Border Grill - Santa Monica

11/23/09

Taco truck, please

by dlmuns at Citysearch

After reading a review in the LA Weekly, we were looking forward to a tasty and unique twist on Mexican food. We were quite surprised at the prices when we arrived, but made the assumption it would be perfectly spiced with a unique combination of ingredients...a treat worth the money. My boyfriend enjoyed the baby back ribs and spinach, but I thought the spicing on the ribs was heavy-handed. My shredded pork was very spicy too, but I wouldn't call it flavorful. Drinks were adequate but expensive. Overall a lot of money spent without a great deal of return. So far, not terribly impressed with Santa Monica's mexican food since we just went to Lares, which was cardboard bland.

• Cons: overpriced,

05/05/09

Happy Hour from Hell

by eastbayfunk at Citysearch

I love alcohol. I love happy hours. Shoot, I sound like Asher Roth. Let's start this one over.

Who doesn't love happy hour? Exactly. So on Friday, me and some friends got off of work early on the Westside in Los Angeles and wanted to find a good happy hour to get the weekend started off on the right foot. You would think that the only reason most of us don't make happy hour is because we have jobs but in reality, at least in Santa Monica, CA, happy hour is not so easy to find at 3:30. Most of the happy hours we knew of started at 5 and we just didn't want to wait. (Sushi Roku is a good one of those 5 o clock happy hours.) So we drove around and made some calls and ended up at Border Grill in Santa Monica. We thought, "This is perfect: margaritas and tacos." Well, we were wrong. In retrospect, we should have just paid full price somewhere (or stabbed each other in the legs with pencils and just gone home).

I wasn't even sure it was open until I pushed in the door and saw that it was actually pretty crowded. The place seemed dirty, almost unhygienic. I don't get how place like this can legally stay open. For starters, the lights weren't even on. The place was pitch black and dead silent. The people already there looked like they were frozen in time in that exact location and dust had been building up on them and the restaurant for about twenty years. A bar is a bar though, so we sat down at some empty bar stools and ordered drinks. $5 a drink. Happy hour. Whoopdie doo. The drinks were fine and all but not that cheap and definitely not cheap enough to warrant the ambiance in that dump. Then we made the mistake of trying some tacos. These were no $1 tacos. These were $3 each on the happy hour menu. Honestly, they looked like they had been delivered from the cafeteria in my old UCLA dorm circa 2002 and had sat around in Border Grill's dirty kitchen since then waiting for my arrival. These were so bad they were inedible.

We asked for the check and went to El Cholo on Wilshire in Santa Monica. They didn't have a happy hour. That place is actually weird too but that's neither here nor there. At least it was clean and outside of the twilight zone. Avoid Border Grill in Santa Monica at all costs and if you are thinking to yourself right now, "I like that place," take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and recognize that your taste stinks and no one gives a darn what you think. Happy Hour from Hell.

wwwblankfromhellcom

• Pros: Drinks
• Cons: Food, Decor, Ambience, Lighting

11/30/08

Tasty but not inexpensive

by differentplaces at Citysearch

After wandering around the promenade for a bit for something new, we found the Border Grille a block away. The Carnitas Nortenas were good, with the full complement of sides- guacamole, serranos, house-made tortillas, and other stuff. I would not say they were better than carnitas I've had other places, but they were $5-$6 more expensive than other places I've been too. I'd also agree with other reviewers that the drinks were quite pricey. The margaritas and mojitos were around $12. The atmosphere was nice - the interesting paintings on the walls and bright colors. On the service issue, it was a bit strange. We were told there would be a half hour wait because we hadn't made reservations - yet half the tables appeared empty. Perhaps there weren't enough waiters. In any case, we were seated immediately at the family/communal table when we said that was alright. There were already ten people sitting around the table. That made it interesting - in a good way. Our waiter took our order quick enough, but then there were periods when we didn't see him for a bit too long. He did suggest the perfect entree for my wife. And the speed with which the food was delivered after being ordered was impressive. I'd say we were served in about five minutes. It was the follow up for other items that had us looking for our waiter. A decent experience overall. The below average rating is based on value.

• Pros: ambience
• Cons: value