CD3
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Parrain’s has been a must-stop restaurant for us every time we pass through Baton Rouge over the past five years; the food is consistently outstanding, and we were excited for lunch today.
Unfortunately, this visit was the worst dining experience we’ve had anywhere in recent memory. Here are some of the frustrating details:
• Arrived at 12:02 PM, quoted a 10-minute wait
• Received “table ready” text at 12:11 PM and were seated by 12:13 PM
• Placed our order immediately (Atchafalaya, Shrimp/Crawfish/Crab Pasta, and Pontchartrain) because we were in the middle of a long road trip.
What followed was nearly an hour with no entrees, empty water glasses, and uncleared salad and soup plates/bowls. A nearby table of eight people was screaming, cursing loudly, telling highly inappropriate stories, and dominating the entire dining room with their behavior. They also had young children at their table. Multiple after-church families looked visibly uncomfortable, yet no staff or manager ever approached the group or acknowledged the disruption.
When we finally asked about our food 50 minutes after we ordered it our server replied, “That’s on the kitchen, I haven’t been back there.” At that point we immediately asked to have everything boxed to-go. Our driver literally ate the Atchafalaya out of the to-go box in under two minutes while we waited for the itemized receipt. The rest was eaten in the car.
The food itself, as always, was phenomenal. But the extreme delay, complete lack of communication or service recovery, and the unchecked disruptive behavior from another party ruined the experience. The management clearly needs to address training, kitchen efficiency, and how rowdy tables are handled, especially on a Sunday around families.
We’ll still stop again if we aren’t in a hurry because the food is that good, but today was genuinely frustrating.