Great small downtown diner. We had breakfast twice on our trip to Lake Charles . Really good breakfast sandwich! I had the combo breakfast, probably the best toast I have ever had! Very reasonable price for an outstanding breakfast. Service was fast and friendly! It's a must stop for us in Lake Charles. They also do a great old fashioned hamburger for lunch at a great price! read more

This place use to be great, but today my $95 order was a total disaster. The restaurant stuffed five burgers at the bottom of one bag and then stacked 2 orders of onion rings, fries, and tots on top, completely crushing everything. The food was smashed and coming out of the wrappers, and honestly uneatable. I tried to call them three times. The first two times, they hung up on me mid-sentence. The third time, I was told to call DoorDash and then they hung up again. No apology, no accountability, nothing. For a restaurant charging these prices, this kind of carelessness and customer service is unacceptable. I won't be ordering again, and I hope management sees this and takes responsibility. read more

Service was great Food was amazing The energy was really good too. Get the fish, you won't regret it. read more

Cotten's Downtown - Fish dinner - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Not the best I've had while here. The hamburger was good but rather small and the portion size on the French fries was really small. I was really not impressed read more

Had breakfast! Prepared the old fashioned way the eggs where a little brown and crispy around the edges, the biscuit was like my grandmother use to make, and the grits and bacon cooked perfectly! Iam a fan if you haven't tried the breakfast you're missing out!! read more

My favorite item on the menu consists of 2 items- on the breakfast menu I love the "Cardiac Omelet." The omelet is a 3 egg omelet cooked old-fashioned with sausage, ham, bacon, and your choice of cheeses. On the lunch or possibly breakfast is the egg burger. You can add extra cheese and an extra patty of meat. Excellent burger. read more

Burger was absolutely phenomenal. Staff is friendly. Love the old time burger shop vibes. Also the donut burger makes me happy to be alive.

It's a burger dive. That being said, the restaurant is clean and the people are friendly. They use high quality meat, but have an extremely reasonable price. Their combos give you great value. I would give them five stars but they're closed on the weekends. read more

Best Jam Good burger I've had! It was not only delicious, but perfectly stacked and easy to eat on the go. Thanks, Will! read more

Cotten's Downtown - a hand holding a sandwich - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

I have live in Lake Charles most if my life and ate at cotton hundreds of times at the Oak Park location. The burgers and several always meet my expectations. Unfortunately they were close today (12/26/18) so I decided to try the downtown location which is totally different the waitress was quick to take my order but to get the food the it took 45mins unbelievable... They only had one cook and the two other guys working got lost in the back somewhere. Long story short I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE! Ethier try the other location are eat elsewhere! read more

Awesome breakfast! Can be hard to find but if you see the tall Chase building behind you then you are in the right spot. Eggs were perfect, crisp bacon and strong coffee. Couldn't ask for anything more before making the trip back to Houston. read more

See all

Cottens has the best cheapest food anywhere!! Great prices/Great food!! If they cleaned it up better it would be 4 stars One very good waitress and one that didn't even get up out of her chair and yelled across the restaurant when someone came in the door .. "Is your order to go?" He answered back, " well, I wasn't planning it to be but can I at least see a menu!?" It was so rude of her, I really couldn't believe it. read more

See all

I love this place, wait staff super friendly, owner very Kool... Food is unique greasy spoon DDD quality. Today I'm getting the Jam Good Burger which for me was double 1/4#, bacon, light cream cheese, pepper jelly, onion rings... For breakfast! This superb concoction of meet madness came at the suggestion of a review on the page. I've been here before and had The Defibrillator Omelette with another off menu suggestion which was a huge pancake, sugar cane syrup, cream cheese and pepper jelly. Yum. I got the opportunity to talk to the sweet rocking Kool owner, I noticed there was another Cotten's Burger place in town turns out it's her dads place and she worked there as a little girl. Anyhow she took her Dad's mastery to another level. Give this place a try, order off menu won't be disappointed! read more

See all

Cozy place downtown, the service was excellent. Our waitress was so polite and sweat, the food is cooked fresh and tastes delicious! The burgers are just enough to fill you up and the prices are also great:) I gave it four stars just because of the tight seating inside. read more

Cotten's Downtown - Cheeseburger with fries - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

This is a divey little whole in the wall with eclectic decor. Open kitchen so you can sit at the bar and watch or find a table in the small cafe. Homemade food with great little surprises like the "Donut burger" and "Jam good burger". Great spot to try when you visit the "Lake City"! read more

See all

The place is iconic, the food epic, and service stellar.

Never been to Cotten's but I have watched your story via the media. I will be visiting your business the next time I come to LC for business. Keep up your great spirit and all will be good! Peace and good luck read more

Great spot for burgers and breakfast. Pretty fast staff. Nice old diner look. Very nice to see your food getting cooked in front of you. read more

See all

Why aren't you eating here if you live here?! (or visiting) This would be my go-to breakfast spot. Was in town for a wedding, so the following Sunday morning we were in need of breakfast deliciousness. Found Cotten's and sat at the old school diner bar. We were the only guests there because apparently downtown Lake Charles isn't bustling on Sunday mornings. The ladies running the place were really cool. Talkative and welcomed feedback. I had the French Toast, which was on point, and hashbrowns. Also ordered was the main bf dish consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuit, and pancakes...a bf dish for a King really! Coffee was freshly brewed and our cups were always full. The owner Kate Cotten seemed to take pride in her business and was the one cooking up the good stuff on the flat top. The lunch menu is typical diner fare of burgers and coke floats. Comfort food at it's finest! Do yourself a favor and get over to Cotten's Downtown! Support local! Note: Easy access to I-10, were able to jump on a on-ramp and head back to NOLA. read more

I love Cotten's burgers. I was excited to hear they were opening a downtown location. The food was the same as the original location, and it was great. I always get the cheeseburger with the egg on it. The prices are fair, and the people are friendly. read more

Cotten's Downtown - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

See all

Love this place! It's fun and friendly! Nice old fashioned "Diner" atmosphere. Smells sooooo good! Staff is very friendly and helpful with the menu choices. Food was served quickly, hot and fresh! And very yummy!! read more

See all

The place is a little hard to find, as the awning says "Mary Ann's". The food was great! French toast was perfectly cooked. It was high standard diner food for sure. The only problem we faced was that we got the bad server. Every place has an employee that is a weak link, and she was it. She did a lot of standing, staring vacantly into space as our coffee cups went empty. Before it got busy, she forgot to place our order. She didn't bring the drinks until we flagged her down 20 minutes later, which was also when she realized she didn't place our order. We got our food in pieces as the line cooks valiantly tried to rush it out. But don't worry, she remembered to drop off the check....before we had gotten the other half of our meal. I worked in a diner; I get it. It gets busy. But you can anticipate your table needing refills, silverware, etc. When you only have 4 tables, you should be busting your ass to maximize your tips. The other waitress flawlessly handled her section; she even got our drink order when we initially got there and sat without menus for 5 minutes! Bless her, she was trying hard to catch up the slack, but you can't work someone's section (and shouldn't!) without them compensating you. I think the owners should probably take a hard look at their employees. Ask the tall blonde how she handles her sections versus how others do. She was on point and I wish we would have had her as a server. read more

My family and I went to Cotton's Downtown for some brunch. First off, this is the coolest looking place! Definitely old fashioned diner style with cool decor. Watch out, though! The floor is slippery and grease-like. I don't recommend a big group to bring along. The place is small and you'll be sitting too close for comfort. The service is good. Our waitress, Marilyn, was attentive, nice and took on the massive amount of customers she had well. The food was okay/average, but we're definitely going to try it out, again. We didn't take on the specialty menu items, so we'll be back! I had Kara's Biscuits & Gravy with bacon and my boyfriend had the OF (old fashioned) cheeseburger and onion rings. Good pricing. Definitely not cheap, but not too expensive. 3/5 stars! read more

Cotten's Downtown - Kara's Biscuits & Gravy with bacon - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

See all

This downtown diner is a gem of Americana! As a party of eight -- and knowing the restaurant dining room isn't enormous -- we went for lunch around 2 pm. Although it was still pretty busy, our waitress offered to move tables together. So far, so good. The food was even better! The "jam-good burger" is as fabulous as it's unique. The "hot-button burger" is another must-have item. Not peel-the-inside-of-your-mouth spicy, it has a very nice and bold bite to it. Oh, and don't forget the onion rings! No doubt, we'll be back!!! read more

One cook? SLOW service. He would make one order at a time - so it took forever. I saw some people's orders come out in pieces - onion rings first and then their burger 10 minutes later. The wait staff seems less than thrilled to be there. Our waitress was young and never cracked a smile or even thought to apologize for the slow service. My sons food came out first(which was good because they were getting restless) but I had to wait for mine even more. Love the food but this restaurant is poorly run. Or at least it was today. read more

Avoid this place. The service was terrible, even though the place was literally empty and it took a good 15min for the cook to make my order. By the way, my waitress was a clueless young girl named Tiffany. I was there Saturday July 9th a little after 5pm. First, I asked for coffee, and Tiffany looked at me like I was asking for some "out of space" drink. Then she said they didn't have coffee. (First Dinner I go to that doesn't serve coffee all day long). Then I asked for waffles & chicken, and again she said they didn't have waffles, to what I said: "I thought you served breakfast all day on Saturdays?" She then replied: "is it Saturday?" Lol! Anyway, I ended up ordering "Breakfast on Board", which was mediocre at best. My eggs were nasty as you can see on the photo I posted, hash browns were super greasy and overcooked, toast was only toasted on one side and the pancakes were huge mountains of flavorless dough. Can't recommend, and not going back. Worst overpriced breakfast ever! read more

Cotten's Downtown - Breakfast on Board. Mediocre at best. Look at those nasty looking eggs. Yikes! - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

we understood it was busy so we waited patiently for a very long while for our food to be done ... when all around us everyone's hash browns were awesome and ours was a total disappointment read more

Cotten's Downtown - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Outstanding burgers, fries, rings, fried shrimp and various salads. But what you may not know is that this cool old/new diner serves up the best breakfast in town. Big overstuffed fluffy omelets, pancakes, loaded hashbrowns...and always good strong Community Coffee. Perfection. read more

Stopped by for a quick breakfast on our way out of town. The value for your money is awesome!! Food was great. Our only complaint was the grits. My husband LOVES some grits but these were obviously instagrits. He wouldn't eat them. read more

This place may not be hidden but it's definitely a gem. My wife and I frequent the golden nugget in Lake Charles and decided to take the 10 min drive in the rain to try something local and new and cheaper!!! We were not disappointed with the breakfast at Cotten's Downtown. Really old school diner feel with good diner style food and that southern comfort service. The breakfast on Broad was amazing. The pancakes are like an inch plus thick and light and fluffy. Eggs cooked to perfection and great hash browns. Not sure how busy this place gets but lots of food delivery app drivers where in and out when we visited. This place is good, very good. Give a shot next time in the area. You won't be disappointed. read more

So this place has a lot of hype but it wasn't anything special. I understand a fresh made burger takes time but it took almost 45 minutes to get our food and there was only 2 other tables in the restaurant. And one of our co workers showed up right as we ordered and the server took her drink order then never came back to take hers. We were on our lunch break so she finally had to just go next door to subway and she came back before we got ours. I had the "hot" burger and it was just really bleeh defiantly won't hurry back here. read more

Delicious food! I was having trouble finding a good place to eat in Lake Charles so glad I found this place. read more

Cotten's Downtown - Burgers Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Had high expectations of this place. Photographing a cute picture of my husband and son in front of the wall mural outside was the only positive thing. Ordered a simple meal of two bacon burgers and a stack of pancakes... needless to say over 40 mins later no food. Everyone around us ... even the ample amount of people who came in later all were eating. I asked the waitress and she had no idea when food was going to come out and all she could do was blame the cooks. This is the first restaurant I have ever walked out of without eating... so very disappointed. Was looking forward to this place on our way out of Louisiana... now driving and looking for something to eat. read more

Be prepared to wait. I'm giving this place 3 stars because the food was excellent, however, it did take almost an hour to get our food. We ordered one large breakfast on broad and one small. Our waitress did not look too happy about being there. We got waters to drink and it took about 20-30 minutes for her to come back to us to fill up my boyfriends drink and that's it. She didn't say anything to us about the wait or if we were doing okay, especially after we watched people who came in after us eat and enjoy their food (their waitress was also more attentive) there's only one cook so it's understandable, but it really annoyed me for the fact that our waitress never checked on us but once during the hour we sat there waiting. Finally she dropped off the pancakes said the rest would be out soon with another 15 minutes going by. Once we got the food it was great except my eggs were more cooked than over easy. Service needs work. UPDATE: Went in today just for a burger and the food was fantastic, I know I was the only one in there but the older gentleman and the lady who was working he grill made me an excellent burger and it was under 5$! You can't beat that. Smiles all around, it was a much better experience than last. read more

This place is amazing! I forget her name but I had a server maybe 3 Sundays ago and she was amazing! I've come back a few times since then and havent been able to get her a second time. But the food here is great! When I come for breakfast I get the mountain hash browns which is amazing it has just the right amount of jalapenos and meat! My husband always get the defibrulator since its a veggie omlet and he seems to enjoy it. My favorite thing about this place is the coffee, it's the best coffee ever. The brand is douwe egberts it's the best tasting coffee I've ever had! read more

I can't say enough about this place with a good meal and decent price. From the curly fries to just your ordinary burger. Simple yet satisfying. read more

SLOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!! WAITED 40 minutes and when our food came from the cooktop not 10 feet away IT WAS COLD!!!!! Undercooked potatoes and eggs! 1 person cooking while the other idiot was using the Tupperware as a bongo drum!!! F$&@-/G RIDICULOUS! read more

Do not go here. This place has absolutely zero service past the point once you order and pay. Just say there for an hour and still had 2 people food to cook before mine would be up to cook. There are other employees there but they are just sitting back watching the only person cooking. Getting further and further behind with no help! read more

One word- Pathetic!! We were one of 3 tables in there and the cook worked at a snails pace. Everytime we thought our food was ready, they'd wrap it up for a to-go order. We sat there 35 minutes until they finally started cooking our food. To top it, the bun was cold. Love the Oak Park location but this place was a disgrace AND the bathroom was truly disgusting, maybe even worse than a public park. The waitress was nice though. read more

I love the food here. Best bergers ever, but this place is filthy!!! I understand it's an old place but come on clean it!