The Original Location of America's Largest National Chain Restaurants [MAP]

"The flagship TGI Fridays opened on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1965, but it wasn't the family-friendly operation that exists today. The first T.G.I. Friday's, as it was called then - the company dropped the periods and the apostrophe in 2013 - was the world's first singles bar. The bar was founded by perfume salesman Alan Stillman, an Upper East Side bachelor who himself was looking for a place to mingle with other singles."

"When franchising began in the '70s, it set off a period of substantial growth and transformation that lasted well into the '90s and saw hundreds of locations crop up from coast to coast. By the chain's peak in 2008, TGI Fridays was operating approximately 600 locations in the U.S. and hundreds more globally, including outposts in cities like Moscow, Seoul, and Kifisia, Greece. But hard times fell on the restaurant chain, and in November 2024, TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy."

TGI Fridays began in 1965 on Manhattan's Upper East Side as a pioneering singles bar founded by Alan Stillman and popularized the fern-bar concept. The brand expanded with a second location in Memphis in 1967, began franchising in the 1970s, and experienced substantial growth through the 1990s, reaching roughly 600 U.S. locations by 2008 and gaining international outposts. Financial difficulties culminated in a Chapter 11 filing in November 2024, after which TriArtisan Capital Advisors took control and the chain now operates a reduced global footprint, including 85 U.S. locations. Red Lobster opened its first restaurant in Lakeland, Florida, in 1968 with a goal of bringing high-quality, affordable seafood nationwide.

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