Sometimes, all you want is a burger, a cocktail and a lively atmosphere.
Two places come to mind: Frankie's and Fridays. So why not compare them and see who wins out?
Let’s be clear here, this comparison is about, what was, Frankie and Benny’s and, what was, TGI Fridays. However, recent re-branding means that technically both restaurants have new names. Simply: Frankie's and Fridays.
The two classic American-style chains are synonymous with children’s birthday parties, after work cocktails, and red and white stripes.
If you’re planning a cheeky dinner at one, you might consider the other.
But are they truly comparable? Can I get a cheeky cocktail, a true American burger, and have music from 1950s America repeatedly played at me at both?
To make the comparison fair, my dinner companion and I only ordered food off the menus that had an alternative at the other restaurant.
This is definitely an exciting way to take someone on a date: go for dinner twice, but you can only have one of three things.
What’s Cooking?
Frankie’s, at the Printworks, was first and a complete lack of atmosphere was trumped by a complete lack of taste to some of the food.
To start, we ordered cocktails. Friday’s started its life as a cocktail bar in New York and thus it seemed only appropriate for us to sample the offerings at both.
I opted for a Woo Woo. It was peachy sweet and boozy.
Meanwhile my date’s espresso martini was a vodka shot and a hint of coffee liqueur, impressed less.
To start our feast, we ordered chicken wings and chicken strips, flavoured hot and bbq respectively.
While my date described the wings as ‘better than Wetherspoons’, he admitted that they did not match up to Nandos, a crushing blow for a true wing connoisseur.
Meanwhile, the chicken strips did what they said on the tin: chicken, cut in strips and breaded. Nothing exciting, no drizzle of excellence, entirely acceptable and nothing more.
The mains were where Frankie really let us down. We ordered a cheesy mac n cheese burger and the lemon & pepper salmon.
The salmon was very well cooked, flavourful, with a tasty lemon/pepper topping. The risotto was not. Goopy and flavourless and sadly, not a clean plate.
While the fries were good - skin on and crispy, the burger was where this meal fell apart - literally. Being filled to bursting, the poor bread couldn’t cope and the ingredients were freed from their bun prison.
Despite being a burger packed with a patty, mac n cheese, gherkins and more, it still lacked any real flavour.
At Fridays, the dining was a different story.
I excitedly picked my favourite cocktail: Purple Rain. Despite it being blue and not purple, it was sweet, fruity with a kick that reminds you it isn’t juice.
My date was, again, less impressed as his Monkey Sour, Fridays' take on a whiskey sour, felt a little watered down.
We tried to keep our meals as similar as possible across the two restaurants.
To start, the chicken wings and chicken strips were both dripping in glaze.
The strips, in a slightly spicy Jack Daniel’s glaze topped with sesame seeds and chilli flakes, were succulent and crisp. Delicious.
The wings were ‘tossed’ in Fridays’ ‘legendary glaze’ and were very chickeny indeed.
When his filthy rich burger arrived, he was even more impressed. The meat patty was, well, meaty - brimming with flavour. The cheese sauce was simply cheesy. While it was a very messy burger, the accompanying chips were on hand to scoop up sauces galore.
Meanwhile, my teriyaki salmon was well cooked, well marinated, with spicy rice full of flavour. The only downfall of this dish was the half a raw pak choi plopped on top.
Are you being served?
In both restaurants we were served table service by friendly, smiling waiters.
Frankie's was quiet and the waiter was attentive and cheerful, occasionally singing along to the classic tunes Frankie’s is well known for.
In Fridays, our waiter was overly cheerful to the point where I considered if his grin was stuck on his face due to overuse.
What’s the damage?
At Frankie's, for two cocktails, two starters and two mains. The total came to £51.50.
At Fridays, for two cocktails, two starters and two mains. The total came to £63.70.
Truly, I do believe the extra £12.20 was worth it for Fridays’ chicken strips.
The verdict?
Atmospherically, Frankie's has always played the same game. You expect to hear a good amount of laughter, music from the 50s and 60s, be seated in a striped leather booth, and to be able to look around at the historical photographs which adorn the walls. While the decor remained the same, the atmosphere of Frankie’s felt lost.
Despite the promise of an American dream, Frankie’s actually opened in Leicester in 1995, and the dream team of Frankie and Benny - two Italian Americans running Frankie’s family business - is simply tosh.
I learnt this and the atmosphere of the visit was ruined. Although, that could have had something to do with the complete lack of other people as we finished up eating at 8:30pm on a Wednesday.
The music, however, was on point. We were treated to The Shirelles, The Beatles, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and even had a little Respect from Aretha Franklin.
Asking my dinner companion for his take on the evening, he summarised the meal with a poetic simile: ‘It’s like a plaster on a pothole, you try your best, it’s your best intention but it’s a plaster on a pothole’.
Fridays, at the Royal Exchange, on the other hand was loud. Very, very loud. There were disco lights and a DJ playing pop classics from across the decades, including a confusing house remix of Stevie Wonder's Superstition.
Polite dinner conversation was not really an option with the combo of music and nailed to the ground single-seater booths.
Despite this, the restaurant had an atmosphere. Couples and families dined and shouted loudly to one another.
The decor of the huge Fridays strikes an un-balance that would confuse even Kevin McCloud.
Exposed pipework and industrial style metal work is contrasted against the traditional American diner-esque red and white striped wall adorned with photographs of legends past.
Red and white stripes, and black and white photographs, could be the only true similarities between these two restaurants.
While the menus are similar and getting a cheesy burger and chicken wings is possible in either, the atmospheres created, and actual food consumed, could not be more opposite.
Is there a winner? Normally for my tea, I don't love disco lights shone in my eyes and to hear noughties pop blasted over my salmon, and Fridays was no exception. But the food was good.
With Frankie's lacking in atmosphere, taste and food, Fridays wins out.
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