TGI Fridays launches revamped app to boost loyalty and orders

TGI Fridays put a refreshed mobile app into guests’ hands as it tries to turn loyalty and off-premise ordering into a bigger part of the business. The new app, launched June 22 and available on both the App Store and Google Play, lets customers find a location, place an order and manage rewards through Fridays Rewards, with pickup, curbside pickup, takeout and delivery all built in.

The move is part of the chain’s broader 1-2-3 Strategic Vision, unveiled January 12, 2026, which aims to grow the roughly 400-unit brand to more than 1,000 restaurants and $2 billion in annual revenue by 2030. The plan rests on four pillars: activating the brand, growing across markets, improving the franchised business and strengthening operations and experience. In practical terms, that means the app is not just a marketing tool. It is now one of the company’s growth levers, alongside broader efforts to pull guests back into the brand’s orbit through digital ordering and rewards.

For restaurant workers, that shift changes the shape of a shift. Fewer phone calls can make life easier for hosts and bartenders handling front-door traffic, and better digital coordination can help with curbside and delivery handoffs. But app orders also create new pressure points on the expo line and in the kitchen when digital tickets land at the same time as a dining room rush, forcing managers to balance dine-in pacing against off-premise timing and promo-driven demand.

The stakes are higher because TGI Fridays is still working through a severe contraction. The company filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on November 2, 2024, saying it operated 39 domestic restaurants at the time. Later reporting put the chain at 133 U.S. restaurants after 30 more closures, and other reports said it had fallen to 129 domestic units at one point. That kind of shrinkage means the people left in the system often have to learn new technology quickly, adjust prep and labor around digital demand and keep closer watch on offers that can land directly on a guest’s phone.

The app rollout also added SMS capability alongside email and in-app push notifications, giving Fridays a broader way to target repeat business and push offers. CEO Ray Blanchette said the company rebuilt the app to put Fridays “at your fingertips” and described technology as a way to drive traffic, increase sales and deepen guest engagement. For the floor, the question is whether the digital push makes service smoother or simply shifts more labor onto already stretched teams.