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josie's avatar

What can you tell me about the original Friday's?

Asked by josie (30934points) November 26th, 2010

I recently went with some friends to this noisy bar/restaurant called t.g.i. Friday’s. I see them all over the place, even in airports. Predictable food, crummy wine list, lots of families with kids. I had never actually been in one. It was OK since I was with friends.

I wondered if t.g.i. was somebody’s initials and I got a brief history from one of my friends. He said it came from TGIF, which is an acronym that I am familiar with (always, a slow study, I did not make the connection).
Anyway, he said it started as a bar in Manhattan in the 60s and went from there. It apparently was not a family restaurant back then.

I am sort of intrigued by the sixties and seventies-I love Beatles music, and I can never get over how generally strange every body looks with long scraggly hair and beards and mustaches, and clothes that look like costumes, etc. (Not making a moral judgement by the way- I am sure if I was transported back there right now, people would think I looked strange). Plus, I love New York.

So my question is, what was the original t.g.i. Fridays’s like? Were any of you actually there? If it was not a family place, was it like a sports bar? Was the food any good?

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6 Answers

jonsblond's avatar

I went to one in Las Vegas in the mid to late 80s. Not sure if you would considered that original, but during that time it was more of a sports bar. People mainly went there to have drinks. Dinner was not the main focus.

wundayatta's avatar

I found the TGI Friday home page. They have a history of the chain there.

From TGI Friday’s Media Room

1965

The first T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant opens in New York City at the corner of First Avenue and 63rd Street. T.G.I. Friday’s on Manhattan’s upper East Side quickly becomes THE meeting place for single adults, totaling $1 million in revenues its first year.

The first T.G.I. Friday’s menu was a chalkboard.

AmWiser's avatar

T hank G oodness I t’s Friday….Let’s meet up for Margarita’s (after work).

the100thmonkey's avatar

Goodness?

LOL.

Not any more.

BarnacleBill's avatar

I went to a TGIFriday’s back in the 1980’s. They were popular about the same time Max and Irma’s first made an appearance, with the telephones on the tables. TGIFridays was one of the first of chain restaurants with a big drink menu and lots of appetizers. They hung lots stuff on the walls, like canoes, snowshoes, old signage, etc. It was loud and fun to go to if you were in your early 20’s and on a date.

Dutchess_III's avatar

They had a TGIF in Wichita in the 70s. It was a club like any other club. What I remember most was that the chairs were black, deep and low. They were hard to get out of!

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