Restaurant Review: Parkside District

I am slowly bringing my series back where I check out places to eat and bring you my honest opinion on everything from the cost, to the taste, to the score at the time I visit. Today we are taking a trip to Parkside District in Gwinnett. A friend of mine raved about the food so I knew that I had to go and check it out for myself.

Parkside District

First, this place is about an hour from where I live. I was in the area visiting my hub’s mom and decided to take the 30 min drive to see what Parkside was all about. We went on a Saturday evening and the first thing I was asked was if I had a reservation. I didn’t know I needed one but they do ask that you have one for the weekends. Luckily they weren’t packed and was able to sit me immediately. Let’s talk about the decor!

I always look at how a restaurant presents itself (along with the score) to see if they took the time to look good. I know not everything that looks good is good but the decor was absolutely beautiful. It didn’t do the pictures online justice. The score was 93 when I went which is good in my book so I decided to stay and eat. I have been known to walk out if the score is less than an 85 and that sometimes is pushing it. Our waitress was very nice and made sure we knew what we were in store for since it was our first time there. She told us that they were a restaurant that was farm to table that means everything was fresh. We visited an establishment like that in Florida once and you can tell the difference in the freshness when it’s farm to table. Our waitress answered all of our questions including what not to spend our money on. Now let me say this I love restaurants that tell you straight up…that dish isn’t worth the money we have other dishes that are better. I truly appreciated her honesty and that helped us to decide our dish.

Here is what we ordered:

Calamari as an appetizer

Shrimp and Grits for me (not pictured because the lighting was horrible)

Pork Chop for my son which was huge

Chimichurri steak for my daughter who did not eat the chimichurri

For the side, the kids got sweet potato casserole that they also didn’t eat…they said it was to many nuts and what was the white stuff on top (marshmallows)

I wanted to take my kids out for a nice sit-down dinner that wasn’t the norm. We always go to Longhorn or Olive Garden I wanted them to try something different so that is why I took them. Of course different means the question of why there wasn’t any regular stuff on the menu *big sigh* I did threaten them to eat the food or they would have to pay me back my money so they ate it. (sorry about the pictures, lighting was horrible)

They do have drink menus and they serve Coke products. I love that they also do brunch.

This isn’t the ideal place to bring kids because the prices are a bit high and if you have picky kids like I do it will be a waste of money. I suggest this as a spot to go to with your girls or your boo. Now my opinion of the food varies. I didn’t taste my daughter’s steak but she said it was good. The pork chop was huge….my son could not eat it all but the breading on that was the best part. My shrimp and grits was unique because it came with Okra which I thought was a unique twist on a classic dish. The sweet potato souffle was ok but I think if it has fewer nuts it would be perfect. The calamari was good you could taste the freshness. Overall I think it’s a great place to eat and I would definitely recommend it if you happen to be in the Atlanta area.

What dish would you try of the three?