What happened to TGI Friday's is what seems to have happened to every once popular chain restaurant: quality went down and prices went up.

I gotta say "The Rise and Fall of" series is one of my favourite things to come watch on YT and just experience nostalgia. Keep it up Business Insider 👍🏼

We went to a Friday's probably 17 or so years ago because of a gift card I received for some promotion I can't even remember. We had to go a bit out of our way to find a location, but once we did the most remarkable thing about the experience was how unremarkable it was. Generic chain food.

Friday’s become expensive, 19$ for a burger. Cheap for a restaurant, expensive for a bar

In the Mid ‘90s we’d go as a family when I was a kid. I remember it being a “big deal”. My dad would get us all steaks and we’d eat like kings. Wait staff was so nice and friendly I’d be mesmerized. They would remember my parents and make small talk and make jokes. Truly an “experience” Once I was an adult, I went again, maybe in the early 2000’s. I Was not impressed, poor food and a really cold feeling from the staff. Nothing memorable and you could tell it had zero life left in it. Not sure what happened, but I never went back. I will always remember those rare TGIF dinners with my dad though. Even though I know it was cheesy, I’m still thankful…

Friday’s used to be HOT about 15 years ago. The portion sizes greatly decreased and even the taste is different. The potato skins are now half the size and taste like they were heated up in the kitchen vs being cooked like back then. The ribs used to be good, Jack Daniels chicken, all of it. Now, they’re all closing, customer service is horrible, and the food is sub par. I went to Friday’s recently for my free dessert for my birthday, the container was dirty, customer service was poor, and I was disgusted because there was something on my dessert. That sealed the deal. I will never return to a Friday’s.

as someone who's a decent home cook when I pay for food it has to be one of 3 things. Fast and cheap, stuff I can't make, or really tasty. When TGIFridays had real chefs cooking it was tasty. Not cheap, or stuff I couldn't make but tasty so I was ok with it. Eventually they started freezing and prepackaging everything and I could taste the difference. Now i avoid chains like fridays, chilis, and applebees because the food is crap, and for those prices I'd much rather go to a restaurant that has an actual chef cooking good food.

*They make the mistake of reducing portion sizes and increase prices!*

I had always thought either TGI Fridays or Chilli's wouldn't survive the 2010s and honestly I'm surprised Chili's ended up making it

I worked as the second successive head host for the UK's first TGI Friday's in 1986 that opened in Birmingham. Great days back then. Worked with some amazing people and met incredible guests too. Ten dips and nine dips were my favourite dishes. Purnudderbutter finger pie was my favourite dessert. Overall most of the menu was pretty good at the time. The atmosphere was super, especially when birthdays were sung out loud by the dub-dubs, such wonderful times. Having queues waiting to get inside the restaurant was a novelty in those days, Friday's made a big impact on the public in terms of welcoming people to a unique eating establishment of the mid-1980s. The 1980s TGI Friday's was the best of times for meeting, eating and drinking. In the 2020's the magic is non-existent however, not all is lost. It will take a real personality, an individual who can bring the magic through greeting and making one and all feel special again. Ahh, well, who knows!

my first formal job (early 90s) was at a TGIF's spent about 4 or 5 yrs working there, went from host to server and eventually to every station on the kitchen line. Loved the companionship and the decent pay once you factor in the tips. But there was a big divide between the franchise people and the local owners. The local owners were always cutting corners, even stealing (taking huge meals for themselves and their families for free, several times a week, raiding the liquor), changing suppliers from quality ones to crap ones, often for no logical reason. They always knew when a "surprise" inspection was coming from the franchise office, so a week before they would keep us all on after closing time scrubbing and cleaning till 3 or 4 am, with no additional pay (work was scarce at the time, so they could replace you easily) and they would buy the right quality ingredients. Portions were always being cut, taking an ounce here, an ounce there, etc. Bunch of crooks the lot of them. After I quit, I still visited as I liked the food (the kitchen staff were all very dedicated and professional, despite management), but the portions became smaller and smaller, the quality tanked and the prices were always high, to the point where it became more expensive to order a small, tasteless burger there than to order a decent steak at a good steakhouse. I revisited the place just last month, after about 5 yrs. It was worse than ever. Despite the place being about at 1/3 occupancy, order took forever, they did not bring the appetizers until the very end (after the main course) and only because I reminded them very kindly (dont mistreat waiters ever, been in their shoes) about them. My burger was hideous, tasteless carboard palp instead of meat, "blue cheese" sauce runny, bland, looked more like milk than sauce, wings dry, tiny and meatless. Horrible food in general, especially after I had spent yrs in the very same kitchen and knew what the genuine stuff should taste like.

LOL back in the 90's, my sister was being all pissy and declared that she and her family would NOT be attending our Thanksgiving get together. Rather than fuss with all the cooking and whatnot, the rest of us family went to TGI; I had fajitas. To date, that was the most memorable Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had. We had a friggin blast!

Near & Dear. I celebrated my 21st birthday @ TGI 's in Fresno Ca 28 years ago dang im old Thank you for the history lesson.

Non-American here. I always thought TGIF was just a way of expressing joy on Fridays for the working class.

These legacy venues don't seem to understand that their competition is no longer other bars or restaurants... they are competing with Tinder and Social Media. There are now easier ways to hook up, and their food doesn't look good on Instagram. RIP

I used to be a server at a TGI Fridays in Wilmington NC around 2012, the manager (Brian Johnson) gave away free wings on Friday nights as a happy hour promotion. Needless to say it attracted the worst clientele, just like a food pantry or soup kitchen. I quit after a year, and the franchise went out of business shortly after I left.

In Bolivia (Cochabamba), it opened some 5-6 odd years ago and they seemed to be doing alright, they had a very large venue and they were often close to full, despite their prices being a lot higher than the competition. At some point they decided that the few somewhat affordable options on their menu (though still more expensive than the competition) should have their price increased by 50%, so I stopped going as often, and the few times I went their clientele was much diminished, maybe 3-5 tables had customers at lunchtime. Then the pandemic came, they decided to not be on the most popular food delivery apps, and I wasn't surprised at all to see they closed.

I used to work at Friday’s, from 2018-2021, and it was either super slow or supper pact. It was fun sometimes, but honestly management was a joke and the patrons stopped coming in. But it did have a great happy hour 🍻

There’s a TGI Fridays where I live in London, UK. It’s located inside a large shopping centre. No one goes there anymore. It was big back in the 2000s, but it is now severely outdated and young kids don’t see it as cool anymore.

As somebody who worked in the industry .. tgifs has been shits since 2010. It was a fun place to meet other adventurous .. workers 🔥

They only spent 30 seconds covering the rebrand … I wish I could have seen more that 63rd and 1st bar looked hella groovy

In London we still call it TGI's. Never heard of anyone saying 'Fridays'. Never even realised the name change

One distinctive feature I always notice about these restaurants is the amount of decorative trash that posted up all over the place. It was always a little confusing to me.

I am in commercial real estate. Lots of these companies fail because they change what made them successful or get bought out by equity companies. They streamline menu's and take off what was special to them only and was excellent and replace with mediocre food and inflated prices and think consumers will not notice. The brand then slowly starts dying off one location by another. The reason is there are new brands starting up all the time that are hungry to be noticed and will offer amazing food for affordable prices to gain traction and market share. The businesses around for awhile do not update inside and out so look old. Chili's is another brand tanking right now. They use to have awesome burrito's and other menu items and decided to take 80% of the items OFF the menu a couple years ago. They said they wanted to go back to what made them famous in the beginning. Problem is 40 years ago they were the only rib and burger place around and now they have like 10 of those in a 5 mile radius. These corporations frankly are just not that smart and easy to see why they are going away. Steak N Shake same way used to be really good and they are on life support trying to turn the brand around.

The last time I went to TGIF, I was disappointed that my server was only wearing 15 pieces of flair. Seemed like she was just doing the bare minimum.

I both worked at and went to the Fridays near me. One of the best salads I’ve ever eaten in my life was a chef salad . The dressing was so good that I took the garnish of leaf lettuce is that they used to surround the bowl tore them up and asked for more dressing. I will never forget that salad. It was so beautiful to look at as well

Tried TGI Fridays some 15 years ago because it was the most expensive restaurant in a nearby mall and we were deathly curious why it was charging so much. It was a complete meh.

Had a lotta good times at Fridays. High school dates and going there after Chorus shows and Drama/Theatre shows, almost always as a twenty top...

In the 90s and 00s, Friday's was a fun place to go. Pretty good food for a reasonable price, and a nice selection of good beers. Plus interesting decor. In 2010 I became a parent and took on a long commute, so my "going out" days got dialed way back. I was surprised to notice Friday's locations closing down in recent years, and always wondered what happened. Between this video and users' comments (i.e. they cut corners on the food and it turned to crap), now I know.

The TGI Friday’s in my neighborhood closed down about two years ago, I couldn’t believe that dinosaur was there in the first place. I never even considered going there. The local scene is full of independent restaurants and bars serving up inspired fresh food. TGi’s fajitas served with tortillas made a month ago in some industrial bakery in Peoria or some random place appeal to nobody these days. Adapt or die, and they chose to die.

We ate at the restaurant for almost 15-years - and this interview MISSED one key element - the food quality went to hell. WHY? Ask a store manager - it was real shocking - they no longer make anything. For example - in 1989, at our TGI Fridays we loved the chicken fingers and honey mustard sauce. Store manager knew us - how was dinner he asked - well that honey mustard sauce was and always is - just amazing. WHY I would love to have the receipe. OH no problem - he came back from the office area with a photocopy from their notebook (cook book) - here you go - as he laughed - it was for 5-gallons. NO PROBLEM - easy to divide. FST FORWARD - asked the manager about the honey mustaard sauce - you know I have a copy of the cookbook from the Florida Store - as this tastes different, COOOK BOOK? Make it? Wow, he said, this must have been many years ago - we get it pre-made in a bag - squeeze it out!!!!!!!!!!!!! The famous and I mean famous potatoe skins loaded - talked to a Central FL store owner about how they made them. Scooped out the baked potatoes - threw it out - then … throw it out? Yes, we dont have any use for mashed potatoes - not on the menue back then. NOW THEY are - PRE-MADE. So Fridays went to premade/prefrozen - re-heat process. We were at a TN store - asked about their potatoes skins loaded - the waitress asked - as she leaned over - quietly “have you had them recently?” Yes back in NC. I dont recommend them. Ok. She later said - people who have them from years past - are ALWAYS disappointed - they get upset - and it runs the mood and meal. We said the NC store - next to Duke Hospital, Duke Univ - didnt last long at all. We thought the poor food taste was the store. NOPE. I dont care what they say - oh you cant differenitate from …. BS - crap partial or premade food is - POOR business.

Like most restaurants in decline, it was the food quality that suffered first....

When I hear TGI Fridays, I think of disgusting foods.

1987 Fridays had a great menu with items made in the establishment, and now they buy everything from nestle, frozen. You are getting a TV dinner that has been plated.

Seeing this video and watching it really surprised me almost? Perhaps it is naïvety, but the local one here has always been great and is constantly improving. It had a dip in quality a few years ago, but I prefer going to there now over many other local places. They constantly are trying new dishes at my location, really friendly with customers, incredibly clean and modern facility, and more. Only downside is their removal of endless apps, as that was a favorite of my friends and I when we went out. Saddened to see others don’t have the same experience, and hope other locations can improve like mine. I live in smaller town in northern Maryland for reference.

I loved this place!! Best damn drinks at a home style restaurant I’ve ever had!! The pink punk cosmo was my favorite !! And NO!! I’m not an alcoholic I barely drink but when I was at TGI Friday’s I’d get an nice cocktail

Like every restaurant the quality of their food declined. Panera Bread is a shadow of their former selves. I remember I would "treat myself" to Panera or TGIF. It was much better when full time adults were doing the cooking. Now it's primarily gangs of part time kids and the food prep has changed accordingly. Business' response to certain mandates made it this way.

There was a time, my family dine-in TGI 5-6time per month even though the item on menu is abit pricey, but the portion of the food does justified the cost. We stopped going TGI when they reduced the food portion.

i believe the've started selling some of their food as freezer meals in iceland in the UK.

Theyv been playing the "American Diner" thing here for years, changed nothing, and kept up the sky high prices with poor/average food. Glasgow, Scotland. The one closest to me looks empty any time I go past, the city centre one I can see being busy, largely due to location. Honestly, theres far far better out there in many restaurants for half the price. Could go cheap and cheerful and "China Buffet King" is a lot cheaper with fresher food. Which is crazy lol. How it still survives is lost on me

TGI Fridays was a good restaurant. Had a beginning and ending. At times the lines were long outside waiting to be seated. D menu was good and affordable. But sadly to say they ended up losing customers.

I didn't know TGI Fridays pre-dates the 1970s disco era (when I first heard of the restaurant). There's one in my Fresno, CA neighborhood about a mile from my house which back in the 80s/90s got a lot of business but not today. The restaurant has never been updated and has the same decor as when it first opened I'm guessing in the late 70s. Because it's in the neighborhood, I will eat at Fridays a couple of times a year and order either their Million Dollar Cobb Salad or hot wings. Both are pretty good. The rest of the items on their menu pretty much suck.

Back in the early to mid 90's, TGIF was my wife and I'd goto place for dinner when we felt like going out. Then sometime in the late 90's? They completely changed the menu and went in with all the Jack Daniel's branded crap. Tried a few things, but pretty much everything we enjoyed eating there was gone from the menu. Haven't even though about them in over 20 years until seeing this video show up in my suggestions. Too bad what they did to themselves.

guy who invented tgifridays: I certainly wasn't intending to open a singles ba... narrator: the single bar idea totally paid off

How freakin interesting…. I used to frequent TGIF as young 19 year old woman… it was my first intro to the bar scene and being with older women, they never carded me. I did not know the history behind it. I just perfected the sizzling chicken and cheese entree they served b/c we don’t have one in Birmingham anymore. Interestingly enough, it closed due to sexual harassment.

The fact a TGI Fridays is near my High School and I didn't know it was the only one in my country (🇯🇲), I'm gonna start going their from now on

I used to LOVE TGI Fridays. The stuff on the walls, the stained glass, & their chicken fingers. My parents worked there in the '80s, and they said everything was made from scratch, the menu was like a book, and they had high service standards. The Fridays in our local mall got "revamped" - they changed the atmosphere to some kind of boring, streamlined "modern" and the food was terrible. It's now closed. Really a shame what happened to it, similar to Ruby Tuesdays.

First off, still a huge fan and customer of this franchise. Always have always will be. All I gotta say is TGFF....Thank God For Fridays!!

I've never had the opportunity to go to a TGI Fridays, but I've always and still want to go. They have always been far and inbetween in my neck of the woods, but I have noticed that some of those few locations have closed down in recent years. Now the only ones left seem to be in very large cities like Atlanta, Ga or Jacksonville, Fl, and even they have only a handful of locations left. (Jacksonville metro has 1 left).

Fridays Applebee's chilli's all closed here now

I had no idea TGI Friday's was so innovative. Makes me wonder what other brands I took for granted as a kid.

A consideration : *The Sharper Image* - Started in 1977 and ran very successfully for 30 years and and then suddenly went bust.

Great video they built the first TGI Friday in Myrtle Beach and I think 1995 and then they built another one that opened in 96. And you were in a waiting line everyday. Place was hugely popular. I was a store manager at the local mall. And it was one of the first restaurants surrounding the mall. Pretty soon just like the video set Applebee's moved in then Olive Garden then Texas Roadhouse. In the area where we live there at 1.5 Applebee's restaurants there are now 1. T.G.I.Friday's both are still open in hanging in there but they block the through so many changes. As where Olive Garden is still thriving. Got to say always enjoyed it late 90s early 2000 then they revamp their entire menu and it just wasn't the same

We used to go there a lot back in the '90s. Worked well when we had little kids - the place was noisy enough that nobody cared if the kids got a little fussy/rowdy. Probably haven't been to one in at least 20 years at this point. The one closest to us eventually got sold to a local chain called Bulldog Alehouse... we go there occasionally since they've got a really nice selection of craft beers.

Interesting video even though I have never heard of TGI Fridays... ...I just discovered there is infact a TGI Fridays just a 20 minute drive from where I live 😅 Greetings from Western Australia (The place where there are no Starbucks).

My first job was at a TGIFridays where I met my first boyfriend right after highschool. I saw the same store close down last year and It made me a bit sad. I had never worked at a place where the employees felt like a family. I still keep in contact with them 6 years later. I think we will see more restaurants and retail stores close down, because of covid.

An early TGI Fridays (one of the oldest for a time) was in Overton Square in Memphis, and Billy Joel would play there very early in his career.

I remember when I was young how busy it was. I went there a few days ago not even packed on a Friday night and they still couldn’t keep up with the people that were even there it was pretty bad. It’s crazy because this business wants your business obviously but when they do get it they blow it horribly. It’s like they aren’t ready for a come back.

He done hooked all the singles up and had to change from a singles bar to a restaurant.

Will Always be number one on my list. Jack daniels Whiskey glaze has a place in my heart.

I've worked tgifridays for 5 years and I got unemployed, I have a wonderful memory with making new friends and enjoying food, I'LL miss work at the restaurant

TGIF is my fav resto. Remembering one of the first yt channel I subs when I started my channel. Stay connected.

Indonesian here, in indonesia, TGI Fridays is actually considered as a restaurant rather than a diner, it only opens in malls and high end area's

Home of the free pour.... Hated when ours remodeled to focus on food/family, it Closed about 5 months later.

I’ve been to a TGI Fridays one time years ago, there was near where I live, I finally went with friends one day, and the day I decided to finally go, they told us they were closing within a few weeks, and that TGI Fridays was there for years, we did the bottomless appetizers and it was good wasn’t too bad.

We had one in our town and one day they just closed their doors and closed up shop. They didn't even informed the workers there. Just a note on the door that said it was closed down. What kind of loyalty is that to your staff. No warning, no special pay/bonus. You show up for work and boom, you no longer had a job.

My TGI Fridays at Park City Center closed. I loved going there even though my family never went shopping after eating ☹️. Mine had a phone booth. I loved their Mac and Cheese, chicken fingers and fries and honey mustard dip and Electric Blue Raspberry Soda, yummy 😋. The only dessert I had there was a birthday cake for my family's birthday. At the birthday party, my little friend had to use the restroom so I accompanied her, then she started playing in the sink water and I told her not to do that because we could have been taken from our parents for being in the restroom alone. That night in the parking lot of the mall, she lost her balloon ☹️. Fun birthday party though. That was my only time getting a balloon from there because other times I was a teen or adult. My friend (a different friend) got sick from their mac and cheese 😢. The last time my parents and I went was on a hot October day in 2013 and my mom's sandal heel broke from a chair being on her sandal 😭. I miss eating at the one at my mall.

I really hope you make a lot of money off these advertisements,because your great video was ABSOLUTELY lambasted with advertisements.

Went a while back. Really still can't tell it differently than Applebee's or Chili's. We prefer Chili's of the three and really don't even go to it very often. We much prefer local places.

About 20 years ago my friends and I would occasionally meet up after work, smoke a little wacky tobacci and go to Fridays on central Ave in Yonkers NY, the drinks and food were good and the place was packed on a Thursday evening. Went to a Fridays by me a few months ago, haven’t not been to one in years I was nostalgic for my old usuals, needless the say it sucked horribly, almost unrecognizable menu, no more Jack Daniels chicken and shrimp an the spinach dip was horrible, and to add insult to injury all of the food tasted like it was cooked in the same oil, it all tasted like funnel cake. Fridays needs to switch things up fast or die a miserable death.

At 7.29 the TGI shown is actually in Stoke on Trent, England. Weird during a segment discussing closures in the US.

In Va, Friday’s would have a DJ on certain nights. And great service.

I love TGI Fridays but it’s way too damn expensive

I use to love Fridays in the mid 2000s. The Jack Daniel's menu was amazing.

I remember there was one in the big mall in my city....it closed down several years ago and is now replaced by a Johnny Rockets

I did not know about the origins of the chain, nor about it being in decline. I live about 10 minutes from a TGI Friday's that stays pretty busy.

Their iconic dish in Malaysia back than was the onion soup in a bun if remember correctly.

TGI Friday in Trinidad and Tobago had a desert dish called tall cake.... so so delicious, the moment they stopped serving that I stopped going there....

I have great memories from TGI in the '90s. It was the place to go for great cocktails and American food (I'm British). The last time we went was probably 2018. I hadn't been in years and thought we'd check it out again. Central London, wasn't busy and the food wasn't great. Still a good selection of cocktails, but the vibe was gone and like the video said, food you can get anywhere these days.

food isn't all that good, either. Our Fridays always been a ghost town.

I recently went to the one in Coral Springs and it was a nightmare. No one at the door to seat you, unbussed tables everywhere, not enough staff for the meager guests that were there. I walked out after 20 min with no waitress to take our order. Vowing never to return. RIP TGI Friday.

I worked at one in Nashville…it’s closed now, but I had fun…

I had so much fun at Friday's at college. It was across the street. Now the service is the worse. Trying to use all of my point now.

Their most iconic dish was the Cinnabon Cheesecake! Took Cheesecake Factory an entire decade later to finally make it

Me and my wife went to the one in our town maybe 4-5 years ago. The appetizer came out quickly enough, then a few moments later cockroaches started crawling off the plate. I screamed like a girl and ran out of the restaurant. We left $15 to tip the waiter and never went back! When I was in college fridays was the place to go for drink specials and tasty apps. Idk what happened to our location but they eventually closed for good a year or two after the cockroach incident.

I remember seeing the commercials in the 90s and always wanting to go. I ended up going in 1997 and don’t remember it much(I was 13). There are no longer any locations anywhere near my city.

Food quality became terrible. And service declined 100%

The location in the area I had grown up in had gone away before I got a chance to experience it as an adult, so I really only knew it as an angsty teenager.

That blonde kid out for dinner with her family near the start. Thats me! Sat in TGI in Reading with my sister and parents. No recollection of ever being filmed and very surprised to see my face pop up!

I was a bus boy for 7 years at TGI Fridays. I got in around the start of the decline in 2007. When I started, all of the women working there looked like models. It got worse every year. I just went back to the one I worked at recently and it was like looking at the ruins of a once great civilization. There was no life or warmth to it. Made me slightly depressed.

There was nothing better than the French onion soup, cup of dirt, and Oreo madness at the 90s tgif. I can’t even believe that there used to be a madhouse at the TGI fridays inside the penn station in Manhattan! Oh man nobody ever tells you it’s the good old days.

The plan to switch to a complete Atkins Diet menu when that became a popular trend again, & changing the stripes theme, was when the fun went out of the place because they lost the college crowd, we lost our last San Diego location to the covid lockdown.

Like Fridays BUT LOVE BENNIGANS. Miss that place

I went once. The service was very very slow, even though it was mostly empty. We had booked a table but still had to wait 40 minutes for said table to be ready. Once the food finally arrived, it was pretty average for some dishes, poor for others. The same price could get you much better food, better atmosphere and better service less than five minutes walk away. Obviously. we didn't go back, and that location closed 4 years later. I have no idea why people liked it so much, or how it managed to stay open those four year.

I need SINGERS PLEASE! 🤣 It’s was such a fun place to work back in the day!

I'm juuust old enough to remember when TGIF was a solid bar. It was pretty great at one point.

Love eating at tgif Fridays🤗

The best youtube chanel ever

Use to love this place then food decline and so did service. I haven’t gone back for over 12 years.

Friday’s appetizer menu was recently seen leaving a chiropractor. Apparently suffering from back issues for carrying the franchise for so long.