PARLOUR — Restaurant in Lexington

Im Here with another review of a new restaurant in Lexington. As usual i grade on 5 criteria’s and we remove a star from its final grade when a criteria is missed. Those being “atmosphere, food quality, foods overall taste, price, and service.” Lets begin the review of my experience at PARLOUR! Atmosphere- There are plenty of noises from speakers all throughout the building playing music. Its not awkward when talking to your dinner date worried that some nosey nancy is listening in on your conversation. And not too loud you cant talk amongst yourself’s. But not soon after being seated a couple was seated next to me and i noticed the tables are entirely too close for comfort. So close i have to worry about hitting them with a Backpack or purse you or your partner may be carrying when you decide to stand up and leave. Approximately 15in-18in apart from each other. So i will have to remove a star for that. One star down ⭐️⬇️

Now for food quality. I ordered a few items from this menu for a sample test. I ordered… Garlic bread sticks $10 10inch pulled pork pizza. $14 10inch Hawaiian pizza $14 Chicken bacon ranch half sub $11 The boss half sub. $11

As far as quality of food goes, i had nothing to complain about everything was fresh and hot. The chips that come with the subs were not stale in fact quite the opposite. These are very hard almost like a kettle chip. So if u like kettle chips you should love these. Thats a positive star added up to the score board. One star up⭐️⬆️

Next is taste, being 100% frank here. I did not like the bbq pork pizza. It was almost like a burnt tasting pork with the pickles being one of the oddest combinations of tastes on a pizza i have ever had. The Hawaiian pizza was not much better. It was canned pineapple which isn’t the bad part. depending on the brand they use it had a tin can taste that ruined it for us. The garlic breadsticks were decent. They tasted fresh but did not have the garlic taste i was looking for. I would argue that Little Caesars has a better GARLIC bread stick. But overall they are good. The subs… both of the subs i order with one being labeled as “very spicy” (the boss) Had an overwhelming sweet taste that i have come to believe is in the bread. I believe this because that was the only similarity between the chicken bacon ranch and the boss sub. It was so sweet it over-powered the spicy boss sandwich. And every bite i took was like a sugar packet. I couldn’t even taste the jalapeños on the sub. Now i cannot really base my grade on the subs and bread sticks because the flaws i found may be your type of thing. I will however judge it on the pizza because we can all agree burnt and tin can taste isn’t exactly desirable. So its for these reasons i have to give it a star down. Thats two stars down⭐️⬇️.

Then we have price. I firmly believe $14 is a little high for a 10inch pizza. The bread sticks are just a tad too high. I would spend $8 on them at the most. $11 for a half sub would in most cases sound ridiculous, but mentioning that a side of chips costs $4 at most places now, and given that the subs come with a side of chips makes it much more reasonable. So i do believe the subs are priced accordingly. Overall i would give this a half star but thats not allowed. So we will let this one slide and give them a star up ⭐️⬆️

Lastly the service. I had an amazing experience with the service. My waiter was very quick for refills and was extremely polite and people friendly. I was greeted as soon as i walked in the door and was seated right away. Everyone seemed to be in a happy and joking type of way. There are no complaints to be had here for service. With this being a third star up ⭐️⬆️ due too a technicality Thats only a 3/5⭐️ review. And i feel firmly about my decision.

With all this being said i encourage everyone to try any Business or restaurant I review and make your own conclusions. I have my criteria to meet and you may have a different set of goals for this place to reach to...

I feel like giving this place two stars is almost too much. I really wanna be nice here but it was pretty bad. Did we really need another overpriced sports bar in Lexington with subpar food? I don’t think so. Service was probabaly the worst part of this meal. The place was a ghost town when we walked in. But even with that we were not greeted for almost 20 minutes. It was kind of insane as multiple servers passed us and saw we had not been greeted. I saw at least 4 servers standing around the drink station area a mere 4 feet away doing nothing while we sit there not knowing if we should say something or not. A manager even passed us glanced at our table and decided knocking on the party room glass window to talk to her servers was more important. We were sat on the patio directly facing the party/private room they have. Which by the way can we get a curtain for that or something??? It’s super awkward to constantly make eye contact with servers staring at you through a window while you eat. Aside from that, our server finally came over, but didn’t apologize and instead started serving us like normal. Whatever okay, maybe she just didn’t know we were there. She took our order for our food, got it in a timely manner, then after she made sure we were good with our food she started circling us like hawks. I could definitely tell she had been cut and just wanted to get off the floor, I think I made eye contact with her more than the person I was eating with if that tells you anything. She was basically just circling us waiting for us to be done. Then she drops off the check with a box we give her our card, she takes it, comes back with it and says here’s this back then scurries off back to whatever she was doing before she served us. Not a have a great night, thankyou guys so much, can I get you all anything else before you go, just dropping off the card so we can tip her for her mid tier service. Then to top it all off as we left, the manager who walked past us after seeing we hadn’t been greeted said “Have a great night guys!” Oh I will now after leaving that place! Just like genuinely insane. And for this as their “opening day” is also super crazy to me. Would they not wanna be on their absolute A game for the grand opening of their restaurant? Idek. Also servers just walking around with vapes around on the patio that has a clear no vaping...

It takes a WHOLE lot for me to give a 5 star review for pizza. I have the highest standards, because I firmly believe some calories should only be wasted on top notch food. On that note, I would go into caloric debt for this food. It really is that good. My fiancé and I had breadsticks, a meatball calzone, and rhe The Boss pizza. We ate at the bar, which is definitely one of the best in Lexington, with an extensive rotating draft menu a great selection of bourbons, and the best part, Nikki the bartender. She honestly deserves her own review. She was helpful but not intrusive, observant but not hovering, and I will always choose the bar area when she is working because she is worth it. The food. Is. Perfection. No really it is. The breadsticks were light and airy, brushed in garlic butter but not greasy. You won't need a fork or a napkin. The marinara was hot and flavorful, The Boss pizza on thin crust. I am not a meat person - I usually pick it off or I order vegetarian or minimal meat. The ham and pepperoni were delicious. You can taste the quality of the ingredients, which are selectively chosen by the owner, many of them being local. It makes all the difference between really good and actual perfection. The meatball canzone was insane. The bread was thin enough to allow you to really appreciate the filling, but it was also delicious enough to eat on its own. Try the meatballs on anything, they are delicious. The bread, the marinara, the cheeses. The best. There is a heated patio with tvs. It is pet friendly. They have bowls and dog treats, and plan on having a stage for live music. They have a kids menu and a "treasure chest". They have a conference/party room with its own entrance, sink and soda machine, a fireplace/lounge area and a conference table. There are so many things that make this 5 star worthy, but in the end if the food isn't great it doesn't matter. The food is just that...