Cecil's Cajun Cafe

Nice place,  friendly staff.
I don't think steaks are their best item.  Cajun dishes are good, though.
No parking.
But the wait staff was very friendly and helpful,

Just don't order steaks.

This place is very hit or miss.   When they are really on,  it's great!  The Tiger burger,  cecils special,  and chicken are our favorites but usually either service is slow (mostly teenagers) or the food is not quite right.

Tried this place three times.  Two out of three were not great experiences.

1.Stopped in on my lunch break today. Only street parking is available, but being that DeRidder is a small town, it wasn't a big issue. I requested the patio section, as it was a beautiful day out. Unfortunately, the host did not communicate with the server, so I actually had to get up and ask for my server after waiting 10 minutes.

The server was apologetic and immediately took my drink order and answered my questions about the menu.  They don't have a gluten free menu, but there were quite a few options. Thankfully, those options are not limited to salads. I tried the fried catfish, house salad, and jambalaya. The salad was fresh and well arranged. The catfish and jambalaya came out piping hot. The catfish was very fresh and served on a plastic fish-shaped plate. The jambalaya was flavored well with a nice hearty mix of chicken, pork, and sausage. I was a bit surprised that the tartar sauce was served in a plastic cup. For the price of the food, a nice ramekin would have looked better.  My server, was attentive and very courteous. He brought the check quickly, as well as a box for leftovers.

2. The second time was a breeze.  Not issues with the host and the server was fantastic.

3. The third time was down right awful.  I went with my boyfriend and his family on a Saturday evening.  The restaurant could not accomadate a table for 10, so they split us up.  We were sat on the pation, where they had a guy playing guitar and singing cover songs.  There were 15 tables in that section and only one waitress!  We waited 20 minutes for our waitress, 30 minutes for our drink order to arrive, and the waitress never stopped by again.  The sad thing is, one of the owners was there listening to the music with her friends, and didn't even notice the issues.   She stopped by our table once and asked if we were ready to order.  Then she went back to drinking and carousing with her friends.  We finally complained and got another waitress out on the patio to take our order.  Our food took 30 minutes to arrive and the steaks were very good.  The server we finally ended up with was great and tried her best to make up for our long wait.  After waiting so long for food and service, they didn't comp any drinks or food.

I find it appalling that the owners sit around and don't take any actions.  One server should never be put out on the patio by herself on a busy Saturday night.  There is definitely a communication problem with the waitstaff and management.  I also noticed that the wait staff did not seem very well trained.  Our original server would only visit and do one thing at a time (no multitasking).  It's sad that the service is so horrible; the only thing this place has going is the ambiance.   I will never willingly, on my own accord, dine here again.