El Paso — Restaurant in Raceland

We took the exit for Raceland because we were hungry and could see fast food signs from the highway. It's a small town so we figured our options would be few. But squeezed in between the usual fast food places was a sign for El Paso. We have several of these restaurants back home in Lafayette. You probably are familiar with them yourselves. Like the ones back home, the food is good, the prices very reasonable, and we always get friendly service. But what we have found is two areas that are slightly different among this chain depending on who owns the local franchise. And that would be the complimentary chips and the music. When the chips are brought out, all locations serve salsa with them. But some of the locations also serve black bean dip and that's my personal favorite. It's now disappointing to go to a location that doesn't serve it. But the Raceland location upped the ante by bringing out a third option. It reminded me of marinara sauce and it was a pleasant surprise. You don't have to ask, they bring you all three. When it comes to the music, the other locations will have cover bands but they play too loud and don't seem a very good match for the atmosphere I would desire. This particular restaurant played authentic South of the Border music. It was perfect for me yet not too loud to where the people at the table had to yell all night to visit. This is the best El Paso I have visited. It's too far away to go to regularly but I'll be stopping every time I pass through from now on. You gotta look for them a little bit because they're kind of hidden behind all the other fast...

Been coming here since they first opened. Before IDA service would be lacking at times but never bad. It was definitely hit or miss from amazing to meh. The food was always consistently delicious. Well since the storm things have been much different to say the least. As Raceland was coming back before power was even restored they were serving a limited menu. Unaware of the time they were open I walked up as they were about to close. The gentleman (possibly owner or manager) insisted I still ordered. I didn’t want to because I understand trying to leave from a restaurant working in the service industry before myself. That left an impression on me that caused me to give them the benefit of the doubt for a while until tonight. My family went in this afternoon. All ordered a meal as usual. My husband never had a refill since before our meals was brought out he needed one. Never was offered a refill of chips so 90% of the dips were left behind. The one time our plates were brought that we could’ve asked our kids had our attention. The chips alone were brown from I’m assuming old grease. Normally they are nice and fresh. Ever since the storm the food quality has slowly went downhill. We would normally get takeout multiple times a month but after tonight I doubt we can return. Seeing our waiter just sit in the back booth hanging out is pretty disheartening when just wanting a refill on...

We were excited about the 4.5 rating. Server was nice, the restaurant looked clean, and we liked the decor. The chips were crunchy and fresh. We were given two red salsas, and black beans for dipping. Beans were bland, but the salsas were good.

Our appetizer was the Choriqueso. It was very salty, and we were only given 3 flower/bland tortillas.

The entrees came on very hot plates, straight from the microwave. My daughter had a steak chimichanga which the tortilla would crack instead of slice. It was so dry. Reminded me of the frozen chimichangas you defrost in the microwave.

I had the enchilada plate. The enchiladas were okay, nothing special. The rice was so dry and bland I couldn't eat it. The beans were also just okay.

My husband had the Camarones a la diabla. His plate was served with bread, which we found odd for a Mexican restaurant. He said it was well cooked, and gave it an okay.

All in all, I'm not sure why this restaurant has such a...