Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the TGI Friday's Steak Frites:
I ordered medium rare, and I got medium rare:
I have been to one too many steak houses -- some of them labeled $$$$ on OpenTable -- where I have had to send back my steak due to over or under done-ness. The cooks at Friday's got this right the first time, and despite having to gnaw through a little extra Choice gristle, this was probably the best $15 steak entree I've had in any restaurant
Let's take a peek at what a few others ordered.
Pepper-crusted pork chop with mashed potatoes and beer-battered onion rings. Onion rings? They eventually showed up on a side plate.
Bruschetta chicken pasta. Presentation is not a priority at Friday's, but you don't come to Friday's for meticulously manicured platings, do you?
A relatively new California law mandates that large-scale chain restaurants post caloric values on the menus. Not sure if this will help curb America's waste-line creep, but it was rather entertaining to see these 4-digit numbers in plain sight. For the record, my steak frites had 800 calories total for the steak, the sweet potato fries, and the sauce. As 800 is a just a little over average for my lunches, the caloric label was useful in selecting an entree.
You know you're at Fridays when you sit down and are greeted by four different menus.TGI Fridays
6721 La Tijera Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
This particular one is actually owned by Magic Johnson. The restaurant has several of his jerseys on display.
i like the new law bc it really helps put perspective on what you're eating. they have it at CPK too. 1000 for a plate of pasta!
ReplyDeletesteak looks good. 800 cal aint bad.
Yep steak wasn't bad -- no complaints here. Most entrees were within the 700-1200 calorie range, with some hitting the 2,000 mark (baby back ribs, which someone ordered and finished).
ReplyDeleteI have to give credit to Friday's for breaking down the calories for many of the dishes. For my steak, the menu showed the calorie count for the meat, fries, and sauce; many other dishes showed counts for each of the "components" as well. That makes it easy for someone to skip or halve a particular item/side-dish to cut back on total calories.
Hmmm I wonder how many calories are in CPK's apple crisp with Haagen Dazs? I would always order that when at CPK :).
He he I just found out online -- 1236 with the ice cream. So worth it!
ReplyDeleteomg, 1236 for dessert?!! no thanks.. i'd rather spend that on noodles or rice.
ReplyDeleteI would never EAT if I counted calories, but I know it's a good thing for restaurants to share the info.
ReplyDeleteAnd those frites look fantastic! Bring on the flair!
1400 calories in 1 entree... holy cow. I'm gonna go eat at Chili's just to take pix of the caloric disclousre. And I think MyLastBite's gonna be my date for the 2 for $20 deal.
ReplyDeleteI hope the calorie listings never make it to small chains and singletons like BreadBar, Riva, Father's Office, etc. Otherwise that'll really ruin the culinary experience.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe you ate at a chain restaurant and blogged about it. :-0
ReplyDeleteAh but this posting continues to get the most hits. 'nuff said.
ReplyDelete