Sometimes, dinner is not about spectacle. It is not about foie gras or molecular gastronomy or servers who wear bow ties like they are carrying the weight of the world. Sometimes, dinner is about crossing the street from your hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and landing in a red-and-white booth at Friendly's with your two sons, both of whom are still young enough to find joy in whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. My youngest had the Friendly Frank. A hot dog by any other name, but served with pride and eaten without complaint. It was fine. It filled the boy and that is what food is supposed to do at minimum. My oldest ordered the Clam Strip platter. What he got instead, at first, was a fried shrimp platter. A mistake. But one corrected so quickly and so kindly by our waitress Jackie that it barely registered as an inconvenience. Jackie, by the way, was a star. Friendly in the way Friendly's dreams of being. Personable. Efficient. She moved like someone who knew what they were doing and liked doing it. That is rarer than it should be. As for me, I had the boneless wings with something called "Friendly Sauce." Jackie warned me in advance, said it tasted like Chick-Fil-A sauce. She was right. It was tangy and sweet and tasted like something designed in a lab for mass appeal. The wings themselvs were a bit on the small side, more winglet than wing, but they were cooked well and carried the sauce like proud little vehicles of flavor. Dessert is where Friendly's remembers what it is. I had the peanut butter sundae and it was lovely. A simple thing done right. The kind of dessert that doesn't try too hard but still gets the job done. My sons each had Happy Ending sundaes, which they devoured like cartoon wolves. There were smiles. There was laughter. There was chocolate syrup on the table. Everything made sense for a little while. Four stars. Not because the food was perfect. It wasn't. But because the service was warm, the company was better, and the whole experience felt like a scene from a life well lived. We walked back across the street full and content. read more

Friendly's - Boba Surprise Lemonade - American Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

See all

Visited this Friendly's a few weeks back when on vacation visiting the in-laws. Stopped in to grab some ice cream sundaes for nostalgic purposes since we don't Friendly's in Hawaii. Man, times have changed....but this location looks like it hasn't. Not in at least 20 years. Decor is exactly the same as I remember Friendly's looking (not this exact location) but way dingier, dimmer and hotter (was the ac not working?). We were seated and our waitress was super friendly and nice. Ended up ordering some mini mozzarella sticks, a couple of Reese's Pieces Sundaes and a couple funny face sundaes for my kids. Shortly after ordering we heard a commotion behind us. They weren't necessarily screaming, but there was a lot of excited and raised voices. Then we heard "theres a mouse running over our feet". A few employees rushed over and im not exactly sure what happened. A bunch of parties got up and left. We....figured the worst was over as the commotion died down and we decided to stay. What a mistake that was. The mozzarella sticks were incredible and disappeared quickly from our table. The sundaes we got looked like they had been sitting in the back for a while as they were about 30% melted when we got them. Started eating and i felt like a kid again....until i bit into something hard. Thinking it was just a frozen Reese's Piece i tried to take another bite and nearly broke my tooth. I took it out of my mouth and it was a round object...looked like a seed. (in retrospect it probably was a seed from the maraschino cherry that somehow snuck its way into the sundae). I told our waitress and she brought it to her manager (who was still inspecting the mouse incident). He took one look at it and said "that's not something on our menu" and went about his business. She apologized and when I asked for the bill she had it discounted. I told her i was not paying for a sundae i couldn't eat and she went back to her manager again, who begrudgingly removed it from our bill. He never said anything to me, no apology, nothing, Just handed the bill to our waitress and walked away. She was super kind and apologized a ton for everything that happened. This place should be shut down and condemned. On our way out i warned another couple that had babies with them in the waiting area that a mouse was seen and they wisely chose to leave. read more

Friendly's is a wonderful constant in life - curb your trendy neuvo expectations. It's just a simple feel good menu with great ice cream and friendly service. Don't expect it to be more than it is. It's a great place to visit with a friend. It's a great place to talk. It's a feel good place that everyone can afford. Just go and enjoy it. The world would be a less friendly place without it. read more

The ice cream I ordered was fine but the service was terrible. We pulled up around 945pm to wait and pickup our online order at 10:00pm and when we pulled up the staff would not stop staring at us and proceeded to lock the door on us after we were sitting in our car waiting for our order to be ready. We had to knock on the door to ask for our food when they didn't close for another hour. The lady lied and said they are closing early because of the incoming snow but then let a couple in to eat after us. Very rude and weird people. read more

We had a banana split sundae, the ice cream was really good. I also enjoyed the Beef tips and mash, which was also good. The lady at the front ice cream parlor requires training on 'friendly' customer service, she was not welcoming and pretty rude. That's why the 3 stars. We spoke to the manager and he was very apologetic and worked to undo the damage. We visited around 7pm on 11/11 read more

This place should be shut down by the health department. While dining with my family, a live mouse fell from the ceiling vent and crawled inside of a nearby booth. Guests left immediately and the manager did not seem to care about the rodent at all. Filthy. read more

I haven't been to a Friendly's since about 20 years (or more). The shake was pretty amazing, but kinda wish I'd stopped there. Salad reminded me of that rose from Beauty and the Beast -- wilted and about to drop its last petal. It was completely dead by the time I carted it off in a to-go box. Would not come back for the food but would come back for the shake! read more

See all

I've received the best customer service. The staff is always amazing. Thank you for the awesome food and amazing service

this place is friendly I really like the ice cream and service I always like the food I would recommend this place to everyone because they are so friendly and kind and my sister likes this to her name is Amaya she has the sliver plate and my cousin Ian loves this place some much he can't sit down read more

Waitress was rude to a child with autism, not only that she was busing tables with no gloves. I'm sure if she was not wash her hands before she touched anyone else's food restaurant looks a little dingy. The cooks had no covers over their beards. read more

Jackie was my server and she was excellent provided great customer service and went above and beyond my expectations she went over the menu with me told me all about the new items ext I can't say enough I would definitely come back and would definitely recommend this location to family and friends read more

We got takeout snd we live 30 minutes from restaurant. They were chicken tender salads and mozzarella sticks. The salads were perfect from the packaging to the food! It's been years since we had Friendly's so we weren't sure how our experience would be so THANK YOU! ​ read more

excellent food & service; clean & bright wait staff are warm & friendly! Great value. A great place to go when traveling. read more

It took 15 minutes to get 2 waters. Service was so slow. It was 100 degrees in there. No ac. Nobody said bye thank you have a good day. Absolutely sucked. It was so dirty. read more

SHIRLEY the waitress made it fun - got the order exactly correct - made a fuss over the children - and was FANTASTIC! If I was more financially able, I'd have given her ten times the tip! Please make her a manager read more

Good food ,friendly servers, and prices. Large servings of icecream . Loved the strawberry shake read more

It was so amazing food cooked well fresh and ready to be eaten without a doubt and wait almost forgot the workers were very friendly and polite read more

Fairly mixed bag here. On one hand, this isn't always on front of mind when there are so many other local dining options on the mind of tourists looking for some real local fare. On the other hand, with so many places jacked up with long waits/lines and early closing hours, this ends up being a plan B option for many (including myself). The service was plenty nice and the wait wasn't as horrible as some other chain restaurants dealing with the usual patrons coupled with overflow patrons who don't feel like waiting 2 hours for a smogasboard restaurant. They got us in faster than the wait time they told us. As for the actual food it was fine. Not particularly good or bad and my burger was ok. Not as good as what I've had in other Friendly's but it was fine. The ice cream was reliable as it should be here. My biggest issue is that this place isn't that particularly clean. The tables, floors, bathrooms etc. Everything was just meh on that end. Not a great vibe at all and they really need to do a better job of making the dining areas less gross. Aside from that, the rest of it was just fine. Not a plan A choice for me, but again, since dining is always an adventure around Lancaster as tourists rush for options, this is ok as a plan B or C pick read more

Great service, food was good & timely. Nice friendly environment, an overall great experience. read more

I felt welcomed. Friendly's offers great food, warm service, and a fun atmosphere for all ages!

Britney was an excellent server. Free senior coffee is a big deal. We love to stop here every time we are in Lancaster read more

Haven't been to Friendly's in about 4 years and came back to this one... let me tell you O M G AMAZING!

Always great service been comi.g here since I was a kid with my dad a d always order the same thing!:)

Fast service, good food, friendly staff! Thank you for your prompt friendly service! The smash burger was delicious!

I recently visited Friendly's and had an extremely disappointing experience. The staff was disrespectful and passive-aggressive, which made the entire visit uncomfortable. They were unprofessional and seemed to lack basic knowledge of their own menu. On top of that, they didn't listen to our requests, leading to incorrect orders and a frustrating dining experience. This restaurant seriously needs to improve its customer service and staff training. I won't be returning, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a pleasant meal. The management was incompetent in trying to rectify the situation. After explaining an issue with my order, my server began to get very petty and started talking down on me. Shortly after the issue with our food, the rest of the party began to feel ill- most likely from a health code issue in the kitchen. read more

Would give 0 stars if I could . Who was I think the manager had a bad attitude and annoyed every time people walked in . Wasn't even busy and the wait was forever . We ended up walking out. read more

The ice cream was delicious and made to perfection. It really hit the spot. Service was awesome and quick. Loved the family environment which was very welcoming. Will definitely be going to this establishment again and recommend it to anyone. read more

I haven't been to Friendly's in over ten years. I used to go with my family when I was a kid. The last time I went to one was in Toledo, Ohio. The experience was great. The service was good. The food was delicious. The dessert was the best part. I couldn't have asked for a better return to a childhood haunt. read more

See all

Worst Freindlys in the world dirty help is useless and doesn't even listen to the orders. Screwed up a hot fudge sundae not once but twice and it was with vanilla ice cream Stay away go to carvel up street read more

The manager during the daytime is super friendly no pun intended. I used to work here back in the day and fun to go visit and reminisce. Anyways all the staff are very nice and family friendly atmosphere. read more

On December 14, 2021, the location on Lincoln Hwy East in Lancaster, PA did a great job of letting our group know we weren't welcome. One of the ladies in our group insisted we give the restaurant a try, so I called ahead to see how long they'd be serving breakfast. Eric answered the phone in a "friendly" manner, but had a noticeable change in his tone when I asked my question. He hesitantly responded with 2pm. Despite feeling a little uncertain about his tone, we went to the restaurant. There was a sign on the hostess stand that said, "No longer seating breakfast. Seating lunch at the manager's discretion." A couple that entered before us was seated. Eric walks over to ask us if he can help us - he didn't offer to seat us. I mentioned that I just spoke with him so I was surprised by the sign and asked again about the breakfast hours. He then stated that they stopped serving breakfast at 11am and denied speaking with me on the phone. Meanwhile, there are countless patrons in the restaurant with breakfast on their plates and a server walking out with breakfast on the serving platter. It was 1pm. We were very clear about the underlying issue here, which was very unfortunate. I hope Friendly's doesn't encourage this type of behavior and perhaps puts a call into that store. I definitely understand low staffing and high stress, but Eric was clearly in a mood only to serve select guest. read more

We stayed in airbnb and got there late and we were hungry and ordered hamburgers and ice cream. Great staff and food was delicious.

Would give 0 stars if possible. They are serving spoiled food to their customers. Stopped for late lunch with husband around 2pm on January 5, 2023. I ordered chicken noodle soup, server commented how good their chicken noodle soup is. I ate two spoonfuls- tasted bad. My husband tasted and confirmed - saying chicken was rotting. He got waitress , she apologized and got me a different soup. I didn't ask for a manager and no manager appeared to reassure me the matter was addressed and taken care of properly. I had not been in a Friendly's in years and I will never return. Serving spoiled food to paying customers is unacceptable. read more

We just had supper in the Lancaster Friendly's. To be honest, it's been years since we went to any Friendly's but we were so glad we did! From the first minute, our waitress, Jackie, was so friendly and nice. She explained the new system of paying at the table and answered our menu questions. Our food was just right! Everything was prepared exactly how we asked for it; our whole meal tasted just like we remembered from years ago. What a perfect blast from the past! We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and we hope to come back the next time we are in Lancaster. read more

Staffed appropriately. Staff was attentive and pleasant. Jackie our server was so helpful nice and anticipated our next requests every time. Food was tasty as I expect. Outside needs a little tlc but all in all nice to visit a Friendly's that is still making it happen. read more

We had a party of seven and they did a great job taking care of us. Server was nice and friendly and checked on us often. She was cheerful and friendly. The sundaes at the end was the best! read more

awesome waiter! food was delicious! Mark our server was very nice and helpful with menu suggestions! The restaurant was very clean and smelled good! read more

Nice "friendly place" but was disappointed. The staff weren't allowed to sing "Happy Birthday" because of Covid-19. Other than that the food and drinks were good and the prices were reasonable! read more

Friendly's - Crispy Chicken Salad - American Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Who would ever think a Lobster Roll at Friendlys would be so YUMMY! And the bisque !!!! And Butter Crunch Fribble Wooohooo

OmG food was fresh amazing and ready to be eaten !workers were very polite happy motivated and helpful definitely coming back and very well recommended to come and grub with the friendly friends almost forgot the place was well cleaned and healthy with nice jazz sounds in the background read more