Friendly's — Restaurant in Toms River

BEWARE - DO NOT GO HERE. Regarding Prepaid Cake Order and Inappropriate Staff Behavior: When I arrived at the store to pick up the cake, I was met by a staff member at the counter who appeared unaware of my order and began searching through hanging receipts. I explained that I had placed and paid for the order online a week prior and received confirmation. She seemed confused, and another woman (Denise) —who did not greet me nor tell me her name, but later identified herself as the manager—intervened. Denise immediately adopted an aggressive and condescending tone, repeatedly stating, “There is no cake. I cannot give you something I don’t have.” She over-enunciated her words in a way that was mocking and dismissive, especially considering I am hearing impaired. I tried to ask clarifying questions, but she continued to interrupt and speak to me in a hostile manner. Another staff member behind me began listing other cakes available, but Denise insisted I could not have them, making vague references to bulk purchasing requirements. When I asked for a refund, she demanded an order number, which I promptly provided from my phone. I then asked to speak to the manager and was told that she was the manager. I inquired further about speaking to the store owner or someone else in charge. She briefly said a name, which I could not fully understand due to my hearing impairment, and when I asked her to write it down, she refused. I then asked for a corporate phone number, she refused. After some back and forth, she told me to leave the store. When I repeated my request for the owner's name, she again refused and told me she would have the owner contact me “at some point.” She then proceeded to follow me out of the store, continuing to argue with me in the parking lot. As I attempted to place my coat in the vehicle (which was not even mine—I had received a ride), she and two other employees approached and surrounded the car. Denise kept closing in on me. I felt intimidated and unsafe. They stood behind the vehicle, preventing us from leaving until they finally stepped aside. This experience was humiliating, stressful, and completely inappropriate. I am extremely disappointed in how the situation was handled and deeply concerned about the aggressive and threatening behavior of the staff, specifically Denise. I never received a refund. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, Denise further stated that I could not be hearing impaired because I spoke fine. Again, BEWARE - DO...

I'm a few weeks late posting but I need to brag about Renay. This girl, let me tell you, she made not only my night, but my little sister's. It was her 7th birthday and our tradition is Friendly's dinner. I am thankful NJ allows indoor dining so we could have this experience. I called ahead to make sure seating was available and Renay delightfully answered the phone and invited us in as there were tables available. She has such a bright and friendly personality, my sister Julianna had hardly any shyness about saying her own drink and food order. We both requested cotton candy sodas and she wanted one with gummy sharks. Unfortunately the sharks were a seasonal item the last time we were there but she was happy to substitute gummy bears for us. 😊 she was very attentive to her guests and showed incredible patience when dealing with a difficult customer a few tables over. I made mention to my sister how well she handled the situation and how professional she was. She is a mom herself and when she heard it was Julianna's birthday she wanted so much to continue the tradition of the birthday celebration with the candle and singing to make the experience special for us. It was only her and one other girl working that night but they came out singing and clapping and presented the candle lit ice cream sundae. Julianna was so happy and talked about it all night. They haven't had a birthday in there since all this covid stuff started and It was incredibly thoughtful and special that with their limited staff she still made it happen. Thank you so much Renay....

I didn't write anything, which I am truly regretting now, and so now this is an edit to my review of only leaving 5 stars for everything.

My husband and I have been coming here since they opened, and have loved Friendly's in general since we were kids. We visit this location, whether we order online or dine-in, at least once a week. It is one of our favorite things to do.

I don't understand the negative reviews, because last summer, our oldest daughter and her family were visiting from Oregon for the first time in 12 years and one of the very first things that we all wanted to do was go here for dinner. We were a party of 12 and walked in, not realizing that they were goin to close in a few minutes, and mopping the floors because they were going to be having workers come in to re-do the floors for them. When they told us this and said that we would have to come back another night, my husband said (in a joking manner because he always joked around with them) that our daughter flew all the way from Oregon so she could go there, they said that they would seat us. And not once did they ever rush us. We had 2 servers and they were both very friendly and smiled the entire time and joked around with us as usual.

We love this location. We've been to several others along the way, and some have just been okay and some not so good at all. And whenever there has been a mistake with a take out order, they get our info and we get the correct item for free the next time, no attitude or...