Watt Avenue restaurant site switches from ice cream to pasta

Cancel the ice cream and send over some plates of pasta.

That’s essentially what happened on July 12 when The Old Spaghetti Factory opened its doors at 1625 Watt Ave. in Sacramento, taking over the space once occupied by Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour.

Farrell’s made a highly publicized return to the Sacramento area in 2013, hosting live auditions to recruit high-energy servers/performers for its Watt Avenue restaurant with more than 9,000 square feet.

However, on Aug. 1 last year, the company abruptly closed doors at the local site, noting that it was struggling financially and facing rising rent costs.

The departure of Farrell’s opened the door for the Old Spaghetti Factory site, with seating for more than 300 and interior renovations that dovetail with other Old Spaghetti restaurants.

The newest Old Spaghetti eatery joins sister area restaurants in midtown Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Roseville.

The Watt Avenue restaurant employs more than 100.

ALSO

• Poke Noke, 2254 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento: The fast-casual poke bowl eatery formally opened July 10 in the University Village shopping center. Menu offerings can be seen at pokenoke.com.
• Sac Pilates, 2264 Fair Oaks Blvd., Suite 203, Sacramento: The boutique Pilates studio opened Thursday in the University Village shopping center.
• Kumon Math and Reading Center, 1897 E. Gibson Road, Woodland: New Jersey-based Kumon opened its 17th greater Sacramento area center earlier this month. The center offers after-school math and reading enrichment programs.
• Philz Coffee, 1725 R St., Sacramento: The Bay Area chain opened its first Sacramento-area site on Thursday. The business was started in 2003 in San Francisco’s Mission District by grocer Phil Jaber, who pioneered coffees crafted to specific customer tastes.
• Public House Theater, 5440 14th Ave., Sacramento: The site that featured food, drink, movies and other special events in a casual, home-like setting closed its doors on July 8.
• Alfred Angelo Bridal, 1208 Galleria Blvd., Roseville: The local store abruptly closed on July 13, joining some 60 other stores in the Florida-based bridal/wedding apparel chain. The company submitted a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing on July 14.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Watt Avenue restaurant site switches from ice cream to pasta."