On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $2.9M – $5.1M
- Disclosed sales
- $2.5M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
On The Border is a casual-dining franchise serving Tex-Mex favorites, fajitas, enchiladas, and margaritas, with a full bar. Franchisees run full-service restaurants managing kitchen, bar, and a large service staff.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina franchise requires a total initial investment of $2.9M – $5.1M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.5M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $2.9M – $5.1M
- 39th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- Outlet subset11th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 134
- 33rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $2.9M – $5.1M including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.5M/year (median $2.3M) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 59/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (2 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- OTB Acquisition LLC
- Parent company
- OTB Holding LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 10 of the 2024 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- Border Holdings LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 10 of the 2024 FDD
- Predecessor
- Golden Gate Capital Opportunity Fund, LP (prior to April 23, 2014)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Lyle D. Tick
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 2201 West Royal Lane, Suite 170, Irving, Texas 75063
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $255.8M
- vs $265.4M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Lyle D. Tick
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 1994
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 8
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 489% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown22 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Real Estate | — | — | |
| Legal & Closing Costs | $10K | $30K | |
| Environmental Reports | $10K | $50K | |
| Utilities | $10K | $50K | |
| Professional Fees | $75K | $130K | |
| Site Development | $250K | $500K | |
| Building Construction | $1.5M | $2.5M | |
| Equipment, Fixtures & Furniture | $500K | $820K | |
| Computer & Point of Sale System | $50K | $85K | |
| Signage | $50K | $100K | |
| Phone System | $1K | $5K | |
| Initial Training Expenses | $50K | $60K | |
| Opening Personnel | $100K | $150K | |
| Initial Inventory | $30K | $45K | |
| Opening Hourly Uniforms | $2K | $3K | |
| Opening Training Material | $3K | $5K | |
| Initial Smallwares-Bar, Kitchen & Dining Room | $45K | $60K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $10K | $15K | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $10K | $20K | |
| Total initial investment | $2.9M | $5.1M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $2.9M – $5.1M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $200K – $400K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $200 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $15K |
| Inventory (initial) | $30K – $45K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 58% above the full-service restaurants norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$4.3M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2024 FDD
Financial Performance
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.3M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Gross Sales (company-owned and franchisee locations; excludes real estate costs, royalties, advertising, and third-party fees for company-owned data)
- Sample size
- 7 outlets
- vs category median 18 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $1.4M→$3.8MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 79 of the 2024 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2024
- Disclosed in the 2024 filing, covering 2023
- Transparency
- 7 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 801 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.6x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $2.5M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.6x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% (near the Full-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 7/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (0.0% 3-year CAGR) with 134 units.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Full-Service Restaurants medians
How On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina Compares
Category median of published Full-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 134
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 109
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 19%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +26.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 1
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 4.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 7 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
12 current owners across 7 states.
- CA 3
- FL 3
- TX 2
- CO 1
- NE 1
- NV 1
- SD 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Material profitability opacity combined with high capital requirement, sluggish unit growth, and exposure to declining casual-dining category presents meaningful risk despite no litigation or going concern flags.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 59 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — inability to validate actual profitability despite $2.3M average revenue
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($2.9M–$5.1M) with modest 4% royalty creates pressure to hit $2.3M revenue baseline to break even
- 03MINORSlow unit growth (8.7% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction concerns in mature 134-unit system
- 04MED20-year term locks franchisees into long commitment with no disclosed performance benchmarks or exit clauses
- 05MINORCasual dining segment structurally challenged post-2020 with labor cost inflation and consumer traffic volatility
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Dallas County, Texas |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | TX |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 320 hrs
- Training location
- Dallas, Texas (company training restaurant)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 24 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects; franchisor reviews and approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
12 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina franchise?
The total investment to open a On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina franchise ranges from $2.9M – $5.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.5M. The median is $2.3M. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina?
On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is franchised by OTB Acquisition LLC. Its parent company is OTB Holding LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Border Holdings LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina has 134 total units in the United States, including 25 franchised units and 109 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 59 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.