FRIENDLY'S

"And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:" (Luke 10:8)

Yesterday, it was announced that Friendly Ice Cream is declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Around sixty Friendly's restaurants were closed; about half of them were in Massachusetts. Readers outside the northeast and especially outside New England will likely not understand what a huge icon and institution Friendly's was. (Well, it technically still IS; for now a number of restaurants are still open.)

Along with most New Englanders, Friendly's has occupied a place in my life. On a note of trivia, Friendly's was NOT always known as Friendly's. Up until the early 1980s, the correct label was Friendly with no "s" and no apostrophe. The business is "Friendly Ice Cream" as the huge landscape sign on the MASSPIKE in western Massachusetts proclaims! Now, everybody CALLED it "Friendly's" so the company acquiesced and changed the moniker on the restaurants to "Friendly's".

The first Friendly restaurant I remember was that on Route 1 in Dedham at Dedham Plaza. Some rich relatives of my mother's took us there a few times for ice cream. The NEXT Friendly's I remember was on Nahatan Street in Norwood. THAT store was Friendly Ice Cream's 50th and a sign reading "Our 50th Store" was proudly displayed on the exterior of the building. In fact, Friendly Ice Cream began in Holoyoke, Massachusetts in western Mass. in 1935. The "company headquarters" is on Route 20 in Wilbraham, MA on the Springfield, MA line. Eventually, there was a "Canton Friendly's" although TECHNICALLY it was just over the line at Cobb's Corner on Route 27 in Stoughton. When I was around twelve, my mother would often take us to Brockton's Westgate Mall on Saturday afternoons. There was a Friendly Ice Cream INSIDE the mall and we ALWAYS stopped there for ice cream cones!

When Mary Ann and I were first married, we lived just down the street from Friendly's on Route 1 in Norwood near the Walpole line. I was off on Mondays in those days. Almost every Monday morning when Jon was a baby, I can remember us going there for breakfast. You could have a nice breakfast of eggs, French toast, and bacon or sausages, plus coffee for just $2.22 apiece. Those were delicious breakfasts! Yesterday Doug Meehan on BostonTalks 96.9 was talking about how quality at Friendly's has declined over the past few years, and Jim and Margery in the morning picked that theme up today. Doug particularly highlighted the recent weird items added to the menu like a hamburger with macaroni and cheese on it. I knew what he was talking about. The last time I ate a meal at a Friendly's which was just a few weeks ago, the menu was advertising all these WEIRD items on the menu. I was not interested and had to "dig" to find a normal hamburger meal.

Doug and several callers also talked about how poor the service has become at Friendly's. Some callers said they'd gone into a Friendly's to order takeout ice cream and had gotten so fed up with waiting that they just WALKED OUT. Honestly, I came close to that a couple of weeks ago. I LOVE their "thick milkshakes" (NOT to be confused with the Fribble). Now, the Fribble is some pre-made think loaded with preservatives that they pour out of a carton. A thick milkshake is made with several scoops of ice cream and some milk and syrup. They are very good! (And, although they are no longer advertised on the menu, at most Friendly's they'll STILL make you an old fashioned ice cream soda if you want one.) I had to wait and wait at Friendly's at Temple Street and Route 9 to finally have my order taken and get the thick milkshake.

The number of Friendly's locations actually HAS been declining for awhile. When I moved to Framingham in 1987, we had three Friendly's restaurants in town. It's now down to just that one at Temple Street, next to Stop & Shop. Many Friendly's have very sparse crowds and mostly senior citizens, but that one in Framingham is very busy at supper time with a lot of young families eating there.

I read the list of the stores in Massachusetts that closed. It was sad to see that Dedham Plaza, the first Friendly's I'd ever gone to with rich "Helen and Duke" had been closed, as had the one in Foxboro where I've eaten several times. I am glad the Friendly's in Webster which is just a half mile from where I live is still open and that the one in Framingham survived the chopping block.

A few years ago when I was in Pennsylvania I noticed there were Friendly's restaurants all over the place; for some reason the chain seemed to be more popular there than in Massachusetts. In fact, on an episode of "The Office" set in Scranton, PA, Jim takes Pam out to Friendly's.

Yeah, their service has slipped and the "latest" choices on the menu are absurd. But, I hope this will be a positive wake-up call for Friendly's. I'd like to see them improve as a chain and "come back". I know my daughter Rachel would like to get some Friendly's souvenirs if the chain totally closes. I'm tempted to tell you about the time she ate pistachio ice cream at Friendly's at Natick Mall (thinking it was mint chocolate chip) but I don't want her to stop speaking to me, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Ahh, Friendly's... I used to kid around and call you "Enemy's"! I loved your ice cream pies! (Do you still make 'em?) Please don't totally die!