No key, no access: Parker’s
Picnic-style eatery makes you work for admission to the dining room, but it is well worth the effort
BEG, borrow, or steal. Either way, you need a key to access Parker’s cool club. The recently opened Parker’s restaurant — with the first branch in Dubai, and the second one in Dhahran — is creating quite a buzz. The brand employs an excellent marketing strategy, which it uses to create a hype and attract upwardly-mobile and tech-savvy customers.
The concept restaurant aims to promote local parks, spending time outdoors, and getting some form of physical exercise (much like the Pokémon Go trend did, a few months ago). Everything about the brand has a feel that resonates with a younger audience — and let’s not forget that a large percentage of the population in Saudi Arabia falls in this bracket.
The keeper of the park, Mr. Parker hides “keys” in local parks of the Eastern Province — even as, farther out as Jubail and Al-Hasa to ensure that everyone gets a chance to find a key. Regular updates and clues are then posted on Parker’s social media accounts (mainly, Snapchat and Instagram) to let people know where they can hunt down a key. Keys are tucked away in tree branches, tied to park gates, placed on benches, etc.
Parker’s is located on a busy road, but here’s the charm — it replicates the feeling of being in a park, complete with picnic benches, a food truck out front, electrical heaters, and cozy blankets for the winter. There is additional seating inside.
The interiors are done up with a lot of greenery and shrubs, string lights, brick walls and fern. Staff walk around in what you would call casual, picnic wear, and multipurpose tin cans are used to hold napkins. The vibe of this place is definitely nothing like you have seen before.
The menu comprises of burgers, sliders, tacos, fries and pasta. From the burger menu, we tried Parker’s signature burger, the truffle burger and the crispy chicken potato. The Parker’s burger was a cheddar infused, double-layer wagyu beef patty with jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onion and a special sauce priced at SR45. The truffle infused striploin beef patty was served with truffle ranch and white cheddar cheese and was priced at SR59. The crispy chicken potato was served with potato strips and red cabbage slaw for SR21.
Apart from a distinct marketing strategy, Parker’s also has a distinctive menu that combines different taste palates and textures — to create something you wouldn’t have thought of trying. For example, their choco coffee slider consists of wagyu beef infused with coffee, white cheddar cheese, beetroot, chocolate and coffee sauce. Who would have thought that it is a good idea to pair spicy Cheetos with the classic Mac and Cheese? Well, Mr. Parker did.
The dessert menu was particularly interesting, and curated with an intention to “create a show.” These famed desserts have been reposted on social media so many times, thus eliciting more views and visits.
The chocolate volcano is an explosion of flavors. It is a moist salted chocolate cake under a chocolate cup, with potato chips served on top. A hot, chocolate sauce is meant to be poured over the dessert to create an ultimate sweet and savory sensation. It is priced at SR38.
Other popular options include a Back-to-School chocolate pudding layered with peanut butter. The dessert comes with a large sharpener and two chocolate crayons that you can shave over your dessert. Another social media favorite, the Lotus Drama is a pudding served with vanilla ice cream and warm caramel fudge.
If the menu has you salivating already, then you should definitely head out on a key hunt. Because no key equals no access!