2 /5 John Lowery: Restaurant Review: Room for Improvement in Both Kitchen and Service
Upon entering, we were asked whether we’d be dining in or taking our order to-go. We let them know it would dining in and were told to sit wherever we wanted. We sat down and waited… and waited. About ten minutes passed before the actual waitress acknowledged us, despite overhearing the girl at the register asking her if she had seen us five minutes earlier. With us being the only other dine-in customers at the time, the delay was difficult to overlook.
When the waitress finally arrived, she handed us menus, asked for our drink orders, and inquired if we were ready to order. It was our first visit, so I politely asked for a minute to look things over. We received our waters — without ice — and then placed our orders. I initially wanted the meatloaf with okra and black-eyed peas, but was informed they were already out of meatloaf at 5:15 p.m., which is surprising considering the restaurant doesn’t close until 8 p.m. Its a bit of a letdown. I opted for the catfish platter with coleslaw and black-eyed peas instead. The menu stated it came with two sides and bread — which I assumed meant cornbread, more on that later.
My wife inquired whether the chicken and sausage gumbo — the daily special — was spicy. Turns out, they were out of that, too. So she went with the chicken fried steak, corn on the cob, and mac and cheese. We also ordered the Boudin balls as an appetizer.
When our food was ready, a cook walked out of the kitchen loudly announcing “chicken fried steak, corn on the cob,” which at first we didn’t realize was directed at us until he approached our table. Her plate looked decent and was served hot. A few minutes later, my fish arrived — but with no bread. Also worth noting, we had no silverware to eat with. We had to ask for utensils, which we saw one of the staff gather, then proceed to stand around chatting before finally bringing them over.
As for the food: My wife said everything on her plate tasted just okay — not bad, not great. She said the breading on the steak was decent, but the mac and cheese tasted off, like it came straight from the freezer aisle (and I’d agree, it tasted like Stouffer’s). My fish was hot and fresh, and the coleslaw was well-seasoned with a nice peppery kick. The black-eyed peas were overly thick and gluey. The fish itself? The first piece was fine, but the second had that off-putting “catfish water” flavor that made it hard to finish. And no, there was no tartar sauce or lemon provided. Just plain fried fish on a plate.
You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the Boudin balls again — that’s because we never got them. So I can’t speak to those at all.
When it came time to pay, we weren’t sure whether to pay at the table or up front, so we went to the register. There, we found out we were charged for our lukewarm water. The bill came to $41.14 before the credit card surcharge, bringing the total to $42.78.
All in all, the food was underwhelming, and the service lacked even basic attentiveness. Lastly, I couldn’t help but notice there was no visible food grade posted from the City of Longview Health Inspectors — a detail that didnt exactly instill confidence.
If we do decide to return, it won’t be anytime soon.
