Leaving customers ‘brokenhearted,’ Eagle restaurant to close after 20 years
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Stuffed Olive in Eagle will close June 27 after two decades of operation.
- "The Stuffed Olive team" cited personal reasons for stepping back.
- The Potholder Cafe will replace it, preserving select menu items from The Stuffed Olive.
A local Italian dining staple will serve its last plate of pasta at the end of June.
The Stuffed Olive, 404 S. Eagle Road at Eagle Plaza, will close on Friday, June 27 — “after 20 wonderful years,” the restaurant wrote on its website and social media.
Online commenters quickly expressed gratitude — and disappointment.
“Nooooooooooooo. I am brokenhearted,” one Facebook user replied.
“This is truly a sad day!” another wrote on Instagram. “I’m so happy for your future and will never lose touch! Many sandwiches in my future over these coming weeks!”
The Stuffed Olive specializes in trattoria-style dining. Its menu is filled with soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and entrees ranging from chicken piccata and eggplant parmigiana to walnut-crusted salmon.
The restaurant was opened in 2005 by Bill Carter and Janice Darelli, “both experienced restaurateurs from Northern California,” a positive Idaho Statesman review noted that year.
“This is a bittersweet moment for us,” a goodbye message attributed to “The Stuffed Olive team” explains. “Running a restaurant like The Stuffed Olive has been our life’s passion and our greatest joy; but it also has demanded everything we have and more. After pouring our hearts and souls into this beloved establishment for so many years, it’s time for us to take a step back, to breathe, and to discover what’s next. Most importantly, it’s time for us to be truly present for ourselves and for our family.”
A new concept is planned for the space called The Potholder Cafe, according to The Stuffed Olive’s goodbye note. A breakfast and lunch restaurant, it will be run by a father and daughter.
The Potholder Cafe is the name of a small California chain with three locations in Long Beach and one in Los Alamitos, according to its website. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the new Eagle restaurant will be an expansion of that brand. Along with its own menu items, The Potholder Cafe in Eagle will feature “some old favorites” from The Stuffed Olive, according to the farewell message.
“We’re grateful,” The Stuffed Olive team wrote, “that the legacy of (The Stuffed Olive) being a locally owned, family-run space will continue with this new duo.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM.