Top 10 Best Food Moments From Friends

If you ask anyone who grew up in the 90s what they were doing on Thursday nights, chances are they were watching Friends. It’s been almost 20 years since it stopped airing and generations today still know and love the charming and endearing characters. Food was a part of some of the best episodes, so choosing the best ones can be challenging, but we’re up to the task. So, if you were on a break, stick around for The One With The Top 10 Best Food-Related Friends Moments. 

10. The One With All The Pizza

Spoiler alert –  Joey loves food. Ok, it’s no big secret and he’s made his stand on food pretty clear throughout 10 years of the show. From chocolatey desserts to spaghetti on the floor, nothing can stand in the way of him and food. But, there is one thing he is particularly fond of. Something he could eat all day, every day. Heck, he even stole one from the second floor once. Yes, you guessed it, it’s pizza! Joey treats pizza like literal royalty and even has a throne for it. And how could he not? Pizza seems to make an appearance in almost every episode, and the majority of his diet appears to consist of the hot pies. Usually, on a Friday night, only the true fans of Friends will know; one pizza isn’t enough, you need to order the Joey’s special; two pizzas! – And one with extra anchovies, please! Joey makes it clear that no matter how much you’ve eaten, there is always room for more pizza. While Joey is the pizza expert, everyone else has had their own love story with NYC pizza – whether it was on ladies’ night while spying on George Stephanopoulos or when Ross attempted to flirt with the delivery girl, pizza has practically been a character on the show all by itself – as it should. 

9. The One With “Ross’s Sandwich”

Okay, let’s be honest, we all felt for Ross a little during the heartbreaking moment he realized his colleague had not only taken his sandwich but threw most of it away in the trash. His beloved, highly anticipated Thanksgiving sandwich. After a divorce, sudden homelessness, and trouble getting back on his feet, this sandwich was “the only good thing going on” in his life, after all. His iconic outburst eventually cost him his job, and he even ended up having to take a sabbatical because of it! But, his anger was kind of understandable; he did put a note on it! We would be lying if we said we’ve never wanted to try the Moist Maker at least once. Ross describes it with such passion; it’s hard to imagine it not exquisite. In season 5, we learned that, according to Ross, Monica makes the best leftover turkey sandwiches – and of course, we believe him. Her secret? An extra slice of gravy-soaked bread in the middle to make the whole thing, well, moist! Countless recipes can be found online and in the Official Friends Cookbook to recreate the deliciousness of the Moist Maker. 

8. The One With Phoebe’s Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies, in general, are amazing. But, when someone claims they have the best recipe in the world? You simply have to get your hands on it! In the third episode of the seventh season, Monica is determined to recreate the recipe for Phoebe’s grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies – which had been used in her family for generations. Monica wants to become the mom that makes the world’s best chocolate chip cookies. After 22 batches of cookies – not all edible – looking at you batch 16 – Monica is still unable to get the recipe perfectly right. Especially after Joey eats the last of the model cookie. All hope seems lost until Phoebe reveals that her grandmother got the recipe from her grandmother, Nestle Toulouse. Ding, ding, ding! Nestle Toulouse, aka Nestle Tollhouse. This was the famous chocolate chip cookie recipe Monica was trying to recreate all this time. Although, in her grandmother’s defense, Nestle Tollhouse cookies are pretty amazing, so… Anyway, the mystery of Phoebe’s grandmother’s cookie recipe can finally be put to rest…and according to Phoebe, it’s because of stuff like this that she’s BURNING IN HELL! 

7. The One With All The Cheesecake

What wouldn’t you do for a good slice of cheesecake? A creamy, soft, and fluffy cake that’s perfect no matter what the occasion. Now, how would you react if one day that said cheesecake magically showed up on your doorstep? Would you find, and then return it to its rightful owner? Or would you do like Chandler and Rachel and eat the whole thing because it was “an honest mistake?” Obviously, they felt bad about keeping the cake for themselves instead of giving it back to Mrs. Braverman downstairs, but apparently not guilty enough to refrain from eating a second one that has also been wrongly delivered. With delicious food sometimes comes bickering, and the two “thieves” begin fighting over the gooey cake, splitting it into two slices. Well, the inevitable happens and both slices end up on the hallway floor. Most people would just call it quits and pick up the mess, but not them. There is nothing like watching a desperate Chandler and Rachel scrounge around for crumbs of cheesecake on the ground, still squabbling and protecting “their side.” Then, of course, Joey being Joey, walks by, pulls out a fork from his shirt pocket, and gets ready to dig in (“alright, what are we having?”) Well done, Mama’s Little Bakery in Chicago, Illinois. Well done.

6. The One With All the Candy

If you’re a fan of Friends, then you know just how great of a chef Monica is. Everything she cooks always seems so appetizing and tempting; we can sometimes forget that it’s all for show. You probably also know she can be a little competitive, and sometimes a little bit of control-freak – but that’s alright! It’s all part of her charm! While she’s notorious for her Moist Maker, her Christmas candies are also pretty hard to beat – at least, according to her very impatient neighbors – and Joey. She originally made these “little drops of heaven” in an effort to get to know the neighbors better and get into the holiday spirit. But, it quickly backfired. The demand became overwhelming, and she had to stay up all night to feed the sugar-rushed, restless, candy beggers outside her door – and Joey, again. Now dubbed the “candy lady,” Monica was on the verge of a breakdown and she even got a death threat slipped under the door (thanks for that one, Joey) But, because of Monica’s stubbornness, this only pushed her even more and motivated her to keep going, until Chandler, her knight in shining armor, intervened. Perhaps, next time she’ll stick with the good old Christmas cards. If you were hoping to try out these famous TV treats treats, the recipe for these chocolate truffles can be found online.

5. The One With The Mockolate

There’s no argument here: chocolate is delicious. No matter how you eat it or in what, it has the ability to give any recipe that extra level of sweetness. Now, of course, we’re talking about real chocolate here. Nothing can replace chocolate, not even Mockolate, a fake chocolate substitute introduced on the show. Monica always puts her heart and soul into everything she cooks, but that doesn’t mean that everything is going to be a success – especially if the ingredients are questionable. Remember that episode where Monica landed a job creating recipes for ‘Mockolate?’ The company wanted Mockolate to become Thanksgiving’s new official ingredient – and we’re all thankful it didn’t, because yikes! Mockolate is a horrible, potentially dangerous type of food product. Needing the money, Monica pretended to love it and created 3 Thanksgiving themed desserts: pumpkin pie with a Mockolate cookie crumb crust, Mockolate cranberry cake, and Mockolate chip cookies. Despite the very small amount of Mockalte used in the recipes, let’s just say it wasn’t a big hit with the others. According to Phoebe, “This is what evil must taste like.” After not getting FDA approval (surprising), the Mockolate project was scrapped. Obviously, we can’t leave out the other product the company wanted her to work on, Fishtachios – which taste “exactly like pistachios but are made primarily of reconstituted fish bits. But since Monica’s allergic to cat hair, she needed to decline. Weird connection? Yes. But surprising? Not really. 

4. The One With The Whole Turkey

The Thanksgiving episodes are probably some of the greatest episodes of the whole series. From the Geller Cup to heads stuck in turkeys, this holiday was never boring in Apartment 20. Every holiday season we were greeted with a crazy storyline, all involving some elegant, appetizing Thanksgiving feast and some good old fashioned drama. There was that time Chandler made the best cranberry sauce ever – from a can, or when the whole dinner was ruined because Underdog got away from the parade, or when the “I hate Rachel Green Club” was outed – the list is endless. But, one of the most iconic scenes was when Joey took on the challenge of eating a whole turkey, in one sitting, by himself. Monica didn’t want to make a turkey for just three people, but Joey protested: “Thanksgiving without turkey is like the Fourth of July with no apple pie or Friday with no two pizzas.” So, after putting on his “Thanksgiving pants” – or what the rest of the world likes to call maternity pants – he gets started on the nineteen pound turkey. After Joey defeated the giant bird, he did get the meat sweats, but surprisingly (then again, maybe not), he still had room for some pie! 

3. The One With The Trifle

Rachel, Rachel Rachel – she came to us as a spoiled runaway bride and left as a mother and executive at Ralph Lauren. Her character grew tremendously over the years, but there’s one thing that never really took off for her – her cooking skills. That’s okay, though; it’s not everyone who has the talent to cook delicious meals like Monica. However, she did try her best to make the finest Trifle for Thanksgiving dinner, all by herself. She wanted to prove, not only to Monica but also to herself, that she could do this one on her own. The truth is, it would’ve been quite a success had she followed the recipe faithfully. You see, the recipe called for ladyfingers, jam, custard, raspberries, banana, whipped cream – which, she made from scratch – and well, funnily enough, beef sautéed with peas and onions. A little suspicious, the say the least. Well, it turns out this epic fail was due to the pages of her cookbook being stuck together. As a result, Rachel made a dessert that was half a trifle and half a shepherd’s pie. Needless to say, “it did not taste good.” It tasted like feet, apparently. Actually, there is one jolly fella who quite enjoyed the miscalculated treat; Joey. “What’s not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, good!” He even went around and collected everybody else’s “mysteriously missing portions.” To each his own, right? 

2. The One With The Meatball Sub

Would you do anything for your friends? Even jump in front of a bullet for them? Well, Joey would, and he did just that. Well, almost. At least, that’s what it looked like at first. In the ride-along episode, Ross, Chandler, and Joey all tag along with Phoebe’s then-boyfriend Gary-the-cop during a routine patrol. After a car backfire is mistaken for a gunshot, Joey is quick to lean over Ross to protect his dear friend. Everyone calls him a courageous hero, which rubs Chandler the wrong way because why would Joey save Ross and not him? After confronting him, Joey confesses; he wasn’t trying to save Ross; he was trying to save the sandwich that was next to him. Basically, Joey risked his life for his sandwich. Still honorable, somehow, we think. Joey defended his actions by saying it was instinct and that it was “the greatest sandwich in the world.” Everyone knows that “Joey doesn’t share food,” but as a way to show how much Chandler means to him, he offers him his sandwich – well, just a bite, but still. It must be one heck of a meatball sandwich.

1. The One With ‘Fried Stuff With Cheese’

By now, it’s pretty clear who likes to eat the most on Friends. Why, it’s Joey Tribianni, of course! He’s proven time and again that a little extra food never hurt anybody – like that time he ate everything that was in the fridge because it broke – even whatever was in that brown jar. It’s also pretty clear who the best cook is – Monica. As head chef of Javu’s, she knows a thing or two about good food. It makes you wonder: how come the biggest food lover and the best chef didn’t end up together? It sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Well, while Monica married Chandler and Joey had, well, a new chick and duck, that possibility was still explored briefly in season 7. And the results are just about as catastrophic as you would expect. In the episode, while imagining what her life might look like if she married Joey, Monica pictures a morbidly obese Joey waddling into the room in time for dinner. Foodie plus professional chef equals a lot of food being prepared. And since Joey doesn’t really believe in salads, what would Monica make the most? Fried stuff with cheese, his favorite. “And lots of it.” While it never came to that, it certainly would’ve been interesting to see just how far Joey’s love for food could’ve gone had he ended up with Monica. 

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