On The Border files for liquidation after closing company restaurants
On The Border shut company restaurants and filed Chapter 7, leaving some workers two days to find new jobs while franchised units in five places stayed open.
On The Border’s company-owned restaurants were shut down fast enough that some employees were told they had only two days to find work, a jolt that left cooks, servers, bartenders and managers scrambling as the chain moved from closure to liquidation. OTB Hospitality filed for Chapter 7 on June 19, 2026, after winding down operations and closing all company-owned On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina locations earlier in the month.
The filing was limited to OTB Hospitality, not Pappas Restaurants. Franchised On The Border locations in South Dakota, Florida, Nevada, California and South Korea continued to operate independently. In the bankruptcy papers, OTB Hospitality listed about $752,945 in assets and roughly $6.2 million in liabilities. For workers at company stores in places including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Grand Rapids, Bucks County and Wichita Falls, the practical effect was immediate: schedules disappeared, local managers lost a chain behind them, and the remaining job market narrowed to other restaurants willing to absorb staff quickly.
The collapse landed barely a year after On The Border had already tried a different path. On March 4, 2025, OTB Holding LLC and affiliates filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, telling the court it wanted to strengthen its financial position, optimize its real estate footprint and sell substantially all assets. The chain secured $10 million in debtor-in-possession financing from an affiliate of Pappas Restaurants, and Judge Sage M. Sigler oversaw the case. Bankruptcy court approved the sale to Pappas on May 15, 2025.
That sale did not save the full footprint. At the time of the 2025 process, the brand had 66 locations listed on its website, down from 120 in 2023 and far below its 166-unit peak in 2007. Founded in Dallas in 1982, On The Border had already moved through ownership by Brinker International, Golden Gate Capital and Argonne Capital Group before landing with Pappas. On The Border was at least the fourth casual-dining brand to file for bankruptcy in the prior year, after Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo.
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