The Parlour Italian Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Edmonton

The food at our daughter’s wedding reception in Sept was outstanding: high quality, variety and ample portions, served by excellent staff. The event planning side; however, fell far short of what was promised.

Kenzie Forget was our main contact and promised that we 'would be her top priority on the day' and that. She appeared to be detail-oriented and passionate about what The Parlour had to offer us. She said all the right things and I was confident in her abilities when we met in May.

The initial Banquet Event Order (BEO) showed that we booked the whole main floor. When we met in May we discussed how the Birchwood Room could be set up in addition to the lounge. When we checked with Kenzie in August, she told us that the Birchwood was no longer available as it had been turned into storage. We went in for a tech check 4 days before the wedding and saw the Birchwood was set up with tables. We were told by another staff member that it was never storage and she had recently booked the room for another group. We asked Kenzie about this ‘non-truth’ and she said there must have been some miscommunication; although when we met in May, we understood we were paying for the entire main floor. Even if there had been a question of whether we wanted the space, I would have expected to have first right of refusal.

On wedding day, we were grateful that the very efficient Kristin Miller was on site at 11am for set up. During the reception Kristin was very attentive and competently responded to minor changes. Kristin was off shift around 7pm and that's when on-site support ended. Despite Kenzie’s promise that we would be her top priority during the wedding reception, she did not touch base with me once.

I was left trying to find staff who could answer questions when items on The Parlour’s (BEO) were not delivered.

The BEO noted: late snack (pizza) would be served at 9:30. It didn’t appear until 10:30, after I’d gone into the kitchen to check.

When the evening ended, I had to ask the kitchen staff to find Kenzie so we could settle the bill. I mentioned the hour delay on the pizzas and Kenzie’s excuse was that the kitchen misread the BEO. Mistakes happen, but if she had been present and checked on things regularly, as one would expect, this shouldn’t have happened.

The BEO indicated three salads. We were served two. Kenzie said that the meal package we chose only came with 2 salads, so the ‘current’ BEO that she gave us was incorrect.

The BEO noted that we were to get the leftover food. The kitchen told me that it had been thrown out. When we commented on missing another detail that was clearly on the BEO, Kenzie went to the kitchen and scrounged a couple of take-out boxes of leftovers (hopefully not from the garbage).

Kenzie presented us with the bar bill and said she added the groom’s tab to the bill. I was sure the groom was only using drink tickets but was not about to contact him on his wedding night to check. (He later confirmed that he absolutely did not run a tab). It had been a long day (as weddings tend to be) so we paid the bill.

After stating directly to Kenzie that we had every confidence in her ability particularly because of her statement that "we would be her priority”, it was our experience that her promises fell far short of being delivered. We were obviously not a priority, even though it was a HUGE night for bar sales and tips.

Before writing this review, I outlined my concerns with Matt Glover, Reg. Mgr., offering him an opportunity to demonstrate their customer service. He said he wanted me to feel my concerns were heard and offered to host 4 people for dinner. When I later requested the gift card, he changed the offer to a GC for the first $100 of our meal. Quite a big difference as $100 at The Parlour might buy a bottle of wine and a couple of appetizers.

I believe this minimal offer reflects the level of importance The Parlour places on honest communication, carrying out what is promised in their BEO, attention to detail and availability of key...

TLDR: The Parlour held our wedding reception and the staff was incredibly kind, supportive, and attentive. The food was delicious, hot, served timely. The whole event went off without a hitch, I recommend the Parlour 100%!

We just celebrated our wedding reception at The Parlour this past weekend and wow, I am truly blown away by how amazing they were through and through.

Josh was friendly, thoughtful, kind, and communicative through the whole planning process. We are a more laid back couple which means we often needed some guidance and to have things explained to us and Josh was always thorough and generous with his time and talent. On the day of, he was there early with some other amazing staff getting everything ready for the day, and gave us charcuterie to snack on as we decorated the tables.

Many staff members offered their assistance while we were decorating as well and although we declined, it was a very kind of them. They also made sure we were hydrated and were checking in constantly to see if we needed anything — they were so attentive!

The night went beautifully — my partner and I were absolutely amazed by the sheer number of staff working our evening. It was likely at least 15+ people (and we didn’t have any other vendors such as day-of-coordinators or planners or photographers, this was all just The Parlour staff!).

The food was delicious, my partner and I were served plated dinners and everyone else was served family style dinners (except those with dietary restrictions who were given their own plate as well). The family style dinner was amazing, I prefer it so much to a buffet, the night just went so much more smoothly and everyone seemed very happy with their meal.

The food was delicious and plentiful as well! It was honestly some of the best food I’ve ever had at a wedding. I had many people complimenting the short rib specifically! And each table had a waiter who would attend to them and bring them their drinks as well. Ugh, it was just so perfect!

The bartenders were wonderful, our guests were very happy with their drinks and everyone had a great time.

When it came to cleaning up, the staff was discrete and they gathered up our decor and other things as the night winded down, and they even collected any scattered items at the end of the night like jackets and phones and made them easily accessible for people who may have misplaced them. We were able to leave everything there until the next day at 3:00pm to pick up. They had everything neatly packed away in bags and boxes for us, and nothing was missing! For reference, my partner forgot his wallet there over night and they had it set aside safely along with our other personal belongings and decor.

Even as the night got late and our guests were getting rowdy, the staff was kind, attentive, and supportive of us having fun (especially Pia!). It took a bit of wrangling to get the last guests to go home, but we never felt pressured to leave or any sort of discomfort from the staff, they were all very relaxed and kind.

This is going to sound like a bit much but it almost makes me emotional thinking about how well they took care of us. Weddings or large events like this can be very stressful and vulnerable for some and the staff at Parlour really felt like they cared and wanted to offer as much support in making the night as easy as possible. I understand that for them it was just another day at work but they made it feel like it was a very special day, and they really showed up for us. Truly I can’t imagine a better place for us to have held our reception. They handled EVERYTHING and I couldn’t be more grateful. Will honestly be pushing all my friends to have their weddings here because every newlywed deserves a wedding like this, I recommend...

"Memorable" experience = exceeded expectations

I took my parents to Parlour for their first visit. My father, a huge aficionado of fine Italian dining, had just been to a very well-reputed establishment the week before.

Guess what? Said establishment has competition!

I love Parlour for it's location (the views are incredible, whatever direction you're viewing, including the windows upstairs which feature a beautiful tree canopy and downtown city-scape or... people watching, after dark). But we were full-on near the huge wall-to-ceiling front windows facing east, so were able to view the full, dynamic, exciting city-scape and sunset thanks to the stunning mirrored skyscrapers, which honestly, is one of the most beautiful views this city has at dusk.

Brick, wood, high ceilings, natural light......this place has it ALL, not to mention a wood burning oven where the pizza maker bakes the pizza right behind the bar (action!) Dynamic and aesthetically extremely pleasing and beautiful.

However, the most outstanding element, and one that will bring myself and parents (verbatim "I will be back and want to share with...XYZ") was the outstanding service by Kat (Kathleen). Having arrived to meet my parents just after work, Kathleen was so kind and accommodating in all the right ways! She took care of my mom and dad, prior to arrival, was witty and personal (she spent time getting to know us), offered her insights (opinions of the menu and dietary restrictions), DEFINITELY made us feel 100% comfortable and was one of the most genuine, authentic, truly lovely staff I've (I feel confident to say 'we've') met all year.

The food is absolutely fantastic. Parlour's varied yet highly specialized menu, I think, has rendered each dish a masterpiece on it's own. My vegetarian fare came with a side salad (house salad) which, when shared with my other diners, ended up being eaten by all three. (It was that fantastic!) My mom's lasagna, as per her report, was not a dish she'd order again. A bit dry and lacklustre. But as a non-meat eater, I cannot comment. Appetizers and drinks were truly enjoyed by everyone to a very high extent! Appetizers were SO good, we saved a couple for the end, which we took great pleasure in (Kathleen's advice).

My parents and I spent several hours drinking, dining, sharing company, MORE than we anticipated at a rather upscale venue. A delicious dessert and sharing our second bottle of wine, without being rushed, made for one of the finest evenings of 2018.

This...is a place I will visit again and share with others. As for my parents? They're sold!! We're already planning for another visit.

Note: Parlour management: Kathleen is amazing. We love her. Keep her indefinitely with a lovely wage increase; We love her