Great California beer selection and cocktail prep. Tasty food, but I wonder how healthy with all the fat and salt they use. Good job on decor, but I don't like the feel of the room designs and shapes.
Eat+Drink
The Parish Review: Casey Lane's Downtown Gastropub Is Gorgeous
But the food doesn't always measure up to the setting
The Parish is open for breakfast and lunch in the downstairs café, a pleasant, light-filled room with none of the glamour of the upstairs. These earlier meals, which you order at the counter, are far simpler affairs than dinner. There's high-quality coffee, pretty great biscuits for breakfast and, for lunch, sandwiches that tend toward gluttony — sausage dripping in sauce; a chicken sandwich, with a fried egg on top, on two slices of bread that have basically been cured in oil and crispified.
It's worth noting that the Parish has changed quite a bit since opening. Much of the staff has turned over and Lane has retooled the menu, dropping some of the pubbier items, such as fish and chips, and introducing more upscale entrees over time. In November, pastry chef Brooke Mosley left and Lane took over that side of the menu as well. It shows: Desserts at dinner are fine but simple to the point of being forgettable.
PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN
Rotisserie chicken with bread salad and mustard greens
Location Info
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The Parish
840 South Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Category: Bars/Clubs
Region: Downtown
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The problem with gastropubs, particularly in this country, is that we rely on them for too much. It's not our fault — but the fact that you may well need a reservation to get into the Parish means you're supposed to have dinner here and treat it like a restaurant, an event, a form of entertainment worthy of planning ahead and making a considerable time commitment.
It's too bad, because the Parish's true calling is as an actual pub, one you could stop into, have a drink, nosh on some fried sardines, grab a gloriously stinky burger, and occasionally get so plastered you might put your face in a plate of fried oyster poutine. One day I suspect it will settle into that functionality. In the meantime, you can head to the base of the Parish's isosceles for some of the best atmosphere downtown has to offer.
Email the writer at brodell@laweekly.com.
THE PARISH | 840 S. Spring St., dwntwn. | (213) 225-2400 | theparishla.com | Café: Opens 8 a.m. Mon-Fri and 9 a.m. Sat & Sun. Dinner & bar: Sun.-Wed., 5:30 p.m.-mid.; Thurs.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.- 2 a.m. | Entrees, $14-$30 | Reservations recommended | Full bar | Street and valet parking
2 comments
What's up with The Parish and Tuesdays? I was there for dineLA on Tuesday, and on this night, they were out of their signature appetizer, Mojama, plus 2 of the more exciting entrees (Duck Cassoulet and Crab). We were offered the choice of substituting the Branzino for an entree, but the the momentum was already tainted. We ordered off the regular menu instead. I opted for a Kale Salad starter and chose the Fried Oyster Poutine with a side of Brussel Sprouts as my entree. Our waitress forgot to put in the Kale Salad. Because of that, along with running out of dishes and the long wait for her to come back to take our order, she indicated that they were comp-ing all of us desserts. I told her I'm a Type 2 Diabetic, so the dessert was of no use for me (and neither of them sounded interesting either). Then she said how about a free drink/cocktail. I told her that she wanted me to have another cocktail just before I'm ready to leave and drive home? No thanks. In the end, I got a free $4 cup of coffee. I don't know... a couple of nights later, I had 2 courses at Le Ka that contained overly cooked cavatelli pasta. Because of that and the fact that the manager knew we had waited 10 to 15 minutes for our waiter to arrive an introduce himself, they comped me both courses. Now, THEY know how to rectify a poor dining experience. Will I go back to Le Ka? Not sure, but I am more prone to do so than The Parish.
Customer Service is just as important as good food. Ruin one for the customer, and the entire dining experience can go down the drain completely.
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