Look familiar? Yeah, “In here, it’s always Friday”

I’m a big fan of Eastern European food, but often find myself suffering from borscht and pelmeni fatigue when traveling in the region. Sometimes you just need deep-fried potato skins stuffed with massive amounts of cheddar cheese and bacon. And really, you can’t celebrate America’s birthday with beet soup and Siberian dumplings, can you? No, you need something that just screams America, like a thick, juicy hamburger and a side of fries. What better place to get a hamburger in Kiev than TGI Friday’s? (No, seriously, do you know of any other places to get a hamburger in Kiev?)

Dining at a TGI Friday’s in Eastern Europe is a surreal experience, similar to visiting the Friday’s of your childhood, before corporate filled the menu with “low-fat/low-carb/right price, right portion” entrees and introduced fancy desserts like Cinnabon cheesecake, or whatever. Much like our American Friday’s, assorted “Americana” junk lines the walls, but the placemats are in Cyrillic and the waitresses speak English with a Ukrainian accent. The red and white striped polo shirts and silly hats of yesteryear remain the standard uniform of Ukrainian Friday’s employees, along with ubiquitous suspenders decked out with a variety of “flair”. My personal favorite “silly hat” was the garrison cap, complete with Soviet insignia, worn by one of the waitresses. If I ever worked at Friday’s, I think I would wear my giant ushanka with the red star.

As for the meal, it was delicious end to a bizarre day touring Chernobyl, and a suitable way to celebrate America’s birthday while 6,000 miles from home. I had the peppercorn burger, fries, and a liter of Ukraine’s Obolon Premium, which I found to be a rather refreshing beer. For dessert we split the Oreo Madness (R.I.P.), which, along with the peppercorn burger, have been eliminated from the menus of Friday’s in the United States. It’s a shame really, Oreo Madness was one of the best desserts on the menu.

The Kiev TGI Friday’s: Where all your favorite menu items go to die.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related posts:

1. Ukraine/Poland ‘07 Roundup Yeah, I’m finally done writing about this trip. Only took me four months. Still, that’s a significant improvement over last year’s trip to the Caucasus, which I didn’t finish writing about until December. I haven’t the slightest idea why it takes me so much time to write about places...
2. Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Monastery of the Caves) I’m accumulating a rather impressive collection of head scarves due to my travels throughout the former Soviet Union. It’s not that I actually collect head scarves, or even wear them, but I always forget to pack one and am thus forced to purchase yet another before heading into an...
3. Lessons from the former Soviet Union: How to park your car in Kiev If you were under the impression that sidewalks existed solely for the use of pedestrians, you would be wrong. At least if you were in Kiev, where it is quite common for drivers to park on sidewalks. With Kiev’s horrendous traffic, you’re also likely to see cars driving down...
4. Kiev: You’ve seen one Rodina Mat, you’ve seen ‘em all One thing the Soviet Union excelled at (besides sending dogs into space, building intercontinental ballistic missiles, and producing awesome holiday cards) was designing some rather impressive war memorials. Due to my interest in the Eastern front of World War II (or, as they say in the former USSR, The...
5. North Korea: I flew 7,000 miles to Pyongyang and all I got was this lousy copy of “Kim Jong-il on the Fundamentals of Revolutionary Party Building” When I returned home from my first trip abroad to Russia in 2002 I arrived at LAX loaded down with a duffel bag full of souvenirs. With my subsequent travels to Russia and other European countries, I began accumulating massive amounts of stuff. Much to the dismay of my...