TGI Fridays - Rushden Lakes

Went for birthday celebration with my husband. Sadly a couple of the dishes and drinks we like are no longer available but the meal we had was delicious

I had mozzarella dippers for starters, classic American cheese burger and the bacon/cheese loaded fries for main. Everything came out hot and we’re very tasty, the staff are very attentive I would definitely go again!

Friendly staff..
Found us a table even though we hadn't booked..
Service was average, food took a while though.
Menu could do with an update, as alot of burgers and very few healthy options.
My chicken had spices on it even though this wasn't advertised on the menu, needless to say I couldn't eat it.
I wouldn't rush back.

Venue
The place is well decorated with American objects and looks very interesting. The seating is nice too.

Service
The service was alright, it took a few minutes to be greeted at the door but when we were seated we were looked after well.
Out waitress was nice and friendly.

Food
The food was nice, the portions were just right and there was plenty of flavour.

Summary
Overall this was a nice place to eat at, everything was above average in the good zone.

Shocking service here today, I've always had positive experiences with service at TGIs before but this time really got to me. The food was actually really nice as usual, starters and mains.

I can understand slower service if the restaurant is busy but there were only a hand full of tables. Starters weren't cleared before the mains arrived, then our plates weren't cleared for ages after we'd finished. Drink refills were also non existent.

To top it off, when we finally got the bill, our waitress expectantly put down the card machine on the tip screen. I usually do tip even for an average service but I certainly wasn't tipping this time. I pressed no, entered my pin and returned the terminal with a thank you. No response, violently ripped the receipt off the machine and threw it onto the table while walking off and saying absolutely nothing.

As someone that used to visit TGI Fridays frequently, I have to say I was extremely disappointed by this meal. Yes, TGi's is glorified fast food but it was always at a higher standard than the rest of it competitors.

Price-wise, it was as expected - just over £60 for a starter, 2 mains, and drinks. However, the quality and attentiveness of service really was shocking.

Perhaps, I have fond nostalgic memorise of TGI's coming here a lot when at university, but I think not. If the quality of the food at this TGI's is reflective of the brand, then there has been a huge nosedive in standards and what's deemed acceptable for the £ and customer.

We were seated quickly and a waitress came to take our order proptly. We ordered a solo portion of the boneless buffalo bites to start, a full rack of babyback ribs and a Meat the Beef burger for mains, and two drinks.

The starter and the drinks arrived reasonably quickly. However, the blue 'cheese' sauce was more akin to water than the thicker sauce of the days gone at TGI's. Overall, I wasn't particularly satisfied with the starter - it didn't seem like particularly good quality and the hot sauce was overpowering in acidity (is it still Frank's? - not tasting good if so).

I ordered a beer almost after finishing the starter as I wanted another to enjoy with my main. This is where things really fell apart at the seams.

Mains arrived - my ribs were missing coleslaw and i was told my waitress should have told me. Oh dear. I was offered onion rings or corn as an alternative - i chose onion rings which arrived after we finished the main courses. I also chased up the status of my beer order at this moment in time... The 'warrior' fries which I 'upgraded' to were quite literally swimming in a blue 'cheese' and hot sauce infusion. It was so intense and ghastly that I couldn't finish them. Photo attached.

The burger was worse, however. The key reason being that it was throughly burned and tasted of, well, bitter burned flavour. We had chosen to eat half of each other's food in the hope of enjoying the best of both worlds and 'enhancing' the dining experience. Well, about that...

Throughout this ordeal I was beerless despite requesting the waitress please have a look. It arrived after we caved in and gave up eating the slop we'd been given. A stark reminder that not even alcohol can drown out the misery of a unappetising, overpriced meal.

At no point did our waitress ask how the meal was or if everything was OK. Basic stuff at training I would have thought. She offered to bring us the bill before she'd cleared the plates - we'd been sitting there for 10 minutes after finishing our food at that point. Seeing this I paid up and we promptly left. No surprise, but we certainly won't be going back to any TG'Is, ever!

Food was flavoursome, however a little overpriced for what was served. In todays economic climate and you are out for a midweek date night and you are on a budget I would look elsewhere. The good bits though are that the staff are super friendly and really helpful. There were a few families there when we arrived and they all seemed happy and comfortable. I would go back but there are other venues offering just as good food for less.

Nice atmosphere and decor has anything American you can think of. The staff were really nice and friendly and easy to ask for extra drinks if we wanted.

Got a long Island iced tea and was really good so tempted to try more cocktails when we go again. The sesame chicken bites are amazing, would recommend, and the ribs are nice and not too big. We got their own sauce and the BBQ sauce and both are nice and tasty.

The only thing we wouldn't recommend is the BBQ baked beans, not worth it for the small amount you get.

Will definitely be going again and recommend it to anyone who likes BBQ flavoured food or cocktails. If you're not a fan of BBQ then maybe not so good as you'd be a bit limited na what you could have, but there were other things on the menu too.