Friendly’s

Top 5 Burgers in Columbus!!! Fast and Friendly service. The location smells like a senior citizen home. But if you can get past the smell, the food is awesome. Bacon Cheeseburger 1−5=5. Bacon&Cheese Waffle Fries 1−5=4.5.

Remember when there was a Friendly’s in your area of Columbus? They were all over, those easily identified brick buildings that are now banks, insurance offices or unfortunately now housing some business other than a Friendly’s. But fortunately we have this one left. I’m glad it’s here… it’s good. Good food, good value, good service. Most recently we visited for breakfast. Did you know Friendly’s served breakfast? Apparently very few do; there were maybe a half-​dozen customers on a Saturday morning. I had the «Lumberjack» (three eggs, meat and three pancakes) and my friend had an omelet with fried potatoes. Everything was served piping hot and portions were generous. And tasty. An insulated coffee pot was left on the table to refill as desired. Our waitress was great — Friendly! The regular menu is also good and if you’re reading this, you already know the ice cream selections. They’re all still the same, which we want them to be of course: Reese’s sundae; Jim Dandy; Fribble shakes. Aren’t those names great? Another favorite is the Fishamajig sandwich. Décor wise it’s a little tired maybe, but it’s clean. Bathroom was also very clean. I recommend our last Friendly’s with confidence. It really is still as good as you remember.

This place is a joke. I went to a lot of Friendly’s as a child great memories — thats all they are now, memories. I have been to many up and down the East coast from New York, York P.A., etc… This one has no clue how to treat people or children. 3 tables of familys, we have a 2 year old and a 6 year old. We order Ice Cream. I am not joking — the server brings out one child ice cream and not the other. The 2 year old watching his brother eat ice cream and he gets none. The server then served TWO other tables ice cream and not my two year old — we complained. They told us we had to leave because our kids were throwing things. THE OTHER TABLES/​CUSTOMERS said thats ridiculous… I WILL NEVER GO BACK. NEVER. Yes, sent a letter on to there corporate office as well.

I can’t stand chains, but I have one nice thing to say about this Friendlys. They’re friendly! OK, jk. No this is not the place that has a huge American flag, that’s Perkins (ew). But anyway. This review is for the ice cream shop, not the restaurant, but I have to factor in that the restaurant is really (ugh) not great, the food’s not good, and it’s an evil chain that will take over the world if we let it like all the others.
One nice thing: Even though the portion is small, eve though it’s very overpriced, and even though it’s not even on their menu, they made me a delicious banana shake. The only problem is, their bananas are seldom used so are usually way past being yellow, and more like brown, and you can taste it in the shake. I like my bananas green. But if you can get them on a day when their nanas are green (or bring your own) and ask them to make a banana shake for you with it, and they say yes — you will get the best Banana shake in Buffalo. Which isn’t saying much because most of them suck, but this one is actually really good, and as a banana shake connoisseur, I applaud them for it.
I was dragged by my ear to this Friendlys in 08, which is a tragedy since Columbus has amazing food… because I had to grab food after a show and it was the only thing open, according to my hosts.
Would you rather support the local family, or the multi national corporations and the rich men on yachts in the Carribbean? Why are the parking lots of the awesome local places usually half empty (or completely empty)? Why are the chains always so busy? Why can they afford to open so late and get all the TV advertising and all the prime intersection locations? Why are they always in shopping malls? Why go and support Denny’s, Chilli’s, TGIF, Olive Garden, or the horrendous Applebees? These places have systematically and coldly taken over the national food scene by using the cheapest ingredients, pre-​packaged frozen systematic meals that are identical across the nation, overly high prices, rude underpaid servers on way less than minimum wage, and a ridiculously expensive mass brand advertising campaign that gets inside the heads of all the kids and the 20somethings and keeps them under the illusion that if it’s not a brand name, it’s not worth visiting. They spend all the money they should be investing in food and service, in advertising and cornering the market — the local places can’t compete — and someday all we will be left with is the same chains serving the same food all over the world. That is our future. It’s the way we’re heading and you know it. Every time you eat at a bland national chain, you buy into that, you support that. Boycott chains. Support your local eateries. It’s an embarrassment that generic brand national chains are even listed on a proper foodie website like Unilocal,let alone getting 4 and 5 stars from so called foodies. Wake up, America, before we’re all just batteries in the matrix.

We’ve been here twice since moving to Columbus. The first time for ice cream only. We got scoops of ice cream… well you couldn’t call them scoops but more like teaspoons. It was really pathetic. Customer service was awful but the clerk seemed new so we let it go. Our 2^nd visit was full service inside. Unfortunately things were no better. While it wasn’t over crowded our wait for food and appetizer was amazingly slow. The food was OK but again my 3scoops were only slightly more than the kids one scoop. Unless I’m seriously craving butter crunch I’ll wait until I get to Dayton to go to Friendly’s again.

The service here stinks. The food is what you expect, nothing great. While the ice cream tastes good, and is «nostalgic» it’s nothing special. Tonight, after I had already visibly tipped the waitress at the to-​go window (about 25%, mind you) she reminded me why I should have gone across the street to the Baskin Robbins. She basically had a conversation between each scoop that she dipped, and I ordered 4 sundaes. As the manager is standing right there watching this, the waitress verbally insults her to another co-​worker. Completely unacceptable.
Take my advice, hit up Baskin Robbins for ice cream, or another restaurant on 161 for the same or better quality food. Pretty much anything is better than this place.

I had to talk my husband into going here, he feard it looked like an old dirty IHOP and we really didn’t like eating there at all.
Kind of run down but it was busy and since I am all about desserts and saw Friendly’s motto is «where ice cream makes the meal» they had me sold and in need of going.
It is dirt cheap there. They have meals witha drink and 2 scoop sundae for $ 9.99 which is a great deal. Even though I don’t drink soda I got a large, fresh and suprisingly tasty asian chicken salad with ginger-​glazed grilled chicken breast, mandarin oranges, almonds, wonton strips, sesame seeds, fresh mixed greens. and Sweet Ginger Sesame dressing.
I loved every part of this salad, the almonds great with the mandarins, I enjoyed that first and a great dressing for the rest of the salad.
My husband waas in the mood for pancakes and he had the apple walnut as well as the chocolate chip and they were fine but I’m assuming bisquik, kind of too fluffy but the apple walnut pretty good.
A bit of a shocker when he found the sticker still on his apple, but hey at least it was fresh right?
My son had the kids meal, burgers clearly not made fresh but the waffle fries pretty good and he also got a sundae with his meal which made him an extreamly happy camper.
They have a ton of ice cream flavors to choose from so I had to upgrade to a 3 scoop sundae and got the hunky chunkna pb fudge, reeses pb and nuts over caramel with reeses and butterfinger topping, great sundae no complaints here.
The waiter was very stressed and kept on blowing us off which was clearly not his fault but though the prices and dessert are great there is just no way I could get myself or my husband to eat here again, just to scuzzy for our taste.

I was in the area this morning shopping for building materials at some local outlets and dying for some breakfast. Unilocal wasn’t turning up much in the way of favorable diners and such, so when I saw this Friendly’s, with decent reviews to boot, I pulled in for a visit.
I walked in and was greeted pretty quickly, then taken to a booth made to seat at least 6 comfortably by my lonesome. I didn’t much care for that. The hostess asked if I would like «some coffee or anything» and I said, «yes, coffee would be good.» Not long after, my waitress came out with a mug and pitcher of coffee. She asked if I needed a few more minutes and I said I did.
The coffee wasn’t bad, but I then sat long enough to drink a full cup and then some, waiting for my order to be taken. I do not chug my coffee. At least five minutes, and quite possibly more, elapsed. Another small group came in and when their order got taken before mine, I threw a dollar on the table for my one cup of coffee, got up, and walked out.
Thankfully, there is a Dunkin Donuts right next door.

I came over tonight because I was eating across the street and I felt like some ice cream. So I had a banana split and the guy that made it did a great job. So I guess as long as I don’t need any to go this will work out fine.

Friendly’s is one of those few chains that I don’t mind going to every once in a while. They have decent food, an ever changing menu, and of course great sundaes. This location is also open pretty late. The chicken quesadillas are actually pretty darn good as well as the creative selection of sandwiches, and the waffle fries, and I can’t ever seem to pass up the clam chowder. Unfortunately the service at this location usually leaves something to be desired. There is one waitress who is phenomenal, but other than that, don’t expect very good service. All in all, if you want some good American food, with low expectations on service, this is your place.

Food is always fast and delicious. The service and servers are friendly and enjoyable. It’s a very family friendly setting and upbeat. You can get a whole meal (drink, dinner and dessert) for 9.99! And of course the ice cream is amazing. My favorite is the Resse’s Pieces sundea!

You can’t really go wrong here. Under $ 10 I got a good sit down meal today.
I came in for a late lunch a after visiting with my father on the Northeast side of town, and Dionne was my waiter. He is such an attentive, nice and cute young man. He treated everyone in his area very well.
I ordered the Clam strip basket, on of my favorite dishes from Friendlys.
I was a generous portion of fried clams, sweet and tender. It came with fries, Cole slaw and a happy ending sundae. For the sundae I got the black raspberry ice cream with pound-​cake sprinkles and whip cream. I do not care too much for syrupy toppings. All was very good I had to take half of the clams home of which I will heat up for supper. The ice cream was a new flavor to me. I loved it. I will have to stop and get some to go next time I am over that way. Ice cream usually bothers my stomach but theirs does not. Yeah, Friendlys.

Of course this isn’t gourmet dining and there’s most a.) greasy or b.) cheesy stuff on the menu, but it’s still all REALLY good, and on our first visit here the service was really outstanding. And of course, there’s the ice cream and sundaes. A great, classic American place to take the family!!!

This was hands down my favorite restaurant when I was little. I either wanted to go here or to Chi-Chi’s (remember that place?). Unfortunately for me, all the Chi-Chi’s started closing down and the Friendly’s started to follow. There were some around where I used to live but they started closing. I was so sad!
But then, I discovered that there was actually a Friendly’s in Columbus! I was overjoyed! This was just the other day, and as soon as I found out my boyfriend and I decided to head out there for some ice cream!
Friendly’s used to be a pretty big chain around Ohio but now there’s only a few left. I’m not sure why people don’t love it. It’s just so good. I know that for me it brings back a flood of childhood memories and nostalgia.
This Friendly’s was sort of far away. It’s all the way up on 161, Dublin-​Granville Rd. Once you’re on the road it’s not too hard to find, but it was quite a drive for us. So maybe the location isn’t the best, but perhaps it’s tucked away just enough to save it from losing a competition to surrounding restaurants. I hope this place stays open!
We found a place to park and went inside. Oops on our part. I knew that Friendly’s often stays open pretty late, and they were open until 11. It was like 10:35 or so. And it looked like the staff was getting ready to be done for the night. I was thinking they might be open until midnight or something, but that is only on weekends. I know that when I was in high school we would go to Friendly’s and hang out because we were bored and hungry and had nothing better to do. We felt so bad for coming in so late, but they were really nice to us anyway and let us sit.
There actually was one other table in there so we didn’t feel so bad. But my boyfriend and I had had a late lunch but no dinner. So we were sort of hungry. We asked our server if we could possibly just get one appetizer — that is, unless they had already cleaned off the grill and everything for the night. I’ve worked in restaurants and I know how frustrating it can be when you get that last minute walk-​in customer of the night after you’re already about done closing down. But he said it would be alright.
We ordered just some waters and got an appetizer to split — the Slider Munchie Mania. By no means healthy. It was brought out to us very quickly, and it looked great! There were two mini burgers, a pile of mini mozzarella sticks, and a big pile of waffle fries topped with cheddar cheese sauce and bacon. There were also three kinds of dipping sauce: Marinara sauce, sour cream and ranch. It was all so good! The burgers weren’t the best quality but they weren’t bad. The mozzarella sticks were really crispy on the outside and gooey, stingy cheese on the inside, and the fries were awesome! They tasted the best dipped in ranch. And the bacon topping the fries was real bacon — not just those bacon bits.
It was the perfect amount of food for us to split. Our server also brought our ice cream right out because I’m sure they wanted to start cleaning everything and be done for the night.
Now I can talk about the ice cream! My favorite in the world. I ordered my favorite. The sundae I’ve always gotten every time I’ve gone to Friendly’s since I was a little girl. The Reese’s Pieces Sundae. It is heaven in a parfait glass. I can’t even begin to explain to you how good it is if you haven’t tried it. This sundae is the reason I love ice cream so much. And I was so happy, I hadn’t had one in years!
It starts with vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce (it tastes more like hot fudge — not that cheap stuff) and peanut butter sauce. The peanut butter sauce is my absolute favorite. It tastes like real peanut butter and is so delicious — try some! Then it’s topped with a handful of Reese’s Pieces and there is whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top. I love everything about this sundae. It really has been my favorite since I was little and I challenge any restaurant to make one that I like better. I’m not sure what it is, it’s just magic.
My boyfriend just the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Sundae, which is essentially the exact same sundae except replace the Reese’s Pieces with a single peanut butter cup. Still a great sundae, but I prefer the pieces. And he must have loved it too, because he inhaled it. And he doesn’t like ice cream all that much. And he’d never had a sundae from Friendly’s before.
They were so delicious. And we were so grateful to the staff for accommodating us when they could have turned us away. We made sure to tip them well and tried not to leave a mess on the table. Such great customer service — they really were friendly! Sorry, that was lame. But they were really great to us.
I was on such an ice cream high that the next day my boyfriend bought me another sundae to go. He’s so great! Friendly’s has a little section that has a different door and go up to a window to just order ice cream to go. Simple, fast and delicious! Stop by and try a sundae!