Lakeside Cafe — Restaurant in Gun Barrel City

I have been to this place many times. Have left some really Great reviews along with those visits. Today was the total opposite.We waited 10- 15 minutes for menus, the buser handled our drink order.. but we watched the waitress serve drinks at the bar for the the Drinkers rather then venture our way. I get it.. the more they drink the better the tip. I got up and asked the buser for menus. I ordered the Crazy Tacos.. they were hardly mediocre.. as well as was the waitress.. the poor buser/ server saw the table more than the waitress, and NOT ONE PERSON EVER QUESTIONED WHY I HAD A FULL PLATE OF FOOD.. I literally took 1 bite of the taco and 2 of the beans. Rice was very plain and tasted like salty rice.. Nothing close to Mexican rice or Spanish rice. ( just cus it looks like doesn't mean it tastes like it) Back to the tacos.. my onion and cilantro was actually cooked in with the minced beef. If I had to guess it was to make the taco look fuller. I asked for more onion and cilantro and was advised they charge more.. I said no prob.. I asked for sour cream same answer.. If I ask For It I'd Like it PLEASE N TY! Service SUCKED, and FOOD WAS HORRIBLE.. $15.37 WHAT A...

Vickie and I visited for lunch.we both got the daily special. It was a hand breaded small chicken fried steak with vegetables. We got the gravy on the side. Service was fantastic. The fresh vegetable sides were delicious. There was mashed potatoes, fried squash, black-eyed peas and turnip greens. Not one disparaging word can be said about them. I will return and have a veggie plate I promise. Vickie said her chicken fried steak was okay but she didn't eat it all. I couldn't cut into mine. It was so overcooked and fried it was beyond shoe leather. When the breading crumbled you could see all the dry and blacked, burned meat. I could have said something and gotten another protein. Just beware the chicken fried steak. We will be back for another round of something else. If you are sensitive around cigarettes and their smoke, you may want to try another place. I am allergic to it but made it through sitting on the far side in the non smoking section. It is a bar and grill. There is a bar and pool tables on the smoking side. We got to see one of our favorite people at the...

Just like with any of the 100s of restaurants I have been to from Seattle to Ohio to Florida and most of the state's between, this local to home cafe has it's good days and it's bad days. With that being said, I can say it's seen more good days than bad, or else I wouldn't suggest to my grandmother that we eat here for breakfast (over our other options of Dennys and Huddle house, both awful) every, single, day. If we do have a problem with our food, the staff, especially Roz, is so gracious and sees that it's gets fixed asap. I've enjoyed everything from the TexMex to the American to the specials, and I can say while it's not the 5 star quality of some of the suit and black tie restaurants of Seattle or some of the steak houses of Dallas, it is still good for our home town. The fact that it now has a bar with pool tables makes this an entertainment spot as well. A valid customer since 2011, a continued supporter, I approve of this restruant. Both for atmosphere, good people, and pretty good food. If you go on a bad day, try again. One time isn't enough to rate...