Biz Buzz: Local pizza and ice cream shop celebrating 1 year anniversary next week
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Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BRIEF
ISLAND PARK
Popular Island Park restaurant celebrating its first year of business
ISLAND PARK – To say the last year of business at The Parlor in Island Park is a success would be a major understatement. At least, that’s what Restaurant Manager Freddy Vereciteu says.
The pizza and ice cream shop at 4292 U.S. Highway 20 is inside the new Marriott hotel where Mack’s Inn used to be. Vereciteu and his team are looking forward to celebrating their first anniversary on Tuesday, June 22 with free ice cream for everyone who walks through the door.
“The word ‘success’ doesn’t begin to describe how it’s been. I think it’s been terrific,” Vereciteu tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We’re happy to be in business and we’re really thankful to the community for the support.”
The Parlor serves a variety of rustic and artisan pizzas from Italy. All the pizzas are made fresh daily and cooked over a wood-fired oven. There are also 12 different flavors of Farr’s Ice Cream and several flavors of Aggie’s Ice Cream from Utah State University.
Hand-dipped chocolates from Bluebird Candy in Logan, Utah is also available, along with coffee, tea, Italian and regular soda and beer from local breweries.
Meat lovers, Huckleberry chicken and prosciutto & sage are among the top-selling pizza toppings, Vereciteu says. For ice cream, huckleberry and pralines & cream are popular.
“We’re selling over 200 pizzas a day right now,” he says. “We have visitors from all over the state and all over the world.”
Justin Hamilton, the owner of the restaurant, opened The Parlor on June 22, 2020 and the idea was to continue the tradition of what Mack’s Inn used to be.
RELATED | Biz Buzz: New Marriott hotel opens in Island Park
Old-timers remember the day when Mack’s Inn was a social hub in Island Park.
People would gather for dinner, drinks and weekend dances. Visitors on their way to Yellowstone National Park would stop in, have lunch and spend summer days fishing and floating on the river. The A-frame lodge at Mack’s Inn was particularly popular.
“It’s always been a parlor. There’s always been a pizza and an ice cream place,” says Vereciteu. “Justin wanted to continue the tradition … of bringing people together.”
The Marriott Hotel opened a week before the restaurant. Hamilton also opened a Cafe Sabor restaurant across the street from where the hotel now sits six years ago.
Vereciteu says they’re happy to keep the tradition alive and look forward to serving new customers every day.
The Parlor is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
IDAHO FALLS
Mannequins at new nursing school in eastern Idaho can simulate human behavior
IDAHO FALLS – A new nursing school in Idaho Falls provides mannequins programmed to simulate a variety of medical conditions for students and they’ll be on display for you to see during an open house next month.
Eagle Gate College opened last September in the old Sports Authority building at 1592 East 17th Street in Idaho Falls. It offers four different degree programs, including medical assisting, practical nursing, a bachelor of science in nursing and a master’s entry program in nursing.
Campus Director Felicia Wright tells EastIdahoNews.com the first year of schooling is completed online, with a combination of online and campus classes after that.
“They do the theory portion online and then they’re on campus for labs, simulations and then they do clinical rotations at the hospital,” Wright says.
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