Parrish's Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Long Beach

Reenies overlooks the marina in Long Beach and occupies the space that used to be Brackish Seafood Restaurant. My wife and I spend the month of March in the area and always wanted to try Brackish but never made it so we made it a point to get to Reenies. We had their menu which is online and I had picked out Mama’s Lasagna and my wife chose Shrimp Creole from the entrée list of 20 items. Having chosen our meals we headed for the restaurant on a Saturday about 3:30PM. We were quickly seated in the main dining area which is very light and comfortable and most tables are next to windows overlooking the boats. The waitress arrived and pointed out to us that, “We do things a little differently here. You choose from those entrée items on the blackboard, depending on the day, and add 2 sides”, all the while snuffing. She also noted that we could opt for soup and salad from the salad bar. Well there were 6 entrees and 6 sides to choose from and neither Lasagna nor Shrimp Creole was among the entrees. I chose a half chicken with sides of collard greens and jalapeno corn bread. My wife also had the chicken with collard greens and macaroni & cheese. We had ordered adult beverages and shortly after they arrived we were served our meals. After we had started eating the waitress brought 2 small, cold, stale dinner rolls with butter. Then when we were about half finished she brought us water. The chicken was lukewarm and very dry; even the dark meat lacked adequate moisture. The corn bread was thin, hard, cold, and crumbly. The collard greens were average at best. The macaroni & cheese had an interesting flavor and was the best item of all those served. They do have a very pleasant looking lounge which has its own food menu and we were told this menu never changes. We had high hopes for this restaurant after seeing the menu, but being limited to 6 entrees and 6 sides puts a very real damper on the experience. It’s location with the views can’t be beaten but it is the food we are paying for and based on this one visit we will probably not give it a second chance. I don’t think this restaurant will prosper with such meager offerings, especially when the food lacks quality. It's too bad because the potential here is enormous; everything is in place except...

I normally don't like to try new restaurants because I'm always disappointed and Parrishes was no exception. Just as I have stated in my earlier reviews I'm a huge supporter of local businesses. Since the recent re-opening of this restaurant we decided to give them a try. After calling first to make sure they were not busy and reservations were not required we arrived to a hostess who kept inquiring about reservations. As soon as we were seated I was disappointed to find utensils placed directly on the table not on placemats or a tablecloth things went downhill from there. After ordering appetizers and our unsweet teas I joke with my partner about no artificial sweeteners offered. Our appetizers arrive, Seafood bread and some French onion soup. The bread was ok but not worth the price however the French onion soup was unlike any we've ever tasted and we are connoisseurs. Very thick like gravy almost like it was made with a roux. Jacques Pepin and Julia Child woulda gagged! My partner ask for coffee and when it arrives it's cold and she ask if they can warm it in the microwave which the waitress exclaimed they didn't have one, the coffee also came to the table with a large spoon not once but twice ( see pic with proper spoon and large spoon). We order our entrees and try to remain upbeat but the hits keep coming. A runner comes to the table to see if we needed anything and I hand her the menus which were never picked up. Now my entree seafood pasta was described on the menu with gulf shrimp, crawfish, mushrooms, linguini topped with lump crabmeat and parmesan. If their were any crayfish they were minuscule and their wasn't any crabmeat ( see pic). My partner mentioned this to our server who told the manager and he brought a scoop full but if you describe all these ingredients on an entree on your menu they better be on it when it arrives on the table. Don't know who trained this restaurant on proper restaurant procedures but Parrishes missed the mark big time. For the price we paid for our meal we should have been wowed but I honestly woulda been happier with a sandwich down the road. Sad that locals don't know any better. Doubtful we...

UPDATE! We went for dinner last night again. It had been a while. Things have changed drastically. The hostess was wearing clothes inappropriate for a fine dining restaurant but she was pleasant and accommodating. We were greeted by our server fairly quick and given water and ordered drinks. When we were seated we noticed that there was loud rock music being played right above our table. Not that we don't like rock, but at a fine dining restaurant, I don't think that's the right thing to do for a relaxing romantic dinner. I felt like we were at a nice burger joint. Like being in a bar. I usually expect very low understated ambience music. The menu is not the same either. Very underwhelming, not enough variety. After finding out what I really came for wasn't on the menu, I made another choice that was on the menu but, they were out of....Shrimp, really? We are in the Shrimp capital of the south. My husband ordered the fish special, it was dry. It came with red potatoes and they were dry as well. The seafood bread was meh but, there were a couple of pieces of seafood that tasted a little foul. Did not finish and at $14, that's a shame. We waited well over 30 minutes for our entrees after they sent out the bread. I don't t know if new management has taken over and they are trying to be more like Shaggy's or something but , we will not be returning. The classy ambience and wonderful food choices that they had before has been ruined. Luckily there's a beautiful view. At this point that is the only nice thing I can say. Oh, and parking is plentiful. Seated promptly. John the host was friendly and attentive as was the server. Enjoyed the beautiful views. Appetizer was delicious. Drinks were not skimpy. Dinner was fabulous. Everything was perfect. Great ambience. Clean everywhere including the bathroom. We...