By the mid-1960s, TGI Friday’s had already built a reputation for being more than a neighborhood bar — it was a scene. Crowds packed in so tightly that police sometimes had to shut down entire streets just to control the flow of people moving between watering holes. The chaos gave founder Alan Stillman plenty to brag about years later, once he saw his own story reflected on screen. As he put it in an interview with Edible Geography, “Have you seen the movie ‘Cocktail?’ Tom Cruise played me!”
By the 1980s, Friday’s had turned bartending into performance art. At the Marina del Rey location in California, staffers began juggling shakers, tossing bottles, and drawing crowds for the show as much as for the drinks. Bartender John Mescall even produced a training tape that helped spread the style throughout the chain, laying the groundwork for international competitions where Friday’s crowned its fastest and flashiest pourers.
Here’s something you never would’ve known of TGI Friday’s: The chain actually began as a pickup spot, long before it became the family-friendly restaurant most people know today. By the time “Cocktail” arrived in theaters, the chain’s theatrics-driven reputation had already made it impossible to ignore — and it was about to become part of movie legend.
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Cocktail helped spark a bartending craze
Tom Cruise showing his tricks as a bartender in a scene from the film ‘Cocktail’, 1988. – Archive Photos/Getty Images
When producers set out to make Cocktail in 1988, they needed Tom Cruise to look convincing as Brian Flanagan, a rookie bartender who eventually grows into a showy star. Cruise took the assignment seriously, interviewing more than 30 bartenders to study their craft and get a feel for the rhythm of the job. His goal wasn’t just to play a guy who could pour drinks — it was to capture what made a bartender magnetic in the first place.
That meant training at TGI Friday’s, where performance bartending was in full swing. Cruise admitted the learning curve was steeper than he expected: During filming, he broke five bottles while rehearsing, losing a bet to co-star Bryan Brown, who only shattered four. In a CBC interview, Cruise explained that Brown’s character had to come across as “the best bartender they’ve ever seen,” setting up his own role as a rookie who grows into a star. The contrast highlighted the expertise difference between mixologists and bartenders — artistry versus entertainment — with Friday’s providing the perfect training ground for the latter.
The movie gave Friday’s a cool boost just as the chain was shifting into its corporate era, with red-and-white stripes and “pieces of flair” becoming pop-culture shorthand — and even the butt of jokes in the 1999 movie “Office Space.” And while some are worried that TGI Friday’s recent closures might mean the end, the brand’s cinematic tie to Cocktail ensures it holds a permanent spot in restaurant lore — even if the crowds aren’t lining up four-deep at the bar anymore.
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