The Border Cantina is a Tex-Mex restaurant on Novi Rd. in Novi, MI. The Cantina can pull in quite a crowd on a Saturday evening. There were lots of people there, and we had to wait for 10 minutes to get a table. Most people passed the time by ordering drinks at the bar, or watching sports on the TV. We chose to wait at the staging tables by the entrance. After a short while, a waiter came by and offered us complementary chips and salsa to eat while we waited. I excitedly agreed, and they were brought to us within another minute. They were about as you expect for chips, noticeably better than say a bag of tortilla chips but still they were just chips. On the other hand the salsa was divine; it had the perfect mix of spiciness, body and flavor.
When we were about halfway through our chips we were escorted to the table. Our server brought a refill on chips and salsa and took drink orders. While munching on chips I took my first real view of the inside of the restaurant. The tables were in pretty close proximity to each other but there was still some personal space. The walls were littered with iconic American southwest and Mexican paraphernalia. There were old photos of mariachi bands, sombreros, maracas and even a mildly scary looking sun-bleached steers head. All the decorations were fun and they made the place take on a really relaxed atmosphere. Most of the people that came to the Cantina that day were families. Everyone was casual in dress and mood, much like the atmosphere, which was evident because nobody seemed to mind mingling among tables.
I was in the mood for fajitas but I had filled up a bit on chips and salsa, so I looked for something a bit smaller such as the fajita wrap. One of the people in my dinner party was a vegetarian, so there are options of anyone who doesn’t eat meat. Each meal comes with sides, beans, rice and guacamole. They are also open to substitutions if you don’t like certain sides and would like to have more of something else. I was surprised when our food arrived, for two reasons: first because of the promptness of our food’s preparation and secondly, because the fajita wrap was gigantic. Essentially a fajita wrap is like all the fixings of fajitas in giant premade burrito form. It comes sliced in half and even in this form it is still a job for both hands. Inside is seasoned fajita steak, caramelized grilled onions, and green peppers all surrounded in beans and rice wrapped in a flour tortilla then finished off with sour cream and cool guacamole. It felt like such a deal $6.99 for my wrap including the free chips and salsa.
In short if you are in the mood for Tex-Mex and aren’t looking for anything fancy you should go fiesta or siesta at the Border Cantina.
Price: $$ (can range from $6.50 - $14 a head at dinner)
Service: *****
Food: ****
Atmosphere: ****
(Ratings out of 5)
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Hello Dan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your restaurant review and i thought you did a good job. I would give you a 27/30 or an A-. Although i thought it was well done overall, i noticed a few errors. You did include all of the key points we covered in the rubric.