TGI Fridays
Takhassusi Street, Riyadh
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Tel: 01 4827821
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I can’t explain my choice of T.G.I.F. in Riyadh to a friend when she asked me where do I want to eat next. I grasped the air for choices and blurted ‘Friday’s’ with no specific dish in mind. Who can go wrong with a popular American restaurant chain serving steaks, BBQ ribs, and appetizers? But then again, what can go right?
I first thought nothing could go right for Fridays. Why? First, their name stands for ‘Thank Goodness It’s Friday’ when we all know it should have been ‘Thank goodness it’s Wednesday’ here in Riyadh. Second, is there something more to be desired on this kind of casual dining restaurants when other franchises of the same kind are scattered in the city offering the same food and fare?
I tend to eat my words. Yes, I do. Friday’s is now one of my favorite casual dining restaurant in the city. Their BBQ ribs had me at first sight. Of course I also saw the signature red and white stripes, the antiques, and the wooden furniture inside their lone branch in Takhasossi Street. But none of it can take my eyes off the BBQ ribs that my friend and I ordered and was soon served in our rather long table (we were just two). The slab of ribs was covered with thick sauce and accompanied by mashed potato and shredded corn. I pushed the rich sauce a little to cut the meat; prepared in case the beef puts up a fight. Oh boy, my knife sliced through painlessly! The meat was tender and and juicy; the barbecue sauce sublime in its sweet and savory glory. The fat glisten alluringly and did not harden immediately. The buffalo wings was a treat too. I could not keep myself from using my fingers in picking up a piece and chomping ’til the last shred of chicken meat is gone and the bone was just a bone. The only thing that I didn’t like was the mashed potato because it was tasteless and compact; refusing to budge in its perfectly flattened and shaped space in the huge plate. I had the margarita too, which I’m not too thrilled to drink because I kind of know what to expect. Well, I was still surprised that it didn’t have anything spectacular to it. Just an ordinary margarita sitting pretty in a glass with a salted rim.
The service in Friday’s is adequate. The place has a lot of chairs for those who are waiting to be seated inside cubicles which are properly fitted with curtains. The couches are long and can sit large groups of family and friends. It’s a little bit noisy when it gets crowded but it’s still manageable. Besides what’s a week night without the chaos and madness?
Overall, it doesn’t matter if there are a lot of restaurants offering the same menu as Fridays. There’s only one TGIF in Riyadh. And it doesn’t matter whether we go on a Friday or a Wednesday or any day at all. We can go all days of the week and we’d still be left longing for their nice array of the familiar and the unique dishes. More ribs on this table, please!
TGI Fridays,
This was my second visit with my family to TGI Fridays on last wednesday on Takhasusi at around 10:30PM and was welcomed and seated immeditely.
We ordered Southwest Potato Twister as appetizers with soup of the day…..Potato. My kids they love the Southwest Potato Twister, also I always enjoy it. Potato chips with spicy queso, cheese and sour cream.
I didnt like soup of the day (POTATO), it was too creamy for me.
We also ordered BBQ Chicken Salad, a dish of smoked barbecue chicken pieces with mixed green, tomatoes, and cheese, this one is my favourite.
Our main course, we decided to have pasta and we ordered-Pan Sauteed chicken and garlic pasta.
Over all the second exprience was better than the first one.
Food was good, service was OK. No complaints overall and will probably return.
This restaurant seems to be always full of guests as Im always in the queue waiting for 30 minutes to be seated or maybe I just usually come during the busy hours… Staff are too busy to accommodate all the guests’ requests.
Though on the bright side, dishes are served in big portions and maybe ordered in half and price is reasonable that I maybe back again when I figured out the correct timing!
American chain which unlike the others does pretty well. I find this better than Chilli’s and Applebee’s which I don’t even care to visit back home.
Service is a hit and miss. Sometimes it’s great and the guy is right there always ready to help in anything. And other times I’ve walked right out and waited right by the door in order to pay my bill.
I swear I could’ve walked out of there at least 3 times without paying the bill. Ridiculous.