a decade of independence, the chain joined the Brinker International family in 1994, teaming up with the Chili's folks to fuel nationwide growth. In 2010, Brinker sold OTB, that's on the border, to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, which in turn passed the torch to Argonne Capital in 2014. Most recently, in 2025, Houston-based Papa's restaurants of Papasito's cantina fame,

won a bankruptcy auction to acquire on the border, bringing the text mex icon into a new family just a few months ago. Which also at an auction. They weren't even pursuing it. They were just like, well, if it's there. Because we could take it. Yeah. Are all those companies, real companies?

They sounded like... There were a lot of like hedge funds. Okay. Yeah. Some weapons testing in there sounds like, I don't know. Argonne. Argonne does feel like... the bad guys in a comic book.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's like, yes, and we'll, we'll put the toxic waste into the fajitas. Yeah. Yeah. Boosting the calories. Excuse me. Do you have the nutrition facts for your plutonium?

Yeah. Is there a label on this? I need to track my macros. Yeah. By early 2025, on the border filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The company had been struggling with high labor costs, inflation, and slumping dine-out traffic, and even closed 40s. locations to stem its financial losses.

In its filing, on the border listed tens of millions in debt, blaming the tough economy and rising costs for its downturn, a fate that echoed other casual dining chains like TGI Fridays and Red Lobster. You were on the money with Red Lobster. Yeah, right?

They're still around. I don't know. We didn't get the killing blow. We didn't finish the job. Yeah, they still hung tight. I don't know. Yeah. That does feel like what on the, well, actually, what, I'll talk about it more next week, but genuinely, this didn't feel like a lifeless place. It didn't feel like it was like clinging for life. The brand as a whole might, but this location

seemed to be doing fine. I mean, midday on a Monday. On a Monday, yeah. You know, write it open. I mean, it's not like there's going to be a huge rush, but like I wouldn't be surprised if like weekend nights this place gets pretty full. Yeah. Yeah, it was a very specific clientele, I think. Yeah, to find them. Which slurs? Is old okay to say? That was the accurate one. Yeah. We were the hottest people in that room.

Hands down. Yeah. Mostly due to age. And also just being stinking cute, you know? Yeah. That's. Can't help that, right? You can, but we're hanging in there.

We're like Red Lobster. By October 2025, on the border was a leaner operation determined to bounce back. The chain now has roughly 80 restaurants still open, down from 150 plus at its height, with about 60 company-run locations in 18 states and another 20 franchised units, including a handful in Seoul Korea, keeping the flag flying abroad. The new owners at Papa's restaurants have signaled plans to invest in the menu and guest experience, aiming to reignite the Tex-Mex magic that once made on the border of the country's largest Mexican casual dining brand. But can they do it?

Look, if they touch guacamole live, if they so much as make any edits to guacamole live, I'm out of here. I'm done. It's magical. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk about it. All right, you're right. We will.

And that'll do it for this week's eat deets. Trent, I hope the DIY spirit has rubbed off on you because now it's your turn to pitch a restaurant establishment of your very own. I need a song style because we are going to sing a theme song together. 80s rock ballad. Okay, okay.

This is the restaurant of your dream and it's better not have any beans. It doesn't have to appear Hail to Mexicans.

This is the restaurant of your dream. I'm trying to get the harmony. I'm sorry. Couldn't find it. I want to know what you are doing to shake up the world of casual dining with your very own dream restaurant concept, something that if I pitch to my parents, they tell me they're proud of me.

It must be practical, delicious, memorable. Three, two, one. Go, let's hear it. My dream restaurant is a, it's called the International Raman Station. It is a ramen shop in, wait for it, space. Okay, I was in a different place. I was like, IRS, is this about taxes? I didn't even get the connection.

Yeah, well, my first name idea. But our tax dollars can pay for it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Like an offshoot of the international space. Okay. Yeah. So it's a ramen restaurant in space.

Yep. So the gimmick of this is that you're in an anti-gravity situation, right? And you're serving the messiest food? Yeah. All right. So here's the caveat, though. So in Japan, ramen is more of a singular person dish. You sit kind of like either a cubicle and they'll slide the ramen to you or it's like a bar,

10, 12 seats in the whole restaurant. So it's kind of a you experienced by yourself typically. Yeah, yeah. So in my Raman shop, you will be put in this box situation. Anti-gravity comes out and it'll shoot the ingredients, the broth, the fats, the noodles, the toppings, and you got to catch it, enjoy it. Straight up, this sounds like those Japanese game shows. Exactly.

Exactly. Yep. Like, there's got to be a camera in every booth. And, like, you just see people like, the one that I've seen over and over is the one where like there's like an alligator and people are wearing meat on their heads and they have to like poke it up through like you've seen that clip right yeah yeah i don't know what it's from but that's the vibe i'm getting you should put an alligator in there by the way anti gravity alligator anti gravity alligator coming in through with zero g's yeah yeah i don't know yeah yeah yeah no you're expecting me to go on and i could i'll make a whole song about zero gravity alligator but i won't um or anti grap yeah whatever anyway this is your thing. Yeah.

So, no allegation. So, yeah, so ramen is made up of like, you know, five specific components.

Yeah. You can either eat it separately. You can deconstruct it in my place. You can try to catch it all together and eat it all at once. And that's, that's my shop. Are you in a space suit or are you like? No.

Okay. We do not provide. You're just turning blue in the face. I can't. Well, I guess, no, I'm mixing up zero oxygen and zero gravity.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. More of a space station situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there will be for the normies, you know, a place where you can sit down and eat if you want and have a nice view of the earth.

That's stupid. That's stupid. You should put a like a separate table there, but they have to wear dunce hats. They have to like admit that they're kind of dumb for not playing along with the thing. What I'm concerned about is look, there's a lot of expensive electrical wiring in a space station. And you're just souping all over the place. You're brothing, you're slipping and sliding. Who's cleaning this up?

So it'll... Are you in like a giant plastic bag? Yes. So you're in a plastic tube, right? And so as soon as you cut the gravity, all the stuff just falls to the bottom and there's a, like a vacuuming kind of cleaning situation that pushes it all out into like a trash tube. And so it washes it all out and then, you know, just keeps it clean every time for each use. And then, you know, we install the big fans in there. Like you've ever seen those like those kind of games where you stand in the tube and they

Yeah, collect the money? Yeah, it'd be like that. A money tornado? Best for drying it though. But a ramen tornado. Yeah.

That sounds horrifying. And I would absolutely do it. And by the way, I lie to so many of my guests that I would participate in their restaurant. Mm-hmm. This one I would. I'm honored, Michael. I'm honored. Great.

Well, one last time, just the final line of that theme song. This is the restaurant of your dream. Babbicki sauce. Thanks for going over all of that with me. Trent, now I have a better idea what you dream about. Now let's bring things back to reality and see what other people think of the on the border

that we drove to in this week's Yelp from Strangers. We need a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. All right, two star, three star, four or five y'i. So get a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A little yelp. All right, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite. One, two, three, four, and five star Yelp reviews. Do you mind if I go first?

Okay. Jeez, my show. I can do what I want. Five star review. All right, this is a five star review. This is from Robbie G. from Escondito, California on October 7th, 2016. I'm going to read this like I'm like, like a Saul Goodman level like TV lawyer.

Because just the cadence of this review is what tickled me. Like tacos? Me too. That's why I choose on the border Mexican gruel. grill. Their tacos are absolutely divine, as was my experience. Shout out to our waitress Christine, who kept the ranch afloin and salsa always on deck. It's refreshing to eat at a place that isn't all stingy with the chips. What's up with that? A man is just trying to get his chip on, but all these other spots are being like, nah. Anyways, if you love tacos and amazing service, hit up on

the border Mexican grill and ask for Christine. She can hold like 10 plates of food at once. Shit was Crazy. That was a real Yelp review that a human being wrote. I wonder if he said it with that same kind of gusto in mind the way you read it. He typed it with that gusto. It was all caps lock. He's like yelling. Yeah.

Shit was crazy. Yeah. People can balance. Actually, I'm downplaying it. I do think that's very impressive to be able to, like, bust 10 plates at once or carry out 10 plates. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure it wasn't 10.

I don't know. Am I a hater? Yeah. My a doubter. How many plates do you think you could carry? Um, if I were to pick up like all. Let's say you're bringing them out from the kitchen. So they're also kind of hot.

Oh, okay. Safely? No. No. That was not a requirement. Yeah. He didn't say she can carry like 10 plates safely. Okay, yeah.

If it's just me and my arms, I'm going up the arms. I think I can probably get six. Yeah. I think that's about the right. Yeah. Three on each arm. Yeah. I might even say five, like one, two, three, four, and then like one that's maybe across the other two.

I don't know if I'm going two and two. Would you be able to get it down though? No, probably not. I'd come over and I'd be like, take it, take it, take it, take it, take it, take it. It's going to fall, it's going to fall. My job was to bring it here and have to set it down. Yeah. Yeah.

Four star review. This Yelp review is from Nicholas P from San Diego. Four star review February 16th, 2019. Let's go. After a chilly reception from the salty hostess who was not wearing a name tag. Uh-oh. We had a quite a We had a quite a pleasant meal

Thanks to Derek He was attentive and knowledgeable Our orders came out hot and correct I did not see a manager on the floor But the store was pretty clean With minor debris on the floor But the booth was clean and inviting The women's bathroom was clean

And smelled nice, great service But the location needs some more love Why does Nicholas know About the cleanliness Of the woman's bathroom? What's happening, Nicholas? I had to go back to make sure That was the name.

I was reading for the right one. And that, yeah. Also, you don't have to put I'm trans in your Yelp review. That doesn't seem like information that you owe people. Yeah, but this makes it. But as with the information that we have. Yeah. You're curious, Nicholas.

Hey there. It's me, Michael. And now that we're in season four, I'm adding more content to my Patreon. Not only can you hear the extended Yelp from Stranger segment with three more reviews. And not only can you get an exclusive full episode. covering an extra chain restaurant on the last day of each month, but I've added an extra chat with my guests where we discussed their go-to fast food and chain restaurants and talk about why they love them so much.

I hope you'll come check it out, and you can get your first week completely free of charge. That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. I appreciate and love you all. Back to the episode. And that's part one. Yeah. Tune in next week as we tell you what we thought about our meal at On the Board. border. In the meantime, Trent, where can people get more of you online? Uh, we are geek up the street at

the guts pod on all of your social media places, all of our social media places. Yeah, you don't know which ones I'm on. Yeah, episodes come out every Wednesday. If you love geek and pop culture, that's what we talk about. Great. And you can follow this show at Fine Dining Podcast on Instagram and TikTok, fine dining podcast.byskye.com social on blue sky. I have a discord where you can come chat with me, me, show your pictures of your pets to me, whatever you want to do. And I have a Patreon where you can get an exclusive episode every single month on the last day and the full extended Yelp from Strangers segments because I curate five very fun reviews, but you only get to hear two for free if you watch on YouTube. So go get the other three. What are you waiting for?

This is a completely listener supported show. So I appreciate the support. I don't know why it kind of turned into like a weird Christopher walk in there. Whatever. Anyways, we will be back in one week's time with our review of On the Border. Thanks so much for watching. We'll just be sitting here waiting on our table. See you next week.

Have a fine day. Waiting on our table. Waiting on our table. Step is done and we had some fun. Now we're waiting on our table. Waiting on our table. Join us next time. We're stuck in line.

Waiting out of my table. Waiting on a table We're so heartily Waiting on our table Waiting on our table Waiting and continue I search for mediocrity Yeah