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T.G.I.Friday's Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins
OFFICIAL SNACK REPORT
Sanctioned By WASAW Snack Committee
Reviewed By: Paddy O' Poppycock Location: CVS - Tarrytown, NY OFFICIAL NAME OF SNACK: T.G.I.Friday's Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins PRICE: $1.79 DESCRIPTION OF SNACK: According to the packaging, T.G.I.Friday's Potato Skins are made from
"real potatoes and real potato skins." As for the bacon and cheese, those are just "flavor" and
apparently come from Bacon and Cheese Fairy Dust. Whatever the case, this snack chip looks like a cross
between a wide tongue depressor and a shoe horn. That fairy dust, though, makes the tongue horn
taste quite nice. | Image borrowed from Poore Brothers. |
SSI RATING (SNACK SATISFACTION INDEX - 1-10): 7.2
UPSIDE: I don't quite get the T.G.I.Friday's branding for what
amounts to Tato Skins, but it certainly makes the snack bag stand out. I was in the greeting card
section of CVS when I spotted this bag from behind my back and through six aisles of cold medicine and female
hygenic products. That's right. I felt it staring me down with its X-ray vision, and before
you knew it, it was in my arms. Crafty.
Take it from a guy who greatly enjoys real potato skins heaped
with cheddar cheese and bacon bits. These ain't the same thing. But then, who wants the real
thing when you're in the mood for chips? Or a snack you can munch on throughout the day without
having to worry about cold legume issues.
DOWNSIDE:
They're from T.G.I.Friday's. As I grabbed the bag from the
chips display, I was actually convinced
someone from Friday's was going to walk up and ask me if I'd like a side of ribs or maybe a
Sesame Jack Chicken Strips Platter with my Potato Skins.
1ST 4 INGREDIENTS:
Vegetable Oil
Dehydrated Potatoes (Nurse! Get these potatoes some water - stat!)
Potato Starch
Corn
LAST 4 INGREDIENTS:
Disodium Inosinate
Disodium Guanylate
Malic Acid
Artificial Flavor
PACKAGING:
Unmistakenly T.G.I.Friday's. Right down to the "In here, it's always Friday" tagline. Which confused me a bit. Did they mean "in this bag of potato skins, it's always Friday"? Because if so, life is good as a potato skin with cheddar and bacon "flavoring."
Packaging brings to light one cool stat about Poore Brothers - they are traded on NASDAQ, and their ticker symbol is SNAK. Nice work, my Poore bro's.
DO I RECOMMEND YOU TRY THIS YOURSELF? (YES/NO - EXPLAIN):
Absolutely, yes. Think about it - you get a quality snack at a decent price, without having to set foot in a T.G.I.Friday's and battle against the lure of their multitude of fruity alcoholic beverage concoctions.
THINK APPLEBEE'S IS JEALOUS THAT THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THIS FAKE POTATO-SKIN-IN-A-BAG ANGLE FIRST?
Oh hell, yeah. Fuddruckers, too. And you just know Outback is busy preparing a Bloomin' Onion on the Go snack.
HOW CAN THE PRODUCT BE IMPROVED:
Maybe tone down the Friday's branding from a 10 to a 5. You look at this bag quickly, you think it's got cotton candy inside.
IF YOU TAKE A BAG OF T.G.I.Friday's POTATO SKINS AND WRAP IT AROUND A TALL POLE, DOES THAT MAKE YOU A BARBER?
Yes, absolutely. And during the holidays, these bags double as huge (salty) candy canes.
