Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor

 

 

  

 

 

http://www.farrellsusa.com/

Farrell's? But you were reviewing Disneyland!

Indeed I was, and I still am. Next week should be some basics for getting ready to go, and then I will start going over rides and foods in the different lands, plus the World of Color. However, Farrell's was an important part of this trip. This trip had been scheduled to celebrate birthdays, and even if most of that was centered around Disneyland, when Julie found a Farrell's in Brea, that quickly became part of the plan. The funny thing was, as we mentioned it to people, everyone who knew of it had been to the one in Mission Viejo, which would have been about the same distance. I guess the one in Brea is newer and less known.

I should give some context. Growing up, we would see commercials for Farrell's all the time. It looked amazing, with huge sundaes, drums, sparklers, and sirens - exactly the sort of thing that makes kids' eyes go wide. It may also be the sort of thing that gives parents headaches. I just know that we never went. When we had birthday parties, they were always at home, and when we were invited to birthday parties, those were at homes too.  (I did make it to Wunderland once, for a birthday party in junior high, but I don't think Chuck E Cheese even really started to catch on until I was in high school.)

Perhaps that is why the local Farrell's closed, but it has been gone for a long time. A few years ago there had been stirrings that they might bring it back, and nothing happened. However, while researching that, Julie found the web site, and that is how she knew there were locations in Southern California. That is how we knew that we could in fact be part of a birthday celebration there.

It was actually better than the commercials. In the ads, the restaurant looked a lot darker. This was bright and colorful. There is a shop with old fashioned candy in the front. Video screens flashed photos of people having a good time there, including such luminaries as Tony Hawk and the Aquabats. (I did not see a picture, but my understanding is that Bill Clinton won a Pig Trough contest once when he was Arkansas attorney general.)

They do in fact start the sirens and bang the drum every time they take a birthday person their order. This happened roughly fifty times while we were there, because everyone goes for their birthday!

The restaurant was packed, and there seemed to be a birthday at every table. There was a party room that more and more people kept entering like the proverbial clown car. (Actually, seeing them all leave would have probably been more interesting.)

Granted, this means that Farrell's is not the place for your quiet, romantic evening. They had a dinner special geared for that on the menu, and a picture of a cozy couple, but it would not, in fact, be the most intimate setting. Every minute or so, you have the siren, the beating of the very abused drum (the head was peeling off a little), and then the staff gathers around the table and sings a birthday song, and they know many! Every table was a different song, and they went through several.

I have to give a big kudos to the staff here. We had talked about how it could be hard working at Disneyland and having to be "on" all the time, and there is a similar thing going on here. You have to be cheerful and energetic, and it's just easier if you are someone who enjoys it. This group seemed to be having fun, as were we.

In time it was our turn, and the Zoo Sundae came to us, carried on a stretcher between two people, just like we used to see on TV. (There were no sparklers, but someone else got a sundae with a jet of flame shooting out the top, so it does depend on what you order.) In addition, Julie and Maria each got the free birthday sundae, with a candle that was lit and blown out.

I admit, the Zoo was not exactly how I pictured it. I though of a mound going above the bowl, like a mountain, with 3-D animal figures around it. This was actually more practical (and sanitary), with flat plastic animals and pipe cleaner animals stuck in it. (And they were all kind of ocean-themed, so it was more of an aquarium.) However, our server very responsibly served everyone a big dish and stuck at least two of the animals in it. (So yeah, we were not all eating out of the big bowl. Still more practical and sanitary, I guess.)

The Zoo serves 5-10. There were five of us, and we ate about half, so we got that about right.

I'm not saying that I will never try and create an ice cream mountain with 3-D animals posed around it, but I feel pretty safe in saying that we will go to Farrell's again, with it possibly becoming something we do every time we go to Anaheim. Maybe we'll try out that one in Mission Viejo.