Tried Bar Parisette tonight. Hadn’t been to this space since it was Dos. We were super happy with the experience at happy hour.
Extremely affordable martinis, well made. I got a perfect for $9 (gin, dry and sweet vermouth, bitters), enjoyed it a lot. I think with a perfect martini you need to want a more rounded, sweet vermouth-led profile; I wanted that and got it. My wife had a dirty martini for $8—made sure beforehand that “dirty” still meant “some dry vermouth” as that’s weirdly been a problem at some spots. Both well stirred, cold and tasty. I also had a couple oysters for $2/ea, came with a super fun shaker filled with mignonette. Very cute. Briny east coasters.
We got the olives and beet salad as starters. Beet salad was not a HH deal, still affordable at $8. Solid serving for 2 of shredded beets, black lentils, grated horseradish, herbs and lime. Right amount of sating for a starter salad. Olives were served warm, with some confit citrus peels. Awesome stuff, perfect pre- and between- course snack.
Then we each got a burger. Honestly? Blown away. I have my burger faves—RHR, Leavitt, Gretel. This flew in the face of some of those and yet it might stand with them. Leavitt, for example. It’s a perfect burger to have as an early dinner on a college football Saturday. It’s so so rich and pairs well with a crisp beer. This burger is what I’d call a sandwich burger. You have a variety of textures and flavors. Thinly sliced snappy red onion, good strong acidic pickles, wilty shrettuce, smoked onion mayo (props for not calling it aioli!) on a toasted bun, medium thick burger cooked to medium and kept very juicy. Eating a perfect smash burger is an indulgence, eating this burger is a perfect complete meal. Nice fries too—super salty (too salty) but crispy melt-in-your-mouth outsides and fluffy airy insides.
Four drinks, olives, salad, and two burgers for $87 subtotal. $115 all in for a meal that would’ve been over $150 outside of happy hour. Can’t recommend enough that you give this a try as a casual weeknight dinner. Excited to go back and try it again for the full menu.
by stpmakingsense