Growing up, I honestly thought Friendly's was a common-enough restaurant, because there's one just one town over from me, and it's been there ever since I was born...
Didn't realize until a few years back that Friendly's is NOT that common, at least outside of the New England area. The location near me is one of only two in the entire state of Florida.
Since my mom spent much of her formative years in the Boston area, she always treated Friendly's like it was a normal thing.