Jan Young
InstantRiverside.com

Old-fashion themed restaurant, Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour has reportedly announced plans to open a new store in Riverside’s La Sierra area.

The store will take over the now-vacant building where the Black Angus restaurant was previously located on Park Sierra Drive, near Castle Park Amusement Park and Kaiser Medical Center.

At nearly 9,000 square feet, this newest location is said to be Farrell’s largest so far and is expected to bring over 100 new jobs to Riverside.

Farrell’s new location will also include a candy store and is expected to open in the Fall.

Besides ice cream and fountain desserts, Farrell’s offers a full menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, including soups and salads, pizza, hamburgers, and sandwiches.

In their hey-day of the early to mid-1970’s, Riverside was home to a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour on Magnolia Avenue.  Farrell’s was located on the outer edge of the parking lot of the then-newly-built Tyler Mall, just outside of what was originally The Broadway department store, and is now Forever 21.  They were known as much for their bright and cheery decor as they were for their noisy parties and wild ice cream concoctions, including The Zoo and The Pig’s Trough (pictured above right).

According to the Farrell’s website, the original Farrell’s was the idea of Bob Farrell in Portland, Oregon in 1963.  Farrell’s Ice Cream eventually grew to include 58 restaurants and in 1971, Bob Farrell sold the chain to the Marriott Corporation.  Growth continued to 130 restaurants.  Eventually the brand changed, moving away from ice cream, and eventually nearly all locations were closed by 1990.  After a few years of legal struggles, Parlour Enterprises is now working with Bob Farrell to move forward to restore the brand to the original concept.

Parlour Enterprises is based in Brea.  Other southern California locations include Mission Viejo, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga, and Santa Clarita.

Filed under Entertainment

Monday, June 18, 2012

Not working? Click here!