ROANOKE, Va. – Are you ready for some freebies?
Because there are dozens of businesses that want to give you free stuff on your birthday. Even better, they don’t all have to be claimed on your actual birthday. Some may be used in the weeks before or after your big day. Play your cards right, and you could be enjoying free food all birthday month long. Beyond food, you could be in line for discounts, coupons and goodies from other retailers.
First a couple of tips:
- You usually have to be signed up for a company’s email newsletter in order to get the birthday freebie coupon. Make sure you do that well in advance, in case your email subscription doesn’t kick in immediately.
- Since newsletter lists have the potential to fill your inbox with junk as well as freebies, I recommend setting up a separate email account to use specifically for these sign-ups. Live.com is one place to get a free email address.
- Disclaimer: Companies can and do change promotions without advance notice. However, these were all, to the best of our knowledge, accurate and available at the time of writing. If you find a freebie doesn’t work or if you know of one we missed, please leave a message in the comments below.
Now that the details are out of the way — on to the freebies!
35 restaurant birthday freebies
It seems as if just about every restaurant offers a birthday deal. They are hoping you’ll not only come in for your birthday freebie, but also bring along 10 of your closest family members and friends who will spend big bucks. In some cases, you get the birthday freebies for signing up for the establishment’s rewards card — on the hunch that earning rewards will bring you in often.
If you don’t see your favorite restaurant on the list, check out their website and sign up for their mailing list anyway. You may just get a freebie coupon in your inbox. Plus, it never hurts to tell your server it’s your birthday (assuming it actually is your birthday) to see if they do anything special in-house.
- Applebee’s: Free dessert
- Baskin Robbins: Free ice cream
- Benihana: Free $30 gift certificate
- Blimpie: Free 6-inch sub
- BD’s Mongolian Grill: Free meal
- Buffalo Wild Wings: Free starter of wings
- Caribou Coffee: Free “special treat”
- Carrabba’s Italian Grill: Free dessert
- Cold Stone Creamery: buy one, get one free coupon
- Country Kitchen: free meal
- Denny’s: Free Grand Slam breakfast (no sign-up needed; show ID to server)
- Dippin’ Dots: Free Dippin' Dots
- Einstein Bros. Bagels: Free egg sandwich with a drink purchase
- Firehouse Subs: Free medium sub
- Friendly's: Free sundae
- Houlihan’s: Free entree
- IHOP: Free meal
- Jersey Mikes: Free sub
- Krispy Kreme: Free doughnut (This article from TheBalance documents the dozen times in a year, including your birthday, you can get freebies from the doughnut chain.)
- The Melting Pot: Birthday voucher
- Moe's Southwest Grill: free burrito
- Olive Garden: Free dessert
- On The Border: Free brownie sundae
- Planet Smoothie: Free smoothie
- Qdoba Mexican Grill: BOGO free entree
- Orange Julius: BOGO drink
- Red Robin: Free burger
- Smokey Bones: Free dessert
- Starbucks: Free drink
- Subway: Free lunch
- TCBY: Free yogurt
- Texas Roadhouse: Free appetizer
- TGI Fridays: Free cocktail, dessert or smoothie
- Tony Roma’s: BOGO free entree or 20 percent discount
- Waffle House: Free waffle
13 retail birthday freebies
Food seems to be the main event when it comes to birthday freebies, but don’t overlook retail store offers. Here’s a rundown of some of the retailers offering free stuff to help you celebrate another year of your feet on the ground.
- Aveda: Free gift
- CVS: Free $3 in ExtraBucks
- DSW: Free $5 gift certificate
- Smashbox: Free gift
- Bare Minerals: Free gift
- Kmart (Shop Your Way program): Free gift and $5 in birthday bucks for your child on their birthday
- Sephora: Free gift
- Toys R Us: Free gift for your child on their birthday
- Victoria’s Secret: Free gift
- ULTA cosmetics: Free gift
- Ace Hardware: Free $5 gift certificate
- Regal Entertainment Group: Free movie admission
- Famous Footwear: Free gift
More birthday discounts
These aren’t freebies, but they are discounts that are only available to the birthday boy or girl. Again, sign up for the company newsletter to have the discounts sent to your inbox.
- American Eagle Outfitters: 15 percent off coupon
- World Market: “Birthday surprise”
- Hallmark: 20 percent off coupon