Denny’s Super Bowl ad didn’t feature screaming morons or stick fetching Clydesdales-no it just said Free Breakfast from 6 Am to 2 Pm on Tuesday. That was good enough to get my attention, and a lot of other people’s attention as well.
When I went to Denny’s this morning around 8 Am there was a small line out the door, and no where to park. So The Wife and I went to another Denny’s, where the line was longer, but there was someplace to park. We waited about thirty minutes, and only had a couple of times when we wanted slap some yahoo for cutting the line. But hey, it’s a free Glam Slam breakfast, so we were all in a pretty good mood. If it had been a bit colder, we might not have been so nice.
I’ve never been in a Soup Line, or a line at one of those Feed The Homeless on Thanksgiving things, but this must have been what it is like. Lots of low income people and lots of people for whom English was not their first language. The staff at the Denny’s did a pretty job of keeping things moving, occasionally letting the line wait while they cleared a few tables. There was the occasional person in a hurry and we did see one person send her Gland Slam back when the eggs were not prepared the way she liked them. Otherwise it was all run like a well oiled machine.
I am a long time user of discount coupon books, Sunday paper coupons, and and pretty much any buy one get one free coupon I can find. One of the rules of these coupons is that you need to tip the waitress the same as if you paid the whole bill and not just the discount. So here the staff is working harder than they ever have to work and a lot of people are drinking free water with their free Grand Slam and leaving no tip. Nice. We left our waitress five dollars and bought two sodas-so that our free breakfast cost $9.
Denny’s, like IHOP, is somewhere I tend to eat when 1) I have a coupon, or 2) it’s the middle of the night and there is nowhere else to eat. Times are tough, and it’s not that hard to make pancakes and fry an egg. But we did get a coupon book for being nice and tipping our waitress, so we will be going back to Denny’s again one of these days.
And Denny’s, thanks for the free meal, we appreciate it.
I’ve not been to Denny’s in years. My brother goes almost daily. He loves their cheap breakfasts. I’m glad you both enjoyed your meal. You couldn’t beat that price either.
Have a terrific day. 🙂