From stews to soccer moms

I've only experienced T.G.I. Friday's as the scene of many suburban going-away/post-game/birthday dinners that never seemed to include less than 10 people, one of whom always got their meal 20 minutes before everyone else. Far cry from its original incarnation:

"'Alan had the idea that a great way to meet stewardesses would be to open up a saloon where all the stewardesses lived. All those fancy apartment buildings on Sutton Place in the '60s were 'stew zoos' -- like 10 girls in an apartment..."It was the first kind of bar where it was acceptable for women to go out by themselves -- it sort of turned the mores around' explains restaurateur Ben Benson, who partnered with Stillman on a slew of Friday's spinoffs."

NYP: Cheeky Friday's via Diner's Journal