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-   -   Farrells Ice Cream Parlor (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/farrells-ice-cream-parlor-745192/)

Pildredge Oct 28th, 2007 11:08 AM

Yes, I got that and deferred above. thx

ElendilPickle Oct 28th, 2007 01:44 PM

>>Fresno, CA in the Fig Garden Shopping Center... always a treat for birthdays, after youth group at church or for after the movies!<<

LOL Moneygirl - that was my Farrell's too!

Lee Ann

KTtravel Oct 28th, 2007 02:57 PM

I remember the Farrells in Daly City (just south of San Francisco.) It was THE place to go when I was in high school.

moneygirl Oct 28th, 2007 05:06 PM

Lee Ann... had no idea we are from the same neck of the woods! I was shopping at Fig Garden last weekend... it's changed a lot in some ways. Can you believe they have a Coach store? :) La Boulangerie is as good as ever!

Pat_in_Mich Oct 29th, 2007 03:50 AM

When I was in high school here in Michigan in the seventies, many of my friends got jobs at Farrell's. New employees had to memorize the descriptions of the various ice cream things on the menu. It seems like someone was always walking around muttering those descritpions as they tried to memorize them!

BjorkChop Oct 29th, 2007 06:02 AM

I remember going to the Farrells in Troy, MI in front of the Oakland Mall quite a bit growing up. The last time I visited one was in my sophmore year of H.S. 82-83 and that was the one in Van Nuys, CA. Great memories for sure that my child and others can't experience today, how sad.

crefloors Oct 29th, 2007 07:34 AM

I remember going to Ferrells in the Bay Area somewhere. My husband ate a Trough, we never tackled the Zoo. I didn't think their ice cream was that great, but there sure was plenty of it and I'm a sucker for any ice cream, anywhere, anytime. I didn't realize that Ferrells had left CA.

volcanogirl Oct 29th, 2007 07:41 AM

After Farrell's left Houston, we got Swensen's. The food was good, but the atmosphere just wasn't the same.

chepar Oct 29th, 2007 09:41 AM

I remember that when I was a kid, going to a birthday party at Farrell's was the ultimate at a time when birthday parties were usually at someone's house or the beach and not the extravaganzas they are now.

The Farrell's in Honolulu were closed for a long time, and at least one reopened maybe a year or so ago.

My sister went - for nostalgia's sake - and she says it's "not the same". Or maybe it's that she's not 8 yrs old anymore, facing a huge tub of ice cream aka "The Zoo".

lennyba Oct 29th, 2007 03:31 PM

There was one at Northgate mall in Seattle until probably just about 20 years ago. The Van Nuys Blvd. location is the one I remember best, though, because we'd always go there when we visited my "California Cousins".

bashfulLV Oct 29th, 2007 03:58 PM

I tried to tell my kids (now 23 & 25) about Farrell's but hadn't thought about it in years - not since they were small. I used to go to the one in Torrance, CA - and always loved it.

Mary2Go Oct 29th, 2007 05:59 PM

I just attended a Halloween party hosted by a longtime pal who worked at Farrell's while in college. Two other co-workers of his from those days were at the party as well. Funny I should run across this post! He is a total extrovert and had the perfect personality to wait tables there. We always thought Steve Martin ripped off his act from our pal! We used to go visit him and I can recall partaking of our share of ice cream. I remember the guys running around with the Zoo and pretending to spill it and having the bowl of confetti spill all over some poor slob!

EnricoIV Oct 29th, 2007 11:35 PM

I had no idea that Farrells were nation-wide. They just demolished the original Farrells in Portland, Oregon, about a year ago. It closed about four or five years before that, if my memory is correct.

It was a great place to scare the little kids. They always hit the floor when someone started banging on the drum, to deliver someone's free birthday sundae.

And the Zoo sundaes were divine!

Fodorite018 Oct 30th, 2007 06:14 AM

There used to be one in Tigard, OR at Washington Square Mall. I remember as a child that it was a big deal to go there with my grandparents on special occassions. I still shop at that mall, but now the space is a Gap (yes, pun intended). It's just not the same, lol!

bear900 Oct 30th, 2007 12:06 PM

Another Fig Garden Farrell’s survivor here.

http://www.fresnofamous.com/node/1464

jamesr3939 Oct 30th, 2007 04:11 PM

Wow, interesting how stories morph. It was the Farrells in Sacramento that the plane crashed into. I am also amazed it was nationwide.

MBnancy Oct 30th, 2007 07:12 PM

BashfulLV, We always went to the one in Torrance, too. Good memories there.

kmadsen Oct 30th, 2007 07:39 PM

The last time I checked we still had a Farrells in Eugene, OR. That is where I grew up and I went back there after seeing the Irish Dancers there a few years ago. I loved the ice cream as a child but remember most the large jawbreakers we would buy afterwards. We would work on them for months. Thanks for the memory

Merseyheart Oct 30th, 2007 08:26 PM

The Farrell's in Eugene is *still* there? That's the one I went to as a kid! Yes, the one in Portland was demolished a while back (I did go there a few times as an adult, and got a kick out of the old-fashioned candy at the counter). I don't remember that they had one at Washington Square. In the mall's early days, they had a little food court, which is now a McDonald's. Hey, as long as there's a Jamba Juice and a Cinnabon, I'm a happy camper.

ElendilPickle Oct 30th, 2007 08:44 PM

Bear900, I'm having a childhood nostalgia fit! In fact, I can hear Al Radka's voice in my head right now, singing the Oberti Olives jingle! :-)) Thanks for that website.

Lee Ann


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