Henry Parsons Project

Found this spot purely out of chance. Was looking for a low-key spot to eat, surprise the wife for her bday. This place looked good, Louisiana style fare, chill environment. The name is what caught my attention primarily because it sounded experimental. Wasn't sure what to expect, but knew it couldn't hurt to try something new.

Come to find out, this place has only been open to in person for about a year. They have a huge catering operation that competes with the restaurant hours - so FYI to those that aren't aware and showed up only to find the shop closed.

Got to the restaurant - they prefer reservations which can be done through Open Table. Hostess was super warm and inviting. She sat us at our table and introduced the menu to us and how the restaurant worked, as it was our first time there.

Menu was nice and concise, offering a ton of variety in a reasonable number of menu items; small and large plate offerings. Definitely not a place that makes it hard to choose. The menu is seasonal and they offer a special Tasting Menu that is $75 per person and includes on and off menu items and changes with the season with so much variety.

So, we definitely got this and a number of other items to try and ended up with a 10 course meal. Um... Soooo much food, but everything we ordered was incredible. I mean, I'm not sure I've ever been to a spot where literally everything we ordered was 100% on point.

Fried oysters
Duck liver pate
Gumbo
Crawfish Etoufee
Tasting Menu (includes dessert)
Birthday dessert

Chef Kevin paid us several special dlvisits, curating our tasting and the menu items we ordered and offering interesting tidbits about food history and the menu. It was an incredible dining experience. The staff was attentive and courteous and the atmosphere was super chill and loungey. We probably spent about 2 hours there just eating and enjoying ourselves.

Words literally won't do it justice. This is 100% diamond in the rough. Definitely going back and trying new menu items as the seasons go on.

We ordered the prix fixe, and a couple of the items were exactly what you'd expect from a caterer--mediocre and over-priced. The ones that were good, particularly the shrimp and grits and sea bass, were not good enough to justify the expense (and the portions were quite small). The service was also unfocused, as one might expect from a restaurant run by caterers that is rarely even open. As a fan of Southern/Cajun food, I was disappointed, but I'd be willing to give them a shot again sometime, as there aren't many restaurants in this style in the Pasadena area.

Enjoyed the menu and ambiance overall. While staff was friendly, service has work-to-go (10 min to talk to hostess, near 1 hr before first plate, had to ask for missing set of dinnerware twice, had to ask for water to be served twice, mains came out not together).

A delicious, authentic Southern Style restaurant in Pasadena. I absolutely love French cuisine so American Southeast is also something I’m a fan of and this restaurant not only did not disappoint but it went above my expectations. Parking is plentiful as they have a large lot on site but also street parking is easy to find. The staff was extremely polite, everyone from the hostess to our waiter was very welcoming and accommodating.

Dishes here are share size portions, aside from the entrees at the bottom of the menu, so we chose some of our favorites and just shared. We started with the Crispy Potatoes which were delicious and as expected. Next came the Biscuit with butter which may have been my favorite part of the meal. It was large and fluffy and went quickly. Followed up with the fried oysters (some of the best bread coating I have had in a long time it was perfectly fried) and mixed it with the Baby Lettuces salad. Mixing the crispy oyster with the buttery smooth salad was heavenly. Finally I finished up with the Crawfish Étouffée as I don’t see that as menu option often in California and it tied as my favorite dish. The roux was deep in flavor which tells me it had been stewing for awhile which is by far the best way to do it. Topped off the meal with the Banana Pudding and it too did not disappoint.

Overall a delicious meal with a friendly staff and fair pricing. I would recommend to anyone. Also we sat outside next to the sidewalk so we were able to people watch all night. I will be back again soon.

Been here twice and fell in love with this restaurant. Amazing food. Unique food that you can’t really find it elsewhere.

Service is a bit slow. Reservation required. It’s worth the wait but not on a hungry day — order appetizers - they come out faster :)

Service- wise, they need more training for the service staff. We were waiting for plates and utensils for good 5-10 min after we had two of our appetizers delivered to our table. Good thing we already washed our hands as these fried oysters don’t wait for us!

The table next to us already got plates and utensils from their server. The young girl brought it to us.

They delivered the wrong check to us. No biggie. After we paid with my credit card they delivered my card and check to the table next to us. LOL 😂