With recent T.G.I. Friday's restaurants openings in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and North Dartmouth, Mass., Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, parent of the T.G.I. Friday's and Pick Up Stix® restaurant chains, today announced it has reached the 1000th system-wide unit total.

"We are thrilled to have two new T.G.I. Friday's restaurants take Carlson Restaurants Worldwide to the 1000th restaurant total," said Mike Archer, president and chief operating officer, T.G.I. Friday's USA. "To meet our guests increasing demand for our signature big, bold crave-able flavors, Friday's is continuing to grow and expand in new markets."

"This is an important milestone for our company," said Richard Snead, president and chief executive officer of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide. "Carlson Restaurants Worldwide is one of the most successful global restaurant companies and we are proud of this outstanding achievement."

Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of TGI Friday's Inc. and Pick Up Stix, is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson, a world leader in the hospitality, travel and marketing industries. As of May 2007, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide owns, operates, franchises and licenses 1,000 restaurants in 55 countries including T.G.I. Friday's ®, Friday's Front Row ® Sports Grill and Friday's American Bar ® and Pick Up Stix. For more information on the brands, visit http://www.fridays.com/ and http://www.pickupstix.com/.