The Parched Oak — Restaurant in DeLand

First of all, the fried green tomatoes were very tasty. But let's talk about the business model and the service. My husband and I were thinking about sitting at the outside bar. As we walked past though we heard people complaining about lack of service outside so we decided to sit inside at the bar. They can't ignore you if you're right there, right? Wrong. There were 2 servers behind the bar on a Saturday afternoon. The entire place had 6 people at the bar and 2 booths seated. We were told "be right with you" twice before we were even handed menus. We asked for waters and a beer list. Then we were handed off to Buffy. She brought us 2 beers, we asked for water again. Placed our order for fried green tomatoes and a sandwich to share. "Great choice, that's a huge sandwich!". Looking ok here...then we heard Buffy telling the other server what to put in for the order. Still ok. Until the servers thought we ordered the steak tip flatbread. Nope, not us. They couldn't figure it out, so Buffy took it behind the bar and started eating it. (My bet is that the folks at the outside bar ordered it). Then several supporting chats and hugs behind the bar between coworkers while people waited for drinks, maybe food. Who knows? We got our fried green tomatoes and they were very good. And then we sat and waited for our sandwich during which time Buffy left (with the flatbread to-go) and Shaelaine was alone behind the bar. First, she texted, then tried to refill someone elses wine, then was on a personal call. At that time, we gave up on our order and asked for the check. She really didn't know what we had, asked if we got the steak flatbread. I said nope, tomatoes, 2 beers and and we tried to order a sandwich that never came. Shaelaine then told us to never mind paying and to just go and blew us a kiss. 🙄 we insisted on paying for what we had, but she didn't know. Our bill was for tomatoes, no beers and the check was just rung in as it said "don't make plz" under the food. And I'm fairly confident the folks at the outside bar left as no one was seen going out there the hour that we were in the establishment. What kind of business model is this? Servers not keeping track of orders, they can't work the register and are then letting people leave telling them not to pay? I'm hoping the owners work this out, but staffing seems to be a...

Just moved to deland and wanted to start going out more, after seeing some of the positive reviews of this place, I figured I would give it a try. I won’t make the same mistake again, the long almost 3 hour wait combined with barely any service already soured my mood. 2 hours into placing my order and not getting any word of how long it’s gonna be, my waiter tells me the kitchen runs out of one of the ingredients for my dish… so not only did I wait for 2 hours for food, not receive a refill on my drink unless I asked, but they were also missing one of the main ingredients for my dish. I’d understand a 30 minute to an hour difference… but 2 hours before telling someone you don’t have a main ingredient??? And then giving me my food cold on top of that???? And then making me wait another hour just to send it back and get a check for yall to charge me over $40?

I will say this, the gouda bites are really good. One of the best items I’ve had in terms of an appetizer. Unfortunately, the “really good” appetizer is overshadowed by the main entree being as bad as it was.

Our server also stated that the kitchen was backed up when we placed our order but there was only 2 tables (including me) with no one else in the building besides what looked like a bartender and then 2 other servers.

Our server was actually pretty chill and they seemed upset to break the bad news.

My word of advice? Come to this place when they have a competent kitchen and staff with a backbone.

That 2 hour wait could’ve been mitigated to an hour, the main ingredient for my dish could’ve been substituted earlier so that the dish wouldn’t have been cold, our server could’ve been a server and not a chill guy, we could’ve gotten our check and left and not waited an extra hour making our total stay time 3 hours and our experience...

Listen here, 4.3!? Average!? There’s two types of people in this world, from my sales experience…. Buyers, and LIARS. First of all, the fact that this review is limited to the minuscule rating of only five stars is ASININE. I have frequented the Parched Oak now for a couple of months and I can’t put into words what keeps me coming back, however, I’m going to make a valiant attempt. Let’s start with what the people want, the food. I have never, ever (until the oak), been somewhere that I’ve thought every plate I’ve had to be better than the last. Whether it be my personal favorite of the Strip, to the peach bourbon glazed pork chops or salmon, to even the subtle yet mind blowing fried cheese balls…. These guys simply DO. NOT. MISS. The child of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant couldn’t have a higher shooting percentage. The atmosphere is so authentically and unapologetically deland if you’re a local, you’re right at home and if you’re visiting…. Sell your house because you’ll never want to leave. The staff are top notch all the way around. Doesn’t matter who you have. Joey, Chris, John, Manny, Sidney just to name a few and my boy who’s also my hairdresser my man Patrick the Hat Trick. The kitchen staff have ALWAYS gone above and beyond to make sure the meal of myself and everyone else are above expectation. Please, for the love of god or whomever you do or do not worship…. Do not deprive yourself of the experience that is the Parched Oak. You will NOT die happy. The pearly gates themselves will have a sign saying out for lunch, at the Parched Oak, try dying another...