Latest visit: Jul 2024 (Colorado Springs - Barnes @ Powers)
First visit: Jul 2020 (Colorado Springs - Interquest)
HQ: Greenwood Village, CO (founded: 2007 in Parker, CO)
Locations: 24 total (+6); Colorado: 11 (same), including 3 here in the Springs; Texas: 11 (+6); Arizona and Nevada have one each (same). The Colony would be the closest to our old roaming grounds in NE Tarrant.
It's Sunday and I'm still working eastern Colorado Springs for the hobby business. The restaurant has an alternate concept called Parry's Sliceria. It's similar to the full scale restaurant, including a full bar, but it's essentially geared towards the quick service crowd. You can come here and grab a slice, and be back out quickly. Since it was a Sunday I took advantage of the bar and had one (very) light beer and a slice of pepperoni. The slice is gigantic, and very thin. To the point you almost want to ask for a knife and fork, because it's impossible to fold down the middle. I was happy with it, and I could easily have had a second slice. Which I might do next time, though with a soda instead of a beer. Just depends on what day it is and what I have to accomplish. Since Mrs. RJG usually frowns when I bring up Parry's for a lunch or dinner option, I may just make this my regular stop for annual visits, if not more.
---3/11/23 update
Back for the first time since the Cowcatchers were here, and only the second time for Mrs. RJG and I together. On today's visit we went for a house salad, a Caesar salad, and a large 18 inch pizza with spicy sausage on all of it with red onion and pickled jalapeno on just one-half. We also had one beer each and split another. Everything came out fantastic. I love their Caesar dressing, one of the best I've had to date. The pizza was cooked much better than what I state below. Just the right amount of crispiness and chewiness. The tap selection was better researched than on our last visit too. And finally the service was considerably better. Parry's is moving up in our world and starting to give Walter's303 a run for their money. An overall excellent experience. We hope to get back at least once or twice before next year's review.
As of this writing, Parry's has 11 locations in Colorado (same as last year), including 3 here in The Springs. Two of those are known as Sliceria's, so they have a limited menu compared to their main locations. They also have 4 locations in Texas (+1), with 4 more planned this year. The closest to our former NE Tarrant HQ is in The Colony. Parry's also has one location in the Phoenix area, and they plan to open on the Las Vegas strip this year (synchronicity!).
---original 7/2/22 review
So... we have the Cowcatchers in town for the weekend. Dear friends from our old stomping grounds in NE Tarrant. Last year we were able to visit with them for one day in Denver, but I didn't get the experience down (which is too bad, since the Mexican restaurant we went to was excellent - a revisit is in order). For the first night, they wanted to try Parry's. Which was great, because I've been wanting to go back. We had tried to kickstart going out after what appeared to be the end of the pandemic in the summer of 2020. It was short-lived of course, and dining at that time felt weird. The menu's everywhere were very limited and "6 feet distancing" was strictly enforced. After eating here, Mrs. RJG and I decided to hold off going out again, which we did until the late spring of 2021. So it really wasn't a visit that could be characterized as "fair".
Now it's a Friday night, and the crowds are back to 2019 levels. Colorado Springs, especially up north where we are, is heavily touristed this time of year. And Parry's has 80 taps and well respected pizza, so it's a magnet for out of towners. It's a large place including upstairs patio seating, but it was still completely packed when we arrived at 6. So we had to wait about 30 minutes to get a table, which honestly was less than I thought it would be. And we had plenty to catch up on with our friends, so waiting in line wasn't as painful as usual.
Despite having so many taps, it's surprising they don't have more local and obscure options, like Walter's303 for example. It's mostly "mainstream craft" beers - though if you're a visitor from out of town, it would be a dizzying array of new choices. But for veteran Colorado beer guzzlers like me, it's an OK selection. But they do have their own specific beers made by Epic, so that's where I turned my focus, as did Mr. Cowcatcher.
For dinner, Mrs. RJG wisely laid off the pizza (she's very particular when it comes to pizza) and had the Chicken Parm. I tried some myself, and the chicken was crispy and delicious. And the spaghetti was al dente. The sauce could have used more flavor in my world, but she enjoyed it. The only complaint was the chicken portion was much smaller than the menu pictures would have you believe. We weren't sure if the waitstaff took a bite for themselves...
The rest of us tried the pizza. I went with a 14 inch with only spicy sausage as an ingredient. Good amount of tasty sauce (hooray), gooey cheese, and the sausage wasn't really that spicy but still good. They lost points on the crust, as there was no crispiness to it and a tad mushy. So thank God Mrs. RJG stayed away as that's exactly what she doesn't like. No matter, as I took half home. Now we can throw it in the air fryer, add some cheese and sauce - and it's even better! The Cowcatcher's ordered a variation of a spicy pizza, with jalapeno's, hot peppers, pepperoni and more. I had one slice - same crust as mine, but otherwise also very good. They seemed to enjoy it.
We don't usually cover service, as that changes visit to visit - especially from chains like this. In this case it wasn't terrible by any means, but frenzied. The waitress gave the impression she was being rushed and made mistakes, and oftentimes items didn't show up for a long period of time (like our beers). Especially noticeable was our bill, which included 3 items we didn't order. I don't suspect foul play, I'm sure it was an honest mistake (Mr. Cowcatcher and Mrs. RJG saw it differently...) and it was corrected immediately.
Overall, we're giving it a thumbs up. We'll go at a less busy time for our next visit - probably for lunch as we did on our first try. If you go, watch the details...
---Mr. Music review (5/3/23):
What could be better than an evening at dinner with Mr. And Mrs. RJG? I was in Colorado Springs to visit! When they said they wanted to take me to their favorite Italian restaurant in the Springs, I was excited and had visions of a little Italian dining room with red and white checkered table cloths run by an old Italian couple. Remember Pietro's on Greenville and Richmond in Dallas? (ED: Well... not our favorite Italian here in the Springs, that would be Luigi's...)
We walked into a new building. It was a big and bright brewhouse, filled and bustling. It felt more like BJ's on a Friday night than Pietro's. I thought to myself, what in the world is going on with the RJGs, has the thin air of Colorado Springs effected their minds? Even the shiny plastic menu reminded me of BJ's and had much more than Italian food.
But those thoughts drifted quickly when I saw pizzas and pasta dishes floating by. Mrs. RJG and I ordered the same exact thing! A dinner salad with house dressing and chicken parm and fettucine with marinara. I was a bit puzzled when I asked for angel hair and the wait person told us they only serve fettucine pasta, but no worries. Mr. RJG opted for sausage pizza. The salads were great! Simple, fresh greens with tomatoes and a nice house dressing.
The chicken breasts were big and moist with a great, crispy batter. A huge pile of fettucine accompanied the parm and both were smothered in chunky marinara with mozzarella and fresh basil sprinkled on top. We took our first bite of pasta and knew it was fresh made. Mrs. RJG said "ohhh these are fresh, that's probably why they only offer fettucine noodles." I think so! The dish was wonderful.
Mr. RJG thoroughly enjoyed his pizza and gave me a couple slices. The pizza was really great! Nice chewy edges and thinnish crust on the bottom. Just how I love it. The sauce, cheese and sausage were all yummy too. The food was great and we were stuffed! The RJGs came through again; I never doubted them. 🤣😉
---Rude Dante says (9/24/22):
Great selection of beers, including seasonal offerings from local and nationally distributed craft brewers. Have only had pizza, and it has been good but not great. Pretty consistent. On latest visit I enjoyed a Pilsner from Prost, a Marzen from Four Noses and a pie with pep-saus-mush in Longmont. Solid!
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