The Parrott House — Restaurant in Oregon

After some years of hearing about Parrot House, listening to various friends on their experiences dining at Parrot House, we decided to try it out, never the less. I want to note that we both enjoy sharing positive reviews. This review is not enjoyable for us, as we had hoped it to be.

We dined for Sunday Brunch on Nov 27, arriving around 11:30 a.m.. Following parking our car, we began the walk up the entrance sidewalk, and the first thing that struck us were almost all of the walkway lights laying on their sides, some with exposed wiring, heads lopsided and or broken off, the need for repair maintenance was sad. Of approximately 10-12 walkway lights, all needed repair or replacement, except the first two, at the base of the sidewalk, which were sheltered by a bush on each side, at the beginning of the entrance.

We entered the restaurant and were pleasantly greeted by the host, who asked of this was our first visit, and then proceeded to show us around and detail the store, bar area, outside seating and, at the end, the inner seating restaurant. We were seated and a friendly waitress came and provided menus. We liked her friendliness, and the seating environment, and brunch buffet area looked comfortable.

Comfortable, except we were seated at a table for two, and it was just about a seats distance from a larger grouped table. We could hear every word of their conversation, as we are sure, they could us. Being a larger group of four, the volume ‘allowance’ for such a cozy/tight place, is limited. It feels more a dining area for casual occasion, jovial conversation and no notice to the sound levels. There were not many others in the restaurant when we first entered, though a few others came in as time passed.

As our visit was intentionally to test out the buffet, for future larger family visits, we ordered the buffet lunch, and proceeded to the buffet area.

What we discovered was that all the entries, though looking enticing, were just barely warm. The different ‘dishes’ had a fine taste, except for the scrambled eggs, which appeared to be some form of ‘easy’ eggs. The roast beef was very good, though, as with the other dishes, barely warm.

The buffet is located along a windowed wall. It is softly illuminated. None of the food service chafing dishes were labeled, so in some cases, soft light and all, what entre a chafing dish contained, was a mystery. Beverages supplied with the buffet meal were orange juice or lemonade, and both were good.

Service seemed busy after our initial order, taking some time to retrieve dishes needing busing. After waiting some time, I went up and served a new plate, the old plate remaining on the table for about 10-15 minutes.

Overall, I like the setting. It’s got to be very nice in the spring through fall. Given the importance of having food sufficiently ‘hot’, at service, and the other, general notes above, we don’t feel comfortable bringing in our larger family when they come for a visit in a week.

We also don’t feel comfortable with the price per buffet meal, given the mediocre supervision of temperature of the food entrées, quality of the ‘eggs’, a bit of the service, and the lack of repair issue. I did not look around for other things needing repair.

The front entrance (sidewalk), is the first visual ‘invitation’ into the restaurant. We hope the owners come to sense this, as well. The front entrance should smile at you, rather than look...

Great filet mignon, but didn't receive the entire meal. Lovely place, friendly atmosphere. We ordered to go, therefore, looked at menu on line. Also called to ask about a gift certificate we would be using. They stated their menu had changed, but upon looking, the current menu was online. Once arriving we were routed to the back area, as Covid restrictions were in order. We ordered two Choice Filet Mignon, Mole rub, Mashers & Asparagus (36.00 each). In addition, two orders of Sauteed Mushrooms with the dinner ($5.00 each). We also ordered the Pizza and Salad for Two. ($25.00) ALL OF WHICH WAS ON THE ONLINE MENU, CURRENT, ACCORDING TO THE OWNER. Upon placing our order when arriving, the waiter informed us they no longer had the Pizza for two on the menu, so we ordered a single pizza and single salad. There was no mention that the menu had changed as far as the rest of our order. We were not looking at the menu, we told him we already looked on line. Our tab came to $101.00 and gave a tip of $10.00to the owner, for takeout (no waitressing services needed). When we got home and opened the meal boxes, each box with the filet mignon, had only the filet and french fries. No mashers, asparagus or sauteed mushrooms. The filet was excellent and melt in your mouth good, but huge disappointment that we spent $36 for the meat and some french fries. The pizza was just ok.....would not order again. I called and spoke with the owner regarding our missing items. She looked on line and their menu wasn't current. She apologized and said they were no longer serving the mashers or asparagus and didn't know what happened with the sauteed mushroom orders. She also added that it is hard times right now and they can't even pay for a dishwasher. Understandable and I feel for the small businesses right now. That should not have an impact on their customers receiving the meal ordered. BUT, she did say that if we want to come in next weekend with an order they will give us mushroom at no cost and plenty of extra. Nothing about the other items we were supposed to receive with our original order. When ordering, there was no mention of the menu change. YES, we were charged for our entire order. So basically, we paid $36.00 for a piece of meat. You can't really count the french fries in my opinion....(how much does a potato cost) I rather doubt we will go back to buy a high priced meal, just for some $10.00 sauteed mushrooms.

*Note: The price of the meal isn't an issue, it's paying the price and not receiving the entire meal. This was our third time eating at this restaurant. Once at their Thanksgiving buffet. The previous two visits there were no complaints. Great food, service and atmosphere. As a matter of fact, we were...

We came here hoping for a nice romantic dinner for my boyfriend’s birthday. We walked in and there was nobody in the building, we could hear the kitchen staff up top, so we walked around to see people seated outside, but no staff. We waited for a while, walking back and forth until we decided to call and they came out of nowhere to greet us. The woman said they didn’t have a host for the night, but she was really nice and told us we could sit wherever. We chose a table outside like everyone else, and were brought water and bread. When it was time to order, the wine we wanted was out, so we ordered another choice, and it was great! The meals though… I wanted chicken Marsala and that was out too, so I went with pasta. My boyfriend ordered a steak and potatoes since it looked good in review pictures. After a while we got our food and instantly were disappointed… My pasta was still hard, undercooked, and didn’t have much flavor but I still tried to enjoy it. My boyfriend steak was so bland, there was no seasoning and it was over cooked. Our silverware and glasses also were super streaky and caked in either dish washing soap, or something. As the other waitress checked on us I told her to watch out for the 6 or so wasps that were flying on us and trying to get our food. She just replied “oh yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if you want to move inside” and walked away. After enough time getting crawled on and our food almost taken over, we started bringing all our food in, by ourselves as the staff just watched from the window inside. If it were me, I probably would have helped my guests instead of watching them trying to balance plates of food, wine glasses and waters. She told us we could leave our empty bread basket and butter knife out there, after we already grabbed it all. We came inside, then flies were all around but we just wanted to finish the meal. The waitress seemed to dislike everyone she was waiting on except for these two other people I’m assuming were regulars. My boyfriend and I left with a big bill (which we expected) but hoped the food would have been worth it… the bread and wine maybe were, and the deep fried pickle appetizers we got seemed fresh. Other than that, it was just sad… I noticed a new management sign, so I’m not sure if it was that, or maybe we caught them on a bad day, but I’m not sure if we’ll be back...