Who needs a main course when there's all-you-can appetizers ...

If I want a 10,000-calorie lunch, I can go two blocks away and chow down on all-you-can-eat of the best stromboli I know for $10. TGIF fare just can't compare.

 

I'm in for the great stromboli; where is it? Used to be a place in central Pennsylvania that made an awesome one, but the joint burned down, I think, many years ago.

 

I have. On vacation in Seoul.

 

I have as well. Generally while on assignment for some tournament or such but sometimes just because I wanted a quick lunch and one was handy.

The food is slightly above mediocre but they used to have a hamburger that was topped with a fried circle of cheese that was fantastic. Heart attack inducing but delicious.

 

You're thinking of the right place: Your Place. There are five of them, in Hershey, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading and Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg.

 

I'll give the TGI people a nod on this.

It is creating some buzz.

However, once I see that it's just one All You Can Eat app for $10, it's not that good of a deal. I thought it was the whole apps menu -- THAT would have been sensational.

 

Exactly. There are a few more choices than I had thought, though:

Loaded Potato Skins
Pan-Seared Pot Stickers
Mozzarella Sticks
Garlic & Basil Bruschetta
Tuscan Spinach Dip
Boneless Buffalo Wings
Crispy Green Bean Fries

I could do some serious damage with that Spinach Dip.

 

Just read the article, and it sounds like they are putting all their eggs into the basket of one-person tables ordering the AYCE apps.

They will "discourage" sharing but won't police it, so they're going to get a lot of six-person tables coming in for happy hour, ordering 3 different AYCE apps and the entire table grazes until they are full for $5 each.

TGIF is probably still going to make money on it, and they are getting their name out there, which I suppose is a big part of it. But I doubt this is going to work as well as they hoped.

In that level of restaurants, this special wouldn't make me choose TGIF over Chili's, Applebee's or several locally-owned options.

 

I also wonder how long the "fast casual" dining entities will stick around. I see TGI, Applebee's and Chili's as the exact same -- one place has more tacos, one place often has a celebrity pitchman, etc.

They're like Walmart. No one admits to shopping there (or eating at these chains) but they are surviving.

 

I stop by Applebees all the time for the grilled chicken wonton tacos.

 

I've never thought of TGI Fridays as a singles bar ... maybe when they started 40 years ago, but not now.

That being said, the only way this appetizer promotion works is if customers order a few drinks with it. As always, that's how they make their money.