TGI Fridays - Stevenage — Restaurant in Stevenage

Myself and my fiance decided to come in tonight for a a date night. We walked in and a you g lady approached, didn't say hello and I asked that as we had not booked would it still be okay that we could get a table for 2. She said "yh 2 seconds" then walked off. There were tables covered in empty plates and glasses from previous customers just sitting there. Another lady came over and greeted us, aologised and said she would get a server right to us. We waited and watched 2 staff members clear away 1 table which we were then seated at. I saw one member of staff (I believe her name was Bronwyn) running around the restaurant serving most of the tables and serving/ doing a celebratory service for 3 different birthdays. I witnessed all the other staff that joined in with the clapping and singing all had a face like thunder and clearly didn't want to be there then as soon as it was done, walk off without even as little as a smile whilst Bronwyn was up beat and trying her best. We ordered a sharer starter for appetizer, which was absolutely delicious including potato skins, mozzarella sticks and chicken wings. We both ordered a refillable drink which should have been £3.95 each. We was informed cola was not working, we opted for coke zero which we was then informed they were having trouble changing the syrup so ended up with diet cola. Upon having our appetisers and out mains we waited a long time for a refill which we was then informed all the refillable drink taps were not working so was offered Fanta (which we accepted) when our bill came I was told they had removed the refill drinks off the bill yet then charged me for the 2 bottles of fanta at £4.30 a bottle. I don't feel this is fair ad it was not our fault that the taps were not working and to be charged extra for drinks we didn't originally order is not ideal. Our mains were very unusual too I got the cajun pork chop which is supposed to come with crispy potatoes. My potato's were soft and squishy, they were topped with cold onion, tomato and coriander and then served with half a beef tomato and a corn on the cob with no butter or anything. It was not very nice at all and for the price of it, I would have expected better. My partner had a double burger which was smothered in what was supposed to be caramelised onion but was way too much. It had a seeded top bun, burger, unruly amount of onion and then another seeded top bun in the middle which was way too difficult to fathom how to eat. He ended up taking the burgers out. Scraping everything off and just eating the patties. Again another very highly priced meal which half of it went to waste. I am absolutely disgusted with how the staff were "working" I was ignored by 2 young members of staff who walked around like they wished they weren't there. I saw 2 male members of staff standing around having a chat and 1 male member of staff walking around with his ear pods in, in front of customers whilst Bronwyn was running around like a headless chicken, fixing orders, taking orders, running food, running drinks from the bar and setlling bills. I cannot fault her at all, she was incredible and apologised to us too many times to count. She needs a pay rise and a pat on the back for all her hard work for sure. As for the rest of the team, they need some re-training, some manners and need to learn some work ethic. It was appalling. Needless to say, for a share starter, 2 drinks and 2 mains that weren't fully eaten I spent close to £70 The atmosphere was shocking, service of (some staff) was disgraceful and we have left very unhappy and as if we don't wish to try with this place again. Which is a shame as last time we came in, it was fantastic. Overall was in there tonight for 2 hours. Overcharged £70 down and feeling a little disappointed. I would personally like to thank Bronwyn and the chefs for thier work though, although some of the menu tonight made no sense what we did enjoy was cooked and presented...

Really gutted how bad TGI has become. This used to be my fav chain restaurant but it has literally gone downhill. Firstly, since when did starters become a 3rd of the size and double in price? 2 potato skins for over £10? What planet are TGI living on? And over £28 for a steak which is literally a poor quality cut of steak with a handful of chips on the side. Now for the Stevenage branch generally…. I visited here on Saturday night with my family after a nice evening at the cinema. We arrived in the restaurant and the waiter took our drinks order, 2 of the drinks we asked for was a latte and a double gin and 2 bottles of tonic. The drinks arrive with the gin completely made up and we get told there’s no latte! Granted the waiter recommended a non alcoholic beer as a solution since my father wasn’t able to drink due to medication. When ordering food, my nephew being the fussy eater that he is, i ordered him the messy cheese burger without the lettuce, tomato and pickle relish. The waiter relied “so a plain burger” i reiterated “plain cheese burger basically please” burger turns up, completely plain with what looked like a pot of cheese sauce on the side so being a kid my nephew goes ahead and pours it all over the burger which subsequently also went all over the bun and his chips too before realising it was pickle relish.

The waiter popped over to ask if everything was ok, we explained what had happened and at first he just said “oh sorry to hear that” before i stated “well it had no cheese on and since it said messy cheese we assumed the sauce was some type of cheese” it was then that the waiter said “let me go and speak to my manager and see if we can get him a replacement burger” he comes back 10 minutes later and says “apologies we can’t replace the burger but we can try and scrape all the sauce off and put some cheese on there so that he doesn’t taste the pickle”

I was absolutely furious. Not at the waiter who was evidently trying to do what he could, but at his clueless and careless Manager who simply didn’t give a toss. So we had a burger that cost us a days wage that couldn't be eaten and a starving 12 year old who now had a face like thunder and an understandable sulk on which completely ruined his and our day. My burger, had bits of paper stuck to the bottom where they put those silly paper sheets on the plate and the grease then soaks into them meaning you either get the paper stuck to your burger bun or you cut into the paper whilst trying to eat your food

We then asked for the bill which took 25 minutes to come.

The irony of all of this is that when leaving the cinema and asking where we should eat my kid nephew was jumping up and down and screaming five guys! Five guys! To which I responded “no it’s too expensive in there” and yet TGIs prices seem to have doubled overnight. I eat at TGI’s on a monthly basis all over the country either with family and friends and the prices vs the quality of food has now got quite unbelievable. This is shown by once bustling restaurants that you had to book in order to get a table now lifeless and practically empty. You used to get 4 cheese and bacon potato skins for £6, you now get 2 chopped up into little quarters and nicely presented on a smaller plate for nearly double the price! Come on TGI, we are not thick! The last few visits I’ve had left me feeling angered at what was once a fantastic restaurant chain but this last experience has sealed the “never again” stamp! And that is gutting since it was literally our go to! With the greed, worsening quality and portions of food… TGI will be out of business by the end of the year and they only have themselves to blame. Smaller plates doesn’t make the customer oblivious to the fact that they’re getting less food for...

We went to TGI Fridays last night for a post Cinema treat. They do a 20% off food deal if you present your cinema ticket which is valid at this branch. The atmosphere was amazing,practically every table was occupied for a Saturday night and the decor is so cool! I’m not sure if this was because KFC is temporarily closed though. This is some of the coolest decor I have ever seen in a TGI Fridays. They have a motorbike as soon as you walk in that looks cool. The music was brilliant too but the volume was too quiet. It would have really enhanced the atmosphere if the music had been a bit louder. The general cleanliness of the restaurant could be better. The service was great too,our server and the manager had a really positive attitude and the staff were friendly. The manager Daniel looked after my gluten allergy really well. The food came out relatively quickly but this restaurant isn’t the best option if you want to dine before the Cinema so I would suggest that if you want food before going to the Cinema that McDonald’s is a good option. The menu has drastically changed recently,they still serve options such as Fajitas,Burgers,Ribs and Steaks but they have new options such as Beef Short Rib and Half Roast Chicken. They have a great variety of gluten free options as well. For my staters I went for the Potato Skins with No Pico De Gallo. The Potato Skins tasted amazing. The cheese was really satisfying to eat and gooey. The potato skins taste just like how they used to taste before Covid. The Potato Skins were nicely presented and were served piping hot. The Sour Cream dip cools the potato skin down a bit. This dish also came with an allergy flag too so that makes me feel extra reassurance. For my mains I tried my first ever Fajita. I went for the gluten free BBQ glazed Beef Short Rib Fajita. It was so amazing! Every aspect of the dish was wonderful. The beef was delicious,perfectly cooked and very tender. The BBQ glaze enhanced the flavour too and tasted really nice. The peppers and onions were amazing and were bursting in flavour. The tortilla chips were delicious too and very crunchy. The nachos also came on a separate plate too. The Fajitas usually come with soft flour wraps but because I am gluten Free the Fajita is served with Tortilla Chips instead. I also added chips to the order which were delicious too. The sauces that came with it were put on a separate plate and each sauce was put on a separate pot. The Tomato and Chilli Salsa was delicious and this goes amazingly with the chips. The other three condiments are Guacamole,Coriander and Cheese which were nice. I would definitely have a Fajita again here. The portions for the Fajita,nachos,condiments and the chips were amazing and the dish was really nicely and neatly presented. What was also brilliant is that the Ice Tea is free and unlimited which was a brilliant addition to the meal. The Ice Tea was very tasty as well. I would highly recommend this branch of...