Friendly’s

Since my last visit they have totally renovated this location and it looks a lot better inside. The highchairs are still gross but that seems to be the norm at every location. Food is standard, service still sucks though. I have a 21 month old and when everyone I was with ordered their food I ordered her food as well. Everyone who has little ones know how antsy they can get at a restaurant… well our sever forgot to put her order in! Everyone got their meals and my daughter was like WHATTTT??? Thankfully my friend who has a son the same age shared some of his fries with her while we waited. Finally it came out… but by that time my daughter was pretty much over it… plus it was piping hot. I would come back here only because it is a good option for kids… but it would not be my first choice. I like the Plainville location better… especially for service.

Walked in threw the take out door to sit in and dine .4 Staff in the kitchen was not acknowledged for 3min until figured out where host was. w no assistance. waitress has no smile take drink order bathroom is very in appealing with tp and feminine wrappers around toilet, and filthy toilet seat and no covers. Dinning area is newer and better taken care of. The waitress didn’t ask my boyfriend if he would like cheese w his burger so now have to wait longer for them to add, I ordered a salad the lettuce was turning colors the chicken was sogy and did not look n taste fully cooked, I called the manager told her about her food and bathrooms that I was disgusted and me and my boyfriend walked out !

Exactly what we thought and knew it would be. Consistent with other visits at other restaurants in the chain.
What made this evening better was our waitress. We had a birthday party with 14 people and she was great. Always had a smile and was very attentive. She did not make one mistake. Not like me, I forgot her name so I could be sure to thank her by name.
The food was good too.

I sat at take out window and watched a cook prepare and go in and out of refrigerator with a not lit cigarette in his mouth. Not only was he fiddling with someone’s food but wasn’t wearing gloves.
Disgusting. Totally rude and this rest is going further down hill.
Called manager and she said she would address.

My friend makes fun of me constantly for coming here but I LOVE friendy’s! Their grilled cheese is my absolute favorite. The tuna supermelt and bbq chicken supermelt are amazing! i read the reviews for this location and the service is usually really slow especially since there is never anyone in there. But it’s worth the wait to me. And I have never had a bad experience with a waitress. I usually just come to eat here when I’m not in a rush and I have some time to sit around. The kids love it too! So it’s nice to have a place we can agree on.

Horrendous. Everything is awful. The staff is slow and rude and the food is disgusting. Anytime you tell a manager about your bad experience they don’t seem truly concerned. We’ve gone 4 times since they’ve remodeled and it’s been awful every time. My kids love Friendly’s but Bristol is not a location I’d recommend. It’s overpriced garbage. Take the trip to Plainville you’ll get good food and great service

Huge improvement!
When I first moved to the area almost two years ago I would hit up this friendly’s occasionally with a friend for a sit down meal or grab take out. I have to say every, and I mean every, time I’d patron this place it was awful. The food was always so so but the service was consistently HORRIBLE. I actually caught a waitress rolled eyes at us. I mean this place was so bad my boyfriend and I swore we would never go again.
Months later, fast forward to last night, he was in the mood for a burger and it was the only place open beside fast food. First off all the place was clean, it used to be so gross even after they remodeled. Our waitress, her name escapes me, was FABULOUS. Very attentive and great attitude. In fact all of the employees were better, neat and clean appearance, smiles on their faces, and not sitting at empty booths on their cell phone. Our burgers we excellent on top of the great service. I have to say this place did a complete 180! I will be going back!

Ended up walking away from the Ice Cream Counter after two employees argued over who would take care of us.

If you rate Friendly’s for what it is (a long-​time sit-​down chain restaurant that never blows you away with its food and is more known for its ice cream), and you don’t set your expectations above more than «eh, I guess we can go to Friendly’s, I liked it as a kid!» then you won’t walk away too disappointed.
While keeping expectations pretty low, there are actually two menu items that I really enjoy, and would actually order at most other restaurants — their honey BBQ chicken supermelt, and watermelon cooler drink.
The supermelt has always hit the spot for me and I order it every time I go (which is admittedly not often). The combination of buttered and perfectly grilled sourdough bread, honey BBQ breaded chicken, bacon, cheddar, and ranch all combine to form one of my favorite sandwiches, ever!
I mean, do you know how weird it is admitting that one of my favorite all-​time sandwiches comes from Friendly’s? Really weird, that’s how. But if I were to eat the same exact sandwich at a nice diner, I would like it just as much.
Add in pretty good ice cream, and you have a great place to bring kids and the elderly (which typically fills out the restaurant) at a pretty decent price!

I’m rating this two stars only because the food was decent. Otherwise I would give it one star. The service was slow and not very respectful. The hostess seemed to be in slow motion and completely ignored me until the party who came in after me, who she approached, told her I had been waiting ahead of them. I tell her I’d like to order take out and she directs me to a different window which has no signage indicating it was for take out. The people behind the take out window were busy prepping orders but no one readily welcomed or said they’d be right with me. Finally someone asked what I wanted, kind of rudely, and took my order. When my order arrived he brought it to me but there were no utensils or straw in the bag. I didn’t realize this on the way out so had to make a trip back to get those. Who orders take out and doesn’t need utensils? I feel they should have at least asked when handing me my order.
The food wasn’t anything special but also wasn’t terrible. It was about what I expected of this chain.
Hopefully Friendly’s will add signage and improve their customer service. If they do that then this would be a more pleasant experience.

This review is for the Bristol Friendly’s location. While Friendly’s itself is really just a sit down fast food restaurant, this location does everything just fine. The food always tastes the same, the service is super quick and the staff has always been friendly. Plus. the turkey supermelt is amazing.

Worst Friendlys restaurant I have ever been to. There were about 15 tables that were bussed. Place was extremely dirty. Waitress was confused, the spanish/​black guys working there were making a lot of noise and cursing. This place is terrible. The food was cold and the ice cream was melted. This place is disgusting! Do not eat here!

I hate this place. The waitresses want nothing to do with their tables. A friend of mine and I brought our sons here and we heard heard her making rude comments about us, when my friend asked her what she was saying while we were walking out, she was called a bitch. We would have spoken to a manager if we didn’t have babies with us.

You never know what you’ll get… which is not a good thing in a restaurant. I don’t think I have ever received the ice cream flavor I ordered. It’s always different and most of the servers are MIA for most of your visit so you can’t correct anything. I’m pretty sure Hunk-​a-​chunk-​a-​peanut butter fudge doesn’t sound like mint chocolate chip…
Like every Friendly’s, this one has issues. So avoid them. Go to the Ice Cream Churn near CVS and Family Dollar instead.

It’s Friendly’s. The food will not awe you and the atmosphere is what you can expect at a Friendly’s but our waitress was very nice. She was attentive and friendly and the service was good. Food was brought out quickly and accurately.

I should start by saying that I don’t expect the greatest service or meal at Friendly’s… but today’s visit fell far short of my lowest expectations. It was not crowded, and yet took 20 minutes to even get our drink order taken (at that point, we were ready to place our lunch order, including dessert — and had also already decided what to cook at home for dinner). The waitress had trouble getting our orders right (brought the wrong salad for my daughter — despite the fact that there is only ONE salad option on the kids’ menu) and seemed irritated that we noticed. We gave up after the salad came back incorrect on the second attempt. The burgers were ok, but the fries tasted stale (never had stale fries? I never had before either. I can’t recommend them.) On two occasions, the waitress walked away from our table while we were still talking to her. The service we received seemed to be consistent with the rest of the restaurant: one waitress was dispensing more beauty advice than food orders; and another stood outside the kitchen chatting for 10 minutes about how short-​staffed they were. Did I mention the place was NOT crowded? It was 2:30 on a Sunday. Each member of the waitstaff seemed to have the daunting responsibility of waiting on 2 – 3 tables. Next time, I’ll make the 20-​minute drive to the Friendly’s on Queen Street in Southington (much better food and service). The one bright spot of our meal today: my 9-​year-​old daughter, who has never finished a restaurant meal in her life, actually ate her entire salad — out of boredom.

I’ve been visiting the Farmington Valley Friendly’s for years especially when I used to live in Avon. I moved overseas for about 4 years and I would always visit when I came back to CT. I usually go to the Avon and Unionville locations. As noted in a previous review: I love the Big-​Two-​Do which is available for $ 4.29, Monday-​Friday: Two eggs, two pancakes, and two breakfast sausages, or course you have other options. The service is good when you come for breakfast. I haven’t been to this Friendly’s for dinner or lunch nor have I had the ice cream there though I am sure they are similar to the others: Ice cream sundaes that are creative. They have the sundaes available as a happy ending for $ 3.99, but they also have them free with specials. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream cake. It’s always a hit at any family gathering. It’s A-​OK but I prefer the Avon location. My Bristol relatives, however, love the place when we meet for breakfast. It’s always the Big-​Two-​Do with them.