TGI Fridays Hopes Hotels Will Help It Grow

The hospitality industry grows and evolves in innovative ways, whether it's through restaurants, hotels, bars, travel, tourism, or other related segments. That's why a new dining approach by TGI Fridays, the well-known casual bar and grill chain famous for its classic potato skin appetizer, is hardly surprising. As part of the company's brand transformation strategy, the idea is to link new TGI Friday restaurants to existing hotels, particularly in travel-driven locations.

The concept is broadening this year with the new opening of a TGI Fridays inside the Hilton Garden Inn in Hollywood, California. The high-traffic location lies in close proximity to iconic tourist destinations. It's within walking distance of the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, TCL Chinese Theatre, and Hollywood Bowl and just a few miles away from Universal Studios Hollywood. TGI Fridays hopes to tap into an existing tourism base while providing value and efficiency for the restaurant, the hotel, and the hospitality industry as a whole.

What makes this Hollywood restaurant stand out in TGI Friday's overhaul plans is that it represents a forward thrust toward utilizing existing space within a hotel. The concept cuts way down on costs for the chain and simultaneously revitalizes an under-performing restaurant venue already located inside the hotel. The goal is to reintroduce hotel guests to the fun TGI Fridays experience while also pulling in local community members for dine-in or take-out food. That's a twist on TGI Friday's earlier hotel liaisons, which took a decidedly different approach.

Though TGI Fridays operates almost 600 "fun casual" restaurant-slash-bar venues in 44 countries, it has struggled domestically in recent years, with double-digit declining sales in 2023 and the announcement of 36 restaurant closures across 12 states in 2024. The restructuring of TGI Fridays toward travel-related dining has taken several approaches prior to opening the new restaurant inside Hollywood's Hilton Garden Inn.

In July of 2023, the company announced an extensive renovation and grand opening of its revamped restaurant inside the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport. Now, almost a year later, it's reportedly set to lead all U.S. airport restaurants in volume sales if its current trajectory holds. Then there are the hotels. Previous TGI Fridays projects tied to hotels included a full-size Fridays venue attached to a Courtyard by Marriott hotel near Chicago Midway International Airport. Though a viable concept, it was still a new-build restaurant with prohibitive costs and accompanying long construction times.

Enter the new-and-improved approach of utilizing underused or under-performing hotel restaurants — such as the brand-new TGI Fridays inside the Hilton Garden Inn Hollywood. Though comparatively not a full-size restaurant, the space still seats 150 diners within 4,000 square feet. It features an outdoor patio, providing plenty of opportunities for pedestrian people-watching in the renowned Southern California tourist destination. TGI Fridays has also introduced a menu refresh, including trendy mocktails and new or renamed food items.