TGI Fridays - Birmingham NEC

Reviews

• CB

  Craig Bull

  Jul 4, 2026
  5.0
  Amazing location. Food as always was brilliant. Got 20% off with the app. Service was good. But I’ve taken a star off because it was really slow getting to pay. I asked someone who never came back. Eventually got someone else 10 mins later. Was never offered deserts either. But the staff were all really friendly.
• EE

  Ellie

  Jun 27, 2026
  5.0
  On what must’ve been short staff on a Saturday , the service was outstanding( hope this is recognised as our server was fantastic ) ! Food was lovely , drinks prompt and service amazing from Carl! Thank you so much for a lovely afternoon & working so hard in difficult situations
• EL

  Eleftheria Louca

  Jun 27, 2026
  1.0
  Awful service, no personality and waited ages - walked out before even being asked for our order. We arrived at 3pm on a Saturday and asked for a table for me, my husband and 2 small children. We asked for space for the pram and a high chair. There was a short 5 minute wait and then we were seated. The seating area the hostess chose for us was up some stairs and when I asked for help or if there was a ramp she just said no sorry. I had to then get the high chair myself and the hostess didn’t explain who our server would be or give any greeting. After 20-30 minutes nobody had come by or asked for our order and so we left. I had gotten up to ask in this time and nobody knew anything. When I saw the hostess on the way out and said I was unhappy she said “ok sorry”. My kids were hungry and we were really disappointed. Would not recommend!
• TQ

  Tina Quaid

  Jun 14, 2026
  1.0
  The atmosphere wasn’t bad, and if it were run properly, it could be an awesome place. Unfortunately, the food was awful and the service was even worse. We waited so long for dessert that our sons eventually said, “Forget it,” which is a phrase we never thought we’d hear from them. We asked four different members of staff about it and kept being told, “You have to wait for your server.” We also asked our server for a sauce that never arrived. Eventually, we wanted to know whether the kids’ desserts were ever going to show up, so we requested the bill. That was almost as difficult as getting the desserts! We went through the same process again. In the end, we decided to pretend we were going to walk out without paying. We stood around near the front door, and when that didn’t work, I stayed behind while my husband and kids waited outside. Finally, our server appeared. Thank goodness—we were able to pay and escape. This place has potential, but based on our experience, the food and service need significant improvement.
• JB

  Joe Browes

  Jun 1, 2026
  1.0
  It had been almost ten years since my last visit to the NEC TGIF. It lives in memory as one of the worst meals I have ever had. When I heard that we had a reservation there this week, you can imagine my horror. But I’ve heard the new owner say he’s going to fix things, so I figured let’s give them a chance. On the basis of this ‘meal’, he has just a bit more to do. A couple of us arrived early, and were invited to have a drink at the bar while our table was prepared. A drink would have been great, but despite the restaurant being mostly empty, it somehow still took us twenty minutes to get served. When the rest of the party arrived we were seated and our orders were taken reasonably quickly. Unfortunately the logical corollary to taking orders is that they then need to be prepared and fulfilled. Drinks arrived one or two at a time, and eventually everyone had been served. Food was another matter. Over an hour after being seated, we were still waiting. There was one apology when we hit the eighty minute mark, along with a cursory assurance that we were getting close. When the food finally arrived, it became clear that wait had been the fun part compared to the grim reality we now faced. The waiter had informed us that they were out of both steaks and ribs, so several people had resorted to salads. They were cheerily told as their plates were set down ‘we have run out of prawns so your prawn salad doesn’t have any prawns, and we’ve run out of chicken so your chicken salad doesn’t have any chicken. We could give you something else…but we’ve literally run out of everything.’ Maybe have that discussion straight after putting the orders into the kitchen, instead of ninety minutes later when you are delivering the food? My Cobb Salad came almost as ordered, but the kitchen was also apparently out of salad dressing. My chicken wings were ok, a solid 6/10, but had clearly been kept warm in the kitchen for a long time. The ‘best’ dish we received was the Chef’s Vegetables, which was literally some tomatoes and courgette and peppers chopped up and dumped on a plate. It looked like something a hurried mum would serve a child as a healthy snack before rushing them off to football practice. So much for the food. The good news is that TGIF is very consistent, in that the service was just as poor as the food. Requests for drinks were met with bafflement, as if the words were being heard for the very first time. ‘Waa-ter? Diyat Cowk?’ Sometimes the drinks later arrived, sometimes not, you just gotta roll the dice and hope for the best, Vegas style. One of us was missing a fork, and asked to be given one. The waitress nodded and returned a few moments later. ‘I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I brought you this’ she said proudly, setting down a plate of TWENTY SETS OF CUTLERY. This was the moment that broke us. In summary, a very memorable dining experience, 1/10 for food, 1/10 for service, 12/10 for unintentional surreal comedy. I’ll be back in 2036 to see how they’re getting on, good luck to all concerned!

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