TGI Fridays — Restaurant in Chicago

My friends and I stayed overnight at Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium the next morning. Afterwards, we were looking for a place to eat and settled on TGIF since it was a place two of us had never been to. I was really looking forward to the food and was already starving by the time we found the place. We'd been waiting for maybe 15 minutes when one of my friends realized that we'd not been asked for drinks. Then a waiter, not ours though, comes by and apologizes, saying that our waiter would be by soon. Then ANOTHER waitress comes by and does the same thing before finally, 8 or so minutes later, our waiter comes by. He didn't come by to ask us for our drink orders or even to apologize, but he says "I'm working on two large parties right now. I'll be with you guys in a few." It seemed implied that our party of 4 was not important at all and i could tell as the afternoon's service went on. The table next to us received their drinks before the waiter comes back and get their food when ours were just put in. To top it off, the waiter never comes by to check on how we're doing. INSTEAD, he comes by and says "i'll be back in a few minutes to check on you guys, alright?" He never did come back. At this point, i was debating whether or not his terrible service deserved any tip money at all, but then he confirms my beliefs that he doesn't by giving us all one bill split into the four meals we had. We'd asked for four separate bills because not everyone had exact change and when we reminded him of this, he simply said "Well can anyone do math here? If you guys can just come up with this total somehow, i'll give you guys the change and you can give that back to the right person. That will just make things a little bit easier on me." i have NEVER been asked to do math after enjoying a meal to make life easier on someone whose job was to give me good service. Needless to say, after spending the next 15 minutes (during which he came back 3 times) to try and make this man's work a bit easier, my friends and I left without being told to have a good day and before he even really came back since we had to wait another 5 minutes after we were done calculating before we saw any trace of him. Another friend and i did not leave any tip money while the other two felt obliged to. I do regret not saying something to him before leaving. Even so, the manager was not any better. He came by about halfway through our meal, asked only one table how they were doing, glanced in our direction, and left without bothering to say anything to us. It could be we were treated this way because we were teenagers but regardless, anyone who received that kind of service does NOT deserve any tip money. TGI Friday's does have fairly excellent food despite this outrageous customer service so I will probably go to a different location...

We walked in. No host.

We stood there for about 3 minutes which feels like forever in a restaurant when no one is at the door.

No one approaches, so we make our way to the bar.

We have found seats and are getting settled in and the Bartender tells us that she is unable accommodate a group in the bar of our size. (15) we tell her that we JUST want drinks and maybe some apps.

She states that she cannot accommodate 15 people in the bar. I realize there are about 25 bar chairs around the bar.

I point this out, and I am told that no matter where we sit, we will still have to pay a gratuity.

This makes me believe the bartender had trouble with the skin tone of the patrons I was with. As the only white person, I noticed that I have never been treated this way at Fridays.

When Pedro, the assistant manager (Who I had to ask repeatedly, if he was the manager or the assistant manager, and it took him four tries to tell me that he was only an assistant.) walked up, I mentioned that I felt that we were being treated poorly. I also mentioned that there was no host at the host station. I also mentioned that we had to see ourselves. Then I mentioned that at most restaurants, a member staff would put your tables together, and get you ready to sit down (we didn’t even have menus). I also mentioned that I would be calling to speak to the general manager the next day. This is when Pedro decided I would not be served at the restaurant.

Simply because I was outraged by what was happening in what was supposed to be a hospitable environment.

What’s crazy is that I used to work for Fridays (for years) and I know this is not how we should have been handled.

The other patrons were amazed that I was kicked out for complaining.

Apparently, one of the waitresses felt that she had enough power to get us waited on, and said she would speak to the manager about getting me back into the building. I decided this was just too much work to have a celebratory lunch at a place that was known for celebratory meals and drinks.

The only way I would ever eat at this restaurant is if Pedro sent me a written apology, and a gift certificate. It would take a lot. This was only a suggestion because it was close to where I work, And we wanted to celebrate. So if this place is close to where you are, and you’d like to celebrate, I recommend Timothy O’Tooles.

That’s where we eventually went, and spent almost $400. That’s pre-gratuity. It’s no wonder Fridays is going out of business, with managers who sent good (local) business away. We aren’t tourists. We’re regular money.

It’s no wonder Fridays is claiming bankruptcy, when their bartenders can’t handle a bar of 15 people.

It’s no wonder Fridays is going bankrupt, they can’t even afford a host...

Allow me to tell you the horrendous and clearly racially charged incident that I encountered while attempting to celebrate my birthday at this establishment. If I could give this place 0 stars I definitely would. A group of six friends and I stayed at a hotel down the street and decided to grab a quick bite at this TGIF location. When we arrived, we were met with no greeting and a stale impression. After thirty seconds of participating in an impromptu staring match with the host, I finally said "are you closed or something?" After this, the host asked us how many were in our party, and I replied "seven." The host escorted us to a table all the way in the back of the restaurant; and the table might I add, was covered in dirty napkins. A few of my friends sat at the table before the host was able to clean it up. The host never said "sorry you all, give me a moment to clean the table." With no given instructions my friends did not know to not sit in the seat. When the host arrived back with a rag, he exclaimed, "dang! you guys couldn't wait?!" I explained to the host that his lack of direction and his improper communication skills led to the misunderstanding. After the host was done "cleaning" the table we all sat down. Once seated, we saw that the table still had dirty spots on it. A friend of mine politely asked the host to switch our table, to which he replied, "WOW where are you all from? You must not be from here!" Immediately thrown off by this I asked "why do you say that?" and he replied "you all came in here like some GANGSTERS demanding all these things. My identity as a teenaged Black boy may incite the dormant and aversive racism in some, but I assure you that I am far from a "gangster." I attend one of the best colleges in the nation. My friends and I left this restaurant soon after hearing this. I am NOT a thug. I came to this restaurant to enjoy my birthday, not to be verbally assaulted. I may even file a discrimination suit. I have never experienced a restaurant as bad...