Casa Ole' Port Arthur — Restaurant in Port Arthur

I have been a Casa Ole fan since I was a kid. I have gone hundreds if not thousands of times in the last 20 some-odd years. This particular location has always been a staple in our little community. From after-graduations, prom nights, birthdays, after church, etc.

It pains me to write this because I have such an emotional attachment to this location, but, I do not recommend it anymore.

The service has taken a sharp nose dive over the last few years. I would like to attribute it to post-Harvey recovery but, it was bad even before. The waiting staff is, generally, inattentive. It takes up to 10 minutes after sitting down before chips are delivered and a few minutes after that before drink orders are taken. I'd also like to say these are isolated incidents because I know waiting staff can have bad days and in the past having worked in retail for the better part of a decade - I understand. But this is every time. I dread someone recommending this restaurant these days. Sometimes (semi-frequently and by habit I guess) I have a lapse in long term memory and suggest it myself - and within 5 minutes I hit myself for thinking it would be better.

I can say that I have noticed that there are fewer overall staff members waiting tables, and this saddens me. I'm assuming, and this is a total guess, that Waitr and the other delivery apps have a great amount to do with this. There is a CONSTANT flow of delivery drivers entering the restaurant in the ~1 hour I and my family are there. Bags lined the partition, constantly being refreshed. Having been a patron of this service, again - I get it.

I don't know what it is, and I don't have any solutions, but... I know that attending one of my absolute favorite establishments has become a dreadful affair.

I am giving one extra star from 1 because, despite all of this, the food has remained relatively consistent throughout the nosedive in the restaurant...

The only reason we went here were for nostalgic reasons since this was our high school spot. With that being said, weren't expecting much and that's what we got... Not much.... We walked into the restaurant to the hostess stand where there were two women. Not only we we not greated but we stood there for six minutes without them saying ANYTHING. I knew we were expecting a party of six so I just found the nearest large table and sat. We sat there for about another six minutes before anyone acknowledged us... By the time the rest of our party arrived we ordered drinks and appetizers.

My wife ordered the margarita flight which was nice but the Jacked Peach margarita that i ordered were so bitter and thick that I should have sent it back (but I didn't).

After what we had ensured we weren't confident in ordering entrees so I hade the fajita flamiedo just to keep it simple. It was as I was accustomed to so no disappointments there. But at one point the waitress came to the table holding her purse asking if we needed anything else... We asked if she was leaving and she replied saying no, she needed a smoke...

She returned to serve us but nah... We...

We stopped in for lunch on a Sunday afternoon, before we made our trip back home to the Austin area. We sat for about 15 minutes without having been greeted by the wait staff. We were served chips and salsa, but had no drinks. When our server came, she was very apologetic and sweet. One of the servers asked another to pick up a crayon off of the floor and she simply walked over and kicked it under another table. I'm not sure what was going on in the kitchen but the staff was loud and carrying on. The salsa is bland. The queso tastes like broccoli cheese soup. I ordered what I think was called the Triple Combo. Three enchiladas-cheese, chicken, and beef. The cheese was okay, bland sauce. I didn't care for the chicken. The beef was unseasoned. I honestly don't see the appeal of this restaurant. Maybe it's because we have awesome Tex Mex where I'm from. In the end, the salsa was my favorite thing even though it was...