Without further ado:
Delta Downs
1. The customer service is awful. Truly horrendous.
2. The Horse betting is fairly solid.
3. The Casino is smoky. Very smoky. Given the prevalence of modern HVAC systems in some of the bigger casinos in Las Vegas and Oklahoma Louisiana is really falling behind.
4. Tight Slots. Too tight. The secret to good slot play is to entertain you while you're losing your money. Delta Downs fails at this.
Summary: If you're going to bet the horses, Delta Downs is a nice place. Although the hotel rooms are over priced and the customer service is, for the most part, pretty poor you can do alright for yourself by talking to most of the bartenders. The rooms are clean, but dated and lacking the amenities one would expect for the prices they are charging. The food at the Vista is good. I suggest the venison sausage and chicken Gumbo. I hear the prime rib is good but I didn't order it. My wife said the chicken tortilla soup was good, as were the salads. The bartender was overworked spending most of this time filling orders for people bringing in free meal vouchers.
I've always found Delta Downs to be an odd place to gamble. Just 30 (or so) minutes down the road there are full service casinos with nicer (and, at times, cheaper) rooms and better customer service which offer table games and a wider variety of slots. If horse racing is your draw, go to Sam Houston Race Park and save yourself the drive and very high hotel expense. If you're just wanting to get out of town, then drive to San Antonio and visit Retama or Dallas and visit Lone Star Park.
Stuckey's of Winnie
1. Cheap breakfast. (Too salty for me, but we don't cook with a lot of salt so I'm used to that.)
2. Hilariously slow service (It took thirty minutes for them to cook two eggs w/bacon and a ham & cheese omelet.)
3. Paper-thin bacon.
4. Possibly the silliest gift shop in TX.
5. Also....this:
I'm not sure who the artist is but there were about 50 of these, of differing size, hung around the store. I'm guessing the lady is his girlfriend or spouse? I'm thinking about giving one to my brother as a gag gift for Christmas.
Despite this, it was a fun weekend. I've found that when traveling your happiness is what you make of it, not how the places make it. Very seldom have I had an experience so poor that it's ruined my trip. A much better place to stop for breakfast on the way back is MOZ Grill inside the Crawdad's which you will find at the Bridge City exit off of I-10, right before you get to Vidor. There's also a Crawdad's in Mont Belvieu that is a good place to stop for a restroom break.
For the most part, excepting a stretch just past Beaumont, the construction on I-10 is completed so the drive shouldn't take you more than 2 1/2 hours. Add 30 additional minutes if you're heading to Lake Charles.
Given that Tilman Fertitta is nearing completion of the Golden Nugget, Lake Charles, I would suggest that as the place to go in Louisiana for a quick weekend away. Despite his detractors, I'm a fan of Fertitta, especially his Nugget Casinos.
NOTE: Review based on a single-visit of each business over the weekend of March 8-9 and is not meant to be a comprehensive "food review" merely a snap-shot of our experience at each establishment. In other words: Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV)
