Parish Grocery — Restaurant in Memphis

Some of the best Cajun food you will ever eat, and I haven't had a single Cajun item on the menu that I didn't love. Their seafood gumbo is some of the best gumbo I've ever had, and I've both cooked and consumed a lot of gumbo in my lifetime. I have to admit, the étouffée threw me at first because I took a small bite of the very top layer. The easiest way to make etouffee is to make the soup salty and flavorful, but that means you aren't showcasing your other ingredients. The soup itself was somewhat bland, and I was disappointed, but when I took another bite after mixing it all up, I realized I was witnessing the work of some true professionals. The soup itself was prepared as such so as not to overpower the AMAZING flavors of the seafood, which the soup was well-stocked with (but had sunken to the bottom by the time I got it home). I went from regretting getting the étouffée on my first bite to being so thankful for getting it on my second bite. Absolutely amazing--these folks know how to do it right!!

Every po boy I've had from here was delicious. Major props for featuring the roast beef po boy, which is the original form of the po boy. Most restaurants serving po boys these days just go for seafood po boys because it's a lot easier to fry up some frozen shrimp than to put in some effort, so I really appreciate that Parish Grocery goes all the way. The de bris gravy was delicious and stood on its own. I also had an oyster po boy previously and I was really impressed. The oysters were perfectly cooked and tasted amazing, without being soggy, mushy, or fishy. The popcorn crawfish was also delicious, not too greasy or salty, with the perfect texture. Major props there, as it can be very easy to cook crawfish to the point that it is chewy.

The potato salad was great. The black eyed pea salad was great. I personally enjoyed the muffaletta, but I suspect people who are muffaletta originalists will think it isn't sufficiently tangy or vinegary, as it is definitely toned down in that regard (but the result is that you can actually taste the meats, which were undeniably top notch). The only thing I've eaten from here that was sub-par for me was the banana pudding, but I won't hold that against them as I don't consider that a Cajun dish.

I know from reading other reviews that some people have had bad experiences with wait times, but I've luckily not experienced that myself. I also can't comment on the snow-balls, which I've seen some bad reviews about, as I don't know anything about them (I'm sure they are an important part of New Orleans culture but most of my experience with Cajun food is from the swamps rather than the city). If you stick to the tried and true Cajun staples, I don't think you can go wrong at Parish Grocery. But I'm looking forward to trying their...

I visited this establishment yesterday. I was not pleased at all. The service was okay, and the food left much to be desired. I order a catfish dinner, mac n cheese, and greens. I received one fillet, cut in half to make two pieces. The greens were canned and not good, the mac n cheese was just blah. This meal was $16. My man ordered a shrimp poboy that was served on hard bread, seven shrimp (yes we counted them) and loads of lettuce. He ordered a side a cajun slaw, which was blah also. We also ordered two drinks, I had a spiked lemonade, which was a mixture of some alcohol I’ve never heard of, and lemonade that poured from a jug, no biggie here. He had a frozen concoction that was awful. We left 75% of our food and drinks at the table. Our tab was over $60 and we left unsatisfied. Also, apparently there is a 3% charge for using a debit card. It’s listed on my receipt as non-cash discount adj. Ow I ordered an order or cajun queso while we waited for our food, it was too spicy to be edible. I found it hilarious that I heard the cashier yelling to the back to another worker, to just heat the queso up for one minute. 🙄 For some reason the additional charge wasn’t on this receipt. I won’t even address most of the employees hanging out in the back when we pulling in to park, or all of the profanity that we, along with other guest could hear coming from the kitchen. It’s safe to say, I...

I had a shrimp poboy and my wife had the roast beef debris. I'm originally from the Lafayette, La area so I've had my fair share of poboys throughout my life. These were as good as any I've had. First, the bread is the most important part of the poboy to me. It's what sets it apart from any other sandwich. And the bread at Parish Grocery is nicely crusty yet still springy. There was a generous amount of fried shrimp, and they were large with the right amount of breading. My wife had plenty of roast debris in her poboy with a good amount of gravy - plenty of flavor but not enough to make the bread soggy. Excellent addition to the Memphis restaurant scene. I will be sure to point anyone here who's looking for an authentic...