This past Memorial Day Holiday[originally started by former slaves in memory of Union troops who fought for them, who they unearthed from a mass grave to give them a proper individual burial each] that fell on the 25th of May 2015 I decided to do some research. I wanted to find which local and national chain businesses offered a discount or freebies for Veterans, which I am a proud one.
My initial reasoning for doing this was due to being caught by surprise on Veterans day last year and not being able to take advantage of all of the freebies offered to veterans on this day.
I started at Polk and Broadway on Friday the evening of the 22nd, and first inquired in Escape from New York Pizza.
The guy at the counter was friendly enough and asked the shift manager If they did offer discounts or freebies. He was very abrupt and I would even venture to say rude in offering a very harsh "No!"
I continued along next Peet's coffee where they offered a very apolagetic "No."
On to Starbucks to which I received so many free cups of coffee on Veterans day in various locatoins in SF I couldn't sleep that night !
I received a cranky "no" from them as well.
I continued to strike out as my journey brought me to Fisherman's Wharf in many locations that did offer free food on Veterans day such as IHOP, Denny's , Subway and Chili's.
I did receive a free treatment at an Oxygen bar called Vitality. The treatment include scented oxygen ,a warm lavender pillow on my shoulders a brief deep tissue massage and stimulation from an electric muscle stimulation unit. All of that I got not for being a vet but because I happened to be walking by at the time that they offered them for free to drum up business.
My final inquiry after numerous rejections and being relaxed by the aforementioned treatment was McCormick and Scmicks in Ghiradelli square.
The answer was yes, and I received a very enthusiastic yes. They asked if I would like to make reservations to which I said yes and made them for Memorial day at noon.
There were sever tempting items on a special menu in which i chose the buttermilk shrimp. They were very delicious and all of the staff I encountered treated me with the same courtesy and respected that should be afforded to a paying customer.
Get ready troops Veterans day will be here in November and I intend to have a full list composed by then !