TGI Fridays files for bankruptcy

I had cracker barrel tonight.. first time I went in years because we always get bad food(3 locations near me)

Well I had turkey fried steak with mashed potatoes and the potato casserole. . yeah not the greatest choices.

The turkey needed a steak knife to cut.. it was that tough.. but edible.
The mashed had huge eyes and what appeared to be nearly raw potato chunks.
the potato cassarole was so undercooked it looked literally half cooked and the potato shreds were not even close to cooked.

Asked for fries to replace the casserole.. they came out 10min after I was done eating.. were grease soaked and not crispy at all (steak fries)

Yep maybe ill go back in 5 years if they are still there.

We were going to stop at McAlisters but wife wanted cracker barrel... blah.

The MIL likes TGIF so I've been there a couple times every year.. the food varies from almost good to non-edible.
Ribs are usually a good choice but their sides are a crapfest.
 
Didn't know TGIF started as a pick up joint in Manhattan. Who knew. I might have gone!

I think the last one I was in was at an airport. Detroit maybe??

I pretty much haven't done a chain in ages. Google on your phone pretty much opens indy restaurants up to you no matter where you are - not like the old days where if you didn't know you didn't know. I do go begrudgingly to Texas Roadhouse a couple times a year. Kids like the rolls. Its acceptable and prices are OK comparatively.
 
Rand said:
I had cracker barrel tonight.. first time I went in years because we always get bad food(3 locations near me)

Well I had turkey fried steak with mashed potatoes and the potato casserole. . yeah not the greatest choices.

The turkey needed a steak knife to cut.. it was that tough.. but edible.
The mashed had huge eyes and what appeared to be nearly raw potato chunks.
the potato cassarole was so undercooked it looked literally half cooked and the potato shreds were not even close to cooked.

Asked for fries to replace the casserole.. they came out 10min after I was done eating.. were grease soaked and not crispy at all (steak fries)

Yep maybe ill go back in 5 years if they are still there.

We were going to stop at McAlisters but wife wanted cracker barrel... blah.

The MIL likes TGIF so I've been there a couple times every year.. the food varies from almost good to non-edible.
Ribs are usually a good choice but their sides are a crapfest.
Click to expand...
Cracker Barrel is the standard for mediocre food...but it's cheap relatively speaking, so the parking lots are still packed. The wife likes it- I can't stand it.
 
CKN said:
Cracker Barrel is the standard for mediocre food...but it's cheap relatively speaking, so the parking lots are still packed. The wife likes it- I can't stand it.
Click to expand...
It historically was at least consistent given how generic it is it’s very sad they can’t even prepare mashed potatoes
 
dishdude said:
These chains that were popular in the 90's and 00's are really falling out of style, no one wants to eat at them anymore. We have a rotation of 5-6 restaurants we frequent and they're all mom and pop type places, the service is better, the food is better and they're just an overall better value and dining experience.
Click to expand...
Be thankful you are in the greater Phoenix area. Boom town Phoenix has ample individually owned restaurants. Much of the US. Only has Mexican as a locally owned restaurant.
 
- The Ex loved going there, so I had to oblige, easily >50 times from ~2004-2021, so a-lot of experience/reps:

- With the exception of Burgers, Steak, Fries you are simply getting a high-end microwave meal at a 20-40% premium
- Very annoyed how they really cranked up the price of beverages: like $4-5 for a Coke and $8+ for a draft domestic beer. (I understand I am paying more to eat out, but I draw the line ~3x retail cost)
- Service varied, sometimes really great, depended on who you got... eventually the good ones left so ~50/50 I guess
- After the plandemic: service was often slow and more likely to be poor. I don't think they had sufficient staff or didn't want to pay the premium... Recent increases to minimum wages had to be a factor. Complex issue here but in the end did not work out.
- During the plandemic my small city increased food and beverage tax to 10%. Of course it never went away, So that tax, plus tip, plus inflated beverage rates makes me less inclined to go there

Local place that is better, more realistic prices, better service, more consistent gets my business now
 
Pablo said:
People don’t realize how many restaurants serve just frozen reheated food. For crazy prices

Yuck
Click to expand...
Yes, reheated food is what most restaurants serve today. The food arrives pre cooked.

I am sure the CEO of McDonald’s thinks day and night on how to get rid of the fryers at McDonalds. He surely wants Starbucks and Dunkin’s model of just reheating pre cooked food.

Last spring after getting off an evening flight I stopped in a Seattle area McDonalds. Wanted something a bit healthier. I discovered McDonalds no longer sells salads. Guess if salads could be frozen and then microwaved McDonalds might again sell salads.
 
Speedbird001 said:
- The Ex loved going there, so I had to oblige, easily >50 times from ~2004-2021, so a-lot of experience/reps:

- With the exception of Burgers, Steak, Fries you are simply getting a high-end microwave meal at a 20-40% premium
- Very annoyed how they really cranked up the price of beverages: like $4-5 for a Coke and $8+ for a draft domestic beer. (I understand I am paying more to eat out, but I draw the line ~3x retail cost)
- Service varied, sometimes really great, depended on who you got... eventually the good ones left so ~50/50 I guess
- After the plandemic: service was often slow and more likely to be poor. I don't think they had sufficient staff or didn't want to pay the premium... Recent increases to minimum wages had to be a factor. Complex issue here but in the end did not work out.
- During the plandemic my small city increased food and beverage tax to 10%. Of course it never went away, So that tax, plus tip, plus inflated beverage rates makes me less inclined to go there

Local place that is better, more realistic prices, better service, more consistent gets my business now
Click to expand...
Funny thing about TgIF, Chili’s, Applebees, etc- the won’t post the price of their soft drinks on their menus. They know if customers saw the price, it would be water for many.
 
GON said:
Last spring after getting off an evening flight I stopped in a Seattle area McDonalds. Wanted something a bit healthier. I discovered McDonalds no longer sells salads. Guess if salads could be frozen and then microwaved McDonalds might again sell salads.
Click to expand...
Covid killed the salads. Even worse IMO is the loss of the oatmeal, and the yogurt parfait at breakfast. There’s nothing even remotely healthy left on McDonalds menu now.
 
Fridays has been on the ropes for a long time. Imo most of these types of chains are gonna be gone in the next few years. As others have said the food - which was never all that great to begin with - is getting worse with smaller portions and the prices just keep going up due to things beyond their control.

My wife and I ate at an Outback a few months back because someone gave us a gift card. Previous to that visit about 2 years ago we ate at another Outback in a different state - also due to getting a gift card. Both visits had in common 2 things: very high prices in relation to the portion sizes and food made from low quality ingredients. The word 'mediocre' comes to mind - edible but a poor value and nowhere we'd ever go if we actually had to pay for the food.

TLDR: I won't miss any of these places, haha.
 
The Texas Roadhouse meat selection in Tracy just for @Pablo



That was my last meal there. The balked potati is not shown because it came late. Anyway, that's way too much meat and I like four times as many veggies. I took most of the meet home.



With all those peanuts I was expecting to see more elephants.
 
Just like clothing brands, restaurants come and go, nothing new here and certainly NOT a measure of the economy. TGIF lacks (gosh I dont know what) it lacks a public vision of what they are. New chains open up all the time, the restaurants business can't keep up with demand.
 
CKN said:
Cracker Barrel is the standard for mediocre food...but it's cheap relatively speaking, so the parking lots are still packed. The wife likes it- I can't stand it.
Click to expand...
Years ago they used to be good...but have gone downhill..
 
Someone on here hit on the biggest issues with all restaurants, it's the rents. Most of these larger cahins sign 15 to 20yr leases which require them to also pay taxes and insurance. If rent to sales goes about 10% they are in trouble. Most, if not all of these types of leases have 3% to 5% yearly increases, so when a store is in its 12th to 15th year, rent is sky high as are the taxes as they increase with the building's income. Chains will not own the property becuase its an accounting nightmare to take into consideration appreciation, if any. Rent is an income reduction, so its a write off.

Labor is also stupid high. I buy and sell a lot of QSR (quick service resstatuarants) and can tell you that for anyone except the high volume stores, they are paying so much in labor that one particualt chain told me they need to sell a burger at $28 just to break even.

Food costs are out of site, think of what you pay at home today versus a few short years ago. 5lbs of chicken wings for example used to cost about $10 a bag, now they push $20. Ground beef is roughly up $1.50 per lb too. Why? Its our economy in general. Labor, fuel, maintenace, etc.....
 
We were heading to a regular place yesterday and drove past an old hole in the wall - I asked when was the last time you had a burger there? Ten years. 20 minutes later I’m asking when was the last time you had one this hot and tasty? But, it was not fast food prices … Quality rules …
 
GON said:
Yes, reheated food is what most restaurants serve today. The food arrives pre cooked.

I am sure the CEO of McDonald’s thinks day and night on how to get rid of the fryers at McDonalds. He surely wants Starbucks and Dunkin’s model of just reheating pre cooked food.

Last spring after getting off an evening flight I stopped in a Seattle area McDonalds. Wanted something a bit healthier. I discovered McDonalds no longer sells salads. Guess if salads could be frozen and then microwaved McDonalds might again sell salads.
Click to expand...
Rumors have been salads at McDonalds were a poor seller and spoilage was high.
 
And we'll probably see more restaurants fall apart because of High Gas prices to transport their warehoused processed foods! And that's really what these chains offer is processed food with a lot of crap! As many have already said quality is down, labor quality is down meaning they don't know what the hell they're doing!
Prices are too high, gas is too high, we're going to hell in a handbasket and Esther is driving in the truck!!
Oh! and sorry to be negative!
 
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