Soileau's Dinner Club — Restaurant in Opelousas

We went to Soileau’s to celebrate a friend’s birthday with a party of approximately 20 and we arrived after the majority of the guests. The first thing we noticed was that our shoes were sticking to the floor as we walked, indicating that the floor was not clean. As we went on to greet everyone and take a seat, we waiting for a member of the waitstaff to bring us a menu and take our drink (and possibly appetizer) orders. Well I was definitely wrong to expect such because 17 minutes after we sat down, I sent my daughter to find a waiter/waitress to take our drink orders because I made eye contact with the female waitress attending to the table several times and even beckoned her over yet she still ignored me. Eventually, a male waiter came over, took our drink orders, and 25 minutes later, brought them over to us.

What we noticed while waiting for drinks is that like the floor, the table was extremely streaked and sticky, indicating that it needed proper cleaning. The members of the waitstaff were not really groomed as people waiting tables should be and that, along with the lack of light and tasteful decor, was a precursor to everything else we experienced. Just as it did with our drinks, it took maximum effort to find someone to take our orders….even though the female waitress had already started bringing food to others at our table. The menu is extremely outdated and uninspiring with a limited amount of choices. Nothing really ticked our tastebuds so as an appetizer, we ordered Onion Rings thinking that there is really no way to mess up onion rings. As our entree, we ordered one of the variations of their seafood platters ($30) which supposedly included a side, fried oysters, fried shrimp, a stuffed crab, and a stuffed bell pepper. We purposely ordered this one because the other variation included frog’s legs. I guess the waiter felt that we should eat the appetizer and entree together because he brought them out at the same time (at least 20 minutes after we ordered) and boy were we disappointed. As we lifted the onion rings, the batter basically crumbled off and fell into the plate, leaving us holding a naked, greasy ring of onion. The dinner salad was served in a Formica bowl and contained roughly chopped, wilted iceberg lettuce and ONE cherry tomato sitting on top. I guess this is the norm for salads at Soileau’s because every other salad on our table looked identical. The seafood platter was anger inducing because the first thing we noticed were two frog legs (which were bigger than everything else) that we made sure would not be included on our plate. I kid you not, the TWO fried oysters on the platter were the size and consistency of smoked canned oysters and the TWO fried shrimp were hard and lukewarm to the touch, indicating that they were over cooked quite some time before serving. There were two fingers of catfish that were approximately 3 inches long each and both the stuffed bell pepper and stuffed crab were both lukewarm and very greasy. We tried to call over the waiter to correct our order and replenish our drinks but were ignored. When the waitress finally did come, she seemed indifferent to my complaints about the order being wrong and did not take it back. The stuffed potato would have had potential had it been freshly made; the subtle taste of freezer burn was present which deemed it inedible just like everything else.

The waitress started handing out to-go boxes but two minutes before coming out with the boxes, she brought a platter of pistolettes to the table. I was under the impression that bread was served either before or with the meal, never afterwards. They were cold, overcooked, and hard—another waste.

After handing out to-go containers and checks, the waitress hovered over asking for payment. Funny because she came back to the table several times to ask about payment yet could not be found when we needed to order or had a problem with our food. It was obvious from the beginning that management knew we had issues at the table yet no one came...

Listen, the food is excellent and I've been eating here for as long as I can remember. I've had Sunday lunch and dinner here. Date nights are great. I've had umpteen date nights here. Prom dinners. Family dinners. Birthday dinners are a tradition. Takeout dinners. Whatever. I love the food! Seafood (the very best grilled shrimp platter!) and steaks are perfect. Any seafood dish will do. The seafood gumbo is wonderful! It's a great place for large family dinners. Trust me. We do it often. You can actually eat at a leisurely pace without feeling like the staff is going to poison your next drink just to get you out the door. Staff is friendly. Soileau's is our go-to restaurant when we want to gather the entire family for a meal out. It's personable and comfortable. We're always welcomed with a smile. Now, I've heard others complain that Soileau's could use an interior facelift, but I like it just the way it is. It's familiar and I've got wonderful memories at almost every table in the place. If you're a local, you know what I mean. When I'm in Opelousas, I'm eating at Soileau's. When I crave seafood, I usually get my fix here. Want a delicious shrimp poboy (I like mine grilled) loaded generously with scrumptious shrimp? Soileau's does it perfectly. And, when they ask you for a potato preference, the only answer is STUFFED POTATO!! Cold drinks are served in tiny chilled Coke bottles. And, the homemade tartar sauce is still the best around! Relaxing. Great food!! If I hadn't eaten here several days ago, after this review, I'd be running to Soileau's. I'm already planning...

Took too long to serve my food! I was sitting there for more than 20min waiting on my food to get to me. By the time I got my food I had just enough time to ask them for a to go box and taste my food before packing up and leaving.

The food itself was good food and if you have the time to just wait around watching the staff all huddled in the front conversing with each other then go to this place. Your food won't be quick, but it will taste good.

I was a little intimidated by the prices on the menu at first because they are extremely high. However, the portion of food I received was very large. I would make the suggestion that the food portions need to be scaled back by at least half and also cut the prices down. I payed over $20 for a meal that could have been, portion wise, less and still satisfactory and less intimidating in price. Even if I had full time to eat all of this I would have still taken some home. It was just too much.

Other then the food, the atomosphere was rather dated. I know, it says right on the sign "since 1937", but does that mean they have to literally never update with the times? I would classify this an "old persons" restaurant. From the music, decor, and ambiance it is very fitting to...