Friendly's — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

This past Tuesday evening I ordered a door dash from Friendlys in Commack and it nearly cost me my life. There was an error in the system and my order was messed up, making it seem as if I ordered something containing peanuts. What did go through correctly were my allergens. This establishment was made aware and provided written acknowledgement of my peanut, tree nut, and selfish allergies that I noted. There was no call made to me or to DoorDash to make me aware that the order that came through on their end contained my allergen. There was no attempt to ensure the safety of their customer. Comforted by the fact that my allergy was printed in two different locations on the packaging, I unknowingly consumed the product thinking it was what I ordered. Within 90 seconds I was in anaphylactic shock, using my EpiPen, and on the phone with 911. I came as close as I could to losing my life because I was served the allergen I disclosed and they acknowledged.

Upon speaking to the establishment the justification I was given was that sometimes people check off allergens by mistake so they don’t always look at them, they just fill the order. The justification I was given by the district manager was that if they didn’t fulfill the order exactly as it came in, they risked having an angry customer. She went as far as to tell me that she has been yelled at before over incorrect orders. So I guess what I’ll take from that is a dead customer is better than an angry customer?

I am sick to my stomach over this. If there is an option for a customer to check off a food allergy when ordering, how is it up to your jurisdiction to choose which ones are “true” vs. accidentally hit?

How is the better option risking a customer’s life rather than cancelling an order or reaching out to ask a question?

Why was the allergy written on the bag and peanut butter still inside? Wouldn’t a better move had been to write a note stating they saw the allergy, but what was ordered contained peanuts?

I was minutes away from this being a fatal experience and no accountability has been taken. Rest assured, they offered me a gift card for my “troubles” that I or family can use. I don’t want a gift card, I want answers on how an error like this can occur and I want your staff to be properly trained so no one else has to...

So I gave this review a few days after we ate there to see if it would change. My wife and I went there for Linner. We haven’t been there in quite some time and I can’t even think of a valid excuse besides the coof 🤣. Anyhow what drew us there was there new Cheese Hat Burger and previous fond memories. The place was empty for the most part but there were a few tables being occupied. It took a few minutes to be seated (we were the only ones waiting). We were finally seated and waitress was very nice and to the point with us. We asked questions/suggestions and we had answers. Shortly after we realized She was on the SOLE person running the dining room. She was the maitre’d, waitress and bussing tables at the same time. Considering her circumstances she did well with us as far as getting refills and checking up on us as we went through the courses of our meal. Due to the fact fee haven’t been there in a while as well as being hungry we well full courses. App, Main Course and Dessert.

App was their sampler…amazing Dinner I got their Cheese Hat Burger which was ON POINT…my wife got a regular ham burger Dessert was Jim Dandy and Brownie Dessert Platter. You can split each one for 2 but we failed to realize that when we ordered.

Where things went south…not Friendly’s fault…

Manager is a complete waste of space…remember the Waitress being every role inside the dinning room? Out of now here for the first time the entire time we were there…he appeared. Older gentleman…we were waiting for dessert…he came out of no where and told the waitress that 36 looks like a trash dump. Great management…you see a waitress struggling to keep up with tables due to lack of staff and you choose NOT to help. You choose not to sit people…you choose not to bus tables or run food.

No excuses on why he couldn’t help her/restaurant flow of food come in and out.

Seems like he is there to collect a paycheck and bolster his ego.

We will be back of course…just more of an FYI

Photo: Cheese Hat Hamburger…ON POINT ICONIC JIM DANDY towering over the...

Have been dining at this location for the last few years and while the food has been mediocre at best I continued to dine here because my children enjoy it. After today I can say I will no longer be dining at this restaurant. Pros- Our waiter tonight was friendly and attentive which I appreciated when dining with 2 young children. Cons- 1. restaurant is not clean- staff should be more attentive when cleaning tables so my children aren’t pulling chewed gum off of the bottom of the table. 2. I asked for a highchair for my one year old which they did provide, however, high chairs are unsafe as the one I was given had no straps. 3. We got to dessert and I found 2 pieces of plastic in my ice cream. I was advised it was a piece that fell off of the ice cream freezer. When the waiter advised management they offered to comp my ice cream, however, the ice cream was free with the meal. I did not eat the remainder of my ice cream and was not able to give my child his milkshake that was made with the same flavor. I expected at the bare minimum an apology from management or better than that at least taking my meal off of the check. 4. And lastly on the way out my little guy wanted to try for a toy from the claw machine. As we were trying for a toy I realized that there was a dirty crumpled up paper towel sitting in the machine. Gross. This is a restaurant that serves many children and they should do better. They should maintain a clean restaurant and be aware of foreign objects in food that could potentially harm a child. We will not be back. There are too many other kid friendly restaurants that take pride in cleanliness and in the food...