La Pines Cafe — Restaurant in Slidell

My sister and i went here because they were featured on Diners Drive Ins, and Dives. I was pretty disappointed. We came during lunch and so the place was busy. So it did take a while to put our drink orders in...no big deal. We ordered sodas and put our food order in.

By the time we get our food the place was clearing out since we had arrived towards the tail end of lunch. The bad service overshadowed the taste of the food. The portions were great, the food was okay...would have been better with a refill on our drinks. Like just ONE refill would have been welcomed. I am not making judgement from an ivory tower. I understand waiting tables….done it before for a while. Then my sister noticed one of the waitresses were filling salt shakers and scratching/rubbing/touching her face...yes when people touch their face and food i mentally freak out a little. I will wash the tops of cans off with soap and water before i open them so perhaps this standard is silly and i am a germaphobe but ugh. When I pay almost $2 (could have been $1.50-ish) for a drink and I’m thirsty then, by golly, i want my drink to not remain empty through most of my meal. The glasses are clear so you can see that the dark liquid is depleting. I am getting thirsty just thinking of the injustices visited upon me and my drink cup! Dramatic? Perhaps but the touching-of-face and the empty drink wasn't the end of it.

You have to get up to pay for the check...or at least we did. Had to just stand at the counter for 5 mins (not exaggerating) before someone took our money then the whole time the female didn't say two words through the whole transaction. It was awkward feeling.

“Why 3 stars?” you ask. The Dr Pepper was really good and the portion size was great. Our waitress, the one time we did talk to her, was nice (nice doesn't fill the drink glasses unfortunately :-/ ). I ate all the food except the corn pudding but that was only because there was something in it i did not like. . . so the food could not have been BAD. Perhaps they were short handed, perhaps the waitress was new, perhaps my sister and I are terrifying people--we aren't but i guess if we were we wouldn't know. I do not know if i will ever return (though i do doubt it) but if i do and it is amazing then i will absolutely...

This is my first time dining at LA Pines Cafe in Slidell, LA and I have heard over and over that the food is good and that locals enjoy dining here. I assumed because they are open from 6am to 2pm that breakfast would be served the whole time but it is not. Breakfast ends at 11am on weekdays, unsure about the weekend though. Upon entering the restaurant we waited between the door and the cash register to be seated. I would assume regulats know this and immediately find a place to sit. We were greeted after a minute and were told to pick a table. We walked through the main area and found another room with tables and we sat back there. This place is casual. It is cozy, close quarters, so expect to easily hear conversations from other tables, etc. You can tell this restaurant has quite the following of regulars that dine here. There were 2 small menus at the tables to look at at first until our server brought us the main menus. Our table was clean. We chose the cheese omelet and the skillet for breakfast. Both were delicious. If you would like butter, you need to request it and also creamer for coffee. They are not at the table already. The skillet had hash browns with sautéed onions and green peppers topped with sausage gravy then cheddar cheese and 2 eggs to order. The sausage gravy made it creamy. I have never eaten a skillet like this before and it was very good and filled me up. The atmosphere is casual and the food is truly just like they call it, comfort food. The prices are phenomenal. The carpet is dingy and it takes away from the bright white and gray walls and this was my only negative with the atmosphere. What makes this place stand out are the great prices, the comfort food, and the feeling that I am dining at a relative's house. My eyes just kept getting pulled away from the walls and looking at the carpet and let's face it, carpeting in restaurants is not easy to keep clean, I totally understand. The carpet won't keep me from dining here again but I could not stop noticing the carpet and how it isn't cohesive with the rest of the room. Not sure what Guy Fieri ate here, guess I better look up...

We travel the US in our RV and are always looking for local spots to visit. Breakfast out is one of our favorites and we thought we had found the perfect spot. Did our research, read reviews and headed to La Pines Cafe. Arrived to a crowded parking lot, another good sign. Walked in and found the seating more than we expected and were told to sit anywhere, another good sign. We had hardly warmed our chairs when the server brought menus and took our coffee order, another good sign. Coffee arrived bold and hot, another good sign. At this point we are thinking we are really going to like this place. Placed our order and enjoyed our coffee.

Food arrived in an acceptable amount of time. And this is where the good part ends. I ordered a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, ham and biscuit. My partner order a chicken fried steak platter with grits, medium fried eggs and biscuit. His food was barely warm, mine was cold. My eggs were COLD like they had come out of a cooler, the biscuit was room temperature, the ham although it had grill marks on it was also room temperature and the grits was lukewarm at best. I asked the server, Maxine, to return my egg and ham since they were cold. She picked up my egg and ham plate and disappeared without a word. Shortly my same plate was returned, without a word, with warm eggs, I am sure they were microwaved. When we paid our tab, the hostess barely spoke to us. She did not ask how our meal was nor thank us for coming.

Cold food and non-caring server and hostess ensured we will not return.

As a note: there was available seating and no one waiting for a table. So that cannot be an excuse. The cafe was busy yet not...