Fine Dining - Friendly's (Part One: Eat Deets) feat. JUB...?

Starting point is 00:00:00 From this point forward, the word cheese will be bleeped because Michael finds it offensive. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Find I Need Podcast, The Search for the Most Mediocre Restaurant in America. I'm your host, Michael Ornelas, and this week I was supposed to be joined by a guest host. I don't know where they are, so I'm just going to record and if they show up and they join me, they'll join me and if they don't, they won't. I don't know what to tell you, but he's kind of a bombastic, finicky person and he's been messing with the podcast a little bit.

Starting point is 00:00:40 I don't know if you listen after the credits, but apparently he's been leaving notes for me since the start of season two. He's a former sponsor of the show. He goes by the name, Job, that sounds made up, but whatever, he's not here. So I'm going to push forward. This is part one of the friendlies episode. So I had the opportunity to go up to the New England area, did a trip to Boston, Maine, went to Acadia National Park, got to check out a lot of neat spots. And for all of you, I explored what might be a prime candidate in the game of mediocre mid-level casual dining restaurants. So I went to Friendly's. This is not a chain I have here in Los Angeles, but apparently it's got a lot of history. It's had a lot of restaurants.

Starting point is 00:01:33 So part one, this episode, this is going to be just, you know, my first impressions of the place. The Eat Deets, the history of Friendly's as a franchise. And then of course, Yelp from Strangers. I'm going to dive in and see what other people are saying about it. And then next week, part two, you'll get to actually hear the review of Friendly's, the atmosphere, the service, the food, all that good stuff. Fine dining party of one. So hang around, for now though, my table's not ready. I'll be back in a bit.

Starting point is 00:02:27 table's not ready, I'm ready! Fine Dining, It's just fine dining, Fine dining, Two ledgers on the sign are shining, Neon flickering, Irregular timing, Identify the perfect vibe! Howl at ten,

Starting point is 00:02:47 Fine dining, Fine dining, I'm dining. I'm dining. First impressions. Okay. So walking or even driving up to Friendly's, they've got one of the big marquee signs out front. You know, like the sign where McDonald's would say over one billion served or whatever. Friendlies, I don't know if this is just because it's in New England, but there's on that

Starting point is 00:03:13 sign an indicator saying, lobster is back. And I mean, even with red lobster, I'm not trying to get lobster at mid-tier restaurants. I no longer trust them. I think Benny Hanna had a good one. I like the one at Melting Pot, and that is about as far as my good experiences with lobster on this show goes. So I'm not exactly getting excited when I pull up to a friendlies and I see lobster is back. I see it, my thought is just no thank you, moving on. Now as you walk up to the door, there's a sign with one of the Jonas Brothers and a specialty ice cream, which I love. I think celebrity endorsements of chain restaurants is never not fun

Starting point is 00:04:06 Now specifically outside the door of friendlies. They're leading with a strong Jonas the Joe Sunday Step into the delicious world of Joe Jonas's Imagination with our monster mash Sunday trio and then it's got like, you know that the gravy boat style of platter with ice cream in it. And it's just got three different monster Faces made with like, you know scoops of ice cream m&m's Reese's as the ears whipped cream hair, which we'll get into Reese's ears in a little bit when talking about the food but There's basically a collaboration with the Jonas brothers at first first it looks like it's just Joe, and then you walk inside the other two Jonas's Kevin and Nick also have their own exclusive ice creams, the Joe Sunday, the Nick Sunday,

Starting point is 00:04:56 the Kevin Sunday. I honestly did not know that Kevin Jonas was a person. I mean, I'm 35. I'm a little bit less hip than young people are. But I've heard of a Joe Jonas. I've heard of a Nick Jonas. Kevin Jonas is news to me. So, I mean, I knew there were three. I could have only told you two names. Now, also, when you walk through the door, there's a giant menu of just the ice creams and the shakes. The beautiful bakery is what it says.

Starting point is 00:05:29 The Frenzy is, I guess, looks like they're equivalent of maybe a DQ Blizzard or something like that. The Banana Split, but they essentially have a little ice cream fountain area up front and a pickup counter for people dropping in just to get ice cream. There's no seating section in sight yet. You kind of have to go through another doorway. So it's an isolated corridor just for people who want ice cream, which kind of makes sense

Starting point is 00:05:57 given this place's origins, which I'll get into in the Eat Deets in a little bit. But the other thing I want to mention that I saw is that this is a Mr. Beast Burger Ghost Kitchen Pickup place for Uber Eats and Door Dash and Postmates drivers. So I thought that was kind of funny. I still think ghost kitchens are kind of silly, I guess. I don't know. I think that if you're selling a product like that, you should open a restaurant for it. But I do understand all the overhead, but it's just kind of funny to me that you're like,

Starting point is 00:06:32 oh, I'm getting a Mr. Beast burger, and it comes to you from Friendly's. Now as we're actually like standing there waiting for our table, I'm noticing like a neon clock and a lot of old timey photos, which I'll get into when I talk about atmosphere in part 2. But for now, I want to go into the history and the background and tell you all about how friendlies came to be and grow the rise and fall. I actually find it pretty interesting. So let's jump on into this week's Eat Deets. Now as we all know, there used to be a crunchy sound effect there that would play between

Starting point is 00:07:17 each new Eat Deet beat, but I had to yeet that-deet greeting because my mom is not too fond of the sounds of chewing. She wasn't fond of the whip noise used during Resty fact roundup back in the day. So we are gonna continue down the road. Eat-deet sound effect, the sound bite of easy listening. Eat-deets. Brothers Prestley and Curtis Blake founded Friendly, not Friendly's, so it was originally called Friendly, in Springfield, Massachusetts during the Great Depression in 1935. They used a $547 loan from their parents, which is equivalent to about $12,000 today Originally it was an ice cream shop with double-dip cones for five cents

Starting point is 00:08:08 Competitors charge ten cents for the same stuff so they literally teamed up as Honestly like kids. They were very young. I think they were like 20 years old So they were very young when they started this They called it friendly because they were very young when they started this. They called it friendly because they were friendly guys by nature. Younger brother Curtis was president and Presley was treasurer. Literally they decided on their positions by flipping a coin because their parents wanted

Starting point is 00:08:42 it to be totally fair. Not by who's more qualified, just what's fair. And nothing's more fair than absolute chaotic randomness. EAT DEETS! At first it was just the two brothers working around the clock. A 2.5 gallon batch took 15 minutes to make. They needed about 30 gallons a day. So that's what, three hours just to make the ice cream they need for the day?

Starting point is 00:09:10 Curtis was quoted as saying, when we closed our first shop at midnight, one of us would stay at the store and start making ice cream for the next day, and the other went home and slept. The ice cream maker would come home and sleep around 7am, then go back to help with the noon hour. And that's the type of dedication it takes, honestly, to get any dream off the ground. So I respect it. EAT DEETS They opened a second stand in 1940 and started selling burgers, famously on slices of bread rather than buns, but suspended all business during World War II.

Starting point is 00:09:45 By 1951, they were back with 10 locations. So they opened the second store, shut down pretty quickly, and then have pretty rapid expansion once the war ends. So not bad. Here's a quick fun fact. They were the first restaurant to offer half gallons of ice cream that could be taken to go. Ah yes, so that is the origin of the obesity pandemic in America. Why come here and walk off the ice cream you're gonna eat? Take it home and eat it off your belly while you watch one of four channels on TV. E. D. All right, so here's where it gets wild. 23 years later, by 1974, they had 500 locations.

Starting point is 00:10:34 This is before a lot of the chains covered on this show even existed yet or were just starting out. E. D. But it wasn't all sunshine and roses. by this time the Blake brothers were feuding. Which y'all Ben and Jerry would never. Curtis thought Presley's depression era money-scrimping was preventing the business from growing. The dispute prompted the brothers to retire and sell the chain to Hershey in 1979.

Starting point is 00:11:05 Now in 1979, they sold for $164 million dollars in 1979 money. That is insanity. After Hershey took over, they started adding Reese's and Heath Bar toppings to the ice cream. And I'll tell you, the ice cream I got had Reese's in it. It was delicious. It was also Hershey who added the apostrophe S and officially made the brand name Friendly's. Always good to add a grammatical possessive to let someone know we own this

Starting point is 00:11:47 business. EAT DEATS In 1980, Friendly's provided the ice cream for an 8,000 pound Guinness World Record Breaking Sunday built in Central Park. From the New York Times, ice cream blocks were unloaded from a refrigerated truck, sawed in half, and laid like sweet bricks in a pyramid shape. Red Shine Smith students chanted chain gang songs as they hauled buckets of fudge sauce. It took 90 minutes to construct. That's certainly a quote. 30 years later, in 2013, Friendly's broke the record for the largest-ever dessert party,

Starting point is 00:12:33 think like an ice cream social, in Massachusetts with almost 800 people attending. Honestly, that feels pretty beatable. I feel like if someone put their mind to it and really advertised it, you can get more than 800 people for an ice cream social. The Ice Cream Social Anyway, after Hershey took over, Friendly's growth exploded for a few years, but then started to face stiff competition.

Starting point is 00:13:00 It was sold in 1988, and by 1997 1997 was in Dyer Straits. It went public on the stock market to try and relieve some debt. Now this was a good thing in the mind of the older brother founder, Presley Blake, who couldn't let his baby go. He started buying up a bunch of stock and trying to get back into Friendly's.

Starting point is 00:13:21 In 2003, he sued the company for misuse of funds. Friendly's doesn't admit to wrongdoing, but an executive ended up reimbursing the company for some jet travel. EAT DEATS The lawsuit reignited the feud between the brothers. Curtis thought Pressley's meddling was only hurting the brand. He was on record saying, my brother forgot we sold the company. He never wanted to let go. And the fight was pretty serious. By 2010, the brothers hadn't spoken to each other in a full year, despite only living 12 miles apart. It was because in that year, 2010, Presley, who was at that time 92 years old, allied with Friendly's largest shareholder, Texas millionaire Sardar Biglari, Sardar Biglari, Sardar Biglari, to try and take the reins

Starting point is 00:14:14 back. Presley even sold 16 of his 24 Rolls Royce's. Okay, I guess I'm reading that right. And now, a word from our totally not made up sponsor. Greetings! Harrison Augustine, Flying Moneywater emoji, really is the 14th back once again to scoff at the misguided moxie of those who think they embody true wealth. 24 Rolls Royces. Am I supposed to be impressed by this?

Starting point is 00:14:47 I have a veritable bowing hanger of all sorts of luxury vehicles because my airplane collection grew and I quote, irresponsibly large according to my tax loop poll specialist. But who cares about the catastrophic output of greenhouse gases emitted by my agglomeration of sky-firing crops that I leave on idle so I can fly at a moment's notice when I'm only 7th on the waitlist to colonize Mars. I can just jettison this planet if things get too dire. Earth, it's the ultimate expendable, and I plan to continue living my life in accordance with that mantra because honestly, is there any other way to be a billionaire in today's climate?

Starting point is 00:15:28 Who do you think I am? Bill Gates? No, no, I've been dubbed the gatekeeper at the Zuckerberg mansion Suarez because I like to dish it out to old William and because I keep the poor impoverished for a laugh. Anyways, I must be going. Enjoy your new money with your paltry Rolls Royce collection and I'll be back in a couple weeks to tell you more about my fascinating and unobtainable lifestyle. 2. Toodaloo

Starting point is 00:15:57 Dude had 24 Rolls Royces. He sold 16 them, so he could increase his personal stake in the company. He ended up buying 892,000 shares of the company for roughly $2 million. Curtis went on to say, I'm very disappointed. He was my best friend for 85 years. It could have been a nice story if we ended up best friends for our entire life. Now, at this point, I also don't really understand why Curtis is so bothered that Presley is bothered, but like, I don't know, I understand the thing that you made went out into the world and and you're seeing somebody else change it who wasn't a part of the founding, your hands aren't in it. But at the same time, you're both out.

Starting point is 00:16:43 I don't see why you're bothered that someone else is bothered. Like kind of just let him be, like let him be annoyed unless he's literally talking about it to you nonstop and implying that you need to do something to get in on it to help him with the cause. I don't really know. But interesting tangent, Curtis also vary into cars. And this is kind of an infuriating quote.

Starting point is 00:17:06 He said, I bought my first car when I was 11 years old. It was a 1921 Ford Model T chassis and it cost $2.50. That's, that's the price of a car in 1921. $2.50. I mean, it doesn't sound like it's the whole car. It's the chassis, but still, dang. Anyways, more bad news followed. In 2011, friendlies closed 63 of approximately 500 locations and filed for bankruptcy. Around 1200 people lost their jobs.

Starting point is 00:17:45 It's a tough day, but a very positive day for the future of the company. Friendly's chairman and chief executive, Harsha V. Agati said, I don't know if that's a positive day for the future of the company filing for bankruptcy. I mean, it allows you to kind of move forward a little, but I don't know. 1,200 people lost their jobs. It's kind of crappy.

Starting point is 00:18:10 EAT DEETS! By 2014, the chain had rebounded somewhat and was producing more than 25 million pounds of ice cream per year. In 2017, the brothers made up. Curtis said, we're back on good terms, but we had a period of eight to 10 years where we weren't. Eight. Curtis, who was then 100 years old, had some criticisms for modern ice cream, complaining that big brands added too many mix-ins. You are eating a frozen candy bar, not ice cream,

Starting point is 00:18:43 which I think that's kind of an old fashioned, like weak ass hater take. I'm personally huge on like cold stone. I love going to a place where they're literally just smashing more and more things into my ice cream. I don't go too crazy. I usually get the peanut butter lovers perfection. It's kind of my go to where you get some like Reese's Chunks, some

Starting point is 00:19:05 chocolate sauce, some actual peanut butter smashed into a chocolate ice cream. But still, if it tastes good, it tastes good. Don't yuck my yum, Curtis. Anyways, in 2019, Curtis passed away of old age at 102. Presley passed away in 2021 at 106 years old. So collectively, these two brothers lived 208 years. That's insanity. And it's the true power of friendship. And drinking baby blood. I really don't know.

Starting point is 00:19:43 I don't know what their family was into. I'm not making accusations Eat Deets! In 2020 the chain was a shadow of its former self down to 130 locations Which at its peak back when Hershey's owned it was at around 800 locations Anyway blaming the pandemic and soaring prices of cream Friendlies filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy a second time, which it's kind of crazy that you're allowed to do that.

Starting point is 00:20:13 It is. In 2022, Friendly's attempted to revive the brand by launching a new fast-casual concept, Friendly's Cafe. It is. fast casual concept, Friendly's Cafe. Now, as I mentioned from the posters in 2023, Friendly's partnered with the Jonas Brothers. Now, a little late to the punch 2023, not the most timely time to part with the Jonas Brothers, but each of the brothers had a custom Sunday. Here's some of the ad copy. The Joe Sunday, step into the delicious world of Joe Jonas's imagination. I said that one earlier. The Nick Sunday, Nick fans will love this creamy creation. The Kevin Sunday, Kevin is a certified chocoholic and his chocolatey concoction is sure to satisfy

Starting point is 00:21:02 any sweet tooth. I think it's safe to predict a third bankruptcy filing in the future. It beats. All right, and lastly, did you know, BJ Novak, actor and writer on the US office TV series, has a restaurant pop-up concept that features chain restaurants. It's called chain.

Starting point is 00:21:23 They did a pop-up for Friendlies in April, 2023 in LA. And I think it's kind of funny to just imagine hip LA foodies lining up for Friendlies. I can tell you having been there, it's a chain restaurant. It's not this fancy thing. You don't need to worry if you haven't had it before. But I guess BJ Novak wanted to make sure that Angelino's

Starting point is 00:21:45 knew that for sure? Anyways, that'll do it for this week's Eat Deets. That's the history of the restaurant, and before I give my review of the place next week I want to go to Yelp and see what other people are saying about this friendlies location in this week's Yelp from Strangers, my segment where I go to Yelp and read out my favorite one, two, three, four and five star Yelp reviews of the very restaurant at which I d- What? Michael!

Starting point is 00:22:56 Oh god, he's here. Michael! How do you know where he's home? The lights off! He's texting me like fifty times! Just a second. He probably did do one of those witnesses to that Jehovah guy. It's Job from your podcast. Open up!

Starting point is 00:23:14 Yep. It's us! I'm here to be on your show! You were supposed to be here eight hours ago, and you don't respond to phone calls. Well, I just got a phone. For the longest time I refused to get one but you were driving me nuts. Well with the way you were handling killing me off but then not really cause it was a rabies fever dream and it made me wanna not sponsor your show if your subconscious doesn't want me around.

Starting point is 00:23:41 So I started dealing drugs. What the hell man? You did a good fellas parody on the book of the Beppo episode. Do you know how hard it is to lose a police tail? Jesus dude, it's fine. I'm sending Petunia back out there. Oh shit, the 50. She'll lose him.

Starting point is 00:23:57 She's a heat magnet. I'm gonna drive like Ryan Gosling drove in that movie about Ryan Gosling's driver. Drive. I don't wanna be involved in anything like that. Yeah, anyways, are you going to turn the lights on? Why have you been podcasting in the dark? Jump, take your sunglasses off. Not an option.

Starting point is 00:24:14 Alright, well, I'm about to do Yelp from Strangers. Do you want to join? Sure, I can read some Yelp reviews. I'm only recently literate, I kinda wanna show it off. 1 Star Review Alright this is a review from Brea W. 9 months ago. 1 Star. This is her only Yelp review that she's ever done.

Starting point is 00:24:37 Ordered food tonight. Got 2 sides of loaded waffle fries. Got home they barley had any sh** and had like one strip of bacon poorly chopped up. Called to get replacement fries had even less sh** and bacon, so wound up getting ice cream. I mean honestly that sounds like an upgrade because sh** is terrible. Sh** is good! You're crazy! Friendlies is not what it used to be because no one wants to work anymore. Tell me you're a boomer without telling me you're a boomer. That expression right there.

Starting point is 00:25:08 Hey I resent that. I want to work real bad. I just never really get past the idea stage. 3 Star Review. Alright, well I'm going to take us over to a 3 star review. This is from Matt W over 9 years ago and he's written 1090 Yelp reviews. A bit care-worn from the curb, like most stalwarts of the franchise, and a bit lonely, eniled as it is in the end of a parking lot and two busy cross streets on the east end of town.

Starting point is 00:25:42 This friendlies is a bit perkier on the inside. What's with the poetic language? I don't know, people do this on Yelp. It suffers as all friendlies do these days from a somewhat desultery and unpredictable kitchen. On our recent visit, the kids' selections came out tasting a bit of bland cardboard and obviously reheated while the adult sandwiches were decently prepared. Wait, is that implying that the adult who wrote this tasted the kids food?

Starting point is 00:26:11 I don't know, I mean maybe they're trusting the kids word, which is kind of funny to let a- a- to lend a kid's opinions to a professional food review? Anyways, we did have very nice service, although we were crammed into a little booth instead of the many open bigger ones, apparently to keep one section of the restaurant clear for the busloads of tourists that will never come on a sleepy Sunday evening. It will take a lot more than newly printed menus to lift friendly from the abyss of mediocrity into which it has tumbled over the years. And this particular restaurant

Starting point is 00:26:47 is in particular need of a facelift. It's just good enough to lure those nostalgic parents such as ourselves in given a dearth of other options. And the kids stay for the balloons, still sans helium. You could do worse, although if Denny's gets balloons, watch out. You can go download our full Yelp from Strangers segment at our Patreon. The link for that is in the description of this episode, or you can go to patreon.com

Starting point is 00:27:16 slash find dining podcast, and we're now offering a one week free trial. So what do you have to lose? Go check it out. People have wild opinions, and we get to read oh so many of them. Thanks. All right, job. Well, that does it. You didn't learn anything about the restaurant because you weren't here for the eat dates.

Starting point is 00:27:34 Stop whining. I was a little bit late. I showed up. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, join me next week. Part two.

Starting point is 00:27:42 Job and I are going to through the Friendly's review. We're gonna talk about all what it's like to eat at Friendly's and to do it with a sworn enemy. I would not consider you that. Well, that makes one of us. Okay, well, thanks for listening to the Fine Dining Podcast. Join me next week.

Starting point is 00:27:59 And in the meantime, follow me on social media at Fine Dining Podcast on Instagram and TikTok. Send an email to finedining dining podcast at gmail.com and literally say anything. Kind of try and annoy Michael. It drives him berserk. Yeah, yeah. All right, we'll see you all next week.

Starting point is 00:28:15 Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day.

Starting point is 00:28:22 Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Waiting on our table, waiting on our table This step is done and we had some fun Now we're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Join us next time we're stuck in line Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We're so hungry Tommy's grumbling

Starting point is 00:28:41 Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We gotta continue our search for mediocrity Yeah Waiting on a demo, waiting on a demo We'll be waiting and dissipating it Waiting on a demo, waiting on a demo Swimping in, we could dig in and do the work Waiting on a demo, waiting on our table Swimping in next week or digging in But we're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Got an appetite for just a type of We're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Search to continue when we see you next week

Starting point is 00:29:19 Hee hee hee But I'm not ever just waiting on our table, waiting on our table

Fine Dining - Friendly's (Part One: Eat Deets) feat. JUB...?

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