Halloween is here, the only night of the year where both adults and children can dress up and eat all the candy they please. The holiday is also evolving into an occasion when parents can walk-off with something equally exciting, free meals for the kids.
According to USA Today, a number of eateries will offer will offer free meals on Halloween in order to lure traffic during a seriously slow time. A few of those places include Olive Garden, IHop and Krispy Kreme.
"Restaurants are like ghost towns on Halloween," said Derek Farley, a restaurant industry PR guru.
According to Farley, the pizza industry gets most of the business on that day, and much like Labor Day and July 4th, Halloween is a holiday that is "not very restaurant-friendly."
Three of Darden's most familiar chains, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse are offering free kids meals with coupons. The eateries are requesting a purchase of an adult entree for each free kids meal.
"Halloween isn't a day you're going to see a lot of kids in restaurants, they're trick or treating," said Jay Spenchian, executive vice president of marketing at Olive Garden. "We see this as an opportunity to help drive additional traffic into the restaurant on an historically slow day."
Last year, 6,000 families came to Olive Garden with kids in costume. While still encouraging costumes, the chain dropped that requirement for the freebie this year.
Kids age 12 and under get a free Halloween "Scary Face" Pancake at IHOP. The pancake, with a whipped-cream smile dotted with candy corn, is one of IHOP's "most requested holiday promotions."
Chipotle will offer its annual "Boorito" promo, between 4 p.m. and closing. All customers dressed in costumes get a $3 burrito, bowl, salad, or order of tacos. Proceeds of up to $1 million will go to charity.
Children or adults who show up to Krispy Kreme in any costume will walk away with a free doughnut. This is for participating locations on Halloween day only.
