Top Shreveport bartender shares how he realized his American dream.

Driving down the streets of downtown Shreveport Esteban A. Valdes, recalled his journey to America.

"It was just like the movies," said Valdes. "Shreveport the all-American city."

Today Valdes is the face of Superior Bar and Grill, but prior to his success he was just a young man struggling to speak English in a foreign land and working in unexpected circumstances.

Just two days before Christmas 2002, Valdes traveled to Shreveport from his home in Chile to work at Horseshoe Casino.

"Horseshoe brought me here," said Valdes. "I thought I was going to Horseshoe, Las Vegas but two days before I came here, they said we are going to switch your location to Shreveport, Louisiana."

At this time Valdes was 22 years old and he had just graduated from college and was looking to start a marketing career in the United States. When he came to Shreveport under a work agency he wished to not name, not only was he greeted with small-town America but tasked with being a bathroom attendant.

Now 20 years later, Valdes is the bar manager of a Shreveport favorite and calls this city his home as an American citizen.

Check this out: Meet the Louisiana mom who started her own business while in college

Coming to America

On Dec. 23, 2002, Valdes touched down in Shreveport and just like yesterday he can recall his arrival. "I got to the Shreveport Airport, and it was kind of cold. I didn't know anybody, and I didn't speak the language yet," said Valdes.

Valdes came to the United States on a work visa and was told he was going to Las Vegas, Nevada, to expand on his career in marketing. When last minute his agency moved him to Shreveport.

"They switched the location to Shreveport, Louisiana and there was no Shreveport because no one could say Shreveport back home, not even my agency," said Valdes.

But Valdes got on the plane and agreed to a two-year work contract with the agency. Upon arrival, Valdes was supposed to be greeted with a sponsor but with no sighting he ordered a taxi and went to Horseshoe Casino.

Valdes stayed in a luxury hotel room at Horseshoe, before being placed in the Fairmont Apartments in downtown Shreveport. He had a roommate, and everything was going as planned. "It was just like having a really good time after college," said Valdes.

After getting permanent housing, Valdes and his friends were met with six weeks of no work following a delay at the Social Security Office. "We had to go to the Social Security Office and apply for social security numbers, so we could actually work."

Once he was finally able to work, he was placed in the bathrooms as an attendant. He said, "I sucked it up. I never told my mom what I was actually doing for a living, cleaning bathrooms."

Read: See how 318 Art Co. decorated The Pearl Shreveport restaurant with Louisiana art

His mother spent $5,000 to get him to Shreveport, "it was not cheap," he said.

Valdes spent the next two years working at Horseshoe, where he had no phone or car. He recalled jumping on the train just a block away from the Fairmont Apartments, "it was an easy way, so we didn't have to walk all the way to the Horseshoe."

After Valdes' contract was up, he decided he wanted to stay in the Shreveport-Bossier area and began working at Nicky's Mexican Restaurant for the next two years. During that time, he moved to Bossier City and got a car and was slowly acclimating to the language.

He said he began dreaming in English when he started working at a call center in Bossier City. He worked at that call center for eight years before getting back into the service industry.

Valdes would go on to work at Tacomania and Cantina Laredo, before landing a job at Superior Bar and Grill. "Superior was my place to go to," said Valdes. "Every Friday I used to go to Superior, sit at the bar, get my drink and chicken quesadillas."

So, when he was able to work for Superior it was a no-brainer because he was already a fan of the business. He said he worked in the bar in the kitchen for almost a year, "I had to prove myself."

One day he was thrown behind the bar as a bartender,]despite never having a bartending job before. "I didn't even know how to make drinks." Valdes went to Las Vegas, where he enrolled in a mixology course and learned from the best bartenders.

Today Valdes is the bar manager for Superior. "I came here to be a part of the culture, to be a part of this country."

On Aug. 10, 2023, Valdes became a United States citizen. It took him 20 years of learning the language, culture and customs, but in the end, he found a home.

More: Asylum seeker from El Salvador has been held in ICE detention for more than six years

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Top Shreveport bartender shares how he realized his American dream.