Friendly's Closes Several Nearby Restaurants

Friendly’s – the iconic restaurant that serves up frozen treats, burgers and more – has abruptly closed several Long Island locations in recent days.

Friendly’s locations in Bay Shore, Wantagh, Farmingdale, North Babylon, West Babylon, Westbury and Patchogue are no longer open for business, J & B Restaurant Partners of NY, the Friendly’s franchisee in New York, said in a statement released Tuesday.

“These closings are regrettable; however the franchisee concluded that continuing operation was no longer viable,” the statement reads. “Guests can still find 18 operating Friendly’s restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk counties.”

Several other Long Island Friendly’s restaurants, including locations in Copiague, Massapequa, Selden, Medford and Hicksville, have shut their doors over the past year.

Friendly’s, based in Wilbraham, Mass., filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. At that time, a corporate executive said that J & B Restaurant Partners would be keeping Long Island Friendly’s locations open with plans to open new restaurants on the island, Newsday reported.

Photo: Google Maps

Sign up for your local Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts here

More on Patch:

• 41 Years Later, Message in a Bottle Discovered at Jones Beach
• 1-2 Inches of Snow Tuesday, Bitter Wind Chills
• Grasing Sentenced in DWI Crash That Killed Brittney Walsh
• Son Charged With Homicide in Death of Wainscott Homeowner, Hedge Fund Founder Thomas Gilbert Sr.
• Massapequa Walmart to Close
• Holiday Lights Shine in Daughter’s Memory
• Search For Missing Greenport Man Continues
• Westhampton Woman ID’ed as Victim in Fatal Car Pinning
• Police: Group Attempted to Rob Pizza Delivery Man in Copiague
• Police: Holbrook Gas Station Robbed at Gunpoint