What's up wtih the "For Lease" sign in front of Parella's?

Just noticed on my nightly Frankfort Ave. walk that there's a sign in front of Ray Parella's. Are they moving, closing Inquiring minds want to know.

I was aftraid that' would be what it was. I'm sorry to see them go. I hope we can find another good spot to take their place. The Avenue has been looking for tenants for the Danielle's building for three years. I hope we don't run into a mini slump here.

From what I hear the rent on the old Danielle's spot is prohibitive, particularly in this economic climate. Parella's is a great spot, sorry to see the restaurant go (always a solid meal there). Hopefully someone else will get in there and make a go of it.

[Robin Garr]

A couple of months back, based on a staffer at Parella's telling one of our members that they were "thinking about" closing, we had an offline there and about a dozen of us showed up.

It was a fun community gathering, but frankly, it kind of demonstrated their problems: They didn't have our reservation, finally gave us a long table on the outdoor front porch (on a chilly evening). Service was friendly but barely competent, the food wasn't great, and as I recall, they rather rudely refused to make otu separate checks. I'm sorry to see a local go, but in all honesty, we went to this place to help, and at least I for one left with a bad taste in my mouth that did not taste like family Italian-American comfort food.

Robin, your experience sounds like the same thing that happened when I went there with a group, tho they did have our reservation. When we made it there were going to be 12, but only 11 of us showed up. They then proceeded to give us some sort of "group" menu that had nothing on it anyone wanted. After considerable wrangling (they said that menu was for parties of 12 or more) we finally got to order off the regular menu. I truly don't recall the food, so it must have been mediocre, at best. I just hope that there's a tenant out there to replace them. I just hate losing places on my street!

A couple of months back, based on a staffer at Parella's telling one of our members that they were "thinking about" closing, we had an offline there and about a dozen of us showed up.

It was a fun community gathering, but frankly, it kind of demonstrated their problems: They didn't have our reservation, finally gave us a long table on the outdoor front porch (on a chilly evening). Service was friendly but barely competent, the food wasn't great, and as I recall, they rather rudely refused to make otu separate checks. I'm sorry to see a local go, but in all honesty, we went to this place to help, and at least I for one left with a bad taste in my mouth that did not taste like family Italian-American comfort food.

Robin,

We walked away from that offline with much the same "take"...The company however was outstanding, so that made up for the mediocrity of everything else.

BTW, didn't they refuse to take credit/debit cards ? I recall having to walk down the street to the cash machine for one reason or the other.

All said and done, sorry to see a local go...I'm sure they had their fans.

My wife and I ate there for lunch one day last year and had less that an memorable trip. The server was nice enough but slow and seemed to lack competency. The food was mediocre at best.

Like the others, I hate to see a local close. However, from the sounds of this discussion, I think the economy was probably only a contributing factor, rather than the sole reason for them closing.

My 2 cents,
-Pete

I hate to bring up old wounds, but:

This is what happens when service isn't there!

Promise

I always sort of wondered what happened with the offline there when it wasn't ever really talked about. lol...

Our last experience with Parella's was calling to place a carry-out order, which we used to do quite a bit because we can walk to pick it up. First we were told that they no longer had Italian Sausage. Then when we tried to order a side of marinara, we were told they didn't have that either. At that point I didn't feel like explaining that I just wanted a side of plain tomato sauce, meaning NO MEAT. Last straw was some computer thing where they said they couldn't take a card for the order.

I think that it is pretty clear that folks don't want an empty space on Frankfort. I don't think anyone wants another empty lot at this point. The poking and "i told you so" aspect is not acceptable of someone as lovely and sweet as Ray. If anyone has a spot for one of these employees get on it. You wanna talk close to home, this is it buddy. Save the "i thought it was slipping" aspect or whatever for Max and Erma's. Bless you Ray, and to all his family and staff. Every one down is scary for the rest of our neighborhood, neigh country.

[Robin Garr]

BTW, didn't they refuse to take credit/debit cards ? I recall having to walk down the street to the cash machine for one reason or the other.

The company indeed was outstanding, Steve. The reason we all walked down to the ATM was that they refused to split the check so each of us *could* pay with our own credit card. They wanted either one credit card for the total, or a pile of cash in the middle of the table.

It was fun to get together with the gang, and the food wasn't awful. But when I think back over the general attitude of management, I can sort of see how that place basically committed corporate suicide.

The poking and "i told you so" aspect is not acceptable of someone as lovely and sweet as Ray.

Save the "i thought it was slipping" aspect or whatever for Max and Erma's. Bless you Ray, and to all his family and staff. Every one down is scary for the rest of our neighborhood, neigh country.

I don't think anyone is "poking" Ray at all...I personally don't even know the man. Rather (reading between the lines) I think the jist of the comments are that people aren't aware of all the factors related to this closing but that given their recent dining experiences they aren't surprised by it.

As far as saving the "i thought it was slipping" comments for the likes of Max and Ermas...I don't see that happening and I'm not sure it should.

I just saw the property listed on craigslist for $2250 Mo. It said owner is retiring. (honestly, $2250 is a steal and if I wasn't destitute I'd jump on it myself.)

I just saw the property listed on craigslist for $2250 Mo. It said owner is retiring. (honestly, $2250 is a steal and if I wasn't destitute I'd jump on it myself.)

David,

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd jump on it with ya

I told my sister about this, and she said, "Where's Bim?" She really misses having a Bim Deitrich restaurant in Louisville. I hope something good goes in there. Seems like a good neighborhood for a Cuban spot, or a lower-priced Italian, or even Asian. Have you noticed that there are no typical Asian places on Frankfort Avenue. (I know they have Zen Garden and its relatives, but I'm talking about a meat-eating, inexpensive Asian place).
Also, what's the deal with Italian restaurants anyway. Have you ever noticed that, even though pasta is cheap, Italian restaurants are always expensive?