I’m convinced that my fellow neighbors in Old Towne Orange are deprived of good eats.

Every time a new food or dessert establishment opens in town, residents go nuts. Remember, how Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen got slammed in its first few months?

The restaurant didn’t even have a sign up, and people were lining up. I have to say — fantastic gourmet Mexican eats are hard to find in our neighborhood, so I could understand the stampede at Gabbi’s.

But, is that bad that we all scream for ice cream in Old Towne?

Enter Old Towne Grinder and Ice Cream Parlour. The shop opened a week ago — founded by Bill King, who proudly boasts that he has “no restaurant” experience. Not sure, if it’s good to say that to anyone, including the media…But, Bill’s a nice, enthusiastic guy. So, I’ll cut him (shown, left) some slack.

I stopped by the ice cream store the other night, just before it closed. While it wasn’t necessarily busy, I could definitely see how eager people were to get into the place.
In a slightly unusual twist, Bill is selling Dreyer’s ice cream and grinders (aka subs) made with bread baked fresh daily. Having not done much marketing, Bill told me he’s been “busy” all week.

I wonder how long that will last?

A few residents already made some interesting comments to me: “Why should I pay $2.25 for a scoop of Dreyer’s ice cream, when I can buy a half-gallon for roughly the same price at the market?” one neighbor told me.

You can’t argue with that logic.

But, Old Towne Orange is a tourist destination, as well. So, I think he’ll see demand for his dessert from visitors.

Besides, Bill has much more to offer than just ice cream.

His menu includes hot and cold grinders and burgers that cost about $6 to $7. He plans to serve espresso drinks soon. He also sells a variety of vintage bottled beverages.

Classics such as Moxie, Bubble Up and Dad’s are sure to be a hit with visitors looking to soak up Old Towne’s history.

So, go meet Bill, and see what he has to offer. Chances are, he’ll be the chatty guy behind the counter, serving you an old fashioned cone.

Location: 177 N. Glassell St.

Related stories:

• New dining on tap in Old Towne
• Yelp reviews: Old Towne Grinder and Ice Cream Parlour already has two review. YELP

Fresh & Easy reported its largest grand opening to date with nearly 2,600 customers attending the launch of its 62nd market in Manhattan Beach.

The store opened Wednesday, marking the first Fresh & Easy to open since the British-owned retailer announced plans to supsend store openings for three months.

On Day 1, bargains seems to be on shoppers’ minds.

Fresh & Easy said consumers snapped up nearly 1,400, $4.99 “grill packs” at the Manhattan Beach store. The pacakge includes an assortment of beef patties, mild pork sausages and chili-seasoned chicken. (Limited-time deal.)

Tesco, Fresh & Easy’s parent company, plans to open its next Orange County store in Fountain Valley on July 16. Other Fresh & Easy stores are located in Orange, Huntington Beach, Anahiem, Laguna Hills, La Habra and Buena Park.

Related stories:

• Tesco targets Orange County and Los Angeles for relaunch of Fresh & Easy stores
• Fresh & Easy vs. Famima: Fountain Valley to open two stores a block apart
• Vons opens Fresh & Easy copycat market in Long Beach
• Details revealed on Wal-Mart’s new Marketside concept (FT.com)
• Japan’s Famima convenience store opening soon in O.C.
• Fresh & Easy to add 250 new food items
• Tesco to revamp Fresh & Easy stores, add British foods
• Vons to Fresh & Easy: we’re not copying you
• Fresh & Easy off to rocky start. A look at the first 100 days
• A closer look: What is Tesco’s Fresh & Easy concept?

El Pollo Loco is now delivering food in green style.

The company started using three-wheel, sub-compact electric for delivering food in the Los Angeles area.

Covered in brand messaging set against electric purple backgrounds, the cars were adopted as moving billboards for the Costa Mesa-based fast-food chain. El Pollo Loco is only using them in Beverly Hills and Century City.

The cars also produce 97 percent less emissions than gas-powered vehicles. A single car that averages 30 miles a day can save El Pollo Loco about about 700 gallons of gas per year, the company said.

The Xebra electric vehicles were purchased from ZAP in Santa Rosa. They retail for about $12,000.

Karen Eadon, El Pollo Loco’s chief marketing officer, said the cars act like a “green billboard” for the chain.

“One of our drivers arrived at an office recently where more than 20 people came out to take pictures of the car,” Eadon said. “The vehicle draws an incredible amount of attention.”

A spokeswoman said there’s no immediate plans to bring the eco-friendly delivery vehicles to Orange County.

The Irvine Spectrum Center has seen three restaurants shutdown within the last few months, including Fox Sports Grill.

Fox’s website said the bar and grill is moving to Anaheim. “Thank you for your patronage at the FOX Sports Grill in Irvine Spectrum Center over the past five years. It has been our pleasure to serve you and we hope that you will visit us in Anaheim in early 2009, when we relocate this unit.”

The other Irvine Spectrum restaurants that have closed include Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and the Fish Market. Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams confirmed the closures, saying the current state of the economy is hurting all retailers.

“As you know, the restaurant business is a very challenging business that has a limited success rate even in the best of times,” said Rams.

The news comes as the restaurant industry saw a slight uptick in sales for May, according to the National Restaurant Association. However, restaurant operators are still “pessimistic” about foot traffic rebounding significantly over the next few months.

Roughly 44 percent of restaurant operators surveyed by the association reported traffic declines in May.

Irvine-based Juice it Up is among them.

Chief executive Frank Easterbrook said the soft economy has forced the chain to close four smoothie shops over the last year. None were in Orange County. He said more stores could close during the winter, the slow season for the 155-unit chain.

Rams said the three restaurant closures have not affected the Irvine Spectrum Center’s overall traffic, which “continues to soar to new heights and overall sales are solid, despite the softened economy.”

He said the mall has not named new tenants to replace the shuttered eateries.

For a list of retail closures in Orange County, read Hang Nguyen’s OCRetail blog.

(Photo of Fox Sports Grill courtesy of Irvine World News )