Blaw-Knox towers and Nashville

[Roger Kirk]

On 3/17/2011 10:17 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> Friendly's has been through a*lot*  of issues in the past couple of
> decades, including a couple of failed buyouts.  With management's
> attention elsewhere, the quality of the food and the service at the
> restaurants suffered, and every time I go there, I'm promising when I
> leave that I won't go back.
If Friendly's store manager compensation plan still exists as it did 
back when I looked into
managing a Friendly's, the reason for poor service is still the same.

In general, Friendly's owned the building and the store paid corporate 
rent.  Virtually all food
and supplies had to be purchased from Friendly's commissary, not 
locally.  After rent, utilities,
food costs and employee salaries, whatever was left over, was the 
manager's salary.  The
temptation to minimize staffing was always present. So, in many stores, 
I would see the
manager taking orders, cooking food and delivering it to tables.  I have 
observed, on more
than one occasion, a waitress take an order, toss it on the grill, drop 
the fries and go wait
on another booth.  Meanwhile another waitress or the manager would take 
an order, toss
it on the grill and if the already cooking food or fries looked done, 
they'd plate and serve
it.  Otherwise, they'd leave it cooking and eventually, somebody else 
would serve it.  Food
quality (over/under done) was a total crapshoot and service could easily 
come to a standstill,
if every booth was occupied.

In the warmer months, they had to wait on the takeout window, too.