It has been 25 years since the first episode of Friends aired on TV, and came into many our lives. To celebrate, they set up a fun pop-up in NYC! We went to the 20th anniversary event too, which was a Central Perk Café with a looooong line. This time, they had timed tickets! I got us tickets and off we went! It was quite organized, we were grouped by the time on the tickets, and a staff let us in a few minutes early. They did have “standby line” for the ones without tickets. The tickets are currently sold out, but if you get there first thing in a morning, there will be a good chance you will get in with minimum wait time.

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This pop-up was much, much larger than the 20th anniversary pop-up, which was great! They had so many fun photo op spots from the beginning to the end. Some of the items here were the items used in the actual TV set, and some others are replicas.

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They had memorable moments from the show, and you could be a part of those moments for your own Friends memories! Pivot!!!

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They had loads of merchandises, from t-shirts to mugs, bracelets, calendars, hats, etc., etc… And of course, you could purchase the entire season of Friends in DVD there too.

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But right before you get to the Friends store, you can visit the Central Perk! They had coffee, as well as some Friends-themed snacks. Just getting the cup was super cute enough. The coffee was scorching hot, and really, VERY strong… I had to pour good amount of milk before I could enjoy it.

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But paper cup is just a paper cup, it can get dirty and does not last you for too long. Luckily for us, this pop-up had some partners, and one of them was State Farm Insurance. And guess what they provided? Complimentary Friends Tumbler! Thanks State Farm!

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Moving on… So, what kind of Friends-theme snacks do they have? They had Joey’s NY Apple Pie, Monica’s Lasagna Scone, Ross’s Mini Blueberry Bribe Muffin Basket, Phoebe’s great great grandmother’s famous cookies, and so on and so on.

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We decided to get a few items, starting with Rachel’s Oops I dropped the Cheesecake ($6). Do you carry a fork in your pocket? Well then, come join us! It was actually really, really good! Very moist, dense yet velvety, rich and tasty!

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Another thing we got was the Friends Branded Donuts ($6.50). Just because. It was a chocolate donut and it was good too, better than I expected it to be. Moist and airy, sweet without being overly sweet.

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Then the Joey’s Blackberry Jam Turnovers ($4.50). It was a pretty big size, one of the most affordable item from the Central Perk. It was nice and flakey, light and airy. It had a good amount of blackberry jam in it, quite filling.

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We bought one more item but we got full, so we saved it for later. What was it? Chandler’s Licked Banana Nut Muffin ($4.50). It didn’t look like much, other than a nice big size. But, it was really good! Again, much better than I expected it to be. It had good amount of nuts, nice aroma and flavor of banana, moist yet fluffy. I enjoyed it.

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The pop-up was quite fun, we loved taking photos at each iconic scenes. Some of the food offering were a bit on a pricey side, but the items we bought were all surprisingly tasty. We did enjoy the entire experience!

The only negative is that they don’t offer any seating for you to enjoy the coffee and snacks inside the pop-up space. You have to leave and find a bench somewhere. Also, the fact that the Central Perk is located BEFORE the store makes it a bit challenging too, if you want to look at any merchandise. It is not easy to carry around hot coffee and somewhat delicate snacks in a paperback while trying to look through all the fun items… Other than that, we had a really good time! I wonder if they will have another pop-up for 30th anniversary? If so, we will be there!

“Friends” NYC Pop-Up – 76 Mercer St, New York, NY 10012