The Parish — Restaurant in Oro Valley

first, let me say that we traveled 3 and 1/2 hours from our home simply to experience this food. If you have never been to NOLA and have no need for authenticity, but are craving a "vibe" you will never hope to experience in person, "food" (yes, the quotes are on purpose) that promises soul and delivers a darkness to your own, then this is the place for you! From the hopeless bleakness of the parking lot to the staff who looks you in the eye and then the other way, if you are looking for a perhaps 'haunted' experience, this may be for you! I'm not saying it's haunted. I'm saying it lacks heartbeat and soul. If you're FROM the south, skip it. If you have HEARD of the South and go there anyway,don't hold any of us Southerners accountable for their bad behavior. It's ALL BAD. From the blue (deliver us) cornbread that is a pizz poor excuse for cake and MAYBE some blue cornmeal in there, all added in hopes that you wont notice that even Jiffy said not to involve their name in that abomination (I learned quickly you can get it down with a few pitchers of water w/lemon, LOTS OF extra "honey" (again, quotes on purpose), and lots of the whiskey butter. Then, onward to the vinegar and meat gumbo that even unseasoned plain white rice won't save. It has a distinct flavor. The sight says "meat", the flavor says "hahahahahahahaha!" Look, our meal was comped and I haven't and won't mention the major issue of our meal. We didnt ask for that, we didn't want that. But,I suppose at some point the powers that be have to say, "Yeah, you're right. This IS bad and we can't pretend in front of you." We did pay for the "cornbread" (yet again, quotes are on purpose. That's what they call it, so will I). Just as an aside,we were passed by the same waitress (in a restaurant smaller than your average Krispy Kreme) who kept assuring us that the hostess would see to soon. The "hostess" was the waitress for the bar area and the lady who kept passing Us by promising that we would be seated soon? That was our waitress. Maybe we were supposed to feel special or create some sort of sense of supply and demand, but all it really did was make us angry and notice the paint job. We tipped her over $10 and then we left and went to a...

FROM TIANA'S WORLD TO TUCSON

When I first walked into The Parish, the decor, color scheme, chandeliers, and unorthodox art work, immediately conjured scenes from "The Princess and The Frog' when Tiana was first cornered by Dr. Facilier in the French Quarter with his sauve and seductive aura.

Am I the only one with this familiarity?

And the private dining room with a mardi gras & victorian decor integration and trance inducing ambiance.... I had to ask if the owners knew voodoo. Come on people are you with me?

Because the food is that savory: voodoo-ish. The potions of seasonings and concoctions that should not be complementary can only come together with experimenting with different spells of cuisines.

I was visiting Tucson and searched soul food. The Parish was recommended. I ate at the bar and immediately noticed the bookcase of culinary pickling preservations.

Does Dr. Facilier work here?

Over The Two Days I Ordered:

Shrimp & Grits w/collards (5/5) Blue cornbread (5/5) Parish hamburger with fries (3/5) La Verdad (tequila and cucumber infused refreshing drink) (5/5)

The burger patty was da bomb but I would ask for easy blue cheese and substitute for a cup of gumbo. The fries are topped off with salt which is absolutely not needed because the initial seasoning on the fries is spectacular. I liked the visual plating of the roux on the dark plate with the shrimp & grits which was a playful tasting delight.

As a party of one, with no microwave or frig access and not really a heavy eater, the meal was too large. Instead of waste, I gave the remaining to a stranger at the gas station. Now let me be clear, If I had a microwave and frig, this would have been breakfast, snack, and just because I'm t.v. binging meal.

Nonetheless, my recommendation is for an "amuse bouche" entree. I find it unfair to be denied the choice of many when the menu has moan murmurings of goodness from each dish.

"The evening star is shinin’ bright. So make a wish and hold on tight. There’s magic in the air tonight, and anything can happen.” Princess...

We’ve been coming to The Parish for well over two years. We first heard of it through its old sister restaurant, The Delta, which for whatever reason closed its doors a while back. We’ve always been very satisfied which is why we found ourselves there for tonight’s dinner. We always enjoyed the Tuesday seafood boil amongst many other dishes, until tonight. Absolutely terrible. We haven’t been there in a while and it was like a completely different restaurant. We were completely dumbfounded. We were used to a fresh, unique, authentic, delicious, seafood boil, almost falling out of the plate. Tonight it was literally half the size of the normal serving and completely bland and borderline gross. We also ordered the Parish burger. Upon our last visit the burger was a delicious, delightful, surprise, of an elevated burger. Tonight it might as well have been a ball of grease dipped in salt. Absolutely disgusting and barely edible. We could not believe what was happening. This has been one of our favorite go to places in Tucson, again, for literally over the last two years. It was like the twilight zone! What happened to this place? Cut back on food quality? Inexperienced kitchen staff? New ownership? We asked our waitress why everything, particularly the seafood boil, was so different and barely palatable. She replied, “We’ve only been doing it for 8 months.” Which is not only completely false but also a poor excuse for a very expensive beyond subpar dinner. And not to mention, the prices have gone up. How is possible the prices go up and the quality plummet? We don’t know what happened to this place but thankfully right across the road is Redbird Scratch Kitchen, which now puts The Parish to complete shame. Don’t waste your time and especially money here anymore. They went from a local favorite to garbage. I’d sooner eat fast food than return. And I will be sure to tell all of my colleagues that I once recommended this place to, to steer...