Friendly's

Worst burger and fries I've ever had. Loaded waffle fries had the most disgusting cheese wiz I've ever had. Burger wasn't any better only ate 1/4 of it. Went home and about an hour later threw up than spent rest of the night on the bowl. Horrible.

Bad bad bad. 45 minutes and never even got our drinks. We walked out after pointing this out to manager. Will not return here. District manager very helpful and allowed us to voice concerns

'I'm gettin' back in shape, been walkin' once a week!'
Would you expect anything less from such a new Friendly's? This, at least for the time being, is the place to be in the 'hood, so get there soon and return often. During my 2:30pm Friday trip, I discovered a jam-packed lot and a line out the door, like Shake Shack was in town dishing out goods indefinitely. Local foodies converged on the semi-fast food & ice cream chain like vultures on a carcass, lauding the signature exterior design & tacky interior (lack of) decor. To this new establishment's credit, there is plentiful parking; only in Shirley will you find people double-parked rather than walking a few extra feet. I gotta give it to them, the awkwardly communal al fresco bench area is pretty sweet for enjoying some cold treats with friends, though only in Shirley would all of them have McD's and not the offerings of the property on which they consumed it. Kudos to the management for keeping the place in tip-top shape for the few weeks it's been open, even if the Grand Opening sign was lapping in the wind and the string whipping takeous customers. The carryout window, however, is an ill-planned hybrid of warm-weather-only takeout combined with hobbit-esque windows. This far from facilitates effective communication with the Friendly enough staff, many of whom still haven't really been sufficiently trained, but I'd honestly be upset if they had been. I strolled up to the carryout cove with a BOGO 3-scoop sundae coupon ($5.20 total), whipped around in a veritable vortex of wind and expletives from the always-charming locals. The awe-struck masses helped me bear the 15-minute wait for my admittedly intricate sundae and the mothership's tried-and-true classic creation. The former, maple syrup/maple walnut/butter crunch topped with chips ahoy chunks aka frozen choc chips & vanilla pound cake pieces, was alright, at best; certainly not what I hoped for. The latter, black rasp/vienna mocha chunk/nuts over caramel with oreos & hot fudge, pleased on all subtle cylinders in its satisfying way.
Aside from the borderline atrocious wait for ice cream and the folks who ordered 10 minutes after me leaving before I did, a pretty endearing experience in a multitude of inoffensive ways. For now, they're handling the hysteria fairly well, so here's to hoping it doesn't downward spiral to what I showed up expecting. Stop in for some solid social commentary, not-as-big-as-they-used-to-be sundaes, and a real scene. I'm genuinely shocked it took Friendly's so long to get here...in areas like the Mastics/Shirley where the first places to be erected are usually precisely the last things residents need.