TGI Fridays — Restaurant in Grapevine

Our flight was delayed so we decided to sit down and eat at a restaurant. There were limited choices for this in the airport so we choose TGI Friday. We do not have any of these back home in Utah anymore so I was kind of excited to try something new. We were seated in a very awkward table right next to a computer that a lot of the waiters and waitresses congregated to, and they were having personal conversations. We were also right next to the station where they get customers drinks so it was a little uncomfortable. Some of the staff were chatting very close to our table and complaining about customers and other staff members who were not cleaning off the tables like they were "suppose to" and complaining about the hostess who kept seating more customers in our section. I felt for them, as it was quite busy and they seemed overwhelmed. So I understood they needed an opportunity to vent, however, maybe we shouldn't have been seated so close to where the staff do so. Once we ordered our food, it took quite a while to receive it. Our waiter was clearly busy so we understood but once we started to receive our food, it was not good at all. My cesar salad was soggy and the lettuce was wilted, I barely ate any of it. I got a bacon cheese burger and it was just as bad. The cheese tasted odd and it was falling off my burger on the sides in chunks, not melted and stringy. I ate as much as I could since we didn't really have time to stop anywhere else any eat nor did I want to after this. My husband ordered wings and fries. The wings were mediocre and the fries were brought out until we were both finished with our meal. Our waiter said someone else "took them" so they had to make more. However, the fries brought to us were not even close to being fresh, they tasted very stale. I will probably be coming back to this airport but I don't think I would ever come back to...

Airport evenings have a certain lighting—soft gold off the tarmac, reflections in glass, everything moving but no one really going anywhere.

I was walking past the restaurant when the hostess caught my eye. “Want to come in and have dinner?” she asked. I glanced through the big windows behind her—wide view of the gates, planes idling in the haze.

“Can I sit by the window?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said.

We walked that way, but a few steps in, she slowed and turned toward a tall table near the bar. “You’ll still be able to see the runway from here,” she offered.

I said, “That’s fine,” and took the seat. I’m usually better about holding the line, but I let it go. Sometimes solo travel smooths the edges off your voice.

I was still thinking about that when the waitress appeared from behind me. “Hi there!”—upbeat and louder than expected. I flinched, more than I meant to. She didn’t seem bothered. I asked for coffee. “I’ll make a pot,” she said, already moving.

A little later, I saw the hostess again. She was leading another solo diner toward the windows. No hesitation this time—he followed, sat down, and turned toward the runway like it was routine. A glass of red wine arrived without much delay. I went back to my coffee.

Dinner was the Dragon Glaze Salmon with a side of ribs. The salmon was cooked past done—the thinner edges had gone firm and dry, like they’d been waiting a little too long. The ribs were soft and warm. Not much else to say.

I pulled out my phone and started an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It filled the time between bites and boarding announcements.

Toward the end, the waitress let me know I could scan the QR code to pay. The place was winding down. I scanned, but nothing came up. She brought a printed check. I paid in card.

As I walked out, the manager said something—something pleasant in passing. I had my earbuds in by...

We had a server I believe named Andiii (based on the receipt) that was careless. I believe she was indian but I can’t clearly see cause she wears a mask to cover her face. She Just drop things in the table, even the straw. Not placed, drop. She was also unprofessional gossiping in front of us about a co-worker while we eat. We just let it be as we don’t want hassle and just plan on tipping her based on her service which we plan on doing. When we were paying she just took our card infront of us, swiped it on the portable card terminal and asked us straight to our face what tip we want to give her. Not even let us click or give us privacy. She literally just stares at us while she asks for her tip as if she’s done a good job serving. My wife and I were both shocked by her condescending behavior, so we said 10% and she told us no she can only do 15% as the lowest based on the “suggested” tips. Since we don’t want the hassle as we have a connecting flight to catch, we just went with it. We love eating at TGI fridays but servers like this unfortunately are one of the reasons why business loses customers. I’m sure we’re not the only customer this server have done this too. Hopefully the management do something about her as this kind of service is really disappointing and honestly should not be in the...