Friendly's chain slipping?

My wife grew up in NE on Friendly's and has fond retro memories of the chain...it recently added several stores to Palm BEach COunty and we went there yesterday for breakfast...even though it was not a terrible experience, it was a major letdown. The breakfast home fries were prefab frozen chunks that were deep fried, the sausage patties were a milimeter thick, the biscuts were frozen prefab, and the sausage gravey that came with "biscuts & gravey" was in a 1 oz. plastic ramekin. We'll not be going back anytime soon. Anyone else notice the chain slipping???? bkk

quote:

Originally posted by Big Kahuna Kooks

My wife grew up in NE on Friendly's and has fond retro memories of the chain...it recently added several stores to Palm BEach COunty and we went there yesterday for breakfast...even though it was not a terrible experience, it was a major letdown. The breakfast home fries were prefab frozen chunks that were deep fried, the sausage patties were a milimeter thick, the biscuts were frozen prefab, and the sausage gravey that came with "biscuts & gravey" was in a 1 oz. plastic ramekin. We'll not be going back anytime soon. Anyone else notice the chain slipping???? bkk

My kids like the place because they get an ice cream treat with their kids meal, but their food hasn't been all that good in many years. It isn't horrid, just edible.

I agree with Tony. For as long as i can remember it's been just food.

Aside from the ice cream, there's nothing edible in Friendly's anymore.

My wife and I went to Friendly's in Lockport, NY a year an a half ago while navagating the Erie Canal. The service was friendly and timely. The food was not so good. This type of restaurant, which falls in the class with the old family restaurant chains like Big Boy, Denny's, Perkins, and the like, has succombed to using what appears to be lower end of the Sysco products.

One of two things have happened, I think. 1. My tastes have changed and 2. The restaurant has taken a step backwards. The ice cream sundae's are still good, and the Fribble is still a good shake.

I've never tried the food here but their ice cream and shakes seem pretty good, I really liked their Cookies n Cream sundae, I would expect their food to be pretty standard fare though.

When a restaurant has been bad for as long as Friendly's has, it's tough to "slip".
In 1992 Consumer Reports ranked the company's restaurants last among 14 family food chains, citing surveyed customers' dissatisfaction with the food quality, service, and atmosphere. In 2006, the lowest score out of 103 restaurant chains went to Friendly’s. pb

Back in 2003 I got food poisoning at a Friendly's, have'nt been back since!

porkbeaks-
So what you are saying is they should be commended for their consistency!

The only time I have eaten anything besides ice cream was to visit my teenage cousin, who was our waitress. It would have been impolite to tell her how bad the food was, but I'm sure she knew. I will still get their ice cream, though.

oh, as per porkbeaks statistics. I should say, that the last time I had food at Friendly's prior to my 2007 meal in Locport, was in the 1980's. Even then, I preferred the food at Ground Round. Which, at that time, had pretty good bufalo wings and appetisers like a grande nachos, potato skins and such. and burger didn't suck either. It was our go-to place after marching band competitions in the Fall, and swim meets in the Winter. Friendly's, even then, was strictly an ice cream place. Ground Round quickly went downhill in the early 1990's.

quote:

Originally posted by porkbeaks

When a restaurant has been bad for as long as Friendly's has, it's tough to "slip".

Funny!!! (you gave me a good morning laugh, porkbeaks!)

My sister said their buffalo chicken salad is about the only decent thing they have, although she thought the burgers were better than they used to be.

So a few times over the last year (when I was tired of eating AC area subs and pizza) I stopped by my Friendly's on the way home from work to take-out. It's only about a mile away from me.

It was quite a disorganized scene in there!
(and it was'nt even busy) It was almost humorous...

p.s. And I've given their ice cream enough tries over the years.
And I still don't find it creamy enough!! (needs more butterfat
or something) Some of their ice cream cakes are tasty, though

Never liked Friendly's...last time was years ago when the kids were little...food tasted like a cooked TV dinner...same way I feel about Applebee's...just my opinion, however!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader
Ground Round quickly went downhill in the early 1990's.

I agree that Ground Round was decent, back in the day...
grew up in north Jersey.. we had one a few miles away on Rt. 22 in Union.

The other nearby location was in West Orange. I got fired from that one. Worked there around 1979, for a few months or so, when I was 20 years old.
We were supposed to wear red shirts, and the manager did'nt like the fact I had that my collar was white! I was not a happy camper.

I remember the burgers in the baskets, and all those peanut shells on the floor.

and that chain was based in Massachusetts, just like Friendly's is.

My Cousin had a Ground Round years ago in Toms River...I remember it was quite good...loved throwing those peanut shells on the floor...also went to the one in Eatontown often,equally good!Friendly's shouldn't be said in the same breath!!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Friendly's shouldn't be said in the same breath!!

you apparently have not been to a Ground Round recently.

I have no idea whether Friendly's is still as good as it used to be in New England back in the early '60s, but I can tell you that the Friendly's in the Columbus, Ohio area were absolutely horrible when we tried them some years back. I think there might still be one or two of them open around here, but I know that most of them shut down back in the late 1970s.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Friendly's shouldn't be said in the same breath!!

you apparently have not been to a Ground Round recently.

No...no...I was referring to the Ground Round I remember from many,many years ago...There are no Ground Rounds left around here...and it wouldn't surprise me to know what's left of the chain has gone way down hill

If i'm not mistaken, GR was an offshoot of Howard Johnson's???

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Friendly's shouldn't be said in the same breath!!

you apparently have not been to a Ground Round recently.

No...no...I was referring to the Ground Round I remember from many,many years ago...There are no Ground Rounds left around here...and it wouldn't surprise me to know what's left of the chain has gone way down hill

well, they're comparable in that they were both NE based chains of good quality at one time, but both tanked in a bad way.

Ground Round was fun with their black and white cartoons playing, peanut shells on the floor, quality wings, burgers, even steaks and grilled chicken dinners. Friendly's was a sort of diner joint. Complete with line chefs cooking burgers on a flat grill and thick shakes (Fribbles), malts and fun sundae's.

Completely different atmospheres, but Friendlies food nose dived in the 80's while Ground Round nose dived in the very early 1990's. And both have shrunk considerable and have difficulty keeping up with competition. In fact, I would bet that Friendly's outlasts Ground Round - if only because of the ice cream. As per Friendly's demise, well, I can see it now: It'll be like Chi-Chi's salsa, Friendly's restaurants will be gone, but you'll still be able to buy the hard ice cream and jubilee rolls.

Ground Round doomed itself when they decided to "upgrade" it. Which really meant, new decor, no cartoons in the family dining area, and no more peanut shells on the floor. Ground Round met a stiff arm of competition and got blasted. If I was ground round, I would work on the bar/tavern image. Enlarge the bar area to be 1/2 the restaurant, at least, bring back peanuts, rustic decor and a hearth. Have a tavern menu - wings, apps, burgers, soups, chilis, sandwiches on hearty bread and kaiser rolls, a house salad and a cesar salad. simple dimple. No frills. Support the local sports teams by showing games on screens, sponsor a few bowling teams, have a dart tournament once per week.
For the other half of restaurant, bring back the cartoons, the popcorn and peanuts. Expand the tavern menu to incude kid friend meals like mac-n-cheese, kid sized burgers, fries, milk, juice, chicken tenders - but all decent quality so parents feel good about bringing their kids. Have crayons and cover the tables with white paper to draw on. Encourage hs kids by having food specials on Friday and Saturday nights. Make tip "mandatory" by putting it in the bill - so that serrvers don't get screwed.
Back to basics with the restaurant when it was successful. The reason it was successful was because it had it's own niche. Once it went on par with other chains, it collapsed (it also was expanding too fast, but that happened in conjunction with changing the nature of the place).

and with friendly's, I'd shrink down the menu and push the desserts as a course. Stay open late and reside in the same parking lot as a multiplex movie theatre. or across the street from a theatre. And if you do that, make sure the decor fits the clientel.

Anyway, I've spent as much time on these chains as I'm willing to take.

You made excellent appraisals of both Friendly's and the Ground Round, Scorereader!
You are so "on the money"..

And you are right about Friendly's being best if it were in a movie theatre shopping center.
The clientele it serves best are those high school and college kids after their movie date, and also little kids with their parents.

(definitely NOT the place to impress a business client!)

Growing up in St. Louis, heart of the midwest; GR used to have entertainment in the bars. Bunch of my high school buds got gigs there playing James Taylor covers, etc. bkk

Back in the 80's I had to go to a conference for 2 days every year at a Hotel in Princetion NJ. Right next door was a Ground Round. Ten or Twenty of us would always ditch the Conference at the earliest opportunity and head over to the Ground Round for bar food, beer, and fun. It was really well run and they'd let us stay as long as we wanted to (good customers on expense accounts eating lots of food and drinking lots of beer and able to walk home, a perfect combination for any chain restuarant..)

As for Friendly's I agree with everyone above who said it was awful. We had one near us in Fanwood NJ. In addition to it being dirty and run down, my daughter (who was in High School at the time) was always quick to point out that most of the young servers they hired were from the type of crowd who couldn't get jobs anywhere else

I'd like to comment on Big Kahuna's question directly. He mentions that some new Friendly's restaurants opened recently in Palm Beach County, FL. He doesn't state when his family's last visit to a Friendly's was. I think that all of these low priced family-style restaurant chains have declined in quality over the years. The cost of labor for the waitstaff keeps going up and they can't keep raising prices or they will be charging the prices of the casual dining chains. Chains like this cooked little from scratch; it was always frozen, cans, pouches, etc. Over time, they found even more ways to buy SYSCO-type food rather than cook fresh. The grade of prepared food they buy probably declined over time to keep prices low. I never patronize these chains anymore if I have a choice. I either buy fast food to save money or pay the extra money for a casual dining chain. Just like Tony, I find the food OK, but not inedible. Even if I can't see how my meal is being prepared, I am able to tell the difference between cooked from scratch and "Enda (sp?)", as the Germans say. I can heat frozen food at home, too, for a lot less money.

Today, many Friendly's are franchises rather than company-owned. So, there can be a lot of variation between restaurants. Friendly's strength is in their desserts.

ground round up here in buffalo was pretty good,used to go with the guys on friday after work and have the all u can eat fish and drink beer.used to like that crazy mirror they had when u walked in ,made u look tall and thin .they always played i think they were hansel and grettel cartoons.

Friendly's has allways been bad. No matter where you go the service suck's. The food is bad. The ice cream is ok. I'm surprised they are still in business.

Hey,Scorereader, great analysis!!!!!

Friendly's had taken a long steep tumble since the 1980's. Never mind the 1960's and 1970;s Sort of like falling off Mount Everest, really. They once were excellent. Then just good. Even their ice cream is no longer what it was, the ice cream was the last to go.

The closest Friendy's here happens to located in the Staten Island NY Mall. Bleh.

Davidnyc; In palm beach county there have been 3-4 Friendly's that have opened in the past 4-5 years. We have been to 3 of them in the past couple years. The most recent visit was this past Sunday. the price of their average breakfast was $6.99, cetainly on par with Denny's, IHOP and Perkins as far as price goes, but the others seem to be able to put out a musch better product. bkk

BKK, I first thought your visit last Sunday to Friendly's was the first since the ones in Palm Beach County opened. Unless someone can offer inside information that Friendly's changed the food they use for breakfast, it is hard to tell if their breakfasts decreased in quality even further recently. Regardless of the skill of the cook, if they are using frozen biscuits and skimpy portions of sausage it might be time to just write them off.

This discussion just caused me to realize someting I have been doing without consciously being aware of it: When determining whether or not to eat at a particular place for breakfast, I look for tell-tale signs of pre-cooked food. Scrambled eggs from quart milk containers of pastuerized eggs, frozen potatoes of any kind, pancakes, waffles or biscuits not made from scratch or a mix on site, microwaved precooked bacon or sausage, frozen foodservice donuts, rolls not baked on site or fresh from a local bakery, etc.

Amen