Friendly's (Cayuga Mall)

(The exterior of the Friendly's at the Cayuga Mall)

Sam: Ithaca isn't a big city. Heck up to a few years ago you would often have to go online or drive up to an hour away to either Elmira or Syracuse if you wanted a book. Yet for some reason, we have always (in my lifetime) had three separate Friendly's. It's baffling, to say the least, why our city is plagued by this less than stellar chain but when we had to go we had to go.

(The roof is pretty enough)

Now when we used to be stumped over which restaurant to go to for dinner (the activity that spawned this blog) I would often suggest we go to the Friendly's on Rt 13, definitely the most depressing of the three locations in my opion. However when push came to shove and we actually had to dine at one we were both too upset to force ourselves to go to that one and instead opted for the one at the Cayuga Mall (which is less than 1/2 a mile from ANOTHER friendly's in the Pyramid mall) bring Annie, Tommy's sister, along with us once again.

(Pretty depressing you guys...)

We were able to pass sometime waiting to be seated by looking at the clock above. At first glance it looks like the '7' is just the '2' upside down but upon further examination you can see that in fact they are differnet. Pretty interesting stuff we've got going here. Anyway, we didn't have to wait for long before we were lead to a booth, had our drink orders taken and were left to peruse the menu.

(Menu AND specials menu)

Tom: This Friendly's was mostly full, like all of the ones in Ithaca are almost year round (again, baffling!). I ordered some kind of chicken smothered with cheese and mashed potatoes, while Sam opted for a 9.99 combo special with honey barbecue chicken wings and a sundae at the end. Annie only came for ice cream, so her role in this tale was yet to be played. I stayed away from any mango flavored drinks this time.

(I forgot to take photos before eating, hey I was hungry!)

I had said that ordering Jumbo Fronions was not necessary for me, as my chicken came on top of some Fronions. Apparently this is another chicken dish, and I was sorely disappointed when my chicken came out merely sitting on the plate (I do not blame the restaurant for this). Sam usually has this problem at Friendly's where they ask him if he wants honey mustard with his chicken, and he always says "no, just normal honey," and then they bring him honey mustard anyway. I imagine with the chicken this time having some kind of honey BBQ sauce already on it, there was less of a problem this time around.

(Tommy's meal, post eating as well)

For a chain family restaurant, we've always found Friendly's to have surprisingly slow service. Considering the relative speediness of contemporaries Applebees and Chili's, I've always found it shocking that Friendly's is so full, since the food isn't better, either. I guess it is somewhat cheaper? Sam got a pretty good deal, though you can probably get a bargain at the other places if you look.

(There was a bit of miscommunication because I definitely asked for peanut butter cups but got pieces instead... oh well)

We ate our respective chickens and then came time for ice cream, which has always been the most pleasant part of Friendly's. Sam I believe got some kind of 2-scoop sundae with mint and vanilla ice cream that came with his meal. Annie got the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup sundae with chocolate ice cream (an Eisenberg standard), and I got a RPBC Friend-z with chocolate ice cream, which is kind of like a McFlurry, but marketed only to children. Whenever I get Friendly's ice cream, and I think I speak for some other Eisenbergs when I say this, it is just a vessel to shovel as much of their peanut butter topping into my mouth as I can.

(Annie's sundae, what I was trying to emulate)

Overall, I'm not sure I can say I "recommend" Friendly's. If you live in Ithaca you've probably eaten there a few times, I don't know anyone that really loves it. It's good for ice cream if you're already in the mall or something, and if you're tired of going to other places you don't have to avoid eating at Friendly's. you can get a solid meal at any of the three (!) locations in Ithaca. I guess it's cheap, but it's not exactly the best deal in town.

(Tommy's Friend-Z, I like how that's spelled)

Sam: So yeah, overall not a great restaurant. We weren't surprised but we weren't THAT upset after eating. It's a fine option if you're trying to catch a movie and for some reason don't want to eat in the food court. I think we're gonna give Friendly's 6 Fribbles out of a possible 20 Fribbles.