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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1997)
X Rhythm & Reviews’ weekly feature on art, entertainment or cuisine near campus i*- SSWgjK i, v •• '> ' 5' Drums still reverberate at Farrell’s Farrells Ice Cream Parlour proves that time can stand still, childhood memories can be revisited and ice cream and junk food can still be consumed with shameless abandon by Kendra Smith Freelance Reporter I ’ arrell’s Ice Cream Parlour is proba bly the only restaurant in Eugene -L with a player piano. Occasionally, when someone puts a quarter in it, the tinny tunes loudly interrupt the wacky, Dixieland jazz music playing in the back ground. Farrell’s is also one of the few places where you can still get a Green River or a vanilla coke. It’s the nostalgia, both of childhood and the old days, that makes Farrell’s a kick. Everyone has a story about a birthday party at Farrell’s or an ice cream parlor like it, and going back there, even in your 20s, harkens back to those tales of tears when the waiter’s drum beats scared you at your fourth birthday party. Even though these places now seem the ultimate in cheesiness, they are linked to America like the icons of Uncle Sam, apple pie and baseball. With the old-time hats and vests the staff wears, along with the faux Tiffany lamps and red brocade wallpaper, you can’t help but think of a saloon in the Old West. Heck, they even sell garters on the way out. You also can’t help but think about the infa mous “Ziggy Piggy" scene from Bill and Ted’s Excel , lent Adventure. 1 U W tJi s> ice cream are Farrell’s specialty. Challenge yourself to get 10 friends together and consume a Hot Fudge Volcano — $29.50 worth of hot fudge, vanilla, whipped table on fire. cream, nuts and cherries. According to the menu, it comes to the If you don’t have that many friends, the Pike’s Peak feeds five and has a mix of five kinds of ice cream, including butter pecan and coffee, topped with marshmallow cream, bananas and strawberry topping. It sounds disgusting, but it’s delicious. In fact, it seems as if Farrell’s is a restaurant where you don’t need an excuse to pig out. Most of the ice cream dishes are large enough to make you wish you hadn’t eaten so fast when you’re through. Ice cream floats, sodas and shakes come in Super Duper ($4.95) and Big Swig ($5.75) sizes. They even have “moun tains” of french fries ($3) and onion rings ($4.95). And for sale right by the cash register are crazy kinds of candy that you probably remem ber from grade school: Chick-O Sticks, Pet Rats, Zots and Bubble Tape. As if you didn’t get enough sugar during dinner. The food is pure coffee shop: french dip sandwiches, cnm cheese tranks, chicken strips and chef salads. There isn’t much for vegetarian diners besides salad — just grilled cheese and the requisite gardenburger. However, they actually have decent uurgers: swiss ana musnroom, gua- "«**» camole and even patty melts. And the grilled cheese is not greasy and pretty tasty ($4.15). The prices run about aver age. REVIEW Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour ★★★ (unique atmosphere, giant ice cream dishes) ■ WHERE: 1313 Pearl St. ■ HOURS: Monday Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight, Sunday noon-10 p.m. ■ COST: about $5 ■ BEST BET: anything with ice cream in it The service is less than spectacu lar. There were con sistently long waits before we were attended to by our server. But then again, how excited would you be if you had to wear a silly hat and shout out rhymes to total strangers every night? Still, Farrell’s can be a lot of fun — it’s worth going just to gorge on lots of stuff that’s bad for you. ► iT’s HoT! iT’s CooL! iT’s 1 EaRtH sHaKinG! BoOjiE aT Scandals 2222_Centenniaj_Blvtl. • Eugene • 343-4734 ’"free" entry“6n"saturdayT 1 starting 10:45 p.m. Valid with coupon only. ChEck OuT ThuRsDaY NiGhTs ToO! l l J SATURDAY^ cOMeDY I NiGHt I • 9pm • I with famous comedians followed by lots of dAncinG'l
