T.G.I. Fridays

Post closing eulogy #9:
I’m now finding out about places that closed when I review the New On Unilocal listing where a new place shows up where an old place used to be. It’s a rough way to discover that a place that you used to go to, is now closed. It’s a good thing that I’m not attached to this TGI Fridays although looking back, I do go way back with this TGI Friday’s since it’s heyday of the 90’s and early 2000’s. Back then, TGI Fridays was a big deal, especially in the Cupertino area. It was nicer than Denny’s with alcohol. What’s not to love? Birthdays used to happen here every time that I came. I’m glad that I got to come here earlier this year as I don’t think I know where another South Bay TGI Friday’s is located.
RIP and best of luck to the restaurant that has already opened in your old space!

Service was great, food was tasty but the presentation was nasty. Please try. Yikes! People are paying money, the least you can do is make the food looks palatable.

My experience here actually wasn’t bad at all. We showed up with a party of five on a weeknight about 5:30, and they put us at a table for eight, which made things a little awkward but we did at least have plenty of space. My wife mentioned «endless appetizers», but whatever that is, they didn’t do it here.
I ordered the ribs and shrimp plate, and the ribs were the absolute best thing about the meal. They arrived so tender that when I tried to pick up a bone, it just slipped right out of the meat. Very tasty too! Also, I ordered the tomato-​mozzarella salad as a side dish, but it had onions in it, which I’m allergic to (I neglected to ask about that), and they were good at replacing it with broccoli instead. Shrimp were cooked well, crispy, and well-​seasoned. The dipping sauce with them was a little too sweet for my taste. I think it was mostly teriyaki. not the best thing to serve with fried shrimp, especially since the sauce on the ribs was also slightly on the sweet side. The savory parmesan «fries» were a great size, really large potato wedges. Those could have used a bit more seasoning on them, but they were cooked quite well, with no hint of undercooked potato taste. But I wasn’t expecting such big wedges when the menu called them «fries.»
Service was fine, our waitress checked on us often enough and was there when we needed her. She was a bit hesitant when we asked her for «specials», asking if we meant chef specials or deal specials, and then telling us there were no chef specials.
In summary, aside from needing a bit more accurate descriptions on their menu and picking a better sauce pairing with their shrimp/​rib combo, I’d certainly return.

I am being nice on two stars
Came in with a party of five and feel like our server really didn’t want to be there. The food came out right but there was no checking back until 4 out of 5 were done
Didn’t offer any dessert, and when he dropped the bill one of our party had a coupon because she is a Stripes rewards member
He totally rolled his eyes and cut us off to tell us that of what we ordered we couldn’t use it and wasn’t what she ordered. All the years I have been in the restaurant industry I would never treat someone that bad

I usually come here and the food is great, this time around my Cajon pasta was gross, it had no flavor… very disappointed

Well I have been to this restaurant twice, but this time it was the very worst experience I have ever had with any restaurant. The first time my food was horrible and the customer service was not acceptable. I called there corporate office and stated my concerns. They handled the problem in a timely matter and sent me out a few gift card. So I thought I’ll try them out again. This time while I was eating the mall patrol office came to my table and asked if I drove a particular car; I said yes, she then went on too say it was broken into while in there parking lot. As I went outside there was six other people out there who’s cars were broken into as well, the patrol office said it was the fifth time this week that it happen. I was very shocked when they informed me that this was a repeated problem for there restaurant and they haven’t been on top of the situation. I called there corporate office again to state my concerns, but this time they didn’t take any ownership for the problem that I received once again while dining at there facility. I feel like I just paid $ 230 for dinner. So please take serious caution when dining here.
I hope my experience with this restaurant warns people that this restaurant is being targeted by thief’s and your car maybe vandalized while dining at there place of business.

This place sucks. The waiters and waitresses all suck here. When we first came in and the waitress asked what we would like to drink and we said water just for now she rolled her eyes on us. Then my boyfriend ordered a long island drink which did not come until the end of the meal. Our waitress completely ignore us and did not refill our water. also you cannot order a drink unless it is your waitress if you ask some other worker they will go «oh you have to talk to your waiter or waitress.» They won’t even help find your waiter or waitress. The food was also very crappy. I order appetizer and main course deal and the steak was super chewy and the mash potatoes is very watery. I will never come back here ever again. I would had given it zero stars if I could.

I don’t normally review chain restaurants. Chain restaurants don’t normally cater to customers and are more interested in keeping their seats open so I never expect anything past sub par service. I have been here a few times and it has never been «server busy» but we waited «server busy» times (25 min for appts and another 20 on top of that for entrees). We sat at the bar once for apps and drinks and it was obvious the female bartender did not want to be there because of the crappy service we got. We even tried to lighten her mood up trying to connect with her and it made her even less approachable. The servers are nice here so please do your best to be polite. I’m not sure what causes the long waits but they probably can’t control it.
My biggest beef with this location though is that they are essentially exempt from all advertised TGIF deals.
I called today and asked how come and Lionel and the manager on duty JP were really polite with responding and informative so they deserve a S/​O for that. They didn’t give me any attitude which is usually what curiosity is met with so ¹⁰⁄₁₀ for them :)
They do offer ½ off apps all day which you could assume is meant to compensate for not offering advertised deals. The only TGIF in the area that does participate is the Union City TGIF’s which they also told me. So beware! The first time I came here was for an advertised deal and was surprised when they didn’t have it. Calling a location to see if they offer an advertised deal isn’t something I normally do but after experiencing this, I now do it often.

Its a shame that the TGIF name is tainted because of this horrific location.
My party asked to be seated in one of the booths, since we had kids with us and its a lot sturdier than single wooden chairs. The host tonight (2÷12÷15) blatantly said no, because theyre apparently not seating anyone in that area. Fine. We understand how restaurants close off sections if theyre a little slow. Two minutes later, the same host seats a couple at a booth. the same host that said they closed that section because it was slow. Wow. I cannot think of a single explanation that may justify why that happened.
The icing on the cake was when they said they dont serve alcoholic drinks in the area we were seated in. mind you, this area consisted of a regular wooden table with four wooden chairs. Not a «kids» area where alcohol may be prohibited. Then the cherry on top: steak was disgustingly bland and the size of the lobster tail was a little bigger than one of our breaded cajun shrimp. It also tasted as nasty as something a fish might have thrown up.
We talked to the manager about our terrible experience. She knocked our bill down by 50%.but we didnt come in expecting a discounted bill or a free meal. We were looking to spend top dollar on their most expensive dish, in hopes of having a nice family night out. unfortunately, that didnt happen. It appears as if this establishment has much work to do, as the reflected by their poor ratings. Its time for management to retrain their staff as a whole.

Walked in on a Sunday afternoon and delighted to see that it was pretty empty. A friend and I decided to have lunch here after church. Not sure why, but it just seemed like everything took forever. Drinks, our food, and then the next table who was seated after us, got their food the same time we did. The food was good, but this location has definitely got to step their game up service wise. I was also shocked to read the sign above the bar AFTER I ate that stated they have Happy Hour all day Sat/​Sun — and wished I had known since what I ordered was on the Happy Hour Menu. Our waitress was alright BUT she would pop up every half hour or so which prompted me to tip her less than 15%.

Came here because I wanted that Jack Daniel’s Flat Iron Steak (pretty much what I order every time I go here, or any FRIDAYS location). We didn’t wait that long, we were a party of 2. We ordered beers, and it took FOREVER for us to receive them. I mean it was busy and waiting 15 min is cool at the most but literally took like 40 min to get our beer and another 20−30min for our food, which we didn’t order not too long after ordering our beers. Our server was kind enough to let the manager know we waited forever for our beers and she was able to get us a dessert on the house. We didn’t even ask her or complain about it yet and she did it on her own. Thats why I gave this place 3 stars, cause it really would’ve been a 1 star rating. She let us know that there were new hires– servers and cooks and they were still in training. Jack Daniels Flat Iron Steak is always on point, loaded mashed potatoes– on point. Would I come here again? Maybe, but just for the Jack Daniels Flat Iron Steak.
1 star– for our nice server
2 stars– for the JD flat iron steak lol
Btw, I don’t think we were the only ones complaining. A table next to us had a wrong order or something like that. Def need to hire experienced servers

Service, BAD! The waiter was an asshole, this is me being nice.
The food was crap. Two disgusting entrees, an over fried (probably frozen) appetizer and a beer came to $ 75.
This was my first time here… My only experience with tgi’s prior was with their frozen appetizers and the comercial on tv making it seem like a party.
Just go to your grocer in the frozen food aisle, its the same.
Next time ill just stick to chilis. At least their wait staff is better at being stoned on the job.

Wanted something beyond fast food tonight so it was Fridays or chili’s. Choose Fridays because ive had good experiences with their service and the foodis good. In short herea how it went tonight.
Service 2 barely saw waiter and he was in such a hurry to even get another straw and didnt bring the kids their water at all
Food 3 because my order was wrong at first but it was corrected and was good
Environment 2 The floor was littered with food, leafs and dirt.
Id say they have to work to get me back here again. They’d definitely have to work to get me back here.

Where do I even begin? The hosts that were nowhere to be found? Or the three bartenders working yesterday evening that failed to acknowledge us standing at the bar for 10+ min’s? I was told we had to sit down to be served, despite the bar being completely messy from previous customers. I don’t like sitting in front of dirty plates that are not mine, and I don’t think other people do either.
So we finally sit down and order. The food came out fairly quickly and I can’t complain about the quality. It is average like Applebee’s, Denny’s, etc. What really ticked me off was that I ordered a drink and it came 30 minutes later when I was practically done eating– not exaggerating. And the bar was not even slammed with orders! The guy was too busy printing receipts and counting his single dollar tips.
Here is a tip on how to get a tip more than a few dollars: Pay attention to your customers!
I had to wait till my bf got his meal to get utensils and napkins for my appetizer, ridiculous. Even though my drink was free for the bartender’s forgetfulness, I would never come back here. I felt ignored and irritated the entire time, the complete opposite of what a Friday night should feel like.
Oh and while eating, I saw plenty of people walk up to the bar and get served without sitting. So that excuse for lack of customer service that I experienced in the beginning was BS on top of everything.

For you late snackers: Late night HH goes til closing… which REALLY means when the KITCHEN closes at 11:30PM!
Came here for über late happy hour with a good friend and we were one of the few here. Be aware that I’m reviewing TGI’s NOT during normal-​people-​hours, so this review is a bit skewed. My friend and I only got drinks at the bar, and they were pretty good for typical HH drink prices. Their cranberry vodka is pretty tasty (I couldn’t taste any alcohol) and my friend enjoyed her Shocktop. We also had two jagers just for the fun of it :)
The location of this TGIs is sort of in the Vallco area in Cupertino, so during the day if you are tired from shopping (not that there’s anything worth shopping for in Vallco – that’s a whole ‘nuther topic there), you can stop by TGI’s for that matter. But I wouldn’t choose to come here unless it’s during HH, because the nearby Cupe Village has GREAT Asian food for cheaper prices and it isn’t a big chain like this.
However, 5 stars for our lady bartender who was very talkative and totally down to earth – shoutout to my homegirl who’s making that #werklife count and saving up money for school! I feel you girl, keep bartending and doing yo thang!

Worst location ever!
Came here to pick up take-​out and it was such a pain to get my order. The front counter hostess told me to go pick it up at the bar, and there was no one working at the bar for 10min. I ordered a soup and salad combo and the soup tasted like it came out of a can. The salad was ok, but I can get it at the grocery store for a quarter of the price.
No thanks!

Typical TGI Friday’s… do all TGIF locations have the same floorplan?
I guess I’d only come here to watch sports with friends… but it is a good place to catch the big game. There’s numerous TVs and no big crowds, which is a recipe for success. (Sure, it’s old hat compared to newer spots like Buffalo Wild Wings… but as a result, it’s always easy to get a table here.)
Keep in mind that happy hour specials are only available at the bar… which is dumb if you ask me. TGIF, y u do dis? X[
food: 3 stars
value: 3 stars
service: 4 stars
overall: 3.25 stars

Not sure why this place has such bad reviews. I like it! The to die for foods are the Tomato Basil soup and anything that you can eat with the amazing Jack Daniel’s Sauce! Yum!
I had no problem with the service. The only thing that sucked was the restrooms were so dirty. 2 out of the 3 stalls had no more toilet paper or toilet seat covers.

This Friday’s is located across the street from Benihana’s. It’s also next to a very much dying mall. This means, the location is not receiving all the business it could be. Bad for them, but good for the diners. There is usually no wait when I come here because there are many seats open. Friday nights are usually their busiest days but even then it’s not overly crowded.
The bartender I had most recently (two days ago) was very nice. He made conversation with the people sitting around the bar and was very friendly. I asked weird drunk questions like «How long do you keep the red wines after you open them?» And he answered me without judgement haha.
There are lots of TVs, around the restaurant, all angled towards the bar, so you can seriously watch sports from any seat.
Can’t really recall the food here being especially memorable from the last time I dined there, but bar is great (:

When I step into the club
All eyes on my gut
All eyes on my gut
See the girls in the club
They watching the gut
They watching the gut
I wanna scream and shout, and let it all out
We saying, oh wee oh wee oh wee oh
Damn Will I Am, why did I eat so much food.
Blame Britney B*%#*!?!
Nope blame TGI Friday’s 3 course meal, gut was so huge afterwards the ladies were slapping it like a pair of bongos, not coolio yo!!!
Real low expectations coming into this place, but the appetizers were really tasty I must say, the entrees were decent, and dessert was on point… so why the 4 stars, the customer service is great, they really go out of there way.
BBQ Chicken Flatbread — really tasty and low on calories for those ladies watching their wasteline!?!
Spicy Queso Dip — must order this, really good!
Salmon with Lobster — good but too much sauce
Sirloin Steak w steak fries — was ok, nothing special
Oreo Madness — OMG
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake — pretty tasty, just needed fresh whip crème
TGIFs might not be all that, but they have TVs to watch the game, great to just chillax with friends and pig out, great menu options like the 3 course meal, and don’t forget the great customer service… you really get your bang for the buck here I think!?!