Camellia Cafe — Restaurant in Slidell

I've always wanted to try this place, but somehow, never caught it while it was open. I live in Mississippi, not far from Slidell. Flew into New Orleans yesterday after being up north for a few days, and oddly enough, the first thing that I was craving was some sort of fried fish, with a creamy sauce on top. I saw that someone, somewhere, had posted a review with a photo that looked like what I was after, so we dropped by. It's no longer a menu item (which is a shame) but I was able to show the waitress the photo, and she told me that the dish was called, Catfish Camellia. We ordered fried mushrooms as an appetizer, they were hot and fresh, and had more on the plate than we had expected; they were delicious! The Catfish Camellia arrived, and it was everything that I had hoped for, haha! The creamy sauce could have been a smidge less salty, but as a whole, I loved it! My boyfriend ordered the red beans and rice with a grilled pork chop, he liked it, but didn't seem to love it. We've found places before that we fell in love with, but then we would soon realize that our one awesome meal was just a fluke. We're really hoping that won't be the case with Camellia Cafe, because we have every intention of returning. Sadly, I cannot recall the name of our waitress, but she was great. The only thing that sucks? The bathroom location. This is a small restaurant, with a cute/laid-back vibe, and the bathrooms are located front and center. Everyone in the restaurant can see you enter into the restroom, and exit out. I've actually never seen a restaurant with bathroom doors that almost bump into some of the dining tables. They even have a sign in the bathroom requesting that you be mindful when opening the door to exit, so that someone doesn't walk into the door when you go to swing it open. Crazy.

Based on other reviews, I have to wonder, did we get lucky the night that we ate here? Maybe so, but regardless, our experience was pretty great, and I look forward to...

Well, I just got asked to leave a breakfast buffet, Camellia Cafe in Slidell on Highway 190! We have eaten there before and called ahead to let them know we had a party of 5 and to ask if they were backed up. The lady said they had a table being cleaned off but could not hold it. No problem, we show up 10 minutes later and go in. I got the waitresses attention and let her know we were there. She told me nothing was available, I told her I just needed a chair for my 91 year old father in law to sit down. She said they could not do that. That if we would sit in our vehicle she would come get us, and that I needed to close the door. My father had came in and was standing but was struggling, he uses a cane and is very weak. I again asked her just to let him sit down. He uses a cane and does not move very fast. She again said no and that we needed to close the door. Everyone was trying to get out but apparently my father in law was not moving fast enough. She demanded we close the door again. I told her I would close the Dn door as soon as I could. We got out as quick as possible and I went back in to tell the lady what we were driving. She was apparently telling the owner / manager that I had cursed her. The manager then came over and got in my face. He asked if I had cursed his waitress. To which I replied that she had demanded we close the door and that I replied I would close the Dn door as quick as I could. At this point he told me I could leave! I was a little shell shocked and simply told him, no problem that I definitely was leaving. Long story short, I have now been asked to leave a business for the first time ever in my 69 years. If someone has no compassion for a older senior, who would ever want to do business there. ( I am talking about my father in...

Zero Stars. This was the worst restaurant experience I've had in recent memory. Good crowd with three servers on duty. The other two servers kept up with the breakfast crowd without issue, my server however was the tortoise racing the hare. Seated at a table and waited for a bit before we received drink orders, and then watch the table that came in 10 minutes after us get seated beside our table, receive drinks ahead of us, and then order and receive Food ahead of us. Pretty sure you could see the frustration on my face by this point. Food finally came out after what seemed like an eternity. Pancakes we're still battery in the middle, toast was burnt, no strawberry or blueberries for the short stack of pancakes on a breakfast menu even though it was advertised, and sent the burnt toast back only to receive more burnt toast in return. Food came and hit the table without silverware. My daughters were eating with their fingers while we waited. Finally had enough and was ready to pay and leave only to be told they couldn't ring me up because my server was outside smoking. Pretty sure there was plenty of time to do that in the eternity it took for my food to reach the table. I will never go here again and would advise anyone else against it as well. servers name was Rebecca, highly distracted and far from customer-oriented. Really ashamed because it's a cute little restaurant with a lot of potential. I hope this is an isolated incident because judging by the crowd I've seen there on several weekends there has to be some good points to this place, guess it just wasn't my day and I had the...