Friendly's

I went to Springfield College, near the Wilbraham HQ of Friendly. They were always good to my college, and I got to meet one of the founders several times. My oldest daughters both worked at a Friendly restaurant. In short, I wish them well.

I go several times a year because other family members like to go there. It is always ok but never great.

Yesterday I had the new cheeseburger on sourdough. It was very, very, good. It came with a nice Happy Ending (tm?) sundae. The fries were cold, but I didn't bother my overworked server with that fact. She did a great job with too many tables. I tipped 20%.

The Friendly's in Connecticut were always good, so I was surprised when they opened four or five in central Ohio about 25 or so years ago. They were just terrible. The food was lousy and the service was worse. A couple of years ago they were down to just one Friendly's, and it's possible even that one is gone by now.

last summer I went to Friendly's in Lockport, NY and then this past winter I went with my niece to Friendly's at Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY.
Both times, the food was average, the ice cream was very good, and the service was excellent.

The food has definately faltered over the years. Perhaps they are trying to offer up too many new entree meals rather than sticking to more traditional diner/grill fare like sandwiches, burgers and the like.

years ago, Friendly's was great. The last time I ate there was about five years ago and they were still good at that time. I sincerely hate to see a good restaurant respond to the green shades.

Paul E. Smith
knoxville, Tn

The Friendly's near us in Alexandria, VA closed a few years ago. We were disappointed because my younger children liked the basic simplicity and good taste of the food.

I had a series of bad experiences with Friendlys 10 or more years ago and haven't been back. Even with chains, it seems there are too many other options to make it worth while.

But, I read recently that the chain is up for sale. Any of you fans want to buy it? If you do, I'll give it another shot.

I don't think we have had a Friendly's in the Pittsburgh area for maybe 20 years. Even when they were here, the only thing I liked was the ice cream.

We had a Friendly's here in New Paltz for about 15 years - it closed about 12 years ago. We liked their ice cream- good, not great, but the service was always so damn slow and the food just so-so, that we rarely ate there.

The funny thing about the closing left all in this community with a bad taste about the company. One day the day shift showed up for work and the place was locked up - no explanation, no "closed" sign, just locked and dark. And it stayed that way for several years till it was torn down and replaced by a branch bank.

Cheers, John

There are still many in my area, but everytime I have been in one, most recently to take my kids to an ice-cream birthday party, they seem a bit sloppy. That is never a good look for a restaurant, and the fact so many share this trait is confusing.

I had a bad experience at a Friendly's in Virginia last summer and will never go back to any of their locations.
The place has been on a downward spiral since the mid 90s.

The final nail in the coffin was their Warrenton, VA location. This small town in the exurbs of DC has very few breakfast options. An IHOP that is ALWAYS jammed with people (45 minute line for breakfast!) and a small greasy spoon diner. What will it take for Denny's, Cracker Barrel or Silver Diner to take notice? Anyway Friendly's only serves breakfast until 10 AM. They used to serve breakfast around the clock. The wait staff there was rude. There were flies everywhere. The tables were full of crumbs. And the cheeseburger I had (at 11 AM) had a hair in it.

Never again! No wonder so many of them are closing.

Hello All,
Tmiles, the only Friendly's I've eaten at is in Williamsburg, Va.. In 2004, took my daughter and her visiting Brit friend to it.
We enjoyed the food, especially since the menu offered us something each of us wanted, and the girls loved the desserts.
Went again in 2005 or 2006, (the memory is fading) with my daughter and my mother. Again it was a good experience for the same
reasons. I found it a clean place and the food decent to good. The last time the waitress had a gruff, tired attitude at first,
but it softened as she dealt with my 83 year old mother and 19 year old daughter.
My daughter goes to college in Williamsburg, so I'll be hitting it again.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

quote:

Originally posted by frogger67

What will it take for ... Silver Diner to take notice?

LOVE the Silver Diner!
My company had a performance in Rockville this past weekend and the cast and us directors went out to celebrate on Saturday night. We went to Silver Diner for Milkshakes and beer (some did milkshakes, some did beer. I don't think anyone did both). The food was good once again, although with a group our size (20) the service was not the usual fantastic service, and they waited for eveyone's food to be done before serving, which made some dishes a little flat since they waited under warmers. Plus some milkshakes weren't as cold because they had been sitting too. But that is unusual for Silver Diner. I've never had a bad meal there, and that was the first time things weren't perfect. They were very very crowded with severla large groups. So, I'll let it slip by as no big deal. I've had worse service when things get slammed at my favorite mom and pop places, so why shouldn't the Silver Diner get the same slack. Besides, the food was still good, the manager chipped in to help the over worked waiter, and we had a really good time.

When I first moved to Maine in fall, 2005, and being alone, needed somewhere to go for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I got a turkey dinner to go, and me and my little doodlebug, Benjy shared it, while giving thanks--he probably more than I, as it was his little Turkey Day treat.
It was decent enough, and would go back again.

I worked at a local Friendly's back in the late 60s. At that time there were only 125 or so shops pretty much confined to New England. The menu was very limited...they didn't even have French Fries. Nor did they serve breakfast. Pretty much sandwiches, soup (clam chowda, of course) and ice cream (topped with their amazingly good hot fudge). Then, I grew up and left their employ. Sometime thereafter, the two Blake brothers sold the company to Hershey (the chocolate folks). From then on, IMO, the place lost its identity, its quality and its focus. The menu expanded exponentially; service pretty much disappeared. Their wonderful hot fudge was changed to something resembling a thickened Hershey syrup...no surprise there. I really sorry that the downward trend has apparently continued.

There was a thread about this a while back: http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15400 Back in sept of '06.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

There was a thread about this a while back: http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15400 Back in sept of '06.

some things get repeated.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

There was a thread about this a while back: http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15400 Back in sept of '06.

some things get repeated.

Friendly's ice cream was the last to go. It continued to be excellent long after the rest of the menu was merely mediocre. It's not now. I was so disappointed the last time I had their ice cream. Chocolate Almond Chip had been my all time favorite. Now it tastes like chalk. It's near impossible to find any chocolate covered anything in the ice cream now. Let alone chocolate covered almonds. Wasn't always this way.

There were once 3 Friendly's in my town. One at the west end of town, one in the center,(the orginal one) and one in the east end of town. All of them were always busy and packed with happy customers. Especially it the hot sticky summer,because Friendly's always kept their air conditioning on the North Pole setting. Only the east end of town one remains, and that only because it is situated literally just off an exit of I-95. For years it had no competition save a Dunkin Donuts. But now there are several other food places, even closer to the exit.


After years of putting up with slooooooooooww service because the food was still okay, I have quit liking eating at Friendlys. Friendly's was a favorite as a kid in the 1970's and teen in the '80's when they were good. They were okay when Hershey had them. Not like in the familiy owned days, but more than adequate. Last time I ate there, we ordered out for lunch at work. The Friendly's was only a few blocks away. But when I got the food back, the food was ice cold. I had a BLT because I figured it was hard to ruin a BLT. But they managed. The L was brown and the B was green. The T was mushy. The time before that we went, I got 2 Friendly's Frank Platters. I had only wanted one platter, with an extra,paid for by me Friendly Frank, as Friendly Franks aren't very friendly when it comes to size. Friendly's refused, telling me that they had no way they could sell me a Friendly Frank without the fries and slaw that go with the Platter. I argued that this was unlikely, as I had been eating at Friendly's since I was a child,some 30 years,and had always been able to buy an extra Frank. I was told I was wrong. I said I was not wrong. They then said it wasn't they did things now. I said that that was too bad.

I agree about the fading glory of Friendly's. In the 70's we would go out of our way in Upstate NY and PA to stop at a Friendly's for a Big Beef CheeseBurg Special and the Sundae that was made of a light chocolate ice cream and marshmello sauce...A swiss -something if I remember at all.

I took Janet to a Friendlys in PA last year, near Lexington. I wanted to share my memory of the good stuff i had 30 years earlier at the chain. Didn't Happen. The sandwich was a mess...like it was pre-prepared. The fries were cold and as stated above, the ice cream was 'Chalky' tasting.

I truly dislike the FOOD, but the sundaes are out of this world. And peanut butter shakes. YUMMMMMM! I've never said "yum" about any appetizers or meals there, sadly. Their service usually stinks, but every now and again it's great. So hit or miss.