Friendly’s

Oh Friendly’s, you’ve had me since the Cone Head Sundaes that used to come with my dinners when I was eight.
If you’ve grown up in the area, you know that this location has been here for more than 25 years and, in that time, has come to be as venerated as many homegrown establishments. Of course, since that time, the company has fallen on some tough times, but given that this location remained open says to me that they must be doing something right.
Though it can take a while to get your food after you order, servers here do fit the name of the place and the food, standard grill and fryer fare, makes the grade. The real stand out of your meal, though, is the ice cream, which is also sold at Price Chopper and other area supermarkets.

Well, I guess I have to join the group in giving this Friendly’s a terrible review, after several positive experiences. We waited forever to be seated, and after waiting another 20 minutes, I went to the register and asked when our waiter would take our order. 10 minutes later he showed up. It took way too long to get our food and it was lukewarm when it arrived at the table. Now I see why do many people give Friendly’s negative reviews, I should have gotten up and walked out before even ordering!

Like most folks in Upsate NY we love Friendlys. So when we have all day to be ignored and served terrible food this our first choice.

Food was palatable, service was fair (waitstaff was professional) but manager was rude and tried to playoff a bad experience my mother was having by being «funny and light» which came off as sarcastic and crude. There are many ways of diffusing a bad situation, this was not one of them. No way I would return there, no matter good the food was

I agree with Heather S — growing up around here almost guaranteed that you were going to spend a good bit of time at Friendly’s like it or not.
Lots of nostalgia and fond memories here. Lots of chilling with friends when there was no where else open.
As an adult I probably would hate myself if I dined in there. But growing up I really enjoyed the food there.
When I was a child I decided to check and see just how allergic to ice cream I was. I found out. I had a Jim Dandy — which is like a half gallon of ice cream covered in hot fudge, caramel, chocolate syrup, m&m’s, etc… I was out of school for two weeks. LOL
In comparison to the places I eat now this place is like a home town diner –but as a youth I thought it was fine dining.

The service here is horrible. Seriously, every time I go here (and I go here more than I would like), I have to wait forever for any of my orders. It’s especially hard when you are there with kids, who are getting impatient and the crayons that they give you are just not enough.

Friendly’s is a bit of an institution in Upstate NY. We all go there, even if we might not like it.
This Friendly’s has sentimental value above anything else. One of my fondest memories involves going there for dinner with a friend. She is a coffee drinker. She used to like to bite a small hole in her creamer and then spray it into her coffee. Well, on this very special occasion, she attempted to do this but her creamer exploded! When I say exploded, I mean exploded. She was covered in creamer, the table was covered in creamer, the mirrors on the wall next to us and the table behind us were covered in creamer. We burst into hysterical laughter, yet somehow no one seemed to notice that we had just covered 2 table areas in creamer. Good old Friendly’s.
Sadly in more recent days, I continue to go there but my last 2 visits have been terrible. The first visit was OK, I was able to get my meal with no problems but when it came time to order dessert… they were OUT of vanilla ice cream. How exactly does a place known for ice cream run out of vanilla??? I was able to forgive this and get a sundae with chocolate ice cream. Then I went there with intent of getting their brownie sundae which is quite good… IF you can get it. I sat down, waited to order, and then when the waitress took my order, she went back to the kitchen. Sounds normal right? She eventually comes back to tell me, sorry we are out of brownies. It was my main reason for going there so I decided to leave. On my way out, I saw someone eating a brownie sundae (grrrrrr) and then I overheard a waitress telling people coming in that the fryer was down. What on earth can anyone order at Friendly’s if the fryer is down?
It is with great dismay that I am forced to give the Johnstown Friendly’s only 3 stars. I have had better Friendly’s experiences elsewhere, so there are still a few good ones out there.