Pappas Restaurants may preserve one former On the Border location in Texas

A stock photograph of a cheese quesadilla. Pappas Restaurants is seeking the lease of an On the Border restaurant location in Mesquite, Texas. But no one knows why just yet. (Jeff R Clow/Getty Images)

An interesting wrinkle has emerged in the ongoing bankruptcy case of a once-prominent Texas Mexican restaurant chain. Pappas Restaurants, based out of Houston, is seeking to take over the lease for a former On the Border restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

According to court documents, Pappas wants the lease at 1414 Gross Road in Mesquite, right off Interstate 635. The Houston hospitality giant’s request is part of the larger Chapter 7 bankruptcy case involving Tex-Mex restaurant chain On The Border.

Thus far, according to court documents, Pappas has been paying the rent on that Mesquite property while the trustee in On The Border’s bankruptcy case figures out what to do with the lease. The trustee said Pappas has agreed to cover any costs tied to transferring the lease over to them, as well as provide a three-year guaranty for the lease obligations of a Pappas-owned subsidiary that receives the lease.

Back in June, Pappas Restaurants announced the closure of all company-owned locations of On the Border. The Houston hospitality group purchased the restaurant chain after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025. It filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a year later in June. The chain’s remaining equipment was put up for auction as part of its liquidation, and its IP was sold to Pappas.

The question now: Why is Pappas still hanging on to this location? Court documents don’t indicate what the Houston group is planning to do with the Mesquite restaurant. Maybe it will preserve On the Border? Maybe it will turn it into another Pappas concept, like a Pappasito’s? Or maybe it will do something else altogether.

Chron has reached Pappas Restaurants and will update this story when we hear back..

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This article originally published at Pappas Restaurants may preserve one former On the Border location in Texas.