TGI Fridays, the iconic American casual dining bar restaurant chain with over 700 restaurants in 54 countries worldwide is celebrating continued success through partnership with Sam Nazarian’s C3,(Creating Culinary Communities) which has quickly become the fastest-growing food tech platform today. Based on initial success featuring C3’s Krispy Rice brand cooked in digital kitchens at select TGI Fridays kitchens, TGI Fridays is expanding upon the partnership to feature C3’s new digital restaurant brand Stonie Bowls, as well as C3’s popular Kumi and Krispy Rice brands in expanded markets across the country. 

The test phase of the TGI Fridays and C3’s partnership rolled out in the Fall of 2021 for key markets in Orange County and Maryland and with C3’s iconic brand Krispy Rice, which centers on gourmet sushi boxes featuring handrolls, maki cut rolls, nigiri and chef-curated combinations. Sales have been impressive, nearly doubling from the first week and continuing to grow. Based on success, The TGI Fridays leadership team has agreed to expand markets and take on two of C3’s additional brands –  Kumi, C3’s popular Japanese-inspired nori taco and sushi concept and newly launched Stonie Bowls – featuring signature rice, salad and poke bowls in partnership with competitive eater and YouTube personality Matt Stonie. 

The partnership between C3 and TGI Fridays has led to quick success for both parties, providing world class digital culinary brands that can be cooked out of partner digital kitchens. The deal with C3 provides for expanding kitchen utilization capacity and generating up to an additional $1 million per kitchen. 

An early trendsetter of the digital restaurant industry, C3 has more than 40 culinary brands, serving more than 1.3 million meals during the last twelve months. Popular C3 brands include Umami Burger, Sam’s Crispy Chicken, Krispy Rice, Kumi, EllaMia, Cicci di Carne, Cindy Lou’s Cookies, Soom Soom Fresh Mediterranean as well as concepts El Pollo Verde, Plant Nation and Sa’Moto. C3’s omnichannel approach, exemplified with the brand’s new Stonie Bowls is to harness the ordering power of Gen-Z and Millennials. This concept proves an attractive asset for TGI Fridays as the team aims to expand into the post-Covid era of third-party ordering.

Adding to these assets, C3 recently announced the launch of its’ revamped proprietary mobile app Go by Citizens. As an added asset and utilizing a revamped technological platform, C3’s Go by Citizens mobile app provides a digital culinary market experience where consumers can order from the TGI Fridays partner C3 brands in one transaction and with no hidden delivery fees. 

Commenting on the partnership, C3’s Founder and CEO Sam Nazarian said, “As the virtual restaurant industry continues to innovate, we are thrilled to partner with America’s favorite restaurant brand TGI Fridays, complementing our virtual restaurant brands with Fridays popularity and scale to provide for added revenue opportunities. The sky is the limit with our work together and as we plan to expand our partnership across the country.” 

Adding to this sentiment, Ray Blanchette, CEO of TGI Fridays said,  “We look forward to expanding this exciting initiative with Sam and C3.  This partnership allows us to to react to changing consumer interests, provide more menu choices and a fun guest experience at TGI Fridays”.

Rohit Manocha the co-founder of TriArtisan, TGI Fridays parent company commented on the partnership saying, “The partnership between TGI Fridays and C3 is a win for all sides. Through partnership we are driving added revenue streams, while at the same time providing our guests with innovative and diverse experiences and meal options.”

Expanded TGI Fridays + C3 markets include:

  • Union City, CA 

  • Ladera, CA 

  • Porter Ranch, CA 

  • Cerritos, CA 

  • Corona, CA 

  • Riverside, CA 

  • South Gate, CA

  • Iselin/Woodbridge, NY

  • Watchung, NJ

  • Wayne Town Center, NJ

  • Cherry Hill, NJ

  • North Brunswick, NJ

  • Hamilton, NJ

  • Linden, NJ

TGI Fridays currently has over 700 restaurants in 54 countries. C3 currently has over 800 digital brand locations across the U.S with an expansion pipeline to well over 1,000. To date, C3 has hired more than 3,500 employees across the U.S. with plans to hire another 5,000 employees domestically and internationally with offices in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, London, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Chain Restaurants, Industry News, T.G.I. Friday's