TGIFriday's

Normally when I do restaurant reviews they're of a vegan/vegetarian restaurant, or one which is at least veg-friendly.  Neither was the case when I sat down to eat at TGIFriday's (yep, that's right, the chain that features ads with patrons getting loaded after a hard day at work).  I'm not really sure what possessed me to walk through the doors, other than it was cold out, I was delirious from the cold, hungry because I had forgotten to eat lunch, and it was the only restaurant within walking distance of Town Fair Tire where I was getting new tires put on my car and had a couple hours to kill.  Plus, it was Friday.

I'd like to report that a vegan can happily find a decent meal here, but I'd be lying.  I think I scoured the menu three times in a vain attempt to flush out just one entree made without meat, and came up empty handed every time.  I contemplated ordering one of the salads but decided that for $12.99, after removing the chicken and cheese, I'd be left with ingredients that cost only about 35 cents, and I had organic lettuce sitting in my fridge at home.

Instead, I opted for the Fridays Fry Trio:  "an irresistible medley of thick cut Steak Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, and our legendary Crispy Green Bean Fries."  I'm a sucker for fried potatoes, so yeah, I couldn't resist trying this combo.  Plus, I had to find out what was so "legendary" about those green beans.  My server had no qualms about swapping out some guacamole and pico de gallo for the creamy bleu cheese and cucumber wasabi ranch dressings, so I was willing to give it a shot.

The Sweet Potato Fries were decent, but ION still wins in this competition (not that it's a competition).

The Steak Fries were a little less ordinary - more like hefty potato wedges that had been tossed in a significant amount of salt and a few extra shakes of the pepper shaker that were crisp and golden on the outside and creamy smooth on the inside.   I'm not complaining.

And then there's those legendary Crispy Green Bean Fries.  Inside the thick coating of breadcrumbs, you'd never know there was an innocent green bean.  I suppose that's why people like them so much.  I wish I had requested green beans au natural to counteract all the grease.  Alas, this was an appetizer, whose goal it was to make me want to indulge in more greasy goodness from the rest of the menu.  Or  wash it all down with a radioactive Appletini or two.  At least I have 4 new tires and my car doesn't shake any more when I drive it over 25 MPH.