TGI Friday’s

Well… I think ALL TGI’s need a major renovation. The building is on it’s last leg. best thing about the place is the bartender.(cant remember her name).

It’s a sad day not just for the dedicated, long term staff at this Fridays, but also for anyone who would like to enjoy a very late night snack or drink.
This Friday’s is now closed.

Officially closed! Just walked by the place and they are tearing down the signs.
So long TGIF La Jolla. I will remember all the fun dinners and outings to this place especially while I was in college. This was definitely one of our most frequented stops between my friends and I especially for birthdays and other celebrations.

This is simply a review of the bar, not restaurant. I have been to this Friday’s on many occasions. Usually a 3-​star event. Kinda flat beer, bartenders who don’t care and greasy food. You get the feel that is a national chain dive bar.
Got there today at 530. Not too busy. Lots of bar space. Bartender mentions their «appetizers» and «starters» are ½ price. Great. I will take the Ahi Crunch thing-​a-​ma-​jigs. «Sorry, they aren’t half price». Then WHY have them on the ½ price menu? Ok, I’ll have the spinach flatbread and a beer.
The beer arrives flat as expected. I’m ok w it. I’m at a dive bar. 20 minutes go by. Finally dude asks if I’d like another beer. Yes. Hmmm. Wonder where the flatbread is. Chick sits next to me and staff is ON her quick. She orders a beer and pot stickers. She has her first beer before I get my second, which was ordered first. Wonder where that flat bread is. Finally order my final beer figuring I’ll run over to Rubios for dinner. After 30 minutes my flatbread arrives.
Cold, chewy, no napkin, no silverware. I asked for some peppers. You would have thought I asked the guy to wrestle a pig. (By the looks of him, he would probably prefer that than help a paying customer). Lady next to me has her potstickers within 5 – 7 minutes of ordering, with extra napkins and a place setting. She looked at me and said «would you like a napkin?» I couldn’t help but respond «yes, but it would be nice to get it from the person who wants a tip.»
Bar food is mediocre, at best. Beer is flat. But prices are cheap during happy hour. Like I said. Dive bar.
I will give a shout out to the female bartender from the other side of the bar. She was working her tail off while the big lugs just moped around hoping for more female customers.
My favorite experience at this Friday’s: I was here about a year ago and said i wasn’t too hungry, and asked (female bartender) if I could order a kids burger. She placed my order and the manager came out with it after 15 minutes and berated her for letting me order it, then said I couldn’t have it. What a moron. I think I’ve had enough and I will go to a real dive bar in the future, where the beer is at least cold, even though it will still be flat. Boo Friday’s. Your bar sucks.

Disclaimer*** This was my first time at any T.G.I Fridays so I can’t say they all will be like this one.
My partner and I found this place on our way home to San Diego from Los Angeles and we were greeted by a friendly hostess. It was rather crowded but given that it was Mother’s Day, that was to be expected. I needed to use the ladies room since we had been on the road for a while and the first thing I noticed was trash on the floor as I entered. The bathroom was atrocious. One stall had toilet paper and paper towel all over the back of the toilet like someone tried to mop something up (I don’t want to know what!). The cabinet by the sink was broken and the cabinet door was laying on the floor. Both paper towel dispensers were out and someone had thrown what looked like large paper napkins out for people to use instead. The trash can was over flowing and the bathroom was generally filthy.
I went back to my seat and the waitress had brought our drinks. When it was time for her to take our order, we sat there for over 15 mins waiting for her to come around again. When she finally did, she took our orders but she wasn’t all that enthusiastic or friendly. I ordered the J.D. Ribeye and shrimp, and my partner order the salmon lingosta (sp?). My partner has to ask for a refill on his coke. It would be the only one he got because he was never asked and he didnt feel like flagging her down again.
When our orders came out, I noticed I had J.D. ribs instead of the ribeye. I decided to taste it anyway. My partner flagged down the manager and he went to investigate. I guess the waitress had put in the wrong order by mistake. They went ahead and let me keep the ribs and ordered me the ribeye I had originally wanted. The food was pretty good. We enjoyed our dinner. When it was time to wrap things up, she brought us out a to go box but never offered to give us the check. Some 15 – 20 mins later my partner finally had to ask for it.
All-​in-​all, this restaurant has decent food but left much to be desired. If the bathrooms had been clean and the service had been on point, I would have been happy.

Friendly service at the bar but they were overworked on a Wednesday night.
They tried but could never find the NHL playoff game I wanted to watch.
Food was good — typical Fridays fare.

Happy Hour is twice a day 4 to 7 amd 10pm to closing. .All day Sunday. 90% appetizers are half off.
If you join their rewards program you can eat for free after u build up to 150 points. My kids love the ribs and salmon.

this will be my first review on Unilocal,here goes nothing:
I have been here more than my fair share of times and from what I have experienced, I think 3 stars sums up what this establishment deserves.
food:
I have only ordered the steaks and appetizers here so I will give my opinion on these items. most of the time, they mess up on how you want your steaks cooked. eg. I usually like mine medium-​well, but most times they give me rare or medium-​rare. I have just decided to steal clear of ordering steaks from tgi.
the appetizers are the stuff I suggest people get. it’s half off on Sunday’s and half off during certain times other days of the week. most of time the appetizers are tasty and in my opinion, more worth it than the entrees. that’s all I have to say about food for the moment.
service:
to service here is generally epically slow. one time my girlfriend and I waited 30 minutes for our waiter to come ask if we wanted water. but recently, I discovered the secret to getting good service: sit in the bar area. service is about 100 times faster there.
anyways, this place is pretty good when the food is cooked right and service takes a reasonable amount of time.

Okay service for lunch…@ 12:15 Friday’s was nearly empty for a Friday… took my Gramps there after going to His VA Doc appt. We had a lunch special… why overly salty… the ½ sandwich… was AWFULL…
I thought this was going to be a treat for my Gramps 90 yrs old and He complained to me… SAD…

Service is always sub-​par, but half-​off appetizers and select beers/​drinks during happy hour has me coming back at least once a week. Can’t say much about cheap food and drinks!
They usually have the bartender working the tables AND the bar past ~11PM, so try to go a little earlier for the happy hour.

This place should be torn down — it is filthy and the men’s room reeks due to a problem with septic/​sewage. I have lived in the neighborhood for years and the Friday’s corporate management refuses to put money into rectifying some very serious issues and it’s been evident for years.
Perhaps the problems is in the structure, which they lease, but I have watched multiple GM’s come and go over the last five years, each frustrated with the having no ability to address the problems voiced by their customers.

I feel terrible for writing another bad review on the same establishment in a different location. But the truth must be known.
Now I already know that fellow chains of this restaurant are closing down and fortunately it will not be missed.
The only reason why we went to this place was because of a giftcard we had and who doesn’t love free food? Although free food is not always good food…
Our waitress was more or less decent, friendly and gave me a recommendation which is always appreciated. I ordered a Colorado Bulldog and as I type this I am convinced it’s given me a headache, maybe cheap liquour. I only had one drink, and it’s 3pm… the day after. The hostess was a complete disaster she treated my boyfriend as if there were a language barrier and ceased from actually seating him and then ASKED if he needed menus after sitting down. Like really? No, we’re just sitting here for fun… or know your entire ginormous menu to order right away.
Anyways, I didn’t order any food except a bowl of clam chowder and how bad could a bowl of soup be? It was bad. It was more a a yellow, grey color and the consistency was off. It was more of a potato soup than a clam chowder. I couldn’t even finish half and I absolutely love clam chowder. I love leftovers, even if its soup or ramen I will take it home. But this belonged straight into the trash.
I could go on about the establishment but I’ll save the embarrassment. There are a lot of things wrong with the place but one thing that I did actually enjoy was the salted caramel cake. Now I know they didn’t actually make it but considering my last review was on the mortifying dessert, at least I know not absolutely everything is terrible.

Sunday evening.
I may have had the sorriest mojito I ever had this evening. The mint, which should be springs or leaves, was instead a few confetti sized pieces of mint. I brought the drink back up to the bartender and asked for some mulled mint leaves. He said they were in there. I then asked for some more which he ripped into more confetti sized pieces and tried to mull. Confetti can’t be mulled. Someone needs to tell the bartender with the number 28 shirt on how to make a mojito.
The chicken cesear salad had dressing that tasted and looked like Italian dressing, transparent and tangy. The waiter asked my dining partner if he wanted another drink but he didn’t ask me. Also, our waiter was difficult to understand when he spoke. Water was not offered.
The bill came to $ 29.75 (including the tax) and we paid with two $ 20s. Well, our waiter was no where to be seen after dropping off the check. After 10 minutes we asked another waiter to please take care of our bill. Our waiter came back with the change, two $ 5 bills. I surely wasn’t going to leave $ 5 so back up to the bar I went for change.

Ah, Fridays. A staple of my teenage years and sadly this location looks no different then when I used to frequent Fridays on a regular basis. I think this has got to be one of few locations that are still around that haven’t been remodeled to the much more modern design, so it’s pretty much a relic of the late 90’s and 2000’s. That aside Fridays has become a lot better about their menu choices and even the food presentation.
I have to admit the food was actually good and especially considering it’s probably the cheapest restaurant bill you’ll get in La Jolla. It’s across the street from the AMC and mall (in the same plaza as the Whole Foods) so there is plenty of parking which is definitely a plus too.
I think if this location went under a major renovation like the rest of the Fridays locations apparently did, it’d probably be worth checking out a little bit more especially if they made the bar area bigger and added more screens. Other than that, it’s just another typical Fridays experience.

*WARNING, THIS PLACE SUCKS.*
If I could give this place a negative score, I would.
I was here with a whole group of my coworkers (we had a table of 18 – 20) for a going away dinner. We had this waiter named Steve, (can you bold font on here?) and he was terrible. He came and gave us all waters, and then as the night went on and we were all ready to order, he didn’t come to check on us at all. I had caught glimpses of him looking over at our table and then walking by as if he didn’t need to come and see where all of us were at with readiness to order or if we needed anything other than drinks. I admit, it was taking time for all of us to be ready to order at the same time, but there were a lot of us. I just didn’t understand why it was such an issue to just come check up on us, even occasionally.
When he finally found the nerve to come and ask us or talk to us, he said, «Are you guys going to order, or what?» HOW RUDE HOW RUDE OMG NO.
One of our coworkers even went to speak to a manager and talked about how our waiter wasn’t being attentive. As we were ordering food and more drinks, he proceeded to tell one of our other friends to «calm down, calm down, calm down.» Last time I checked, you don’t ever tell a guest/​customer what to do, let alone to calm down. When he was taking my order, he was telling one of the people next to me that «that’s just how he talks.» Excuse me, then maybe you shouldn’t be working at a job that involves patience and customer service. I honestly don’t even think the manager said anything to him, and if she did, she did it when we were already gone.
By the end of the night, we were all finishing up our food and taking pictures, and then he decides to start trying to be nice, and coming to see if we needed anything every five to ten minutes. All of our party started laughing because we assumed he thought he was going to get a tip after his piece of crap service. If you have any waiter, you should aim for Jon B., because HE was awesome. OH, and LASTLY, when we were all paying our separate checks, he didn’t give me any of my change back. But my boss told me not to worry about it since we were already on the way out.
I HATE THIS PLACE AND I’M NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH ATTITUDE FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN’T EVEN CONTROL HIS TEMPER IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT WHERE HE SIGNED A CONTRACT TO WORK AND SWORE TO GIVE EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Okay. So it’s not a five star review, but again it’s not a five star restaurant, it’s TGI Friday’s. I used to come here a lot back when I was in college at UCSD. The prices were very enticing for a college student, on a budget especially at happy hour where everything is pretty much ½ off, where potato skins and french fries are the epitome of a college student’s diet. Plus the location was super convenient with it being less than 5 minutes from school.
They used to have calamari on the menu back then and it was actually decent. When the chicken and cheese sizzling platter was introduced back then, that was actually awesome looking and tasting. Maybe because I am not in college anymore and the charm has worn off, it just doesn’t seem the same. I think the food and the staff for that matter is mediocre. Okay okay, I know it’s only TGI Friday’s, it’s a chain restaurant. But I will tell you why:
Potato skins: undercooked. Not even 1 time, for the last 3 times I have gone. Inside is still a hard potato and the bacon bits aren’t crispy.
Fried Mac & Cheese: cheese is not even melted. WTF?
Hamburgers: super dry. Dip it all you want in Jack Daniels sauce… not gonna change anything.
Jack Daniel’s 3 for all: Still pretty decent.
Sizzling chicken & Cheese: Too salty!
Calamari: Bring it back it was actually yummy.
Alcoholic drinks: can be hit or miss, especially towards closing time; sometimes too much alcohol… which isn’t a terrible thing, but can be overpowering. Again, too little alcohol and watered down, so what’s the point of drinking?
Service: getting orders takes forever. The wait staff is very lackluster. No energy. Seems like they are just busy flirting with each other. I know it’s not your career or life long dream to work at TGI Friday’s, but c’mon, you can at least smile at your customers and make them feel welcome, right? Takes almost 30 minutes to get our food orders at the table. Also, if you order alcoholic drinks and you have more than 4 people in a group, forget about it. Drinks will not come unless you really bug the waiter, but live in fear of them spitting in your drink.
I still go to TGI Friday’s, I mean, my nephew loves the ribs here, he’s like 9 years old, and will always order the kids ribs with mandarin oranges. I go to happy hour after work sometimes, drinks are drinkable. Convenient for the work crew because we are just about a mile from this location. I am just disappointed with the fact that this place isn’t as great as it used to be, but I know… it’s only TGI Friday’s. Sigh…

Very disappointed what became of this TGIF…
Saturday night, I came here for a friend’s birthday dinner. There were probably 15 of us which is a pretty large group. The service was slow and bad…
First of all, I ordered the dragonfly salmon with a side of sweet potato fries, white cheddar and broccoli soup, and jack daniel sauce. The salmon was dry and poorly seasoned. They replaced my rice pilaf with the sweet potato fries instead of giving it to me as a side order as I have requested. The fries were wilted and smushy and maybe totaled 10 pieces on the plate. The white cheddar broccoli soup was bland and unlike most places, the broccoli came whole, just swimming in your soup instead of grinded up into little pieces. Oh, and they forgot my jack daniel sauce until I had to ask them.
At least I got my order… one of our friends didn’t get an order at all! They just completely forgot his order altogether and get this! They didn’t even offer to comp his drink! They gave him a check for it. Wow!
Aside from that, the birthday boy didn’t get a ice cream dessert like they use to do unless you pay for it. Wait, when did that ever happen?! Checks came and 2 – 3 checks were missing altogether. Some checks had other people’s order on it. It was chaos.
This was also the TGIF that gave me food poisoning with their late night happy hour menu. I ordered the fried green beans and threw up all night so be careful when you come in a large group here and also be careful when ordering their late night happy hour menu!

I don’t like TGI Fridays to begin with, but it was my date’s birthday, and he wanted to get the Jack Daniels burger so off to TGIs we went. We anticipated a wait at 7 on a Friday, so no biggie putting our name on the list. The hostess didn’t give an ETA, but said something along the lines of when a table opens up we will let you know. Scoped out the bar, and there were no seats. Bummer.
We decided to wait in the lobby area, 20 minutes rolled on by and our name still hadn’t been called. My date jokingly said that maybe they had forgotten about us. I glanced over at the hostess, who pulled her phone out of the waist band of her pants. Holy hygiene batman! Nobody wants your cooter hand all over their menus. Seconds later, she called the table for a couple that came in after us. We left without being seated, which was probably for the best.

I am a regular customer of TGI’s restaurants and have always been appreciative of the service and menu selections but after more than a few inconsistencies with both I just finally had enough and don’t plan on returning.
I was here just yesterday for my birthday… why when I could have gone anywhere else, the place was packed… ok it’s Friday, of course there will be a wait, so I wait and wait and wait then two groups that got here after us get called to be seated and I’m still chill because I realize that it’s a group instead of just two people (table size). Still waiting patiently, had gone up to the hostess and asked her how much longer, she said not much longer. They then call for a couple that got there 20mins after us… and that was it for me.
It was a huge disappointment because I was really craving a Jack Daniels burger but oh well, Que sera, sera.

I came here during happy hour to celebrate a friend’s 21^st and I’ve always been reluctant to come to TGI’s. I’ve been here before a couple years ago and the food was pretty mediocre for the price and the service wasn’t that great either, so I’ve never really wanted to go back.
I ordered the spinach dip and my friends got a few baskets of fries to split in addition to a few drinks. The spinach dip was really tasty, but the fries were incredibly and awfully SALTY to the extreme. Drowning the fries in ketchup didn’t even help!
I think I’d only come here for the drinks in the future.
TL;DR:
Food: ²⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Price: $$