Irving-based On the Border brought on its new CEO and president Tim Ward on June 1, 2020, when restaurants were struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic and the former $270 million brand was losing fans.
“Back 15 years ago, this was a sexy brand,” Ward says. “We’ve got to figure out how to bring that back.”
Ward knew he needed to look earlier than the beginning of the pandemic. The company hasn’t opened a new corporate restaurant in at least five years or a franchise in 10 years. That’s a pretty astounding lack of growth for a company that operates over 100 corporate stores and eight franchises in the United States and 14 franchises in South Korea.
On the Border was “in a little bit of a downward spiral,” Ward says, getting lost in the shuffle among new chain restaurants. Houston-based Lupe Tortilla has been moving into North Texas in the past few years and threatened to be one of several Tex-Mex competitors.
“I came in, and everyone felt a little defeated,” the CEO says. But then he cheers up: “We’re going to use this challenging time, and we’re going to go back and we’re going to fix the brand.”
In the middle of the pandemic, Ward visited more than 60 On the Border restaurants across the country. He asked customers why they didn’t come in once a week or more.
“Our bars were where the neighbors would go for happy hour,” he heard them say. Customers told him On the Border used to be “exciting, vibrant and energetic” — starting with the very first restaurant, on Knox Street in Dallas, in 1982. That restaurant moved to its current address on Knox Street in 1995, but it’s now a fraction of the size and operates as a delivery and catering kitchen only. That restaurant might be a symbol for the brand: It isn’t what it used to be.
After recognizing loyalty had “dwindled,” Ward developed the idea to “bring back sexy” at On the Border.
Some of his changes are typical restaurant coming-of-age facelifts, like menu updates and brighter decor. Some are pandemic-specific, like renovating patios and adding misters and fans so they can be used year-round. But for the first time in years, On the Border is trying to grow, by opening two to three corporate stores a year, starting in 2022, and “as many potential franchisees” as the company sees fit.
The first franchise in 10 years opened in South Padre Island on June 28. The first new corporate restaurant will be in Toms River, N.J., opening in early 2022. Ward says the company is also going to focus on opening restaurants near home base, in the areas between Dallas-Fort Worth and Wichita Falls.
Most of On the Border’s changes are aimed at the good ol’ days, of “reminding people who we were,” as chief marketing officer Edithann Ramey puts it. But a more contemporary component has them excited, too. The “free queso club,” which started in May 2021, invites customers back into On the Border to sign up for free queso for a year.
The queso club costs $1 a year and requires that customers buy a bowl of queso and share some personal info for a Border Rewards account.
“We know there are all kinds of subscriptions out there,” Ramey says. “What if [ours] was a really fun, sexy, exciting thing people want to sign up for, and then we can bring them back? We didn’t want it to be anything that was a ‘gotcha.’”
Choosing queso was a cinch: It’s their most popular menu item. Customers who sign up get free queso anytime they come in or order to-go.
“And we’re hopeful that you can’t get a queso without margarita,” Ramey says.
Ward is cautiously optimistic that, despite about a dozen restaurant closures in the past two years, On the Border can rebound. He says the pandemic provided a rare opportunity.
“Right now is the one time in life, it’s almost like a reset button,” he says. “I can’t change the challenging time, I wish I could. But I can make the best of it. We can come out stronger than ever.”
