In 1996, a California company called The Kirin Group (not the Japanese conglomerate) bought the master development rights to Farrell's from Marriott. In 1999, a new Farrell’s parlour was opened by Kirin in Temecula, California. This parlour, while offering sundaes which were faithful to the Farrell's recipes, lacked the atmosphere traditionally found in the early parlours. (An on-line review is found at colddeadfish.) That store subsequently closed. In May 2002, a new, prototype store opened in the Mountasia Family Fun Center in Santa Clarita, California. A company called Parlour Enterprises, Inc. had licensed the rights to Farrell's from the Kirin Group to develop Farrell's in California.
Farrell's at the Promenade in Temecula, California
An on-line review of the pilot store can be found at colddeadfish.net
Mountasia's Family Fun Center is a sizeable indoor/outdoor entertainment complex (go-cart track, bumper boats, miniature golf) - Farrell's is located within the single, large indoor complex. As a prototype store, there are some shortcomings but, all in all, the parlour has a nice nostalgic look to it. The bell and siren are back, as is the birthday drum and the player piano. The piano is computer-controlled versus the paper-roll mechanisms of old. The computer control runs on Microsoft Windows 98, and while I was there the software crashed. Three words I thought I'd never hear: "Reboot the Piano."
Other Developments
In May, 2003, an article appeared in the Ventura County Star about Paradigm Entertainment Group (aka Paradigm Leisure and Entertainment, Inc.) acquiring the rights to Farrell's. In October, another article stated that Paradigm would not be building Farrell's after all. In fact, all development of new Farrell's parlours came to a grinding halt as Parlour Enterprises sued the Kirin Group in 2004 for breach of contract, among other things. Kirin counter-sued, and the whole thing didn't get fully resolved until late 2008. During this time, Kirin awarded a franchise to E Noa Corporation to operate Farrell's in Hawaii. In the end, Parlour Enterprises and E Noa split ownership of the Farrell's trademarks and development rights, and Kirin no longer retains any rights to the brand.
In November, 2005, I was contacted by a reporter from the Honolulu Advertiser, who was doing a story about Farrell's returning to the Aloha State. In September, 2006 a new Farrell's opened in the Windward Mall on O'ahu. Based on limited pictures that I have seen, this parlour was based more on the Temecula model than the Santa Clarita model. E Noa Corporation (the Hawaii-based trolley tour company) owned and operated the Windward Farrell's, and as part of their theme, they constructed a fake trolley car inside the restaurant. I saw a video clip of the new store on Google. Certain elements of the store are nice - the sign over the front door was taken from the classic signage of parlours past, they had an authentic-looking player piano by the entryway, and the half-barrel buckets of candy in the candy store added a nice touch. However, the fast-food booths and tables belied the $10+/head cost of eating there, and the overall theme looked like a cross between a Dairy Queen and a day care center. No tiffany lamps or red-flocked wallpaper here. The Windward location closed in early 2011.
E Noa subsequently opened a second Farrell's at Pearlridge prior to closing Windward; this parlour has more of the classic Farrell's look. They also have been "tweaking" the decor at Windward to make it look more like the classic motif.
With the legal issues behind them, Parlour Enterprises became Farrell's International, and they began developing new parlours. In October, 2008, a parlour opened at The Shops at Mission Viejo; this was the first new parlour on the mainland in 8 years. In December, 2011, two more parlours were opened in Rancho Cucamonga and Brea, California. The mainland parlours serve a variety of burgers and sandwiches plus pizza, in addition to the wide variety of fountain treats. They also dabble in beer and wine (oh well, nobody's perfect).