Thank you for your service! 2016 Veterans Day free meal deals

Veterans Day is Friday, Nov. 11, and that means restaurants and businesses are offering deals to say "thank you" to our past and present military members. Here are a few offers you can take advantage of!

Be sure to bring proof of service or military ID and make sure your local store is participating before you go.

FREE MEALS 

• Applebee's:  Veterans and active duty military members can receive a free meal from a limited menu on Veterans Day.
• Back Yard Burgers:  On Veterans Day, all veterans and active duty military who present their military ID or are in uniform will receive a free Back Yard Classic Burger.
• Calhoun's: Veterans get a free meal from a limited menu at all Calhoun's locations on Veterans Day with proof of service.
• Chili's: On Nov. 11, veterans and active duty military can receive a free meal from a limited menu with proof of service. The menu includes the Oldtimer with Cheese, Soup & Salad, Chicken Crispers, Chipotle Chicken or Margherita Flatbread.
• Chipotle:  Buy a small burrito, bowl or salad and get one free from 3 p.m. to close on Veterans Day. The offer applies to veterans, military and military spouses.
• Denny’s:  All veterans and active duty military are invited to Build Your Own Grand Slam at Denny’s on Veterans Day from 5 a.m. to noon. You must show proof of service.
• Golden Corral: On Monday, Nov. 14, from 5 to 9 p.m., Golden Corral offers a free sit-in “thank you” dinner for Military veterans, retirees, and active duty members. 
• Hooters: All veterans can enjoy a free entrée from the Hooters Veterans Day Menu by presenting a military ID or proof of service at any Hooters location nationwide on Nov. 11. 
• Hurricane Grill and Wings:  Veterans and active military personnel can get a free beverage and entrée from a limited menu with proof of service on Veteran's Day.
• IHOP:  Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Nov. 11, retired and active military members can get a free order of Red, White and Blue Pancakes at participating IHOP locations. Some locations will include eggs, hashbrowns and bacon or sausage with the offer. 
• Krystal’s:  Veterans and active military can get a free sausage biscuit from open until 11 a.m. on Veterans Day with proof of service.
• Mimi's Cafe:  With the purchase of any non-alcoholic beverage, veterans and active duty military get a free meal at Mimi's Cafe on Nov. 11. Meal choices include Grilled Chicken & Fries, Chicken Chop Salad, Brioche Cheeseburger, and Farmhouse Tacos.
• O’Charley’s:  Every O'Charley's location is offering veterans and active duty service members a free meal on Nov. 11. The chain also offers a 10 percent military discount all year long.
• Olive Garden:  Veterans can choose a free entrée from a special menu featuring six Olive Garden favorites on Nov. 11 with proof of military service.
• Red Robin:  All Veterans and active duty military members will get a free Tavern Double Burger and Bottomless Steak fries on Veterans Day with proof of service. No purchase is necessary. 
• Shoney’s:  Any active or retired military member can get a free All American Burger on Veteran's Day at participating Shoney's locations. 
• Texas Roadhouse: Veterans will get free lunch at any Texas Roadhouse location from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 11. The offer includes any of 10 menu items and a free beverage. Must have a military card, VA card or discharge papers.
• Twin Peaks:  All Military men and women past and present enjoy a free menu item from Twin Peaks' Annual Veterans Day Appreciation Menu. Present valid military ID to receive offer.

 Click RIGHT SMACK HERE for deals on appetizers and retail

A shout out and thanks to veterans

Photo: Getty Images

Veterans Day is today, a day set aside to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

A number of area businesses are offering free or discounted food and services to veterans to say thanks. In most cases, a military ID or proof of service may be required.

Please check out WBIR 10News throughout the day for more coverage of Veterans Day.


Shops

• Frank’s Barber Shop- Free haircut. Call ahead. 
• Great Clips- Free haircut for military and veterans. Non-veterans can get a coupon to give to a veteran. Coupon is valid until the end of the year. 
• Legend's Custom Cuts in Maryville- Free haircut for veterans with an ID.
• Sports Clips- Free haircuts.
• Studio Visage- Free haircuts with Studio Level stylists. 

Events

• Knoxville Veterans Day Parade- Begins at 10:45 a.m. on Gay Street honoring veterans of U.S. armed forces. We will stream the parade on WBIR.com, 10News2, and MeTV.
• Dixie Stampede Pigeon Forge- Sevier County Hospitality Associations salute America’s Heroes with a complimentary lunch on Thursday from 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. Cost is $15 for members, $20 for non-members and walk-ins. 
• Pigeon Forge’s 25th Annual Winterfest Kickoff- Salute to Veterans Parade begins at 4:00 p.m. on the parkway.
• Tennessee State Parks is offering one free night of camping and/or a complimentary round of golf with appropriate identification. Veterans and active military are always eligible for camping discounts in state parks.

Food

• Applebee’s- Free meal from special menu. Beverage and gratuity not included.
• Calhoun’s- Free meal from complete menu starting at 11 a.m. 
• Carrabba’s- Free appetizer of your choice.
• Chili’s- Free meal all day from select menu. 
• Golden Corral- Free meal from 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 
• IHOP- Free red, white and blue pancakes from 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. 
• Little Ceasar’s Pizza- Free pizza or $5 HOT-N-READY- Lunch Combo between 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
• LongHorn Steakhouse- Complimentary “Texas Tonion” and non-alcoholic beverage.
• Menchie’s- Free 6 oz. frozen yogurt.
• O’Charley’s- Monday only veterans receive a $9.99 regular priced meal from a select menu featuring six entrées. 
• Olive Garden- Free entrée from select menu with soup and salad with proof of service and a 10 percent discount for families. 
• Outback Steakhouse- Free “Bloomin’ Onion” and a non-alcoholic beverage. Also receive 15 percent off your purchase from Nov. 12- Dec. 31, 2015.
• Perkin’s Restaurant and Bakeries- Free “Magnificent Seven” meal, beverage not included. 
• Red Lobster- Free appetizer and dessert from select menus. Red Robin- Free “Tavern Double” burger with “Bottomless Steak Fries” as well personally signed “Thank You” cards from the staff. 
• Shoney’s- Free “All American Burger”.
• Starbucks- Free tall brewed coffee for active duty, veterans, and their spouses.
• Texas Roadhouse- Free lunch from special menu from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. dine-in only. 
• TGI Friday’s- Free lunch from select menu from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Twin Peaks Restaurants- Free meal from select menu

A big Thanks to all the veterans

Click RIGHT HERE for a deal or freebie if you're a veteran.

The city of Knoxville is anticipating thousands of people to line the downtown streets to pay tribute of our nation's military today.

Several veterans organizations, high school bands, police, and fire departments will participate in the annual Veterans Parade in downtown Knoxville.

The parade will start at 10:40 a.m. at the Knoxville Coliseum, run along Howard Baker Jr. to Church Street, and then head right on Gay Street.

You can watch WBIR 10News anchor John Becker report live from the parade on 10News2 or wbir.com, starting at 11 p.m.

Veterans Day: Remember those who served, honor those who serve

Today is Veterans Day. Try to remember why we honor it.

In the meantime, Randy over at Knoxviews gave me this idea: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has the history of today's holiday on its website.

You can find that right smack here.

Also, check out this link for a list of where, locally, veterans can get free meals, haircuts, car washes, etc. today.

And, as a reminder, Knox County offices (non-essential ones) are closed today. City offices are open.

Thanks: Honoring those who served

A personal thanks from me to all those who served and currently serve. Here's the Veterans Day proclamation for 2012 right here.

Mayor doesn't hold back on Twitter

Well, it wasn’t exactly a Donald Trump-like  meltdown on the Twitterverse because, well, almost no one can be as stupid and ridiculous as Trump and the dead animal that sits on top of his head, (how many times has be filed for bankruptcy and why is he still allowed a credit card again?), but Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett – a well know twittin’ Twitter-er (yes he does his own tweets) on Friday night had a few things to say about the University of Tennessee.

The tweet in question: “I need to get him some tats and a criminal record so UT will be interested.” (He was no doubt referring to the troubled football program. (“Troubled” being generous. How about that Kentucky game last year. Bwahahahahahah.)

 The mayor, of course, was writing about his nephew, a senior who plays quarterback on the Christian Academy Knoxville football team and is a finalist for Mr. Football. The kid is a stud. (CAK also beat up on Alcoa last night by the way.) And he’s certainly better than that pretender who can hit a car with a beer bottle on a Friday night but can’t manage to find his wide receivers the next afternoon.

Anyhoo, Burchett quickly took down the tweet, but not before a number of folks retweeted it. One person said it wasn’t smart of him, another thanked him for his honesty and another told him to “stay classy.” Whatever. You got to see the stuff I have to remove sometimes. Heh.

“I pulled it down pretty quickly,” the mayor, who has almost 1,800 followers on the social media site, told me this after. “I was just being funny but everyone went ballistic. I didn’t think anyone read that stupid thing. It was probably up for about five minutes.”

Course in all the outrage, no one seemed to notice all the nice stuff he said about veterans.

Quick list of freebies for Veterans

Thanks to Brian Paone for putting this together (I had it in the comment section, but wanted to give it better play.)

Here's a non-exhaustive list of the restaurants and eateries around town that are giving out Veterans Day freebies to former/current armed forces members:

KRISPY KREME - Free donut on Veterans Day, proof of service required.

APPLEBEES - Free signature meal on Veterans Day. DD-214, state-issued military ID card (if you have one you know what it is; if you don't I'm not telling you) or proof of membership in a veteran service organization will be accepted.

TGI FRIDAY'S - Free lunch on Veterans Day. Proof of service accepted: Active Duty ID card, Retired ID card, DD-214, VA ID card or veteran's designation on your driver's license.

ARBY'S - Free Classic Roast Beef Sandwich on Veterans Day for veterans and active military with ID.

OLIVE GARDEN - Free meal for active duty and veterans on Veterans Day with ID.

CHILI'S - Free meal (choice from six options, and no, I don't know what they are but I assume it's pretty common food) with valid military ID or proof of service.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE (specifically, Morrell Road) - free lunch on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 from 11AM to 4PM with valid military ID or proof of service. I don't know if other TRs are doing the same; I advise calling and asking. I did call Morrell Road, however, and confirmed the above information for their particular location.

SHONEY'S - Free breakfast or lunch buffet on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 all day with military ID or proof of service.

LITTLE CAESAR'S - Free Crazy Bread on Veteran's Day with military ID, DD-214 or veteran's designation on your DL.

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE - Free Bloomin' Onion and a Coke on Veterans Day with proof of service.

GOLDEN CORRAL - Free dinner on Veterans Day with proof of service.

TRAVEL CENTERS OF AMERICA (because truck stops have the best food) - Free meal on Veterans Day with proof of service.

MIMI'S CAFE - Free lunch or dinner on Veterans Day with proof of service. (Reservists are specifically included in this.)

RED ROBIN - Free Red's Tavern Double burger on Veterans Day with military ID.

DENNY'S (had no idea we had one, but it's apparently on Watt Road) - Free all-you-can-eat pancakes on Veterans Day with proof of service.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list. There may be smaller eateries offering freebies, and a lot of 'em are offering discounts, but I focused on free stuff that I could confirm (because no one likes to waste their time).

Also, every veteran should get a lot more free stuff every day than they do. But that's another rant.

Veterans Office expands outreach

Don't forget that Veterans Day is this Sunday. County offices will be closed on Monday. I believe the city's side of the Deathstar will still be open. (They like to work. Heh.)

Anyhoo, the county just sent out a release, noting that its Veterans Service Office “is making it more convenient for veterans to get assistance by expanding its outreach to senior centers and partnering with faith-based organizations to more effectively reach” local veterans.

(You might recall that earlier this week, the county opened its new Veterans Service Office. Actually, it just moved the office about two feet, but still, new digs are always cool.)

Veterans also can meet with officials to get assistance with claims for service-connected disabilities, improved pension, health benefits, insurance programs, educational programs and burial benefits at the following locations (and times): Click right smack here.

Also, the public is invited to a veterans benefit brief at First Baptist Concord on Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. Click right smack here for that info.

Veterans Day: Thanks to all who serve

Thank you to all those who serve.

If you haven't seen it yet, please take the time to check out Lauren Spuhler's story on the honor guard that's online right now. You can find it here.





Photo by Rachel Wise