TGI Friday’s

WTF? Closed? I’ve been going here for YEARS! :(:(

Went here because I like their frozen foods and decided to try the real deal.
I think it’s fairly priced. For an appetizer I ordered the nachos, which were really just large chips with stuff on them. Thought it was ok. Ordered the salmon with lobster for entrée which was actually pretty good.
I do not recommend their crispy shrimp though. It tasted like chicken from kfc. I didn’t like it all at. I thought it was going to be breaded shrimp and got really excited. Only to be let down.
The only thing I didn’t like was the extremely annoying drunk ladies sitting next to me talking about how they didn’t want to get married because the divorce rate is going up…
I would recommend this place as a hang out to snack spot, nothing too fancy or anything so don’t get your hopes up for a 5 star steak house.

My second time eating here! Our first waiter was okay, but Carolyn was so sweet and perky! She made the time being enjoyable! She always checked up on us and brought our food out quickly!
The food is soooo good!
I will definitely be coming back!

Dirty inside and the food at this location is horrible! All around bad example of a tgi Fridays!

Been coming here once a month every Friday for the last year and the service is not too bad. Some days better than others but generally pretty good. Steaks and ribs better than Outback. Drinks pretty good. Happy hour menu and prices are pretty good also along with the regular menu.
I guess I’m a regular?

2 stars for the food quality and location.
0 stars for the managerial staff or whomever trains the wait staff.
Wait staff last ime and most times is not very welcoming to the restaurant nor seem to have a clue of what good customer service is.
(Except for one Af Am lady who is the best waitress ever!!!, but she wasn’t there last time I visited)

Can’t believe this restaurant is still open. Service is horrible. Even when it’s empty except for us and the waitress, it still took 15 min for her to see if we wanted something to drink. The owners of this location do not participate in the advertised specials. The only location that does is the union city spot. Avoid this location fellow Unilocalers!!!

Food was a good price and very good service.
I recommend the Jack Daniels chicken it’s very tasty a little spicy. They have a great selection of drinks too. All very high quality for a reasonable price.
everybody in there was very nice. I recommend going during happy hour. I will definitely be back.

This location gets 2 stars because the food was pretty good.
Now… The service. Yikes!
I swear our waitress, Brenda, had no clue as to what she was doing. Every time we asked for something she would repeat it as a question. «Can we have some napkins, please?»
«You want napkins?» Duh.
«Can I have another Shirley Temple, please?»
«Oh, you want another one?»
Now, my sister and I decided to get potato skins and neither of us likes onions so I asked for no onions. She said, «Oh, but it comes on the side?»
«Yes, I know but we don’t want…»
*Stares at me like I have 3 heads*
«Never mind. An order of potato skins, please.»
We placed the rest of our order and waited.
She brings out the potato skins and what I thought was the side of sour cream that usually comes with it. It was covered in chives (onions to me lol). I look down and she goes, «Oh, do you want me to remove those?»
*I Stare at her like she has 3 heads* «No, it’s fine thank you.»
«I can remove them for you?»
«No, really, it’s okay.»
Aannnddd she walks away. Lol wtf?
I removed the onions and tasted the «sour cream» only to find out that it was oniony ranch! Omg… Lol too much. My sister calls her over and says «Can we get a side of sour cream? This is ranch and the potatoes usually come with sour cream.»
*Stares, then blinks* «Oh, yeah, I know.» Aanndd walks away.
I ordered the tostado nachos and if you’ve had them, you know they’re pretty big. I had about half of my plate left over and some potato skins too. I decided to take them home (five minutes in the oven and boom, Yumminess all over again) so I asked her for a box. «Oh, okay?» She comes back with the smallest box EVER! I tried so hard not to laugh, because really, what else could I do? I asked for a bigger one and again she stared at me like I was nuts. «Sure?» Is the response I got.
This was on Sunday, at around 2 ish. The place was practically empty… And I see why. If you’re not picky about good service, come to this spot. If you are, go somewhere else.

Today while performing errands I decided to have a meal at TGIF, San Mateo.
I have to say that each time I visit this location, which is approx 1 a month the service has always been good or above average. Today my very easy expectations were totally crushed.
After ordering my selection of a chicken dish and a couple of sides I ordered a wedge salad as well. While enjoying my beer and the dog show on TV I noticed that several epatrons that had come in ordered several items and all arrived until I asked if they were growing the lettuce for my salad. Jacob, the young man that waz assisting me today turned away and went to check. Lo and behold my meal and salad arrived. Not sure where the breakdown happened but something needs to be done.
I’ll probably give this location another chance but I advise your to stay on top of your server.
Ron

Ordered the Parmesan with Mac&cheese that comes with a salad. The chicken was dry and over cooked, the macaroni was a tiny portion with an even smaller bowl of salad that had no dressing on it. The portions all together was way too small and not a good value for the price of about $ 13.00.
Also had the the Brownie Obsession for dessert, taste and consistency was awful.
Not the place to go if your hungry or want dessert. Service was slow even though the place was basically empty. Very disappointing.

The big complaint is there is smoking allowed outside the door of the restaurant. So every time the door opens the smoke comes into the restaurant. It smelled terrible when eating. There should be no smoking near the door. We had to move away from the door.
Then the food came, cold steak, cold fries, cold chicken. Out of 3 orders of fries, all were cold. They first brought 1 order for replace. Had to ask for more.
The waitress was not attentive either. What a mess.

I wouldn’t even give them one star if up to me!
Customer service sucks! !
Huge wait when servers has tons of open tables.
Wanted to seat here or there but most of areas are closed.
Why?
So waiters dont bother to go that far and serve???
That’s sad. I used to be here always.
After someone got killed here everything changed!
Including the HORRIBLE customer service I get every time I come. I tend to forget cause I really like the restaurant.
But no more!
Closed areas everywhere… must as well close the whole restaurant!
That’s how restaurant owners loose everything!
Bad employees who don’t care at all!!!

Isn’t this the location where someone was robbed and murdered a few years ago, which is the reason why they were closed down for awhile? Google it. I’m not quite sure of the story since it’s been a few years but I’m pretty sure this was the location that was mentioned in the articles. I thought I wrote a review for this place already…
All homicides aside, this place is ok. It doesn’t feel creepy or haunted. I’m surprised they reopened. Food is average. Prices a bit high for the amount and the quality of food that is served. The only thing that is almost «to die for» (no pun intended) is the Jack Daniels appetizer trio but even that has gone downhill. If you don’t know what to order, order something with the Jack Daniels sauce. That sauce is so good you could toss it on a piece of coal and it would taste delicious. Service is a bit weak and needs improvement as we had to keep flagging down servers and reminding them of items we asked for. I know I’m not expecting gourmet food or excellent service. It’s Fridays, not House of Prime Rib. 3 stars because food is going downhill and service sucks but the Jack Daniels sauce… oh hellooooo.

2 stars equals: «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
Exactly my thoughts. From service to food. everything was just… meh.
Came here on a Friday (TGIF!) for happy hour, and was pretty disappointed. Before my meal I ordered a berry sangria, that was overpriced and under satisfying. Their happy hour menu is basically half off appetizers so we ordered the mozzarella sticks and potato skins. If I wasn’t such a huge potato fan this experience would have sucked. I was actually really pleased with the potato skins because it was hot and obviously just made when brought to our table. On the other hand, the mozzarella sticks came really fast and we felt like it was pre-​made and not very good. I shared the jack daniel’s chicken sandwich which also wasn’t bad, but not spectacular. Nothing about this visit stuck out to me. The service was slow, we weren’t given menus and had to go to the bar to ask. Ordering took long and so did the time to get the check. Most of the time was spent waiting around… MEH, I’ve experienced better.

came to celebrate a friends Birthday 14 of us The server was confused from the beginning got all our orders wrong and her husband didn’t even receive his dinner at all
LONG STORY SHORT TERRIBLE SERVICE ALL AROUND !
I had a Turkey burger was ok

Always disappointing. There are so many better restaurants in the mall. I’d only come back for potato skins and maybe a drink.
Dishes were dirty, coffee was bad, food was cold, and service was poor.

Horrible service place was empty we were told there would be a 20 minute wait. The manager came out only when I started taking pictures. Their special was seriously restrictive. The waiter smiled at you while sarcastically stabbing you in the back (figuratively) 20 minute wait between courses. We will never go back.

Reviewing TGI Friday’s brings back memories to my days in college. If you ever watched Saved By The Bell, the old location in San Bruno was my version of The Max because my friends and I would always go there for dinner and drinks after midterms or simply just to hang out for a bite. Well, that location closed down many years ago, but one day I decided to turn back the clock and visit the San Mateo location for old times sake.
To me, TGI Friday’s was the original gastropub with interesting bar food and huge drinks. Well of course that was way before my time on Unilocal and my outlook on food has changed since. But I always thought their food was pretty good, especially from their Jack Daniels Menu. So when I visited TGI Friday’s for the first time in forever, I started with their Deep Fried Green Beans and my old favorite from college, a full order of Jack Daniels Ribs.
Crispy Green Bean Fries –
The Crispy Green Bean Fries were actually new to me since they weren’t on the menu back in San Bruno. I already had a feeling they were gonna be good though. They had an nice solid crispiness to them and the Cucumber-​Wasabi Ranch Dip was a perfect pairing for it, a real addicting appetizer.
Jack Daniels Ribs –
These ribs definitely take me back! Personally, I’m still in love with these ribs after all this time. They still cook them very well that the meat just falls off the bones and I’m still a fan of the Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce they glaze it with. Yeah, call me a weirdo, but I even think that their JD Ribs are just as good, if not better, than some other BBQ joints I’ve been to. Either that, or I’m just getting too nostalgic. Regardless, it’s still a very solid rack of ribs.
Because it’s not as close to my house at the San Bruno location, it’s not really in the cards for me to come to the San Mateo location that often. And because there are so many food options on downtown San Mateo, it’s not going to be my first place of choice when finding a place for lunch or dinner. But still, you can’t go wrong with coming here for some decent bar food. Thanks San Mateo TGI Friday’s for bringing me back to my college days.

No bueno

Happy Hour on Sundays from opening to close! Cheap booze, cheap drinks and really great service. Life doesn’t get much better… except that they also have so many TVs with all kinds of great sports! Go USA!
Shout out to Christy, Eddie and Michael. We love you!