Your Next Road Trip: Parlour 1886

Are you looking for a road trip to a fantastic, quaint Kansas restaurant? Boy, do we have the place for you! You’re headed to Marion, Kansas, to a beautiful hotel called the Elgin Hotel, where you’ll find a hidden gem of a restaurant called Parlour 1886.

Photo of the Elgin Hotel from the Elgin website

We were tipped off about Parlour 1886 by friends of Bart’s, so we road-tripped there for a family birthday celebration. And we are so glad we did! Everything about this place was special. The first thing that comes to your attention is the gorgeous setting: a limestone hotel built in 1886 (as the restaurant name suggests). You feel like you're stepping back in time in a very good way. The restaurant, which sits off the hotel lobby, is gorgeous and full of old-fashioned charm, with dark wood and ornate ceilings and Kansas-themed stained-glass windows.

The restaurant is run by a husband-wife duo who we were fortunate enough to meet and chat with, Luis and Alicia Pena, who both graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education and International Culinary Center in New York City. Brought to Kansas through the military (Luis is a Marine veteran and Alicia is Air Force), to our great benefit, they decided to start Parlour 1886.

Chatting with owner/bar manager Alicia

We were thrilled to see Alicia's cocktail menu, which included several classic cocktails as well as a rotating seasonal cocktail menu.

Winter cocktail menu

Since there were 5 of us, we were able to try several--thankfully--because they were all amazing. The Old Fashioneds were spot on, the Smoked Remedy was a perfect, warm-you-right-up balance of kick with a touch of sweetness, the Bootlegged Russian was like a chocolate martini kicked up a notch, and the Frosted Pear Elixir was delicious, sweet and herbal with floating star anise on top to give you the full spice experience. We simply could not go wrong in picking cocktails here.

What’s left of a Bootlegged Russian

We're not a food blog, but we do have to put in a word for the incredible food here. Luis is the chef, and everything we ate--from the fried pickles and fried ravioli appetizers, to the pappardelle, the beef burgundy, and the chicken fried steak--was next-level delicious. We ate ourselves silly.

Pappardelle

And there were so many other things on the menu we wished we had the stomach space to try. We finished, certainly, with dessert, and the creme brulee and orange dream cake (please try this one) were to die for.

YUM

We can't wait to go back, especially as the seasons change--we'll want to try their rotating menu! They have lots of special events as well, so look them up and plan your trip! You will be so glad you did!