My Kids Eat Free

I still receive emails from parents each week that are surprised to find a restaurant in their local area that offers a Kids Eat Free special.  “Cool idea!” says one father, “Wish other restaurants would do this“.  Granted, if you are not a parent, these types of specials may not register with you.  But if you are a parent, you represent the “Family with kids” group which accounts for 1/3 of restaurant customers in the U.S.   Traditional sit down restaurants have been seeing a steady decline in customers for more than a year now and are looking for ways to bring you back out for dinner.

Kids Eat Free specials have been around for years, traditionally used by sit down type restaurants to bring in customers during slower time periods like Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons.   But with the downturn of the economy this year, the trends are showing Kids Eat Free specials gaining popularity on all days and in some untraditional areas. Barry Yow of MyKidsEatFree.com says “We are starting to see traditional “Fast Food” type restaurants like McDonalds and Taco Bell are now offering “Kids Eat Free” specials”.  “We just recently added 59 Taco Bell locations in the southeast that now offer a Kids Eat Free special”.  Restaurants like IHOP are testing expanded Kids Eat Free promotions by offering a Kids Eat Free special everyday and not just one night. And these changes are not just limited to mid-sized restaurants. All restaurants, regardless of their customer base are targeting the “Family with Kids” group by adding Kids menus where none existed before.

So regardless of where your family likes to eat, drive through windows, pizza night or a traditional steak dinner, restaurants want you and that means great deals for parents. With all these Kids Eat Free deals, now is a great time for parents to save money while dinning out. Stimulate your local economy and support your local businesses by going out for dinner this week.  And save some money by looking for a Kids Eat Free promotion near you.