Macaroni Grill - Faux HDR

Took a picture of Macaroni Grill when there were actually no cars parked in front, just before lunch. I decided the image was pretty flat with native HDR of 5s.. Did not want to purchase another app until I know what I can do with the post processing programs and apps I have. So, decided to see how it would look if i increased shadows, highlights, midtones to the max.  I kind of liked the effect. There is a little distortion evident which can happen with architectural subjects. You cannot always move back further.  Need to explore this venue a little more