TGI Friday: Great Place Lost in Ramee Mall

Hello Friends,

I actually stumbled upon TGI Fridays restaurant and realized that they have some fabulous interiors, courteous staff and an amazing variety of food to tuck in. Well yes, I have been meaning to check out the Ramee Mall (the one next to Hyatt) on Teynampet (Chennai) because it really looked nice from outside. But when I went in recently I was shocked to see the deserted look it wore, apparently its anchor store: Shoppers Stop was closed down a while back. So all action has come to a grinding halt and there are just a few small shops without any idea what to do. No one has proper information whether the mall will be revived or will get closed down completely.

Deserted Ramee Mall

Few leftover shops

Just when I was about to make a U-turn something red caught my eye and looked up to realize it was the TGI Fridays (American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining) restaurant buzzing with activity. It was such a contrast, as one hand there was a ramshackled Ramee but on the other hand a terrific TGI Fridays signboard was inviting me to step in. So I did…

Entrance view

Srikanth Reddy (Restaurant Manager, TGI Fridays) was so polite and took me around the place and spoke at length about their history, offers, food and themed TGI Fridays restaurants across India. For those of you who do not know like me, I gathered that TGIF is a global chain with history dating back to 1960s (damn good, right??!). And we never realized that a much sought after American joint was right under our noses.

Wall decoration

They have plush interiors ideal for groups, twosomes or even if you want to nurse a drink by yourself. It affords that kind of flexibility as the bar stool kind of set up with huge TV screens is indeed the place you would want to be during a cricket match. It has a nice big place feel to it and I heard that they spend great time and effort in styling their restaurants based on different themes.