El Parian — Restaurant in Crossville

First, let me address the inspection failure that made the news. It was really a timing issue: refrigerator broke in the morning, called a repair person who was on their way and then the inspector came that morning and failed them. It was bad timing. Everything has been fixed and this restaurant is very clean and safe to eat at. I've talked with the staff personally on and off premises, including those I know who have worked at other area Mexican restaurants and El Parian is new, clean, and safe or the inspector would not have allowed them to reopen. Now on to my review.

Service: Attentive to our needs, accommodating, and nice. What more could you ask for?

Building: Completely remodeled and very nice on the inside. Has the classic, traditional Mexican eatery vibe. Very pleasant. Chairs, booths, tables, bar are all comfortable. If I could recommend one environmental change in the dining area (and this is true of most eateries) it would be changing the color of all the bulbs from daylight (5500K) to more soft yellow (3000K). No one wants to feel like they are eating in an office building.

Food: I've only eaten there for lunch and I usually get the beef chimichanga and it was as good as any other of the area Mexican places. Most of them serve refried beans with the plate but they don't so I had to order a side. The chips were standard and the salsa standard. There was no bean dip with cheese like many places in the area serve so that was below standard for our area. Food was good both times but not exceptional. If they add bean dip to the chips and refried beans to the lunch plates then they will at least be to the level of the other restaurants. My friend had the steak fajitas and he said they were ok.

Price: They were about 5-6 more expensive than most of the Mexican spots in town for lunch. It remains to be seen if the food quality and service difference will be enough of a draw to justify the higher price in an area where money is very tight for people.

Because it is near our home, I'll go back again. I don't know if others living across town or in the county will find enough of a draw to change to El Parian at this point. I hope...

What an amazing find..... So this restaurant is located right by the pilot truck stop which is amazing as I am a trucker... I had the fajitas with steak chicken shrimp and chorizo.... The food was absolutely amazing they came with rice and beans they had amazing flavor all of it did the chicken was really good and you can taste the chicken the steak was really good You can taste the flavors of each individual meat the beans had great flavor most people take rice for granted but this rice was really good I ordered a large side of guacamole and it was amazing about the only time that I have guacamole this good is when I make it myself I am so impressed with the food and the service second to none and the fact that it is right by a truck stop is absolutely amazing fellow drivers if he have the opportunity to try this location out please do so I promise you will not be disappointed I absolutely loved it... Food and service was absolutely great atmosphere was pretty quiet there was a few people there no likes or dislikes but that normally doesn't have anything to do with the restaurant everything that they control they do amazingly... Give him a try and spread the word.. I will definitely be marking this location on my map purely based on this restaurant what an awesome find and the portion I don't think I've said anything about that The portion is absolutely huge You get your money's worth needless as I have breakfast and possibly lunch.... If you're in the mood for Mexican give them a try they absolutely do...

Parents and I went to try it out for the first time. It’s nicely decorated! Large menu. Forgot to take pictures when the food came and remembered after we started. Got steak fajitas, steak chimichanga and carnitas! Everyone liked the carnitas. For us, we like rare to mid-rare for steak. The steak was cooked well done. Flavor was good, just waaay overcooked for us. The employees for very nice! Very likely we will be back!

One thing we saw. If having a birthday they put a sombrero on the birthday person, sing and then smash whip cream on their face. We saw this happen to 2 tables and 3 birthday people at one table. Our family believes this is very disrespectful. We will NEVER tell or celebrate a birthday here due to this. If you like it, that’s up to you. We won’t go to another restaurant for this same reason. We found out...