My initial impression of Friendly's was that it was--friendly, that is. The host was smiling and affable as he showed us to our table and took our drink orders.
Our server sounded as though she had grown up in some European country. Italy? France? Germany? I couldn't tell, but she had a marked accent and odd quirks of grammar that gave her away. She was brusque, resulting in a small reduction in rating, but not rude, resulting in a decent tip.
The Reuben itself...ah. Well, the best description of it would be that it was a Reuben as interpreted by a '50s housewife who had to serve it to very picky eaters, one of whom didn't like rye, one who didn't care overmuch for sauerkraut, and one that couldn't stand Thousand Island dressing. Inotherwords, it was inoffensive, but bland, much like the main character of my current Work in Progress.
The cheese was good. The bread was not overly rye, which was disappointing to me, as I am a rye fan. The Thousand Island dressing was there, but it was seen and not tasted. The sauerkraut and the meat were a centrally-located wad, making the sandwich difficult to eat and leaving basically cheese toast around the edges.
I had it with the fries, which were reasonable: nothing special, either good or bad. The ice cream, however, was DIVINE. If you find yourself in Columbus with a yen for food, I'd skip the Reuben and head straight for dessert. You won't be disappointed.