New TGI Fridays Restaurant Concept Targets 20-Somethings With Brunch, Trivia, And A Juice Bar

Just weeks after TGI Fridays appointed a new president and CEO in Robert Palleschi, formerly a hotel executive for Hilton, the restaurant chain is prepping a "reimaged" restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The restaurant, which opens Monday evening, March 7, will offer later hours, multiple bar areas, mobile reservation options, and a coffee shop-inspired area called Fridays Offsite. The restaurant is located in an area where, according to TGI Fridays, Millennial customers make up a sizable portion of the guests.

The 10,000 square-foot restaurant aims to reinvent "Fridays as a social place to be," TGI Fridays USA president Ricky Richardson told Nation's Restaurant News. "It's going after occasions that are truly social at heart." Among the interior design choices made to facilitate a particularly Millennial crowd are communal tables with "great WiFi" that can be reserved for afternoon meetings. "We also have brought in a full coffee program for fresh-ground espressos, cappuccinos and lattes," Richardson said.

Live music, trivia, and something called "Drop the Mike" nights have been added to the restaurant's late-night repertoire. Fridays also has its sights set on the Millennial generation's most beloved meal — weekend brunch. To that end, the restaurant has added a juice bar and items like chicken and waffles, steak and eggs, and "Bears and Berries Waffles," a waffle dish that appears to include Teddy Grahams.

 If the restaurant proves popular with Corpus Christi's 20-somethings, Fridays will likely expand the concept to more Millennial-heavy regions. "It's an ongoing innovation," noted Palleschi. "I like to say it's a re-invention and, to a certain degree, a repositioning."