More random food notes.

1. On the Border is really most sincerely dead. (Previously.)

OTB Hospitality, LLC filed for bankruptcy on Friday, effectively ending Pappas Restaurants’ efforts to revive On the Border brand after acquiring it out of bankruptcy last year. The news also comes a month after the group announced a series of changes for the restaurant chain, including a “sweeping menu overhaul.”
“This was an incredibly difficult decision. Our teams worked hard over the past year to stabilize the business, but it became clear that OTB would require substantial ongoing investment that would pull focus and resources away from the core operations that define who we are,” Chris Pappas said in a statement. “While this was a necessary step, we remain incredibly proud of our team members and the heart they brought to this brand, and we are deeply grateful to the guests and employees who supported On The Border for so many years.”

This isn’t Chapter 11: this is Chapter 7, which is complete liquidation.

According to bankruptcy filings, OTB Hospitality entered liquidation with about $753,000 in assets and more than $6.2 million in liabilities. In addition, the company had around $2 million in severance to former staff and listed $15.4 million in vendor payments in the 90 days preceding the bankruptcy.

2. The latest restaurant that allegedly isn’t paying their staff: Down South CaJJun Eats in Pflugerville.

At first, Saldana said, employees were issued checks – but not always ones they could immediately cash.
“They were just giving us the checks, but we couldn’t cash them because they were gonna bounce,” Saldana said. “They would ask us, ‘Oh, can you cash them in two or three days?’”
Instead, Saldana said owners would pay employees – including herself – through apps like Cash App and Zelle, but the delays continued – with money often arriving days after payday.

We’d consider eating at the place – there aren’t nearly enough Cajun options around town – but not if they are cheating their workers.

To be fair, though, they may be having more problems than normal: a guy got killed there during Cinco de Mayo, and that’s the kind of thing that puts a damper on business.

3. Is Sysco ruining the restaurant business?

The general public got a full taste of Sysco resentment in October 2025 when progressive nonprofit More Perfect Union published The Hidden Reason Why Restaurants Are Getting Worse by Brock Hrehor. In the report, Hrehor noted Sysco had become too central to independent restaurant operations, supplying pre-prepared and pre-made ingredients and meals en masse in a way that’s driving the company’s business model. This has had the effect, according, per the report, of contributing to a kind of sameness across different restaurants and killing unique and creative cooking under the threat of consolidation.

“progressive nonprofit”. I’m going to say “no” to the question above. And I have no real brief for Sysco.