Parallax — Restaurant in Cleveland

Parallax has, since moving to Cleveland, been my favorite restaurant. I have brought my family when they have visited, and I always recommended to my friends that they visit Parallax. Last week, I had a reservation for two on a Friday night. From the time we sat down at the table, we felt rushed - with the drinks, the appetizer, the dinner, and with the check. With the appetizer - we literally had forks in hand, and a waitress asked if she could take it out of the way. This also occurred with dinner - I just got back from the restroom, and after sitting down and picking up my fork, the waitress had asked if I had finished up with my meal. Towards the end of our meal, we were finishing up our drinks, and we noticed that the waiters/waitresses were pushing together tables next to us for a larger party that had not yet arrived. We finished up, signed the check, and as were getting up to leave, the waiter took the check in front of us (which we were told later on that this is their general practice). As we left the room, they started pushing the table and chairs we were sitting at to the larger party. Had each of these occurrences happened on separate nights - I would not have thought anything of this. I likely would have thought, "these waiters and waitresses are attentive and providing us with good service." However, looking at the big picture, we were being pushed out. My significant other and I were there for only 1 hour, 15 minutes.

To make matters worse, I called the restaurant, and I spoke with Julian (Director of Service, I believe). I purely wanted to convey my experience to him prior to writing a review. It is very unlike me to write any type of negative review, especially before having the chance to speak with someone about an experience. Had my feedback been met with positiveness and genuiness, I likely wouldn’t be writing this. Instead, I was constantly interrupted, and he was extremely condescending. He kept telling me “I apologize if you seemed rushed” or “I apologize if you feel that in your eyes, you were rushed.” He had even admitted that we were there for less than the average time a table of two sits at a table at Parallax. While he had offered to provide some type of compensation in the form of a complimentary appetizer or meal, I assured him multiple times that compensation was not why I was calling. I explained that the reason for my call was because this was truly one of my favorite restaurants in Cleveland, and I was hoping that by sharing my experience, there could be some change made in the future so that other customers do not feel the way we felt leaving the restaurant. However, he had to keep telling me that offering this complimentary food for a future visit was extremely generous, even after I told that I had to seriously consider whether I would return to this restaurant. He then ended the conversation asking if I had heard of some place he had previously worked, and then stated that he “knows fine dining.” Extremely disappointed, and I unfortuantely am not planning...

I made reservations for Valentine's Day over a month ago at Parallax Restaurant and Lounge. We went for our reservation and they apparently think it is still acceptable to seat people on a patio when it is 18 degrees outside. Yes they have some type of walls, with curtains and space heaters but it is FAR from enough to keep the space warm. The patio was so cold that the seats were uncomfortable to sit on and after about 10-15 minutes I was shivering. The tables were cold to the touch. Anything you order is going to go cold way before you can possibly enjoy it. When I asked to be moved into the restaurant the waiter agreed it was cold. Well making a reservation over a month in advance only gets you a rude apology and told they have no other space for you in the restaurant. When I asked the girl what I was supposed to do at close to 8pm on Valentine's Day with no where else to eat as pretty much every thing else would either be closing or require a reservation of which I had from over a month ago she rudely replied "well you could just sit here." Every time this girl apologized she was in no way sorry, she seemed as if our request to sit inside the main restaurant with heat was a ridiculous request. My fiance asked her if she had actually sat outside and she just awkwardly started at him, which answered the question. We walked out as we were told that eating in the cold was our only option. Halfway to the car my finance turned back around to ask for a manager to speak to. When he went in they offered him a table. At this point there was no way I was paying a dine in this restaurant. I can definitely say I will never eat a Parallax.

On another note. Thanks Parallax for helping me find Mallorca. They graciously made space for us after hearing what you guys did to us and made sure we hade an amazing evening. Honestly there is no way we would have had a better dinner at Parallax. Glad I gave my $250 went to them and not you.

Parallax you really need to get your stuff together and stop overbooking your space to make an extra dime. Your customers do not deserve to be walked out your side door after walking through your heated main dining room to be put in a cold, poorly lit, and quiet room. Not only is it insulting it is just...

No complaints with the service but food is a terrible disappointment, quite overhyped & pretentious. They aspire to be fancy but the food is nowhere there & fails to capture the essence of delicate balance in French & Japanese cooking/influence. I say this as a person having experience with a hell lot of affordable as well as expensive high-end restaurants with amazing food in Cleveland & elsewhere. Not sure what the reviews are raving about. Had yellow tail & scallion hand roll, green dragon sushi roll, edamame, beef potstickers, sashimi salad, iceberg wedge salad, & sake. The yellow tail hand roll was simply wrapped into a cone/burrito with thick fish slices with no flavor at all. The green dragon sushi was good but way too huge, not bit sized (can barely even pick it up with chopsticks), thick rice layer & drenched in sauces - not typical of authentic sushi. Sashimi salad had huge thick slices of raw fish, some of which we had to cut ourselves bc we couldn't consume it & feared having that much quantity of raw fish (gave me a stomach ache next day). The edamame was drenched in a soup of butter. The iceberg wedge salad had massive chunks of lettuce & tomato that we had to chop & it was drenched in dressing along with thick slices of soft bacon (not crispy). The beef potstickers were really good & loved the sake. The staff was extremely warm & welcoming. But, the food needs a hell lot of improvement. Can excuse a few exceptions but issues with almost every dish is a big red flag to me. Even the complementary bread was served cold & tasted weird & it wasn't even sourdough or ciabatta or baguette, just some almost stale tasting bread. You can find much better quality of the same dishes elsewhere. Really appreciate the wine director helping us with our sake selection though & constantly being asked if we liked the food...