Fridays Flips On Alcohol Delivery For Apps Users

TGI Fridays is going where no restaurant chain has gone before. The fast-casual restaurateur is adding alcohol delivery to its repertoire of skills.

Through a partnership with Lash, a third-party delivery service, the TGI Fridays restaurant chain will be testing alcohol delivery alongside its food delivery in Texas during the holidays. Using the mobile app, of-age customers will be able to select beer, wine and other liquors from the menu and have them delivered to their doors with their meal items. A Lash driver will pick up the requested bottles of alcohol from a local liquor store partner, grab the food order from Fridays and take it all to the customer.

Though the fun, iconic, blue fishbowl is out, there will be some libations to pair with the Fridays fare. In addition, knowing that someone is out there feeling bitterly disappointed by news of the addition of alcohol to Fridays’ takeout menu, the restaurateur is also offering customers an option to purchase the “Everything But the Booze,” box.

The box includes a container which holds a pouch of mixer, drink garnishes, two holiday-themed glasses and a shaker. The company has yet to set the price for the Everything But the Booze package, but has noted customers will be able to purchase the pouch of mixer separately for $5.

Lash drivers will check IDs, ensuring it does not deliver to the already intoxicated or those who are under age.

Fridays has said that since launching its online ordering offerings last summer, it has seen takeout sales jump 30 percent. Delivery is an enticing segment for restaurants, because delivery orders, on average, are worth 7.2 percent more than those made in the restaurant.

If the alcohol delivery test is successful in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas, TGI Fridays said it intends to roll the program out nationwide in 2018.