I've been having this ongoing craving all day for a Friendly's grilled cheese sandwich and fries.
Of course, there isn't a Friendly's in Colorado. I'd be surprised if there are even 2 of them left in New England, where they originated. Friendly's really was the food of my childhood, all served up on red-edged stoneware plates, with a promise of ice cream after. I can get a grilled cheese on white bread and fries at a generic diner anywhere, but it won't be like Friendly's. The bread won't be quite as perfectly square, the cheese will melt all funny, and there won't be that ridged dill pickle slice at the side. The fries won't be as perfectly crinkly. The ketchup will taste different. And I won't be able to have a butterscotch ice cream sundae at that same place for dessert.
Oh...let's admit it. My tastebuds have probably grown too sophisticated for a Friendly's grilled cheese. So I think I'll go for a Chedd's grilled cheese in the upcoming future. I don't like that I'm paying upwards of $8 for a cheese sandwich (usually the cheapest thing on any menu, no?). Also, I'm not the biggest fan of the calories. Heck though, I have to have a modified diet on Sunday to prepare for a medical test on Monday. Modified diet = no fiber, seeds, or anything remotely chewy or granola-crunchy healthy. So, Chedd's grilled cheese on Sunday am, here I come. And maybe I'll go by Good Times later in the day to have a butterscotch or caramel sundae. Without nuts.
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3 comments:
I used to go to Friendly's ever Sunday with some friends from my church youth group in CT. I was back east in VA a few years back for business and subjected my Western co-workers to Friendly's in a fit of nostalgia. It was terrible.
The farthest west they get is Ohio - there was one in the town I went to college in my freshman year - it's probably for the best.
On the topic of east coast ice creameries, I was in a Ben & Jerry's today over by DU because a co-worker had a sudden ice cream craving while attending the Rocky Mountain IPv6 Summit (nothing spurs the need for ice cream like the quiet desperation of someone coming to terms with what a mess the transition to v6 will be) and my co-worker (a fellow ECMF) made me do my imitation of Tom Carvel doing a Fudgie the Whale commercial.
Fudgie the Whale gave me nightmares when I was a child! It wasn't because of Tom Carvel's voice, I think, it was because of that weird expression that was Fudgie's smile. Almost like, "Yeah, I'm creepy, but soon I'll be at your birthday party for dessert!"
You can get regular Carvel cakes at the Safeways out here, but I've never seen a Fudgie the Whale cake outside of a Carvel shop. So I can't see firsthand if Fudgie's face still gives me the creeps.
And re Friendly's: yeah, I'll prefer to leave it to nostalgia. My uncle ate at the one near his house in Maryland and it has slid pretty far downhill.
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