Last week, TGI Fridays reopened 24 restaurant across the UK with a new click & collect service.
Restaurants in the UK have been shut since the Government introduced lockdown and a number of social distancing measures to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
As you can’t currently visit restaurants, they are either shut or slowly looking at ways to partially reopen. TGI Fridays is no different.
Usually reserved for special occasions or treats in our household, we went along to try out the new click & collect service.
This is how it works
Fans of TGI Fridays can order their food and pay for it online, then collect it from outside their nearest restaurant.
We ordered ours online for collection from the Cardiff restaurant.
The click & collect menu is made up of 22 Fridays favourite dishes, covering a range of appetisers, mains, desserts and kids’ options.
When completing your order on the TGI Fridays website, you are able to choose a collection slot between 12pm – 9pm and at this point will be advised on how to collect their food safely.
When arriving at TGI Fridays Cardiff on Newport Road, there are signs that you direct to designated bays.
You are given instructions to park your car, open your boot and ring the restaurant to let them know when you arrive. You are then asked to get back in your vehicle.
We ordered ours for collection at 6.30pm and we rang through, we were told they were running a little late – which was fine. In the time we were there, there was one car ahead of us, with two more arriving as we left.
While sat in the car, you can smell the TGI Fridays food in the air, which makes you want one even more.
Within a few minutes, someone in a high vis jacket appears. They verbally check your order with you and place it in your boot.
Once they safely move away from your car, you get back out, check your order and close your boot.
The TGI Fridays click & collect service won’t be for everyone. You need to remember that you’re paying restaurants prices for what is a takeaway food experience. Now, I use the word experience, because when you dine out, you’re not just paying for the food. Taste is just one of your senses, you are paying for the aesthetics and the atmosphere of the restaurant, which you don’t get with a takeaway.
Who else will admit ordering an appetiser to share as a main meal? The boneless wings in Franks’ hot sauce tastes just like the restaurant (as you would expect).
The food was not hot, but was mildly warm – just. There are labels on all of the dishes that we ordered to advise you against reheating and to eat within 24 hours.
When opening the food boxes at a home, you need to remember it’s a takeaway service. You can eat out of the box or serve up on your own plates – there isn’t anything wrong with that, it’s just different.
Overall, it was easy to order and it is certainly one way to get your hands on your favourite TGI items if you can’t wait.
