Reviews for Parker's

06/26/2009 - Steven
So I started with the Lump Crab and Shrimp "Ceviche". They put the quotes on "Ceviche", not me... now I understand why. It wasn't Ceviche. The $9 glass of o.k. wine came in a very modest wine glass. The filet I ordered was served with either a house or Caesar salad. I went with the house salad with blue cheese.

While slowly eating the harmless, but somewhat boring "Ceviche", a Caesar salad was dropped off at the table. Before I realized it was Caesar, the waitress was gone, and I had no chance of getting her to help. After a while, I managed to get the attention of the busboy, and he quickly switched out the salad.

2 minutes later however, the steak arrived. Ah, the timing. I was looking forward to the steak when I first ordered it. It came with mashed potatoes and a heaping of fried string onions. McDonald's fries are hotter on a bad day than these were. Don't put a $26 filet on the menu, and not pay attention to everything else on the plate. Just lazy back in the kitchen.

The steak was actually not bad, after working through some fatty pieces that were unexpected in a filet. I might have enjoyed it, but the experience had been rough so far, so I couldn't.

I was finished, and checked the timer going on my iPhone which was keeping track of the minutes left on the parking meter. This is Bethesda, and they'll get ya quick. I had 18 minutes left. No worries, the efficient ticket writers wouldn't get me before I checked out of here and walked across the street to my super close parking space.

I was wrong.

I'm not blaming the $35 ticket on Parker's. It was just an extension of a bad decision to give the restaurant a try. Maybe I should have stuck with the simpler fare... who knows how the burger is? Maybe they should stick with the simple stuff too.

This place needs help. They need support in the dining room, and although the staff was friendly, the service was absolutely horrible. They need someone to check the quality of what's coming out of the kitchen.

Whoever owns this place isn't paying attention. I wouldn't bet on Parker's being around long term. They've had a pretty decent run, but things are changing on that strip. There are other, better options. They'll need to step it up I think.