TGI Fridays Southland — Restaurant in Melbourne

Before Covid, we used to go to TGI Southland at least once a week with great service and great food. I went back last week twice in the same week for the first time since. On the Thursday, the service was ok but had to send back the French fries. I could not imagine a restaurant charging $29 for a burger serving cold, hard fries. I went back the Saturday for a child's birthday and ordered a kid's burger that was a size of a gold ball and a small cheesy macaroni. We had to order a second serve because it wasn't enough. When ordering another two serves of the cheesy macaroni for some reason, the second time, the kitchen sent the two portions in two very small bowls with only enough for two spoon full. I didn't want to argue and just wanted to get done and leave.

Also, the french fries for for the burger I had order while being better than on the previous Thursday were again not of a quality one would expect with a $29 burger. We paid around $120 and it was quite average. The service was also lacking, having to ask for basic such as water for the kids. The previous weekend, we went to another very popular and very busy place and paid $35 less for a fantastic food, service and great portions. The kids burgers were of a standard size, (even McDonalds or Burger King have better size kids burgers compared to the mini gold ball charged at full price we had).

What happened to the high standard, high quality food, good portions? Unfortunately this will no longer be the weekly...

Underwhelming is the appropriate word for our first and last time experience at TGI Fridays. I was actually very excited to give it a go for dinner just before going to the movies but it disappointed a lot. The encounters we had with staff were actually very good, all very friendly and attentive. That was 1 of 2 good things. 2nd thing was the taste of the mac n cheese bites, those were super delicious and we loved them but thats all the good things done with. We were quite shocked by the prices of everything including the cheese bites, about $15 for only 4 pieces, that was rich. We also had the bruschetta pasta with added chicken $27 and a steak $40 I think, accompanied by one beer. The pasta was so disappointing, it tasted plain, just like tomato, no onion, parmesan or Balsamiccame through. It looked promising but there was no flavour. The crispy chicken was forgotten at first and once it finally came out it was so overdone, going towards being burnt. It was so overly crisp and hard that it was uncomfortable chewing it, had to leave some in the end. I still felt hungry after finishing the pasta. My partners steak left him also disappointed, no flavour and it was underdone. Ordered medium rare and it was rare bordering on raw. Overall it was not an enjoyable experience and not worth $90 for 2 mains, 1 drink and 1 appetiser in our opinion. I actually regret spending my money here. Unfortunately we...

Update: After my disappointing experience at TGI Friday’s, I received reply feedback from them with a reference number to contact their team regarding my complaint. I followed up as instructed and reached out—but unfortunately, I’ve had no response from their side since then. It clearly shows a lack of accountability and that they simply don’t care about customer feedback or service recovery. Very disappointing.

Our visit to TGI Friday was extremely disappointing. From the moment we arrived, the service was poor. We waited far too long just to place an order, as none of the staff seemed to be paying attention to us. What made it worse was that we were seated in an uncomfortable corner under the stairs, while other customers who arrived after us were given cushioned sofa seating. This felt unfair and possibly based on appearance, which was upsetting.

As for the food – it was easily one of the worst dining experiences we've had in Melbourne. The quality was poor, and the prices were outrageously high for what we received. For the cost, we expected far better in both taste and presentation.

Overall, the experience was unpleasant and frustrating. Definitely not worth the money, and we won’t be returning. Not...