Pappas Restaurants, Inc. closed a deal in May 2025 that added On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina locations to its restaurant portfolio, expanding one of the industry’s largest family-owned groups with another familiar Texas brand.
The move gives Pappas another name to fold into a lineup that already includes Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Pappasito’s Cantina, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Burger and Yiayia’s Greek Kitchen. The company has long built its business around family-owned, Texas-rooted concepts, and On The Border now joins that mix.
The timing matters because the deal is already closed, meaning the addition is not a plan on paper but a completed expansion in May 2025. For Pappas, the purchase adds scale and another recognizable brand at a moment when restaurant groups are sorting out how to grow without losing the identity that makes each concept work.
What remains unresolved is how the locations will be folded into the broader Pappas system and whether the brand keeps its existing feel as it settles under new ownership. For now, the clearest result is simple: On The Border is in the Pappas family, and the company’s already broad portfolio is wider still.
