10 TGI Friday’s Dishes to Steer Clear of According to Reviews

TGI Friday’s is a brand that has built its reputation on pure American spirit: familiar flavors, hearty portions, and a lively, welcoming atmosphere. But in recent years, the chain has seen a steep decline in the stability of both its brand affinity and its finances. Once-thriving locations now sit half-empty, plagued by inconsistent service, highly priced and uninspired dishes, and a growing number of customer complaints. The previous generation’s go-to spot for family dinners and happy hour gatherings has become, for many, a disappointing reminder of a brand that lost its way.

Part of the problem lies in a menu that’s grown bloated and bland, packed with reheated entrees and gimmicky presentations. As TGI Friday’s has grown its frozen food empire of sub-par facsimiles, the brick and mortar restaurant locations have largely stood still, relying on nostalgia and novelty to support brand expansion efforts rather than investing in practical culinary improvement. Combined with growing financial troubles, including reports of store closures and a bankruptcy filing, the future of the chain feels increasingly uncertain.

In this climate, knowing what not to order at TGI Friday’s could spare you a meal of regret. From soggy appetizers to sodium-loaded entrees that taste like they came straight from the microwave, we’ve rounded up the worst offenders on the current menu. Whether you’re stuck at an airport location with limited options or tempted by a familiar logo off the highway, this list might just save your stomach — and your wallet.

Though it may be advertised as a show-stopping entrée, FRIDAYS™ Big Ribs have become a prime display of TGI Fridays’ quality decline. The dish promises slow-cooked, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs smothered in signature Apple Butter BBQ sauce, but customer reviews paint a different picture.

Online reviews consistently pose the same question: “BIG?” The ribs have allegedly shrunk by substantial margins, enough to where the dish’s name is being called into question. Furthermore, there seems to be very little meat on these already inconsequential ribs — quite a painful pill to swallow when the plate costs around $30. Beyond portion complaints, common critiques cite the pork being dry, overcooked, and clinging stubbornly to the bone, likely a result of being poorly reheated from frozen.

While making a decent BBQ sauce can be child’s play, TGI Friday’s somehow drops the ball there as well. The Apple Butter BBQ sauce that covers the ribs receives complaints of being cloyingly sweet. Ultimately, many diners report a noticeable lack of freshness from everything on the plate. As if the rib quality wasn’t enough to disappoint diners, stale fries and limp coleslaw seem to be regular offenders, further pulling at the appeal of what should be a centerpiece of the TGI Friday’s menu.

Though contested, TGI Friday’s still claims credit for the creation of loaded potato skins. One might expect assumed creative ownership to be an assurance of quality, but it’s sadly not the case here. The chain’s loaded potato skins have lost their edge, according to a growing chorus of disappointed customers. Once praised for their crispy shells and gooey, savory toppings, these skins now suffer from soggy textures, skimpy fillings, and a criminal lack of flavor.

Reviewers often describe the dish as lukewarm or outright cold upon arrival, with the cheese barely melted and the bacon bits tasting artificial or stale. Rather than a hearty starter, many guests report receiving half-hearted portions of a poor quality product: thin potato slices drenched in grease, cheese with sand-like grit, and a sprinkle of green onions intended to mask this less-than-mediocre menu item. Even the sour cream, once a tangy contrast, is said to arrive in stingy, amorphous dollops that leave the dish looking cheap and obviously pre-packaged.

Guests nostalgic for the original TGI Friday’s experience often cite the loaded potato skins as a symbol of the brand’s decline. Once a signature appetizer that anchored the menu, they now feel mass-produced, underseasoned, and somehow inferior to their frozen food aisle counterpart.

TGI Fridays’ spinach artichoke dip is meant to be a thoughtless, creamy, crowd-pleaser — perfect for when food is the last thing you’re discussing, seen and not heard. But according to an overwhelming number of customers, the current version can no longer be ignored. Beyond fading into the background, the dip is now the subject of conversation for all the wrong reasons.

Diners consistently complain about its thin, watery consistency and lack of flavor, noting that the dip often arrives lukewarm or even cold in the center. Rather than a rich blend of cheeses and vegetables, guests describe a runny, unseasoned mix where the spinach and artichoke are barely discernible. The surface is consistently oily, which suggests microwave reheating rather than a stovetop preparation. Others say the dip tastes canned or processed, supplanting any simple pleasures with distracting, overtly artificial flavors.

The accompanying chips are frequently criticized, as well. Accused of being stale, under-salted, or too few in number for the portion of dip, they do nothing to elevate the already underwhelming appetizer. What was once a dependable starter has become, in the eyes of many, an overpriced dish that rarely satisfies.

TGI Friday’s Pan-seared potstickers aim to bring a touch of Asian-inspired flavor to the appetizer menu, but they completely miss the mark for many guests. While the menu promises tender dumplings filled with pork and vegetables, pan-seared to a crisp and served with a Szechuan dipping sauce, the reality is often far less appetizing.

Customers frequently describe the potstickers as greasy and rubbery, with soggy wrappers that lack the promised sear. Instead of a crisp golden exterior, diners are often met with limp dumplings that feel microwaved rather than freshly cooked. As for the filling, it’s commonly criticized as bland and overly mushy, a disappointing duo of missteps for what should be a reliable appetizer.

The dipping sauce also receives some flak for being one-note and doing little to mask the potstickers’ flaws. Little more than a blend of soy sauce and vinegar, “Szechuan” ends up feeling like a buzzword rather than an accurate dish description. In addition to these complaints, the portion size is reportedly quite small for the price, leaving many guests feeling shortchanged before their entrées even arrive. It’s a horrible miss for an appetizer menu that TGI Friday’s desperately needs to succeed.

Mozzarella sticks should be the foolproof favorite — crispy on the outside, melty on the inside, and satisfyingly cheesy. It’s not a difficult thing to perfect, but at TGI Friday’s, this classic appetizer (that is often definitive of the brand) misses the mark. According to a wave of customer reviews, the mozzarella sticks have become, perhaps, the most underwhelming item on the menu.

Complaints about the mozzarella sticks run the gamut, ranging from being over-fried and burnt to being served cold and lacking crunch entirely. The mozzarella, as well, receives a wide breadth of criticisms, with some describing it as stiff, rubbery, or barely melted. Others claim they received empty shafts of bread crumbs that burst open in the fryer, leaking cheese and leaving only hollow shells behind.

Beyond their unreliable preparation, the mozzarella sticks have become a perennial thorn in the side of TGI Friday’s. A lawsuit in 2022 alleged that this appetizer was actually devoid of any mozzarella at all and was instead filled with a dubious “cheese blend.” That lawsuit, while targeted at the frozen food iteration of the TGI Friday’s dish, hurt the image of the appetizer in restaurants as well. Once just a simple starter, TGI Fridays’ mozzarella sticks are now representative of everything that has gone wrong with the brand.

TGI Friday’s is probably not the first place you think of when you think of seafood — nor should it be. It consistently ranks among the worst chain restaurants in America for shrimp, lobster, crab, and fish of all kinds. While any number of aspects can affect a restaurant’s overall food quality, one thing in particular can make or break a dish, especially when it comes to seafood: consistency. It seems to be one TGI Fridays’ major problems across the country, but with a dish like its fried shrimp, consistency is the difference between a pleasant experience and the hospital.

Yes, there are consistent complaints of pools of thick grease that dominate the dish, measly, rubbery shrimp the size of jacket buttons, and overbearing batter, but the matter of consistency dominates the reviews here. Some complain of shrimp concealed in batter that’s nearly black from burning in oil, others complain of a soggy, limp fried shellfish experience, and others still report being served shrimp that is raw.

This obscene lack of focus on quality assurance is no doubt a major reason for the chain’s stormy circumstances. If the brand intends to outlive its impending demise, improving upon its current food preparation may be a good place to start. Until then, skip the fried shrimp.

Chicken wings are a staple on any casual dining menu — reliable, swift, satisfying — and at TGI Friday’s, they should be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, according to countless reviews, the wings fall far short of expectations, delivering more frustration than flavor.

Classic wings are exceedingly easy to make. Messing them up takes a concerted effort, so what is TGI Friday’s doing wrong? Diners say there’s a gross inconsistency when it comes to texture and taste. Some report wings that are overly dry and tough, while others are served chicken that is rubbery or drowning in grease. The promised “crispy” skin often arrives soggy, as if the wings sat too long under a heat lamp or were reheated instead of freshly fried.

Sauce options, which should be a fun departure from the unfortunate wings, have also drawn criticism. Whether it’s the signature Buffalo, Whiskey-Glaze, or Garlic Parmesan, many guests find the flavors to be either overpoweringly sweet or possessing an odd chemical taste, lacking the balance and kick that good wings demand. Some reviewers also mention uneven sauce distribution, with some wings being drenched and others nearly bare.

What should be a no-fail, crowd-pleasing appetizer or entrée ends up as a greasy, forgettable mess. This is bad, even for TGI Friday’s. If your brand relies on tasty bar fare and even your wings are bad, there’s little hope for you.

With a name like Million Dollar Cobb salad, TGI Friday’s is clearly painting the picture of a premium dining experience — a medley of fresh ingredients, topped with grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, and a tangy dressing. Obviously, at a price around $15, your assumptions are bound to be tempered, but the Million Dollar Cobb salad seems to dip far below even the most moderate of expectations.

Many diners report that the salad feels poorly constructed, with ingredients that are either wilted, overly soggy, or lacking in flavor. The lettuce — which should be a non-negotiable in the realm of quality — is often a premier complaint, being described as brown, wilted, and even slimy. The avocado, a key ingredient in any Cobb, is often under-ripe or lacking in freshness.

Furthermore, the bacon — which one would expect to be smoky and crunchy — is frequently criticized for being too fatty and soggy. Even the dressing, which should tie the dish together, is often seen as thin and devoid of flavor, leaving the whole meal feeling incomplete. When a salad is given a title like “Million Dollar,” it is bound to disappoint some, but TGI Fridays’ Million Dollar Cobb salad seems to leave most of the customers who order it feeling as if they’ve paid too much for an unbalanced, lackluster salad.

TGI Friday’s chicken parmesan pasta isn’t reinventing the wheel: breaded chicken, marinara sauce, and pasta, all topped with melted mozzarella and parmesan. It is impossibly familiar and arguably more American than it is Italian. So TGI Friday’s, the intrinsically American chain, should be able to do this dish justice, right? Wrong.

The chicken, according to common complaints, often arrives dry and overcooked, rather than the tender, juicy cutlet one would expect from a classic chicken parmesan. The breading, rather than providing a tantalizing crunch, is frequently soggy from being doused in too much sauce, sitting for ages under a heat lamp, or — if you’re to believe the accusations — microwaved for too long.

TGI Fridays’ spotty history with cheese quality is not elevated here either. It often sticks to the chicken breading, only peeling off in sheets like Kraft Singles, further fueling the microwave rumors. As for the marinara sauce, it’s described as bland, sweet, and one-dimensional, failing to bring any depth to the dish. Rather than enhancing the meal, it becomes an anchor weighing the whole thing down. Many customers also complain about the portion size, alleging this dish is one of the least cost-effective items on the menu. For a meal that should be rich, fresh, and affordable, TGI Friday’s chicken parmesan pasta ends up more akin to a microwaved monstrosity.

For diners looking to enjoy a burger without the beef, TGI Friday’s Beyond Meat cheeseburger offers a plant-based alternative they seek, but according to customer reviews, it often falls flat. Or worse, it falls apart.

The most common criticism from diners is that the patty is dry and lacks the juicy, savory flavor that makes a great burger. Some customers even claim the patty falls apart quickly, losing its structure and adding to the disappointment. This is not a new trait for meat replacement burgers. Patties that fall apart are a constant issue with veggie burgers, but the problem is almost always born of the person making them. You’d almost be surprised that a massive chain like TGI Friday’s would allow such a lack of quality on the plate, but if you’ve made it this far into the article, you surely have to expect it by now.

The patty isn’t the only offender here. The bun, key to any successful burger, also receives negative feedback. Customers describe it as stale and overly thick, which takes away from the experience rather than complementing the patty. Add to that the fact that the typical toppings — lettuce, onion, tomato, and pickles — are often cited as being wilted and mushy, and you’re left with a burger that only feels sad and uninspired.

The dishes featured in this article were compiled through both practical dining experience and customer reviews left on sites such as Yelp, Tripadvisor, Google, Reddit, ConsumerAffairs, and ComplaintsBoard. We combed through reviews and included dishes most commonly complained about on these sites. The value of reviews was allocated equally, regardless of source.