The Popular Restaurant Chain That Holds A Bartending Guinness World Record

It may be hard to believe, but the original TGI Fridays, located in Manhattan's Upper East Side, was once considered one of the hottest, most happening bars in the Big Apple, particularly for the young, energetic, and elite looking for good drinks and a good time. In fact, you might remember the 1988 film, "Cocktail," which was filmed at the OG TGI Fridays. In the movie, Tom Cruise's character, Brian Flanagan, works there, and the bar is swamped with movers and shakers on a nightly basis, mesmerized by the bartender's synchronized cocktail flaring. The truth is, the portrayal of them wasn't entirely fictionalized. In order to work there slinging drinks, you had to be among the best of the best. 

It's no wonder, then, that the chain holds an actual Guinness World Record for bartending. In 2011, the company went down in history as having the most people cocktail flaring at the same time. After a few attempts, 101 Fridays bartenders completed a synchronized, three-minute, drink-making routine in 2011 in London's Covent Garden. What's more, is that they completed this feat on the 25th anniversary of the chain's opening in the United Kingdom, marking the commemoration, arguably, in the best possible way they could — by making drinks.

Today, walking into any given TGI Fridays doesn't necessarily mean you're going to witness anyone throwing a cocktail your way. The chain is far from what it used to be. What started as a hip, hot place for socializing, drinking, and flashy bartending became a fast-growing, family-friendly, casual eatery where you could also go to watch sports. It was also beginning to become a punchline of sorts, as seen in the 1999 comedy hit, "Office Space." Jennifer Aniston's character works at a flamboyant eatery that looks unflinchingly like the TGI Fridays of the film's time period. In a nutshell, she hates working there. 

In 2024, the company filed for bankruptcy and began shutting down several locations, leaving its future uncertain. But no matter what happens to the chain, it will be remembered not only for its cocktail flaring and the place where Tom Cruise learned that a Cuba Libre is basically just lime-hit rum and coke, but for other significant achievements in the cocktail universe as well. 

TGI Fridays claims to have invented the Long Island Iced Tea, introduced the concept of Happy Hour (which is now banned in some states), and created the June Bug cocktail. Its fluorescent, sugar-laden drinks with cutesy names have largely been replaced by a modern preference for house-made syrups, locally made liquor, and even a growing taste for mocktails. But TGI Fridays will always be a world record holder, and will live on in films that both lauded and laughed at it.