Parallel Wine Bistro

This place is awesome! It has the best outdoor seating. I enjoy the band on the weekends and the wine flights! The food is pretty amazing and the service has always been great for me. I would recommend this place for a date night, happy hour, and a night out with friends or colleagues. I am glad it is easy to find and convenient. I feel like this place should be in its own space rather than in a plaza, but when you are there it really doesn’t matter. I was impressed by Everything.

Went to Parallel Wine Bistro for drinks and dinner earlier this week. First time going there and it was just OK. The staff was friendly and attentive. Great selection of wines, beers and other liquors. Ordered the hog burger and was disappointed. Ordered the burger cooked to medium and it was overcooked/​burnt on the outside but bright red and undercooked on the outside. I also thought the prices were high for just OK food. My wife and I both agreed that the bistro was worth a try but would not return on a regular basis.

Watched this place evolve throughout the summer and into the fall. They did a REALLY Nice job. We decided to give it another go in early fall and met the owner, Jason. Solid guy, kind and proud of what he’s done to the place — as he should be. Wine selection solid. Food presentation above average or better. Food pretty darn good! (Try the Risotto!) We’ve had some awesome bartenders at the smaller bar. Super kind, authentic gals that know what the experience of dinner and drinks at a bar should be. Yet we continuously get this young guy (longer bar) says he’s 21 and acts like he’s Mr. Ashburn. He is SO disrespectful to the host/​wait staff — «get water to those people at the end, now, I’m talking to our regulars.» What? …Dude, your customers (new, been there a bit, regulars) are watching you. We will continue to be patrons of a local spot but we do eye the bar and who’s working it.

Liz, Duka, Rick, Sean, Thaddeus, Sam … what else do you need?
Great service, great food, great service, nice wine selection, great service.
Great happy hour!!!

One of my favorite places to go. Great wine selection and now great Whiskey and Bourbon selection. Food is soooo yummy. I have gluten and dairy issues and they have options that work for me. They have also worked with me when they could to make something gluten and dairy free. They often have live music and when its nice they slide the doors open and its the perfect atmosphere for enjoying drinks with family and friends. I HIGHLY recommend you checking this place out.

I’ve always had a really great experience whenever I’ve gone here. I recently just held my birthday here a few weeks ago & they did a fantastic job. They were able to spilt checks & hell everyone’s needs. I’m obsessed with pretty much anything off the menu I would recommend but what I really love is the lobster mac & cheese. They have an endless wine & whiskey menu which is delightful. They have beautiful outside seating which is nice during summer nights. For sure one of my favorite places to eat in the area. If you’re near by give this a try. You won’t regret it.

Had a very pleasant evening last night watching our friend’s band play outside on the patio! I liked the atmosphere and the layout of the place. I didn’t get to go inside but from what I saw from the patio it looked very well decorated!
I liked the beer list, surprisingly! Our waitress wasn’t 21 yet and didn’t know much about the drinks but she was good about asking staff members for their opinions and helped me figure out some good beers to try… I tried the Purple Haze Raspberry, and really liked it! It was crisp, very light with a noticeable hint of raspberry but not strong enough where you can only sip it– I drank mine very fast! The second one I tried was the Bluepoint Blueberry, almost exactly like the raspberry in terms of crisp lightness.
They also printed out an alcohol list, and I thought they should create cocktails using those spirits and have a menu of them for people like me who aren’t big wine or beer drinkers.
The food wasn’t anywhere close to as bland as some of the reviews described! We tried the parmesan duck fat fries, they were quite tasty but needed a bigger dipping bowl with more dip! It was gone in seconds! One of us got a blackened chicken and everyone was shocked by how good it was. Someone else got the ahi tuna sliders, SO TINY and pretty expensive (4 for $ 16 or something, my husband was not all about that) but they smelled fantastic and the pile of veggies in the middle were tasty. We tried the lobster flatbread, oh my goodness it was so good! We even ate the small salad it came with, even though it had goat cheese on it… the dressing was very light but full of flavor and didn’t need a lot on the lettuce, and it was still good despite some arugula leafs being in there! Yumm!
The tables and chairs, I gotta say, were all very wobbly… at least the ones we were all at. No sugar packets around, so we had to improvise on trying to balance it out. I don’t know if it was the furniture or the patio that was so uneven but I couldn’t even put my hand on one of them without all the wine glasses teetering, got annoying after awhile.

Every time I’ve been there for drinks we end up ordering a smörgåsbord of cheeses and meat. It’s always good quality stuff and the service is even better

I’ve been to Parallel Wine Bistro a couple of times now…
First off, I love the beer menu. It’s very long — so unlike some restaurants and bars where you get to choose from just a few brews — here you may find it’s hard to choose — because there are so many great options! For now, the beer is bottle or can — they currently have one beer tap. Both times I visited — they had the Mango IPA on tap (Adroit Theory Brewing Co., Purcellville, VA). I tasted the Mango IPA — not one of my favorites.
Over the course of the last two visits — I’ve tried the following Ales:
Soul Style IPA — 6.5% ABV (Green Flash Brewing Co., San Diego, CA)
Alpha Ale — 5.1% ABV (Wild Wolf Brewing Co., Nellysford, VA)
HI-​5 IPA — 5.9% ABV (Terrapin Beer Co., Athens, GA)
American IPA — 7.2% ABV (Schlafly Beer, St. Louis, MO)
All were good, solid Ales — I particularly enjoyed the Soul Style IPA and the American IPA.
I’ve also sampled a few things from the menu, including the baked oysters — baked with smoked Gouda cheese and bacon — very tasty! I also tried the fries cooked in Duck Fat (because duck fat makes everything better!) and the Cajun Fried Pickles — both were damn tasty!
The wait staff was on point and kept us well lubricated drink-​wise.
Last Saturday when we visited, we noted that the restaurant is undergoing some renovations, so you may notice some things don’t look finished. They are redoing some of the flooring and changing up some of walls — so don’t hold that against them. Will be interested to see how the place looks when it is completed.
The restaurant owner — Jason, and the General Manager — Rick — were very nice and very much care about the customer experience!
Can’t wait to come back!

Chill atmosphere, good drinks, and great food. Love the variety of wine as well. I’ll come back many times.

Fun place, great wine and beer selection. Good service and the singer/​guitar player was really good. Food was disappointing and overpriced though. Should be a 2.5, btw, their HH prices are only til 6 not 7 as website advertises!

I waffled back and forth whether I felt this was a 4 or 5 star place. When doing so, I’m not comparing the food, atmosphere, etc to the top places in the DC area… but rather to places similar or in the same ballpark.
First thing I wanted to say is that I’ve been here three times so far and have enjoyed myself on each visit. The most recent time we had a waitress who was working there as a waitress for the first time. She couldn’t have been more pleasant and fun. Her name was Madison.
The wine wall is always fun and a great way to try some nice wines that you might not have normally selected. The selection this recent trip was consistent in quality with respect to my other trips. I went with a Red Zin, Malbec, and something Spanish that I can’t remember at the moment. The Malbec was my favorite… but that normally is the case.
The food was tasty as always. Had the Oysters, Portabella, Pork Belly, and Burger between the two of us. Although the pork belly had fantastic flavor, I felt the meat wasn’t as tender as I prefer for the cut. When prepared corretly, it falls apart. The other dishes were all very good. Won’t blow you away… but still very good.
My reason for 4 versus 5 stars is that 1) I feel it’s slightly overpriced for what you get. My bill was around $ 110 I think for two of us. We didn’t have more than a couple glasses of wine each and some small plates. I think $ 90-​ish would have been more appropriate. Additionally… Pork Belly is one of my favorite things in the world. I really wish it was more tender.
I’ll be back again in the future, but not as often as I would be if the price point was a little better. For the same price, I can think of a few places I’d rather go.

We visited yesterday and, with the exception of one other couple and their young son, were the only ones there. We decided to order a couple appetizers; the kale chips and baguette board. The chips were drowning in olive oil and the baguette board looked even sorrier. There were 3 small pieces of 3 types of bread that looked, and tasted, like they’d been sitting out for a week. The cranberry bread was so hard you couldn’t even tear it apart. It was a major disappointment.
We sat outside and the cushions on the chairs and couches are very tired. They are faded and have lost their cushiness. They also have some odd driftwood strewn along the railing that seems out of place.
Completely agree with other reviewers, we’d been here a couple times before (year + ago) and its definitely gone downhill. Will not be returning.

Love this place! Always have a great time. The staff is fun, attentive and truly care about their clients. I feel Jason, the owner, wants his staff to want to come to work because he makes it fun.

I visited Parallel last weekend with my father, his girlfriend, and my husband. We all enjoyed shared plates of sumptuous mussels, mushroom risotto, kale chips, and bistro chicken. And we paired our plates with delicious red and white wine flights. I enjoyed my dining experience at Parallel and I would return to try a few more wines! Definitely a great place for a girls night out or an intimate dinner date.

So its been 5 months since I have been here and they have finally changed their menu. As a regular, especially on Tuesday for their half of wine bottles, I was definitely looking forward to their new menu. So far I have tried their lobster flatbread, grilled romaine and fried green tomatoes. I was disappointed in all of these small plates. The lobster was plain and missing something and accompanied with a some arrugula salad. The grilled romaine was not what I remembered. It was burnt missing that charcoal smell and flavor. The fried green tomatoes, I wasnt impressed. Kind of boring. I wonder if there is a new cook. The service was great.

We’ve been here many times, but I have to say our last visit over the weekend was very disappointing. First — we had to walk through a cloud of cigar smokers on the patio to get through the front door. And they were still standing there puffing away when we left an hour later. Ugh… Second — on a Friday night they had the entire bar closed for a private event. WTF? So, we had no choice but to sit in the dining room. Of course, when the hostess sat us, she said we would have to clear out by 9:30 for another private event.
Our server was very sweet and terrific — she was the lone highlight of the evening. Ordered wine — and it was happy hour, so the prices were good. But for some reason they have happy hour pricing on the glasses, but not on bottles (which makes no sense) so we ordered two glasses. When they came out, we understood why — pours were very small — smaller than we had experienced in previous visits.
Now to the food: The whole reason we came was to use a gift card, and because I was craving their flatbread pizza. Well — they changed the pizza. It used to be a terrific, thin-​crispy crust pizza as large as the cutting board they brought it out on. Now — no so much. I think they took a grocery story pita and threw some cheese and sauce on it. The sauce made the dough soggy — and the pizza itself was about half the size it used to be. The bruschetta was meh… and the duck fat fries were good — but they would be better if they were smaller fries so they would be crispier.
It is always disappointing when you have a place you love, and then it changes, and you don’t love it anymore. I’m not sure we’ll be back — which really stinks because there aren’t that many great places in Ashburn.

***review for dessert and wine only***
After dinner down the road my friends and I decided we wanted dessert/​an after dinner drink and headed over to Parallel. Now, I debated whether or not to even write this review since I have only been there once and we ONLY had dessert, but since the place bills itself as a dessert/​wine bar I’m hoping maybe I can save someone the experience.
Let me start off by saying, I love wine machines. I was happy to see the huge wine list and whole room of machines. I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the experience. Although be aware sampling their wines can run you $ 3 – 4 a taste, so it’s not exactly economic. I ended up sampling the Cherry Tart and then going with a full glass of a local favorite: Pearmund’s Ameritage.
We ordered a dessert sampler and bread pudding to split between 4 people. Sadly, I was not impressed with any of it. The bread pudding was super dense (think fruitcake consistency) and the sampler didn’t really have anything on it of interest. Even the chocolate covered bacon was meh. How is that even possible!!!
We opted to sit outside, and although I enjoyed the patio, it might be time to deep clean the seating. Stained upholstery and sticky surfaces are a huge turn off for me. I also noticed that the women’s bathroom towel dispenser is almost completely ripped off the wall. Lastly, I thought it was really weird that our server said the kitchen was closing shortly after we got there. Their website says they are open until 12 and this was around 730, so I’m not sure what was happening there…
Pretty unimpressive visit all around.

I like the atmosphere of Parallel more than I like the food.
Went on a Saturday night and my group was able to get a table on the outdoor patio, they had a one man show with a singer playing an acoustic guitar, while he wasn’t great he was good enough to provide nice background while you enjoy your meal. They also allow smoking on their outdoor patio which sucks because I hate smokers but such is life.
Service was good, the bartender was friendly, she was always there to ask if you need a refill on your drink but wasn’t constantly in your face, at the end of the night she recognized there were two couples and had all the orders on the right bill and even split the shared dishes evenly.
I was able to try the maple walnut crusted salmon with blue cheese risotto. The salmon was good, cooked nicely, the sweetness of the syrup really brought of a nice flavor in the salmon. It was an excellent kicker without dominating the salmon itself. Blue cheese is not a good risotto mix however, while the risotto was cooked well, the flavor was off putting to me as blue cheese is good for dipping chicken wings but should not be in risotto.
I do like their flight options because it is create your own for 12 bucks you can try three different wines of your choice in your flight, as they have a rather extensive wine list, this could make for some excellent combinations, I unfortunately missed on my combination but that was user error and nothing to do with the restaurant.
Decent spot for Ashburn and I would recommend if you want to sit out on a patio on a nice day with a glass of wine and just relax.

What’s a girl to do when craving grilled meat and an outdoor dining experience when her deck has just been demolished — head out to eat of course! It was a beautiful night — great temperatures and not a cloud in the sky. Parallel Wine Bistro was not our first choice this evening, but the other restaurant we stopped at first would not accommodate outdoor dining due to inclement weather. Hmmmm… looked outside — blue skies, no clouds AND a group of people devouring food at an outdoor table. Hostess’ response — «Oh they aren’t supposed to be out there». Ok — no seats in the bar area, lackluster service from hostess so off we go to Parallel Wine Bistro.
We arrive at Parallel and no one is seated outside. I start to think we are doomed to an indoor dining experience after all, but when we ask the friendly hostess if we can sit outside. her response is «Sure, but the cushions may be damp, let’s check». Cushions are dry so we grab a high top and settle in. Meagan comes out to greet us and take our drink order. We start with a sparkling margarita made with Patron silver. It was refreshing and didn’t taste overly strong.
My husband ordered the Bistro Burger with duck fat fries. The burger was cooked medium, smothered in cheese and topped with grilled portabella and onion. The duck fat fries were some of the best fries I have ever tasted — crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and seasoned just right. The dish came with three dipping sauces; house made ketchup, chipotle aioli and bistro sauce. My favorite with the fries was the chipotle aioli.
I ordered a hangar steak medium rare with crispy smoked cheddar grits. The steak was cooked perfectly and extremely flavorful. It also came with three dipping sauces; chipotle aioli which I found too salty with the steak, bistro sauce and blue cheese sauce. I am not a fan of blue cheese, but the flavor of this sauce was not overwhelming and perfectly complemented the steak. Surprisingly, the blue cheese sauce was my favorite. The crispy smoked cheese grits were just ok. I thought they lacked flavor compared to the steak and lost a bit of crispiness because they were served under the steak.
Meagan was a doll, friendly and personable. Service was great and she checked on us numerous times although we were the only patrons seated outside. Kudos to Parallel for not only providing great food and service, but accommodating our request to dine outside. Next time I am ordering the burger… or anything else that is served with those delicious duck fat fries!