TGI Friday’s Aberdeen: Look back at seafront venue as future at risk after 24 years

It was back in March 2000 that the Evening Express announced the TGI Friday’s takeover of the former Daytona Exchange down at Aberdeen Beach.

The chain, which started in New York in 1965, expanded the seaside venue as it aimed to make a splash in an oil-rich Granite City awash with disposable income.

Its arrival came just three years after the Queens Link Leisure Park opened in the late 1990s, and there was a buzz about new venues like TGI’s and Frankie and Benny’s.

In that first summer of 2000, our reviewer popped along to the The US-themed diner and was wowed by the huge American-style burgers and New York Strip steak.

Over the next 24 years, TGI Friday’s would become a popular night out destination.

But on Wednesday, September 18, it was announced that it could be the latest casualty at the seaside.

TGI Friday’s has entered administration, with sites all over the UK up for sale.

We’ve had a look through our archive to find 10 pictures taken at the spot over the years:

Do you have fond memories of TGI Friday’s at Aberdeen Beach? Let us know in our comments section below

• Both Aberdeen TGI Friday’s set to close as company collapses