New York-born bar and grill, TGI Fridays, is celebrating the launch of its eleventh restaurant in Australia with TGI Fridays Green Hills which opened mid-April 2018. Located within the high growth area of East Maitland, New South Wales, the TGI Fridays restaurant will reveal a brand-new look and world-first concept by renowned Spanish design firm, LIVIT, to modernise the customer experience while retaining the brand’s most popular elements and heritage.
Founder of the iconic ‘happy hour’, TGI Fridays is famous around the globe for its unique dining and bar-side experience. In creating a new design concept, the brand aims to increase its awareness as a premium yet casual dining offering. Notable features of the new design that will be evident at Green Hills include: an American-style counter bar framed by natural stone, warm timber and exposed brick; indoor plants and foliage installations; and an open kitchen showcasing chef operation in its entirety, to create atmosphere and make guests feel a part of the action.
To ensure the ‘heart’ of TGI Fridays remains at Green Hills, elements from the existing Fridays model that will be featured include: A mix of comfortable, well-appointed and understated furniture to suit different spaces within the restaurant; Fridays’ signature round-booth seating with detailed stitching, premium leather and rustic weaves matched with genuine timber table tops; a spacious alfresco area; and contemporary New York-inspired artwork adorning the walls.
TGI Fridays Green Hills will also be the first Australian restaurant to launch a refreshed menu – a new take on the current Fridays food offering. Crafted by the brand’s International Chef, Kevin Miller, a renowned culinary professional born and bred in New York, the menu will include more share plates and trend-led dishes, a focus on using quality local produce, and meals that are prepared fresh from scratch and cooked to order. New cocktails on the TGI Fridays menu include a not-for-the-faint-hearted ‘Corpse Reviver’ – a smooth blend of gin, grand marnier, Cocchi Americano and fresh lemon, spritzed with absinthe – and the ‘Burnt Orange Manhattan’, which is a sweet twist on a classic, with flamed orange for a burnt citrus aroma.
CEO of the Signature Group, which acquired TGI Fridays Asia Pacific in August 2017, James Sinclair, explains the Green Hills restaurant is a milestone for the global restaurant chain, which has restaurants in over 60 countries.
“We are proud to launch this new design, which incorporates TGI Fridays’ New York heritage with an elevated contemporary offering to Australia. We believe the new restaurant will be very well received with its fresh service style and updated menu, creating a premium yet casual dining experience. It’s been a great feat and exciting project for our local team to bring the TGI Fridays Green Hill’s restaurant to life, and of course lead the way in this global initiative for such an iconic brand,” says Sinclair.
“Using the best quality local produce, we have been able to create a new menu that reflects current food trends with an affordable price point, evolving our offer to a higher quality dining experience in a more modern environment.”
Sinclair successfully convinced TGI Fridays’ global parent company that Australia was the right market to build the first of the brand’s new concept bar and restaurant. The opening of TGI Fridays Green Hills will be Signature Group’s first major move for the TGI Fridays business since its acquisition. Once the Green Hills restaurant is open, Sinclair will commence plans for the rollout of the new TGI Fridays design nationally, and increasing the number of restaurants in this market.
TGI Fridays Asia Pacific now has 11 locations throughout Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. To find your nearest TGI Fridays, visit www.tgifridays.com.au. For more information on Green Hills, visit www.tgifridays.com.au/offers/.