El Viejo Tony DeRidder — Restaurant in DeRidder

I absolutely hate leaving bad reviews, but this needs to be said… I ordered food from the Deridder location this evening, and when I arrived I wasn’t greeted… The girl that was running the register was on the phone I’m assuming taking an order, but she was on there for a while…. A nice gentleman came up, and was trying to help me, and she waved him on, and continued on the phone…. That aggravated me, but I held my tongue she finally got off the phone, and rang me up…. I could see two orders behind her on the counter I was assuming she checked the names on the bags, but apparently not as she sat them back down, and told me my order would be out shortly… Mind you I could see the bags the entire time I was sitting there… I continued sitting there a good fourty minutes while another lady, and child had came in, and paid for their food, and waited about five minutes until their food came, and she gave it to them, and started helping other people…. I guess it finally dawned on her that I was still sitting there waiting for my food so she acted like she was checking the names on the bags again, and handed me the bag that had been sitting behind her the ENTIRE time… I asked her my order was sitting there all this time? She got an attitude, and told me what time I ordered it which I already knew what time I ordered, and was told by her over the phone that it would be about twenty or twenty five minutes… I ordered at 4:33, and got there right at five to pick it up…. I didn’t get out of there until 5:40…. She offered no apology, and double down that my food wasn’t sitting there the entire time when it definitely was…. I understand staff have a lot to deal with, and it can get busy, and overwhelming, but don’t wave off help , and get an attitude when you screw up… I wanted to say some choice words, but I let my facial expressions speak for itself, and I didn’t want to cause a scene so I just left with my food…. By the time I got to work with our food as you can imagine it was cold, and soggy and nasty… The Chicken was way too tough, and rubbery, the nachos were soggy cold, and reminded me of the can dog food we fed our pups when they were babies, and don’t get me started on the “chunky” avocado salad I ordered… I’ll just say It had started turning brown, and looked like something that came out of a newborn’s diaper 🤢… if I could give negative stars I would…. Over sixty dollars worth of food down the toilet… I definitely do not recommend this place whatsoever… Save your money, and order somewhere else… Will never return, and will make sure to let everyone else know that it is an absolute waste going there period… I was going to call, and complain, but after reading other reviews I’m not even going to waste my breath because I know nothing will be done about it anyway…. Rant over… Save...

the food, albeit overpriced, is always good here. many of the staff go out of their way to ensure a top notch experience. however, after what I witnessed yesterday, I don't think I will be returning. the heavy set hispanic manager was making rounds and noticed a table of men he clearly knew. One man in particular made a demand of the manager to "find him a girlfriend, now. young, skinny, and who speaks English." while I understand boys club/code, rather than act as a manager and dismiss this request, I watched as one by one the manager proceeded to direct his young female employees to the table and entice them to "get to know Dave who has a lot of money." as former wait staff myself, you do what your manager tells you, but it is not okay to being soliciting young female employees to tables of men three times their age and put your females in unsafe positions. I watched this man grope these poor women standing uncomfortably at a table, doing as their manager Instructed with looks of terror on their faces. last I checked, being a waitress/server should not mean you get trafficked and your workplace should be one of safety. your manager should protect you not solicit you. I have no interest in giving my money to a place being run by men who think its acceptable to put his staff in danger instead of protect them and tell dirty old men to cut it out or get out. being a server is hard enough with inappropriate men, without your manager enabling it further. I really loved this for deridder. but not if it means Deridder's girls aren't safe...

Okay y’all. I grew up in a predominantly Mexican community and already have higher expectations 😂 So I MAY be a little more bias. However, the service, staff and atmosphere were all excellent. Our waiter was running his butt off but he really did a great job. Love the people who specifically hand out chips and salsa. Fast service. Great experience. HOWEVER, I wouldn’t go here again truth be told. The food was eh. Salsa was watered down, drinks were watered down, food was more salty than properly spiced. I was full and fairly satisfied and it wasn’t the worst ever by most means. Kind of disappointed in the shrimp tacos, which had nothing but shrimp in them. The pico didn’t taste fresh (which is a huge thing) and my enchilada had almost nothing in it. The horchata was watered down as well.

Truly, I’m not a picky person. After visiting third world countries and seeing starvation face to face, I will never send food back or be ungrateful. And NEVER would I want to tear a place down or make y’all feel like you’re doing a bad job. I am very grateful to have tried this place and absolutely loved certain parts about it.

This place has some positives but I would love to see more authenticity in the food and some not so watered down salsa 😜 Skimping on stuff saves money, but, it does have...