Parallel Seventeen has got to be one of Denver's gems. When I walked into the restauarant, I was blown away at how ""un-Denver-like"" it seemed. The exposed red brick, dark wood, ambient lighting and loungey music reminded me of places I've been to in san fran and nyc.... I'm used to going to tacky asian restauarants decorated with fake flowers, pink tableclothes and laminated menus...so my first impression of this place was great atmosphere, but can the food stand up to all those places on federal? After eating there numerous times, I can definitely say that although not completely traditional...ie...no frog legs or whole fish, this place serves pretty authentic vietnamese food -spring rolls, summer rolls, crepes, meatballs, AWESOME pho and also some really great fusion dishes, you've got to try the vietnamese coffee short rib and the duck confit is one of the best confits I've had in this city. Lots of flavor (not too salty like I'm used to) and not so fatty either! And the prices are totally reasonable. The service was great: cute; attentive, knowledgable, and fun. I'd say the only thing I didn't like about this place is that they don't serve pho at night (I asked my waiter why and he said because pho is only eaten for breakfast or lunch in vietnam) and they're pretty small, so although we had a great time waiting at the bar for our table, we still had to wait for a while (i guess that's not their fault, its people like me telling people like you to go there!). they're pretty much always on a wait on weekends! I guess this place is more of a monday-thursday place if you want to come in and have a great dinner without being too much apart of the scene. So aside from not serving pho at dinner, this place is awesome. If you haven't tried it, you've got to go!!!!
Pros: great food, service is friendly, best pho in town!
Cons: no pho for dinner, small
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