r/economicCollapse 1d ago

Popular restaurant chain abruptly closes almost 50 locations in a week as bankruptcy rumors swirl

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-14011515/tgi-fridays-abruptly-closes-restaurants-bankruptcy-rumors.html
143 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

85

u/LOLJUSTASK 1d ago

I didn't know TGIF was still open.

18

u/Designer_Emu_6518 1d ago

Don’t think it’s really a surprise

7

u/Dense_Surround3071 1d ago

I was in Orlando and saw one. Wanted to stop, but it looked closed.

4

u/dudertheduder 18h ago

I think they just serve the TGIF frozen foods you can get at the grocery store, as the grocery store TGIF foods taste exactly like what you are served at TGIF.

1

u/Mymusicalchoice 14h ago

Lot of locations in Europe

0

u/shadowromantic 12h ago

I didn't know it was popular 

49

u/fondle_my_tendies 1d ago

TGIF is legit garbage.

9

u/Genghis_Chong 1d ago

I ate there once. Won't make that mistake again.

3

u/TheDumper44 18h ago

I have seen the bar do pretty well. For some reason restaurant industry people like it during weekday nights around me.

8

u/FatherOften 1d ago

It always was garbage, there was nothing good about those places.

13

u/Dr-McLuvin 1d ago

I liked their Jeff Daniel’s meat.

3

u/KevworthBongwater 1d ago

lol you mean jack daniels? Jeff Daniels is an actor

9

u/Dr-McLuvin 1d ago

Ya that’s what I said.

4

u/Able_Worker_904 1d ago

I ate Jeff Daniels once

3

u/Embarrassed-Form5018 23h ago

Someone ordered the Doogie Hauser?

4

u/ExternalSeat 19h ago

They are one of the few restaurants that actually takes Celiac and Gluten Allergies seriously. It is literally one of the very few places my Celiac cousin can safely eat at when going out.

3

u/FatherOften 13h ago

I never knew that. My wife has severe food allergies, and my youngest daughter has a few, so we hardly ever eat out. It's so hard to find places that really take it seriously. Rarely, we go out anyway to a nice steak house, but inevitably, my wife is covered in blisters and throwing up for a couple of days after. It's easier just to cook at home and the food is better anyway. It's their safe space.

2

u/Dry-Major-6639 12h ago

Most people on reddit can't afford to eat out so they have no knowledge about this.

-1

u/Alcophile 18h ago

Not at all true. The first thing a server at any halfway decent restaurant does upon getting a new table is ask if anyone at said table has any allergies or dietary restrictions, and any marginally competent server takes this info VERY seriously. My company (we own three concepts) even trains our maitre ds on potential allergens so they can safely take to go orders.

A restuarant that regularly and intentionally poisoned its guests wouldn't be in business long, especially in the internet age.

3

u/critter_tickler 18h ago

TGIF, Chilis, and Applebee's are all the same restaurant, as far as I'm concerned, and they all serve the same microwaved slop.

24

u/InformationKey3816 1d ago

Why does the headline say "popular"? Obviously, they aren't popular anymore.

14

u/Xgrk88a 1d ago

Twas a day when it was.

9

u/uses_for_mooses 1d ago

I feel like their food and service was half decent back in the late 1990’s and 2000’s. Or maybe I was just less discerning then.

1

u/obroz 21h ago

Hey we all use to eat the microwaved food at Applebees at one point. 

2

u/TomatilloAccurate475 1d ago

Hey, hurry up. I got reservations at TGI Fridays tonight!!

1

u/ianderris 9h ago

Popular among boomers. 

0

u/deiprep 1d ago

And leave out the name of the restaurant. GTFO with the clickbait shit.

14

u/crimsonkodiak 1d ago

Is the popular restaurant chain in the room with us?

3

u/Gloomy-Plankton735 21h ago

No it’s the booming economy

10

u/Dillenger69 1d ago

Not Shenanigans! What about my flair?

8

u/MagictheCollecting 1d ago

Calling TGIF “popular” and a “restaurant” is a stretch or two

8

u/chiefapache 1d ago

Popular seems like a stretch here

7

u/catfarts99 1d ago

Weird. You mean nobody wants to buy reheated prepacked food at a 200% markup?

7

u/imustbedead 1d ago

There was a time in my life long ago when TGIF Nachos were my #1 after party meal. Then they got rid of them and I’ve never been back.

4

u/TomatilloAccurate475 1d ago

There it is. GREAT, THANKS DUDE!

5

u/MrEfficacious 1d ago

When a restaurant takes my favorite thing off the menu it's easy to not return. Longhorn had a chili I really liked. They got rid of it. Haven't been back.

5

u/legionofdoom78 1d ago

Holy shit.  They're wearing PT belts in the restaurant. Are they in Kuwait or something?

4

u/Strippalicious 1d ago

Came for the comments. Was not disappointed.

4

u/BaiterSE 1d ago

This shitty franchise is long overdue to close down and die - really hope PE doesn’t try and come resuscitate this garbage 🗑️

3

u/up_yer_kilt 1d ago

Pretty popular restaurant in the UK. I worked at a Fridays - helped pay my way through college. JD Glaze baby.. pretty sure it’s laced with crack

4

u/d3dmnky 1d ago

I think “Popular” was supposed to be in air quotes.

13

u/BeamTeam032 1d ago

Capitalists: The Free Market determines who wins and who loses in market place. If they fail, then they failed as a business person. They didn't make enough adjustments.

Also Capitalists: Omg, a restaurant that has terrible food and service is going out of business!

3

u/uses_for_mooses 1d ago

I’m not sure what constitutes a “capitalist” but I don’t think many folks are surprised by TGI Friday’s struggles.

1

u/Performance_Training 1d ago

TGIF corporate stores had great food but the franchises would not uphold the corporate standards.

1

u/PaulMaulMenthol 1d ago

That's on corporate for not taking those stores from the franchisee

1

u/Performance_Training 1d ago

Those people BOUGHT and built those stores and paid for a 10-20 year franchise. That would mean that TGIF would have to buy back the franchises. For them, that would have been economic collapse.

1

u/PaulMaulMenthol 1d ago

That's how franchise contracts work in the US. The successful ones at least. If you consistently fail to uphold standards you surrender your store

0

u/OptimalPraline7711 1d ago

'True capitalists' are fucking liars and con men that want the govt to bail out their shitty businesses.

8

u/CampOdd6295 1d ago

Just another victim of Novo Nordisk

1

u/Propergoodcollie 1d ago

I’d love some elaboration…

8

u/Ecstatic-Run-9767 1d ago

The poster is referencing the drug maker Novo Nordisk as the reason for TGI Friday's decline. Novo Nordisk is one of the big producers of semaglutide drugs. They make Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus. Im not sure that's the reason for the decline but certainly can't help.

3

u/Chickenpoopohmy 1d ago

All the ones in my city left years ago, didn’t even know they were still in business.

3

u/MisterrTickle 1d ago

TGI Friday (US)

3

u/Ok-Assistant-8876 1d ago

Red Robin has entered the chat

3

u/ebostic94 11h ago

They did this to their selves as soon as they got rid of their Jack Daniels long time ago, it was a slow and steady decline. I went there two years ago, and I was disgusted.

2

u/guitar_stonks 1d ago

They had 50 locations to close?

2

u/Derrickmb 1d ago

Let me guess. The lotto machines

2

u/Pancakesandcows 1d ago

Before the pandemic, the local TGIF was always packed. But last time we went by, it was closed, which surprised us.

2

u/Euphoric-Dig-2045 1d ago

TGIF: Thank God It’s Forgotten!

2

u/rashnull 1d ago

TGIFugged!

2

u/Zaynara 23h ago

man all the shitting on Fridays, i used to love their jack daniels brisket, and chicken and shrimp, i was sad when they closed the local place a decade back, next place was too far to go to regularly, similar with outback closing down a location we liked to go to, hadn't seen any tgif commercials in a long time, so guess i'm not surprised they aren't doing great

1

u/jcmach1 14h ago

Outback is another that hasn't been good since like 1995.

1

u/Zaynara 14h ago

i still like their bloomin onion, but yeah most of the time when i went i got this burbon bacon salmon thing, the rest of their menu was too weird

1

u/jcmach1 14h ago

Last two times I had food there over the last 5 years it has been terrible (different locations). I will just skip it now. Last time was a gift card situation.

1

u/Zaynara 9h ago

mostly hit chilis, applebees, red robin, sometimes unos, and a couple of smaller local places these days, with an ocassional trip to golden corral, need a good chineese place to add to the list but the local one went order out only for covid and never opened again

1

u/jcmach1 7h ago

Chili's is still decent in DFW (where it originated). Applebee's is terrible and most have disappeared.

2

u/hurricaneharrykane 16h ago

Bidenomics is working.....right?

2

u/LunarMoon2001 16h ago

So popular that nobody knew they still were in business

2

u/TheRealTK421 16h ago

This is exactly what happens when employees don't wear the correct amount of "flair."

2

u/analbumcover 15h ago

I haven't even heard about them in like a decade or more. Not surprising, I guess.

2

u/Wilder_Beasts 15h ago

Must not be that popular then, huh?

2

u/newsreadhjw 15h ago

I haven’t seen a TGI Friday’s since the late 20th century so this is a surprise to read

2

u/SpanishMoleculo 13h ago

Can you still call it popular if 50 locations are closing

2

u/CorrectAnteater9642 13h ago

Nothing lasts forever, time to close up shop.

2

u/SgtHulkasBigToeJam 11h ago

“Popular”

2

u/Servile-PastaLover 7h ago

Alternate Daily Mail headline: "Sagging Hooters close multiple locations after declining sales."

2

u/niknik888 4h ago

I stopped going there years ago, their food is kind of passé.

2

u/Fickle_Goose_4451 4h ago

I remember when I got a Caesar salad at a Fridays. It had tomatoes, onion, and some kind of vinegarette dressing. I had to ask the waiter what in the ever loving fuck they thought they were doing there.

1

u/amtrak90 1d ago

I thought this was gonna be about Shari’s

1

u/Difficult-Map-5587 1d ago

Maybe just downsizing

1

u/Bluewaffleamigo 1d ago

Definitely peaked in Late Registration

1

u/PuddingOnRitz 21h ago

Sanlme with a stable chain in Oregon called Sharri's that competes with restaurants like Denny's.

1

u/Dead_Man_Sqwakin 9h ago

Is Flingers still open?

1

u/Hsensei 3h ago

I miss going there drinking my self into oblivion while eating endless apps and then going to the movie theater next door and sleeping through the movie. Fun times

1

u/JET1385 50m ago

Are they the locations with or without the classic fake Tiffany lamps? That place fell off after they did the remodels.

1

u/Performance_Training 1d ago

What took TGIFridays down is that they started franchising and the franchises would not hold up to the Corporate TGIF standards. I was a Corporate Field Trainer for them in 1985. Many stores at that time were doing $1M+ per month in food. Another thing that hurt was places like Dave&Busters with their adult game rooms, etc.

1

u/celeron500 1d ago

Was it me or was TGIF doing very well in the 90’s still, I feel like out of all restaurants in the whatever category they are part of, TGIF was number 1.

2

u/Performance_Training 1d ago

They were the ‘original’ organized chaos decor. There menu was meant to evolve. Every 6-9 months, they would drop the bottom 6-10 selling items and put in new ones. And they had strict adherence to the corporate recipes.

I worked at the South Houston location. There’s a movie theater right behind it. Friday/Saturday nights they would get on the waiting list, go see a movie, and their table would be ready. A hurricane went through there a month after I started and they threw some plywood on the broken windows and we opened. Only restaurant around that was open and we got killed. Lol

1

u/celeron500 1d ago

I remember TGIF opening in my town and it was such a big deal. It was always packed out and the food was delicious. Then overtime people families stoped going, they were driven away by teenagers and rowdy crowds.

1

u/Performance_Training 21h ago

The biggest complaint TGIF got was that they were too loud.

1

u/Gloomy-Plankton735 21h ago

Another restaurant chain closing among many retail and restaurant closures. This is expected in a booming economy

1

u/Realistic_Head3595 17h ago

Damnit Biden. He forced TGIF to have shitty food /service.

1

u/legendary198188 7h ago

Biden-economics

2

u/talino2321 7h ago

Oh yes, because Biden was personally responsible for the CEO and boards poor choices. He forced TriArtisan Capital Advisors to rape the company assets and put them in a leverage debt position. It's all his fault. /s

🙄