Parker's Steakhouse appears very unassuming from the road. A plain white building with no telltale signs of it being a restaurant (and full service bar). It has a large menu, mostly burgers, but also some pasta dishes and salads. There were only two steak options, which seemed odd for a "Steakhouse." There were no seafood dinner options.
We arrived around mid afternoon. There was one waitress for the whole dining room. And she was also bussing the tables. She greeted and seated us promptly with menus. Although she was quite busy, she was able to return soon to take our orders.
My wife ordered a Chopped Chicken Salad with a side of Coleslaw. I ordered what appeared to be a typical "Bay Shrimp Po' Boy" with Coleslaw. We had a slightly longer than average wait before she appeared with our food. We didn't mind, we could see she was quite busy and she was very pleasant and attentive as she served us.
To my surprise, what appeared in front of me was anything like the description on the menu. What I had received was a hoagie bun with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, dill pickle slices, and a slather of mayonnaise topped with over a half dozen Cajun seasoned, breaded, deep fried prawns and sautéed red onions. The prawns were just a little overcooked for my taste but were still quite delicious. I had to eat about half of them off the sandwich before I could get my XL hands around it to pick it up. Although I was expecting something else, I was pleasantly surprised by what I got.
My wife, on the other hand was not happy with her salad. Her chicken was overcooked, dry and poorly seasoned. The mostly iceberg lettuce was limp and turning brown on the edges. Her hard boiled eggs were turning green from being overcooked. She left most of it on her plate. Both of us thought that the Coleslaw dressing was bottled and uninspired.
The highlight of the meal was dessert. Generally, we don't order dessert. But as we were waiting to be seated there was a pastry case with some of the largest most beautiful looking cheesecakes and strudel we've seen in a long while. We had to try a piece because my wife loves Heath bars and they had a Heath Bar Cheesecake. When it arrived at our table it was much larger than any piece of cheesecake I recall having before. The plate was drizzled decoratively with both chocolate and caramel syrups and you could see that the Heath bar was incorporated throughout the cheesecake as well as crumbled atop. As good as it looked, it was even more delightful to eat causing our mouths and tongues to do the 'happy dance'.
In conclusion, come for the surprise Po' Boy and cheesecake but skip the salad.
