Comments on: Adriana's, 721 Saluda Avenue: 25 October 2009

By: SJeffcoat

SJeffcoat — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:53:32 +0000

Adrianna's was sold to an Italian guy in the mid 1990's, and he made his own Gelato there. It was a great place to stop into on one of my long Saturday walks from W. Cola, to get a double espresso, and when it was in the high ninties, a double scoop of home made Italian Lemon Sorbet really hit the spot. I have to say after reading past comments that the only things that are mainstay's in Five Points are a few college bars/restaurants, and a several boutiques, everything else seems to be a revolving door of new businesses and vacancies. --Alas Adrianna's now as well.

By: Rich T

Rich T — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:28:08 +0000

I just kind of stumbled upon this by accident. I was a college kid that was hired and on the staff the day Adrianna's opened. Tom O'Neill was indeed the owner. His son, whose name escapes me, was a manager. A popular misconception is that Adrianna's was a "coffee shop" when it opened. It was NOT. It was "Adrianna's Gelateria", clearly specializing in authentic gelato (Italian ice cream). It was made daily in the back room by a gentleman/part owner named Mario, who spoke little English and was a legit gelato "creator". We did indeed serve coffee, espresso, and cappuccino, but that was it as far as java was concerned. Now that I think of it, the owner's son that acted as manager was also named Tom (99% sure). Other original staff members were a dude named Huck Behrens, a super-nice Spring Valley grad named Amy Duffy and a couple of others whose names I can't recall. For what it's worth, and remember that this was the '80's, but it was a rare day or night that most of the staff members weren't high as a kite on weed. I remember well how we would step out into the back alley about 8 times a shift to smoke a bowl (thanks, Huck!). Anyway, it was a great place then, VERY well-appointed inside with a marble floor, expensive upholstery on the booths and lots of brass. It was borderline elegant. From what friends have told me, it turned into a sh*t-hole with bikers, "AA people" and "hipsters" constituting about 99.9% of its clientele (which is fine, just sayin'). But MAN...was that gelato some good stuff in the early days when it was made by a master gelato maker (Mario). Yummmmm...

By: Becky Dodson

Becky Dodson — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:44:07 +0000

The original owner was Tom O'Neill. Don't know when he sold it.

By: Debmcd

Debmcd — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:31:26 +0000

Harrell's still has that safe and wants to sell it, so slip a note under the door if you're interested.
PS: the coffee shop peeps are ready & waiting to get in and do renovations, but the Harrells are SLOW in moving out. :)

By: Mike D

Mike D — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:06:32 +0000

@DebMCD cool, re coffee shop going in where Harells Jewlery was. That's awesome news. Any idea of when they expect to open? I know that there's an old vault at the back of the store that's extremely heavy , I wonder if they're going to repurpose it instead of removing it.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:47:54 +0000

Debmcd -- is Harrel's closed?

By: Debmcd

Debmcd — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:48:37 +0000

I worked in that spot in the mid 70's-a little shop called Jolie's that
sold jeans, etc.
BTW: The original owner of Adrianna's was Tom, followed by Phillip, Phil & Thomas (eerie, huh?).
Anyways, plans are now underway for another local cofffee shop on saluda Ave., where AA Harrel's jewelers has been for many years.

By: Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:06:23 +0000

The free market part of me understands that a boutique is really the only business that does well in Five Points, but the part of me that takes in the various aesthetics - or lack of - at play in any given situation is offended by how easily people around here give up on trying to make something really unique happen in what would be a prime location. This story reminds me of the episode of "Seinfeld" where Elaine is offended because the clerk at Cinco de Mayo, a South American ethnic boutique, won't get off the phone to ring up her purchase. Elaine, of course, gets apoplectic and insists on seeing the manager. Turns out the clerk is the owner of the store, so Elaine huffs off and eventually patronizes the other South American ethnic boutique down the street, Punta Mayo. Elaine is at the cash register of the second store thinking that she is sticking it to Cinco de Mayo only to find out that Punta Mayo is owned by the same woman who owns Cinco de Mayo when she walks up to the clerk taking care of Elaine's purchase. Moral of the story? Boutiques work in Five Points, and I say this with sadness and a slight resignation, apparently not much else does.

By: Eva

Eva — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:11:18 +0000

Hmmph. I drove by yesterday, and it appears Mr. Meihls has moved his shop Boutique Basement into the Adriana's space. BB used to be down at the end of the street by Speakeasy. Dude owns half the block...I wish he'd put something there besides boutiques.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:35:24 +0000

I was not a regular at Adrianna's (I aged to the point where it was way too hip for me!), but I was a silent supporter since it was an independent alternative to the homogenous chain shops.

I went in and talked to the owner the first summer they were open -- wish I could remember his name, he was a retired guy from Chicago with a radio background I think -- and he let me hang some of my artwork on his walls for sale.