The Bob Cobb Quest: TGI Fridays

After a packed night of preparing for our pizza class, my cousin Bobby and I sat down for a bite to eat at TGI Friday’s in Stuyvesant Plaza. We wanted somewhere we could sit down and talk for a little while.

We started at the bar and ordered Chipotle Pineapple Margaritas (Avión Silver Tequila, triple sec, fresh muddled pineapple, chipotle, pineapple juice, fresh lime and a sweet & spicy salt rim) while we waited for a table.

Before we were served, our table was ready, which was sweet!

Looking over the menu, we agreed that we needed to try the Bacon Mac & Cheese Bites (Crispy bites with three varieties of cheddar and served with craft beer-cheese dipping sauce) from the “Taste & Share” menu.

The picture in the menu looked pretty good.

Ours came out within 10 minutes of ordering.

The bites were served atop the dipping sauce, which was really nothing special, just cheesy. Each croquette was sufficiently cheesy, and although the amount of bacon on the dish was fairly low, the bites had strong and overwhelming bacon flavor. It was a fun snack. At $6.49, it was priced appropriately; most things on the “Taste & Share” menu were smaller and priced lower than normal appetizers.

Seeing that they had a Cobb Salad on the menu, I had to try that. I am on a quest, you know. Otherwise, it would have been Jack Daniels Ribs and Shrimp all the way.

TGI Friday’s rendition of the salad is advertised as “Balsamic-marinated chicken breast fire-grilled and drizzled with balsamic glaze. Served over chopped romaine with sliced avocado, grape tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, applewood-smoked bacon and crumbled bleu cheese and choice of dressing – $8.99”. The only thing missing from their version (according to the EAT COBB acronym) was onion.

It was a decently sized portion for the price. The greens came undressed with my choice of dressing (honey mustard) on the side; they gave me way too much honey mustard for the size of the salad, but so what? The chicken was freshly grilled, and had a good marinade on it. It was meyered with what they call balsamic glaze, but which I thought tasted exactly like their Jack Daniels dipping sauce. The egg was perfectly cooked, but was clearly previously packaged.

All-in-all, the salad isn’t a terrible value, and is fairly respectable as a Cobb salad. I’d say 3 out of 5 on the Bob Cobb Brown Derby scale.