I'm not surprised TGI Fridays is in trouble I would never eat there again in a month of Sundays

The last time I went to the Hagley Road branch of TGI Fridays I knew it'd be the very last time. Not because I had any clue that it was set to collapse into administration - which it has done today, September 18 - but because I felt like I'd had the worst value for money in this city in forever.

We'd decided to go there on a whim, my two little pals and me. They're nine and 11 and it'd been a split second decision just as the school holidays began.

Even at just 11 years old, the Big One knew that the prices were outrageous and he almost gave himself whiplash when he read the menu. An adult main is upwards of £20 and he'd never seen anything like that before in his life. Funnily enough, they don't put the price on the menu PDF you can download from their website before you go. Very useful.

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We'd got 'bottomless' drinks but service was so slow and inefficient that we couldn't get the empty glasses topped up without waiting ages and trying to spot someone to flag down. Had it been crazy busy, I'd have understood, but there were barely any other customers in the place and it was hard to keep the hungry kids from complaining about the big wait times.

We whiled away the time, mercifully, by playing 'I Spy'. The fun interior, filled with so many objects of interest on every wall and surface, cannot be criticised. It feels like a really cool, trendy American diner and I love the layout.

The look and the food simply wasn't good enough to match the price though. The menu said the children's meals would come with sticks of apple, cucumber and carrot but no such thing ever emerged.

I had an OK 'chicken' and chips and the boys had a hotdog and a burger, both with chips and garlic bread. All of us would have preferred McDonald's.

There was a 'create your own sundae' option on the kids menu so we did that, though neither lad had the toppings they chose because apparently they didn't have the stuff in stock after all. An apologetic bowl of jelly sweets went untouched. We had an adult sized chocolate cake slice to soften the blow, it was fine.

For our three mains, three puds and three pops, the bill came to an eye-watering £52.85. That's with one kids meal free, a deal I got for downloading the app.

For just the three of us, it just felt like a ridiculously high price point. Had there been another adult with me who, god forbid, fancied a pint, we'd have been looking at a bill north of £70. I've eaten in Michelin Star restaurants in this city for less.

That Hagley Road TGI Fridays is in a really good location, with loads of parking and brilliant decor, but I knew, once we finally settled that insane bill, that I'd never go back. It's still open for now, the future is uncertain for the chain that has been around for years.

But one thing is for definite. Should Fridays stay afloat and be brought back from the brink, you wouldn't find me there in a month of Sundays. Next time, we're going for pizza at Rudy's!