Friendly's — Restaurant in Hackettstown

I worked at this restaurant through high school and college as a short order cook. What I experienced last night broke my heart. Besides the exterior falling apart (letters missing off sign, the huge corporate logo dry rotting above the take out window), we walked in at 8:50pm to an overwhelming smell of dirty, burning fry oil permeating the place. We almost walked out but decided to stay since we were only getting ice cream.

The waitress we got seemed to be the friendliest (the other servers did not appear live up to the store’s name!). My wife ordered the s’mores sundae and I ordered the Reese’s pieces super sundae (the one that comes in the goblet). When the desserts arrived we were super disappointed! First, mine came in the medium size which was not what I ordered. I told the waitress but I decided to keep it as long as I was charged the appropriate price. Neither one of our sundaes looked anything like the picture (the marshmallows were not toasted as was described in the menu on my wife’s sundae) and neither one of our sundaes came close to the top of the glass. All of the ice cream was soft, which made sense when I felt the stems of each dish only to find they were hot, as if they just came out of the dishwasher.

As it got closer to 9:30p, the staff was audibly complaining about wanting to be out by 9:30p. The male server (only one there with multiple piercings in his left ear) even stated how he was going to lock the door at 9:30pm. Our waitress never came back to check on our drinks, just handed us the bill, but she was honestly pleasant and sweet. The best of the bunch there.

I have such fond memories of this particular restaurant, both as a customer and employee (when it was a company owned store). The run down look, smell and lack of caring from the employees is so sad. Honestly, it just may be time to be the old place out of its misery. I know I will not go back there again and I will be certain to share my experience with others who may be thinking of...

Updated: The ice cream was still On Point! I strongly suggest not eating actual food here. My salad was wilted beyond recognition and the tomatoes were really past their use by day. I politely sent it back and asked it to be removed from the bill. The waitress didn't seem to understand why and brought the salad to a CO worker or manager and discussed why I didn't want the salad within ear shot of me. I had to explain a little more loudly why I no longer wanted a salad. The rest of the food was mediocre at best. They really used to have very good food but that has certainly changed. Nothing was good by any means. And I regretted being so hungry when we sat down because I should have stuck to the ice cream. I received 1 cup of water through my entire dining experience. I finished it pretty quickly and set the cup in the end of the table and any other waitress would have noticed this and refilled without asking or at least asked if I needed a refill. Our waitress did neither so I waited to see if she would eventually and I'm sorry to say that NO she never figured it out. Even after I ordered the PB cup Sundae with extra PB sauce and hunka-chunka PB fudge ice cream. Sounds like something that would leave you super thirsty right? Be wary of this classic eatery. And stay out of the bathrooms unless it's...

A man and his assumed wife waited for a while (5 min) to be seated, I came in just a few minutes after them to grab my carry out and they were still waiting. A woman w/blonde -brown streaked hair (I did not stare to be honest but I do believe it was blonde) who was tending to her table, then walked right up to the hostess stand to pick up crayons or a coloring book , maybe both or none of them at all! Does it even matter? Again all she did was walk to the front and grab items to return to the table.. The couple continued to stand and wait! She did not say “hello” she did not ask if they were being helped, any acknowledgment at all to the guests standing in the front of the Restaurant! Julia, the person gathering my items to go was then attacked by said “man” verbally for waiting as long as they have and not being seated ! In so many words.. There is an obvious sign of miscommunication and lack there of.. when it comes to the Wait Staff being “attentive” “FRIENDLY” whether they feel it be necessary or not, this is a place where my family goes for not only great tasting Sundaes and food but for the fellowship we feel while gathered at a...