The Parish

Had some good times. Had some okay times. If they could get this place really dialed in, it could be a rocking place in the pearl.

We found this spot when walking around the downtown, looked up the menu, and decided it sounded like a good option. I knew they had a lower Unilocal rating than most restaurants in the area, but we liked the menu and decided to give it a try anyways. Our meal was good and definitely an A-​OK option, but not the most exciting meal we ate during our visit.
We started with a Hot Toddy and I have no idea what my husband had because what he received was different than what he ordered. I’m not holding that against them since my husband refused to say anything and I thought the whiskey drink was okay. My Hot Toddy was okay, but a little too sour for my taste.
Our starter and main entrees were the best part. For a starter we had the Redneck Riviera Oysters. They arrived hot from the oven and tasted fresh. I liked the butter and cheese toppings. My Chicken ‘n Dumplings small plate was very tasty and the portion was perfect since I wasn’t that hungry. The chicken and dumplings were tender. The sauce in the dish was delicious. It reminded me of my mom’s homemade dish. My husband had Crawfish Ravioli and really liked the taste of the crawfish and the sauce. We split a side of Red Beans & Rice and we both liked it very much. They had just the right amount of kick and the rice and beans were prepared well. Many other people that night were ordering the Fried Chicken Dinner which looked amazing and included sides. I would definitely try that if I returned another time.
Dessert was my least favorite part of the meal. I don’t think I’ve ever said that until now. My Pecan Pie was not buttery, sugary, or altogether flavorful. It actually lacked most flavor except for the occasional odd taste I would get with some of the bites. Something about the pie didn’t seem right. My husband had the Coconut Crème Pie and said it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either since it also lacked flavor.
I’m happy that we came here because our meals, starter, and side were delicious. The main dishes are wins. I can’t recommend the drinks and desserts though.

Stumbled upon The Parish when looking for a place to eat during a trip to Portland. The photos on Unilocal looked pretty good, so my boyfriend and I decided to have Southern food for dinner! Nice atmosphere with small tables, a bar, and bar seating. We were excited to have a nice dinner here, but unfortunately, we left a little underwhelmed. First of all, when we entered the restaurant, there were plenty of open tables. We were informed, however, that most of these tables had been reserved. The hostess told us she would need to confirm with someone to determine if they could accommodate us. She was gone for some time, as we waited and waited. Eventually, she came back and told us that she would be able to seat us.
Per our server’s recommendation, we ordered the Kolache for an appetizer. This is a Czech style stuffed bun with pork served with housemade savory jalapeño jam. The jalapeño jam was not too spicy and lacked taste. For our entrees, we ordered the Seafood Gumbo… crab stock base with dark roux, Yaquina Bay Oysters, Manila clams, shrimp, and Tasso. This was TOO spicy! The spices used to make this dish were also overwhelming. I did not enjoy this. We also had the Jambalaya… chicken and housemade Andouille sausage. I liked this dish a lot more and ended up eating predominantly from this plate.

With oysters at half price, this happy hour can’t be beat. Pairing it up with some fantastic cocktails and you’ve got a marvelous place for an afternoon with friends or a great date.

This place is really incredible. The atmosphere is cool. The staff is really friendly. Drinks are good. The food is amazingly! I’ve had oysters on the half, flavored oyster shooters, the seafood gumbo. It’s definitely pricey, but such a treat!

They were out of the Crawfish Raviolis which really had my interest, so I opted for the jambalaya. It was top notch! Loved the garlic parm baked oysters. Good cocktails. The mason jar water glasses and wooden plank check holders are a bit much. Overall: loved. Would go again.

We had a reservation for a Saturday night. Seated promptly in a nice large both. The restaurant is really cute and quite comfortable. Oysters were great. Three of us had the fried chicken, and for me, it was potentially the best chicken I have ever had. My husband had the Boar Gumbo, which was delicious as well. All and all a great place. Our server was very sweet, but was also in a bit of a rush every time she came to our table. Other than that, we highly recommend this place and will go back.

Great spot for really good oysters and New Orleans style food. Casual but friendly and in a great location. Happy hour is a must as are the house made hot sauces… plus outdoor seating :)

My friends and I were looking for a place to eat. We ran across Parish and we were excited to try their food because we had heard good things. I was especially excited to try the shrimp etouffe. We got seated right away which excited is even more. We looked at the menu and had decided what to order. We waited and waited for our waiter. We watched 2 other tables get seated. Then we watched those same tables get water and their drink orders taken before us. One of those tables even received their drinks. I have never left a restaurant before for poor service before this. I understand being busy on a Friday night, but helping two other tables that got seated after us is ridiculous! Needless to say, I plan to never try this restaurant for not training their waiters correctly.

I was here for the happy hour and had oysters and meat pie.
Meat pie had this awesome sweet pepper sauce and was delicious! 5 dollars. I wish it was bigger or cheaper. It’s super tiny– like a palm size.
The oysters were 1.5 dollars, and was great as well. I liked the thai chili vinegar. Hope it was a bit cheaper so i can come more often

In short: Awful service. Offended by the hostess. Lied to by the waitress. Chicken bones in my food cut my cheek (pain and bleeding). Three times asked for a manager… never came. Food taken away before being finished. Still paid full price; no discount given. Manager shows up at the end of the whole experience and stumbles through an apology. Food was mediocre and nothing about this restaurant was pleasant, ‘upscale’, or impressive. Too many other good places to choose from in the Pearl. Would not recommend.
UPDATE:
Wrote in a formal complaint the same week regarding my terrible experience and no responses; I was completely ignored… validating my impression of poor service and sub-​optimal leadership. Again, would not recommend — especially in this competitive Portland market where restaurant options abound and there’s a plethora of better options on every block.

I’m not sure that it’s really fair of me to rate this as I’m not into seafood. However, I did have the soup of the day — a spicy mushroom cream based soup ($ 9). I’m not a fan of my soup blended together.
The atmosphere was nice and quiet on a Sunday afternoon, and the décor was fun and quaint. I could see this place being fun for a drink or date.

Yummy yummy in my tummy! Oh thank u Groupon! If it wasn’t for that, I would have never tried this place! I’m definitely loving the vibe, the atmosphere, the location, the evolving and interesting menu, and of course the food! The staff also gets a thumbs up for friendliness, efficiency and attention to detail!
Unfortunately they were out of fried chicken by the time we got there so that just means I will have to be back. We started with the frog legs which were light, tasty and absolutely delicious! In lieu of the chicken, I ordered the pork shoulder which was also delicious and had a nice charred finish to it but I wish it was a bit more spicy. Luckily I wasn’t alone so I got to sample the boar gumbo. Boar gumbo I said! I’m not usually big on sausages but this was delicious! There were also the oysters that would make any man, woman or child (of legal drinking age) jump for joy! We were stuffed by the end so we didn’t get to try the dessert. I’ll be back for sure

Delish! Absolutely well done!
I found this spot (full confession) through Groupon — and it was worth every discounted penny. I can’t wait to be back again happily paying full price :)
My husband and I went here for dinner and were sort of surprised we’d never been here before. After a bit of discussion we think it’s because the outside (and perhaps a lot of the inside) doesn’t necessarily scream «southern comfort food», so we didn’t know what type of spot it is.
Nonetheless, it does have that great stick-​to-​your-​bones food! I ordered the shrimp étouffée and he had the ½ chicken dinner (which, in reality, still looks like it could feed 2!) It came with mashed potatoes, a huge biscuit, cole slaw and 3 big fried pieces of chicken. My soup was a tiny bit on the spicy side, but so delicious and rich.
We paired them off with an old-​fashioned like drink and a bourbon one recommended to us by our friendly waiter. They were both like south in my mouth! So good and quite a good pairing to cut through the heavy food.
The atmosphere is slightly darker, with a candle-​lit theme going. It’s intimate for date night or for a group of friends too. I hear the HH is great so I’ll have to be back for a steal on their oysters. cheers!

Stopped in for an evening drink and of course thee oysters. The oysters were spot on, served on the half shell, nice and chilled. I loved the grated horseradish on the side, topped mine with some, it gives eating the oysters an added texture sensation, really good! The cocktail sauce is chunky which is a little different then what I’ve had, it was tasty without being overpowering. The draft beers we ordered were perfectly chilled.
Our server was great. Friendly and very attentive.
There are so many great items in the menu, I really can’t wait to go back!

It’s funny how we come to a seafood restaurant and we ordered the fried chicken dinner meal for two on a Saturday night. I love seafood and would have ordered jambalaya, but based on the pictures and reviews, it looks like it wouldn’t be as good as the one I cook, since I like to have shrimp and lots of protein in it. The chicken and buttermilk biscuits were delicious! The coleslaw, mash potatoes, and gravy were okay, the flavors didn’t stand out enough in my opinion. Romantic ambience with glass of wine and a Lagniappe Board for appetizer with lots of goodies on it: Feta cheese, fried catfish, oysters, chicken wing, savory custard pie, and grilled squash, so worth the experience with our kind of music in the background
I will come back for oysters for happy hour, since prices for those are much reasonable.
Great staff and wonderful service.

SCAM ALERT!
tl;dr: If prices are important to you (as in you want to enjoy happy hour prices), make sure you clear up ALL pricing questions while ordering. Otherwise you may be in for a shocking surprise when your bill comes out $ 20+ higher than you expected.
The long version:
I’m visiting Portland for the first time after 5 years with my husband and a friend, and we decided to get fresh oysters for happy hour. We tried to go to Andina, but after we sat down, we were told that they just took oysters off their menu since it was seasonal and wouldn’t be back till December. However, they recommended The Parish, which was only a few blocks away. So we decided to check it out, and walked over in less than 5 min.
When we got there, the restaurant was practically empty, and we inquired at the front whether they had oysters for happy hour (yes) and what the happy hour prices were ($ 8 for half a dozen or $ 16 for a dozen if ordered before 5 pm). They claimed you couldn’t get it cheaper anywhere else, and that was believable since $ 16 for 12 is certainly a great price.
We sat down and asked our waiter about the happy hour oysters again and what he recommended from the list. He said that actually they only had four kinds today, and we said great, let’s get a selection of all of them. We also ordered baked oysters (3 for $ 5), chicken wings (comes with 2 wings), the deep fried sausage and rice meatballs (comes as 2 balls), and the «improved champagne cocktail.»
Everything was fine and the oysters were AMAZING. Especially the Netar ones. They were big, juicy, creamy, and had a delicious aftertaste. We were really happy that Andina had referred us here. It was so good that we asked for another dozen oysters. The wings were good though two wings was a bit skimpy, and the meatballs were okay though I thought they lacked flavor.
The surprise came with the bill.
The bill said:
6 HH oysters $ 8
Dozen oysters $ 30
Half dozen oysters $ 17
Amongst the other things
Uh what? The menu clearly said that house selected oysters during happy hour (the house selected oysters, according to our waiter at the time we were ordering, were those 4 types) were $ 8 for a half dozen or $ 16 for a dozen. We called the waiter over again due to this mistake and he proceeded to tell us that the menu clearly states that THEY get to choose which oysters are part of the HH menu and which are not, and two of the oyster types we ordered were not part of the HH menu.
We were totally shocked, and protested that he did not make this clear especially knowing that we were here for the HH prices at 4 pm (HH is 3 – 5 pm).
He said to us, «Well that’s too bad, you just didn’t listen well enough. And the menu is very clear.» And he turned and walked off in a huff.
WTF??? Did he really just insult the customer??? That was completely offensive, rude, and unprofessional. Well since they clearly weren’t going to correct the bill for THEIR mistake and THEIR scamming of the customer by tricking us into thinking that the four oyster types they described to us were valid under the HH pricing, we decided to leave no tip (note: we still overpaid even without paying tip).
My husband wanted to dispute with the manager, but unfortunately our parking meter 5 minutes away was expiring and getting a second $ 40 parking ticket for the day would not help. So I am coming here to post a review in hopes of warning other customers to be careful not to get scammed by the particular waiter we had.

Happy hour from 3pm until closing in the Palmetto café serving an assortment of small plates. Tables with windows looking down 11^th Ave and Everette. Sidewalk seating too.
I bumped into a kitchen staff person at the Portland State University Saturday farmers market shopping for organic produce. I like that! Don’t panic I prefer organic.
Beer lovers will love award winning Breakside IPA but $ 3.50 for a 10 oz. mug is the most I’ve paid for brew tipping in PDX.
Try the roasted corn, most delicious smothered with Cojita cheese and pepper sauce — really fantastic! Nothing like it but for the price of 1 crisp Mr. Lincoln (poor Abe turned in his grave just now, a country boy who shucked alot of sweet corn in his day bought a bushel or more for his 5 spot, I suppose).
The two finger sized meat pie was good «not so» enough meat however.
Good place, good grub! Got organic and local meats! Give me more brew for my buck. The jury is out on the grub value until we try other small plates or maybe slip into the main side of the restaurant for dinner and a second chance.

Ordered the following:
Pan Fried oyster: was okay (super fried); however the comeback sauce that it came with was good.
Fried Okra: Not so good (comeback sauce was good).
Fried Chicken Dinner: was just okay. [potatoes: not good].
The only saving grace was their service, which was great. Location was great too.

Came here during happy hour after flying in from the Bay Area. Loved how the place looked and parking was hard to find as its in a busy area. When I sat down and the waiter handed me the menu I was literally surprised by the price of the dishes so of course I wanted to order everything with my sister.
Started off with a dozen oysters. It was yummy with their house sauces, then grilled shrimp and their duck heart with chili sauce. Yummy. Their sauce definitely brings out the most in their dishes. I ordered the salad with spicy ranch dressing. It was good, but nothing great. The Russian boiled egg was good. The fried chicken with jalapeño jam and their empanada was the best! The way they pair the food with dressings really made everything taste great. I def want to come back to try their regular menu. Oh yes house made ginger bear = on point. Must order!