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FeedJun 28, 201201:33 PM
Lost Memphis? — T.G.I. Fridays
Image courtesy Key Magazine
I put a question mark after the "Lost Memphis" in this title here because even though Friday's — at one time the centerpiece of Overton Square — is long gone, I hope the nice-looking old building itself will not be lost to the wrecking ball.
I won't waste your time here by reminding readers about the impact of Overton Square on our city. I just wanted to share this cool illustration/ad that ran way back in a 1972 issue of Key Magazine. I know I'm feeling (and showing) my age here, but it's really hard to believe that this was 40 years ago. Four decades!
I like the sorta-homey enticements of this advertisement. Friday's offered anything and everything: It featured "atmosphere, people, dinner, drink, and good music." It was a gathering place for "our friends and yours." In a bad mood? Then come here and you'll find "cheery crowds every day." What's more, Friday's promised to "make you feel more welcome than anywhere in town."
Well, I'm not so sure about that. Why, some nights I wandered in there, and even with my cape and swordcane clearly revealing that I was a Lauderdale, I wasn't made to feel very welcome because the wait staff was just too swamped dealing with other customers. On more than one occasion I wandered across the street and hobnobbed with the regular patrons of Yosemite Sam's.
Finally, remember all the amazing clutter — old British street signs and stained-glass windows and battered musical instruments and other junk — that gave Friday's its interesting decor? I like the way the ad explains the concept behind that: "It's a view of Manhattan from the inside." Wait. What? That makes no sense to me at all.
Even so, I really do miss the place, and hope that Loeb Properties and the others involved in this project can bring back even a little of the magic that once made the intersection of Madison and Cooper so special.
Ask Vance is the blog of Vance Lauderdale, the award-winning columnist of Memphis magazine and MBQ: Inside Memphis Business. Vance is the author of two books: Ask Vance: The Best Questions and Answers from Memphis Magazine's History and Trivia Expert (2003), as well as Ask Vance: More Questions and Answers from Memphis Magazine's History Expert (2011). He is also the recipient of quite a few nice awards, the creator of several eye-catching wall calendars, and the only person we know with a vintage shock-treatment machine in his den. 
When I arrived fresh off the boat in 1987 it was the place to go. Just to make life really strange, a year later a TGI Friday's opened in my home city of Manchester, England. Of course I had to check it out on a trip over. Whereas the midtown one had a "Trains to Manchester" sign, and a Manchester street sign (Mosley Street), plus "Boots the chemist", the one in Manchester had a bunch of Americana signs... "Route 66" and license plates etc. Almost like an inverse! Menu and food was the same in the English one though, and no homeless people reaching through the open window trying to swipe your Sunday brunch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaOj7sEkCck
I was a regular when Friday's first opened in Overton Square. It's where I learned to love Tanqueray martinis. Many is the night I hobbled out of there on my knees and fell into the Bombay Bicycle Club for a nightcap. This was called fun in my 20s...
Wow, didn't realize it was gone (I'm in Colorado now) - so many memories there. What was the restaurant right next door ? - perhaps I am confused about TGIFridays and next door restaurant but know I saw Billy Joel in concert a couple of times there in late 70's.
I too spent many nights going back and forth between Friday's and Lafayette's Music Hall next door. I heard Billy Joel play there once.
Thanks for calling my old ad cool. I drew every building in Overton Square and did an ad for each when the Square was new. I still have copies of each one. Remember Julius Cheezer and Little Johns? Swings? The looking Glass? Yeah, it was a fun time. Geneva Stroud