With a growing emphasis on craft cocktails and fresh beverage ingredients, TGI Fridays celebrated its 50-year history in the space with its 24th annual World Bartender Championship on Thursday night in Dallas.
Before a cheering crowd of more than a thousand attendees, Stavros Loumis of Larnaca, Cyprus, was named Fridays’ “Greatest Bartender in the World,” culminating the yearlong competition among hundreds of the Carrollton, Texas-based casual-dining brand’s mixologists.
Matt Durbin, TGI Fridays’ vice president of brand strategy and menu innovation, said during a rare break in the competition among 10 bartender finalists at Dallas’ House of Blues that the bar has been important to the brand since its founding in 1965 in New York City.
“Fridays has been doing the World Bartender Championship for 24 years because it’s what makes Fridays Fridays,” Durbin said. “Fridays is all about the bar. We helped popularize the happy hour, so the championship celebrates the best bars and bartenders.”
Fridays, which has more than 8,000 bartenders at its more than 900 restaurants in 60 countries, conducted a yearlong series of local, regional and divisional competitions to reach Thursday’s 10 finalists in Dallas.
Nick Shepherd, Fridays’ president and CEO, said the company turns the competition into a weeklong event for the finalists at its headquarters.
This year’s championship featured bartenders from five nations and also a fan component, where bartenders’ supporters could cast votes on the event’s website. Russell Ward of Sheffield, England, was named TGI Fridays’ Fan Favorite.
In addition to Loumis and Ward, other bartender finalists included: Alexander Barrenechea of Lima, Peru; Ben Becker of Columbia, Md.; Bryan Bonifacio of Makati City, Philippines; Jessica Myers of Vestal, N.Y.; Ram Ong of Hackensack, N.J.; Alejandro Silva of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; Fernando Soto of Lombard, Ill.; and Rae Ellen Williams of Port Orange, Fla.
Durbin said Fridays has made the competition harder every year.
“It’s really raised the bar for bartenders across the brand,” he said. “Fridays has always had great bartenders and a focus on the bar. We have put the bar back at the center in the new prototype. The bartenders are really showcased.”
Attendees also sampled a new Top Shelf Spicy Margarita, which is among the signature drinks the brand will introduce this spring.
Also at Thursday night’s event, Ricky Richardson, president and chief operating officer of TGI Fridays USA, presented a $200,000 check to Feeding America, a hunger-relief charity that helps fund food banks around the nation. The money was raised through local Fridays events and raffles.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless