T.G.I. FRIDAYS   





FRIDAY’S

GOODBY FRIDAY’S"  I'll wait for Saturday…


ITS ALL ABOUT MANAGEMENT  —  I liked Friday's, for the twenty years I have been a casual customer like most, give me the burger the fries, and a coke, older the wings, the ribs and a beer.  As we get older that changes, and we go for the chicken, the salad and iced tea.  

Their Jack Daniels promotion caught my eye and my palate and I had to try it.  In the course of 45 days we visited three Fridays at dinner time and frankly they have fallen off the horse and got stampeded on by the buffalo...

The company was a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF. The company asserts that it stands for "Thank Goodness It's Friday" although as of 2010 some television commercials for the chain have also made use of the alternative phrase, "Thank God It's Friday's." 

TGI Friday’s, Inc. restaurant chain was founded by Daniel R. Scoggin and partners in 1971. Alan Stillman created the original concept in 1965 in New York. He was an essence salesman and he lived in a neighborhood with many airline stewardesses, from La Guardia Airport, fashion models, secretaries, and other single people on the East Side of Manhattan near the Queensboro Bridge, and hoped that opening a bar would help him meet women.  He chased the girls in the same places I did,  

I lived in Queens with my buddy and fellow girl chaser at Parker Towers where his Dad had a condo he rarely used.  I will vouch that neighborhood had an abundance of beautiful women.  Kennedy Airport had more stewardesses tha Laguardia.
In my younger days in NY, the bars and hangouts known today as target rich environments were Barney Googles, Joe Namath's place and quite a few others.  Stillman was an inspiration for young single guys like myself on recon and debauchery.



NOT THE OLD FRIDAYS  —  THAT WAS THEN

AVERAGE  —  •  11705 W Hillsborough AveTampaFL 33635  -  Stopped in fairly late, about nine, going home from a long night,  after dumping and seeing a friend off  at the airport.   I saw this mecca of food dodging some traffic and pulled in. after miles of barren highway and we were greeted quickly, and the waitress was friendly, service was fairly quick, the decor nice and we had two of the JD burgers with fries and onion rings iced tea and overall a decent experience, it aws what it was and expected.  

PRETTY BAD  —  •  2501 E Fowler Ave, TampaFL 33612-6270  - The Jack Daniels combos looked good, service was relatively fast and our server did a nice job of explaining the menu and he got the order right. The ribs in Jack Daniels were mediocre but adequate though I felt a little overpriced for what you were given in size and quantity.  The Wings we ordered as an appetizer were smallish and also on the high priced side.  But the mashed potatoes were a joke.  Powdered mash.
They are  PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

WORSE  —  •  2190 Tyrone Blvd N. Across from TYRONE MALL St Petersburg - We thought maybe we were hitting a bad luck streak  So the following week we ate at the Friday's at Tyrone Square Mall since it was dinner time and after a day of shopping, need someone else to cook.   We were guided to a table and dumped as no one came over to take our order.  Twenty-five minutes later with five waiters and waitresses bullsh*ting with each other  I wanted to see who was paying attention.
No one… 
Here’s the rub... The place was basically empty and the employees were clustered just bullshitting with each other.  So I stood up since the place was practically empty and screamed out very loud,  “ Does anyone work here or are you closed”  A half hour later whatever it was arrived, the food presentation was atrocious.  Overcooked everything,  small dried wings, and as the waiter explained they were twelve oz portions of wings, most places go by the amount of pieces.  This tells me portion control by weight and the back end will get flack from the front because of rules.  

The wings were delivered on a small rectangular plate so they looked like more. Had they piled them on a smaller dish, you might hit 1.5 inches. The Burgers were overcooked short of burnt and ugly. I never used that term before but they looked almost grayish cooked evenly throughout. In other words they didn’t look appetizing. 

Undersized, overcooked and no value at Fridays.  Ten plus dollars for 12 ounces, six of which were bones.  I was told by the waiter when I could find him, they were weighed and twelve ounces.  Excuse me, they weigh your wing portions? 

Who trained you, the District Bean Counter, the Chicken Wing Religious Manager, the Head Chef and the Can You Count Unit Manager?  I was stunned, I never heard such a stupid answer he was told to say.   Weighed ?  I said it’s not your fault but try for a job at a good place to work and I gave him my card.   I found him a good place to work.   You count by weighing, what frickin idiot came up with that theory, they were undersized and really horrible.  
They are   
PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

Hopefully they improved, I was dreaming,  or they should get out of the business. The only time weight is measured in Chicken wings is when you buy metric tons from Alibaba’s suppliers.   The Clearwater store closed up…soon after… followed by the Tyrone store. 

The other time at the location next to USF in Tampa, the food and dribs were average, and that was on a good day, nothing to talk about and we between the two visits we decided wasn’t worth it based on their menu and food selection to ever return.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

BALL BREAKING BAD PUBLICITY —  Counterfeit Alcohol Allegations

On May 22, 2013, investigators with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) raided 29 bars and restaurants around the state, including 13 TGI Friday's franchises; the result of a year-long probe dubbed "Operation Swill". 

Investigators had received complaints from customers that the establishments were substituting premium brand alcoholic beverages with lower-cost brands, while charging them for the more expensive liquor. The investigators found that the bars filled premium-brand bottles with cheaper alcohol, including potentially dangerous rubbing alcohol, or water with added caramel color "to fool the customer, and increase profits".

The ABC, with assistance from the State Division of Criminal Justice, seized bottles of open alcohol from the bars, and demanded records from the establishment's owners. A statement released by Friday's said it "was just made aware of this issue and is working closely with the franchisee and owner of the cited locations to review and investigate these serious allegations."

                  


FRIDAYS CLOSED FOREVER

TGI Fridays is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners, who purchased the company from Carlson Companies in May 2014.And have lost and screwed up everything they can.

In Tampa Bay, the only location might be open is  30 miles from my house In Tampa near  11705 West Hillsboro Ave 33635, almost Oldsmar,  Florida.  The local store in Clearwater and St Petersburg are  PERMANENTLY CLOSED TOO.

👺Please note: Some Fridays are franchised and don’t participate, so do check to make sure the location you plan to hit up has the deal. Otherwise, be ready to experience disappointment, frustration, and rage.


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