Parker John's BBQ & Pizza, Oshkosh — Restaurant in Oshkosh

I recently visited Parker John’s restaurant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and overall I had an underwhelmed experience.

TL;DR: One-word review: Dissatisfaction.

My server was Crystal, who was polite and helpful throughout the evening, although it was pretty busy and packed. She did forget to get us the waters we requested initially, but that was soon corrected. The food was tasty, and the atmosphere was very cozy and inviting. I had the Oshkosh Restaurant Week three-course meal, cooked with just the right amount of spice. Drink - Root beer float (pictured): Creamy, smooth, and delicious. Compared to other places, it‘s not as good as A&W or TJ’s Ardy & Ed’s root beer float, but better than Red Robin’s. The vanilla ice cream was nothing to write about. The water had a strong taste of iron and calcium.

Appetizer: Barbecuterie Board (pictured)- This came with fried cheese curds, Andouille Sausages, Mild Chicken Wings, Armadillo Egg (not shown), Beef Brisket strips as an alternative, Celery Sticks, and bleu cheese/ranch dipping sauces. It was filling and could in and of itself be a meal. I was dissatisfied that I didn’t get an Armadillo Egg and received brisket instead (without prior notice), which was tender and decent. Otherwise, this was quite tasty. Cheese curds were 5/10 on a Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds overall scale. Better than Culver’s and Applebee’s, Not better than A&W’s or DQ’s. Frito Pie: Tasty, medium spice, and chili were decent. Fritos were unexpectedly mushy and not, at the very least crunchy. Entree: Bacon and Brussel Sprouts Flatbread- I was not a fan and couldn’t finish it. I could only consume 2/6 pieces of it before I had to request a box. There wasn’t much bacon on it and more Brussels sprouts than anything else. The flatbread separated from the bottom flatbread piece, which led to the top collapsing under the weight of the Brussels sprouts. The top and bottom flatbread pieces weren’t attached in any way, merely placed on each other. I wanted to like it but couldn’t. Smoked Salmon: It was delicious. Cooked throughout, the wife would have eaten the whole thing but was already full by the time she got halfway through the salmon. Sides: Mac and Cheese and Waffle Fries- The Mac and cheese wasn’t excellent, wasn’t bad, it was okay. The cheese seemed to be a mild cheddar and was barely noticeable. The macaroni fell apart under the weight of the fork. The waffle fries were fried well, not better than Chik-Fil-A waffle fries. Dessert: Raspberry Cheesecake filled Chimichanga- It was tasty but left much to be desired. It would pair well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Blackberry Streusel- It was essentially a soupy goop. This would also have paired well with a scoop of ice cream or a pie crust. This had also left much to be desired and barely finished.

I recommend Parker John’s to anyone looking for a filling meal with average food, good root beer, and a friendly atmosphere. I give Parker John’s restaurant a 2.7 out of 5 stars. The price point on the main menu or the Oshkosh Restaurant Week menu isn’t wallet-friendly. I could get a reasonable deal and tastier food with The Mineshaft.

I had their food outside of the Oshkosh Restaurant Week, and it was delicious. I would have had a four or higher star rating, but this recent visit was underwhelming. I tried to like it, but I didn’t. I will try again outside of restaurant week to catch a glimpse of my previous conceptions...

Let me preface by saying my fiancé and I previously worked in the restaurant industry (I was a server, he was a head chef for many different types of establishments from sports bar & grill to fine dining), so we tend to be more patient and understanding than most when it comes dining out. With that said, however, we also know what we should be able to expect from a "good" restaurant".

We dined in last Friday. We arrived at 5:22, were quoted a 45-60 minute wait time, but were seated by 5:48. While we expected to wait the full wait time, it was nice to be seated quicker. Once at our table our server greeted us quickly and took our drink and appetizer order. We ordered the Haystack Onion Rings (not rings, just very thinly sliced slivers of onion- which we expected). The appetizer came out quickly (within 5 minutes), however it was luke-warm, limpy, and greasy. We politely asked to have it remade as it did not seem fresh. It was, and was brough out warmer, but still not at all crunchy, and very greasy. At this time, we ordered our dinners, and requested a dinner salad to share be brought out first. We also requested a new roll of paper towels for the table, as ours was empty. We ate our appetizer without paper towels as our server never came with them, nor did she visit our table again. We then proceeded to wait an entire hour from the time of ordering to time our food finally arrived. Again, we never saw our server during this time, though we tried to flag her down while she rushed around the dining room. Our drinks were empty, we still needed paper towels, and we never received the salad that we requested to come out before our meals. Our food was delivered to our table at 7:04, including the salad. I was very excited to try to mac and cheese and was sorely disappointed when it arrived actually cold without a degree of warmth. I ordered the pulled pork with sweet potato fries as well. The pork was luke-warm and overly fatty. The sweet potato fries were the warmest thing on the plate. The cornbread was tasty at least. My fiancé ordered the Brisket Gyro with the hand-cut fries. His was again, luke-warm, and the fries were undercooked and soaked with fryer oil. When the server returned to ask how our food was, I was honest and said it was "just okay". Her response was "uh, okay, enjoy". She didn't further ask if there was anything that could be done. Again, we did not see her again until I had my credit card on the table as a signal that we were ready for our check. Our plates were practically untouched, we said no to boxes. We weren't asked "how was everything tonight?". On our way out, none of the 4 staff members by the host desk said a word to us as we walked out.

Overall, we were prepared to be patient with wait times (at the door, or at the table) as it was their first Friday night open. However, to deliver cold, soggy food after having customers wait that long just wasn't acceptable. It was not a good first impression for us. Had our server been more attentive to our displeasure, or had a manager been surveying the tables throughout the night for customer feedback, we may have left less...

My family of four (myself, my husband and two children 13 and 7) come to Oshkosh as a mini getaway from the West Bend area. For some reason we never tried Parker John's until this visit and I'm mad at us for waiting so long. I apologize in advance for the length of this review but feel it's necessary.

I don't even know where to begin. The food was by far some of the best barbecue we have ever had. The nachos, literally the best we've had anywhere. There was so much to choose from and options for my 7 year old allowed her to try the barbeque or just have a regular cheeseburger.

The main reason you can guarantee we will be back wasn't even the food though. The experience we had with our server, Cam, made the entire meal AMAZING. Cam's recommendations were absolutely on point. He was so knowledgeable about the menu and the way he explains the food will make your mouth water. On top of that, he was so attentive and knew exactly the right times to stop and check on us...not too often, not too little. As someone who served previously, I know this job can be difficult. I truly believe even on his worst day, Cam is the best. You can tell he really does care about what he's doing and he really does care about his tables experiences. I hope Parker John's knows how lucky they are and please keep Cam around so we can ask for him when we come back 😂

If I could rate this place higher I would. The food was sooooo good, the service was outstanding and I even got to purchase one of the cute shirts..."smoke meat not meth" 😂😂

If you're looking for a place to get a meal, I recommend this place a million times over. Awesome job...