View Full Version : TGI Fridays
imported_n/a
12-02-2002, 22:29
TGI Fridays is always a great value meal in the US - portions are huge and prices are cheaper than in the UK. Don't order a starter and a main course unless you are really really hungry.
We visit every time as the kids menu is very good, the cocktails are wonderful and the atmosphere is superb.
Tip : you will see people sitting outside in the waiting area waiting for a table, not everyone realises you can have a drink at the bar - children are allowed in this area but not to sit directly at the bar. They all have a great paging system and you will not miss the call for your table.
Tip : Worried that we would have to wait hours for a table on Christmas Day we discovered that we could phone about half-an-hour before we arrived to place ourselves in the queue. Does this apply all year?
I agree, the cost of the meals here are cheaper than the UK but still great tasting. Problem is I actually get the meals cheaper at home 'cause I work for them and get 50% discount. I eat there a lot hence the name Porky!!!
Jacqui
athurstance
17-02-2002, 18:03
You can usually eat in the bar area without waiting if there's only two of you. Same menu. We did this a couple of times when the main restaurant was busy.
AsylumGal
18-02-2002, 02:35
quote:
TGI Fridays is always a great value meal in the US - portions are huge and prices are cheaper than in the UK. Don't order a starter and a main course unless you are really really hungry.
Last trip down to FL we had an awful dinner at TGIF. We had a chatty waiter when we were tired and starving after a day at the park. He just wouldn't shut up, I know he was being friendly so he would get a good tip but he bugged us constantly and we just weren't up to it. Then the food came and it was just plain bad. Overcooked and missing things that were supposed to come with it. Maybe we just hit them on a bad night but we wouldn't go back there again.
AG
imported_n/a
18-02-2002, 03:12
The one we go to is on the 192 going towards Lindfielda and the 27. To date our meals have been great but there is always a first time!
Jane
We first ate there 2 years ago and had a great meal. Went on our first night at Christmas 2001 and had an awful meal. Food poor, service appalling and it's not cheap either.
They really couldn't be bothered - and it was quarter full so there was absolutely no excuse.
Despite it being on our doorstop, we shall not be going back.
Fiona
We ate there last Sunday and it was packed. The portions were huge and my Mum on her first visit to Florida was very impressed with the service.
Julieb
imported_n/a
25-02-2002, 18:27
We've always found the service brilliant and the food great. We went to the one by Universal which was very busy an my daughter sat on chair with chewing gum on and they were so apologetic and offered to pay for dry cleaning etc. We always enjoy ourselves there and really have nothing but praise for TGIs.
We go to TGI Fridays at Crossroads, Lake Beuna Vista and have been several times and never had a bad meal. Sometimes you have to wait to get a table but it's worth the wait.
Therese
orlandobabe
08-03-2002, 18:54
I read your post Asylum Gal and thought I'd written it myself. Did a real double take when I saw your name not mine.
Didn't really like to write anything bad about it-as so many people have enjoyed a meal there. Thought it was just me with an over chatty waiter and food that I thought was quite mediocre-and very tired to boot.
It was the one on the way to Lindfields.
I'd only go back if there was nowhere else nearby. I'd rather have a take away Goodings chinese.
Orlandobabe
It is amazing how the same chain of restaurant can differ so much. We have found this more than once and have been so disappointed. We would rather have a car journey knowing that we will get a good meal than try a different location.
Therese
AsylumGal
19-03-2002, 01:21
quote:
It is amazing how the same chain of restaurant can differ so much.
Isn't that the truth. When we were in FL we only went to the TGIF because we went to one when visiting Niagara Falls, CA and found it to be FANTASTIC! Denny's are like that too. The ones we have been to in FL were great but the ones up here...not so much.
AG
The food and service at TGIs varies considerably,a lot depends on the 'crew' who are on duty. Some days things go just right, the service is good and the food is brilliant. Other days either the service is bad or the food is crap. I see it a lot as I work in our local one, out in the kitchen and it is surprising the variations with the different crew.
We've now got it sussed so on busy days the same 'crew' are in, both front and back of house.
Still doesn't help you if you come on a bad day, but I know a lot of other places are just the same.
Jacqui
Ray&Sarah
30-04-2004, 03:35
TGI's is very appetising! Love the potato shells, we have TGI's in the UK and often pay them a visit![msncool]
Not sure whether they've changed the menu recently, but if you're a vegetarian like us, there's not much choice.
I remember having a main course of Steamed Vegetables once. Expecting to get a plate of mixed veg with a tasty sauce, we actually got a plate containing a small selection of steamed vegetables. Very dry, very bland.
Last time we looked, this was still their main vegetarian offering.
Cruella DeVilla
27-05-2004, 05:37
Cocktails are good but need to be stronger!
CDV
Gillian-B
28-05-2004, 13:00
I've got a big problem with TGI Fridays - I'm usually so full after the main course that I can't manage one of their great deserts!;)
They now do a dessert called a mini me where several of you (or just one of you if you're like my son :D) can share 3 smaller desserts. Don't know if they do anything like this over in the USA.
I agree about the cocktails Jacqueline but if you've got a TGIs near you here go try the promotion they have running at the moment. Mini Me cocktails - 5 shot glasses of 5 different favourite cocktails all for the price of 1 normal one and with more alcohol in.:D
I tried their classic range the other day, very nice too. Mind you, mine were only immitations to show us what the dispaly looked like. I drank blackcurrant and lemonade (Uncle Vanya), lemonade and lime cordial (can't remember what this one was supposed to represent)
strawberry juice (paradie punch), blue curaso and water (turqouise blue) and my favourite dill pickle juice (green eyes):D:D:D:D
None of the other wimps would drink them- great wooses, fancy being shown up by an old fogey:D Mind you, I wouldn't have volunteered had they been the real thing - one sip and I've had been incoherent.[:I]
Jacqui
Floridalover
29-05-2004, 22:57
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Therese
It is amazing how the same chain of restaurant can differ so much. We have found this more than once and have been so disappointed. We would rather have a car journey knowing that we will get a good meal than try a different location.
Therese
[/quote]
I've used them all over the States as my personal favourite is the Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs,......scrumptous ! Anyway, the New York city locations are dire and they charge you more than anywhere else. The best I have ever had is in Minneapolis.....no where near Florida I know but if anyone every ventures up there try it out.
I can thoroughly recommend the city of Minneapolis too, and the North shore, northern Minnesota bordering Canada along Lake Superior....fantastic, especially for changing of the leaves in September....anyway, thats going off the point, I'm getting carried away again[:I]
I have to agree with you Matt. Minneapolis was the first palce I tried TGIs. The people there are really friendly and not all all pushy, trying to get you to leave as soon as poss after you've finishe your meal.
Have you ever tried the Sunshine Factory i there or Lindy's - don't know if that's still there but they are both great places to eat. The first meal I had in the USA was in Minneapolis and I eat a 3lb rib of beef in the Sunshine Factory. I must admmit I have never been able to eat that much again:D
Jacqui
Floridalover
30-05-2004, 13:12
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by porky
I have to agree with you Matt. Minneapolis was the first palce I tried TGIs. The people there are really friendly and not all all pushy, trying to get you to leave as soon as poss after you've finishe your meal.
Have you ever tried the Sunshine Factory i there or Lindy's - don't know if that's still there but they are both great places to eat. The first meal I had in the USA was in Minneapolis and I eat a 3lb rib of beef in the Sunshine Factory. I must admmit I have never been able to eat that much again:D
Jacqui
[/quote]
Yes, the people are the best. I love going there (I go once a month) and have made some really good friends. Infact, I know more people there and have a better social life than I do here in the UK!!
Just the winters......they are absolutely brutal. Its like the place dies and everyone hides it gets so cold.
So if you work for TGI's that means your associated with Carlson? They do all our marketing in the USA, hence my visits there.
I've not heard of the sunshine Factory, but like you have also been a victim of the slab of prime rib......yummy[:p][:p]
Matt,
You really must find the Sunshine Factory. Just asked hubby who used to spend more time over in MSP than here in the UK. He says it's on the corner of Quebec and County Road 9. We once drove 5 and a half miles looking for it when it turned out to be about 1 mile from the hotel we were staying in. We always stayed in the Brooklyn Park area.
TGIs in the UK is actually owned by Whitbread so we have nothing to do with Carlson, Shame, I could do with a transfer out to the USA to live[msnsmile2]. Don't think I could survive on just a waitresses tips though.[msnwink]
The winters are brilliant for snow mobiling though.
Jacqui
PS Youre vila is just up the road from mine. I'm in Key west Court.
Floridalover
01-06-2004, 07:28
Hello, I'm there in 2 weeks, I'll enquire about it for sure, always up for a meal out !
Agree, the winters are good for the snow and Minnesotans love it for that reason......but I'm not convinced, I'm a warm climate person[8D][8D]
Floridalover
04-06-2004, 11:23
I got caught in a thunderstorm on wednesday night in Manahattan so I nipped into the nearest bar...TGI Firdays in Times Square. i ordered a bottle of Bud and was charged $7.00 for the pleasure !!! Not impressed..... THE TGI's down in Miami (Coral Gables) has draught Bud on special during happy hour for 99c and even full price is just over $3 a bottle.
When I mentioned this to the kind lady behind the bar in New York she said:
"welcome to Manhattan honey, in this town, you can charge what you want"
Guess she's right......[msnscared]