Senior Restaurant Discounts: Results May Vary

I’ve been trying for two weeks to do a Gray Matters on the discounts available to seniors at local restaurants. 

Plenty of national restaurant chains with stores in Banning or Beaumont claim to offer seniors a break.  They include Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Carrow’s, Chili’s, Church’s Chicken, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, IHOP, Jack in the Box, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, Popeye’s Fried Chicken, Sizzler and Wendy’s.

The problem is getting the break.  The discounts are company-wide policy decisions made by senior management at corporate headquarters.  But many restaurants are franchises owned by local business people who may or may not participate in the company’s senior discount program. 

Complicating the senior discount further is that paying for the meal is handled by a low-level employee who may or may not be aware that there is a discount, may or may not know what it is, and may or may not be in the mood to grant it.

Going around to some of the above restaurants in the recent past, I never got the same information twice at the same place when I asked about a senior discount.

Take , an excellent establishment that also offers a 59-cent rebate for paying cash.  Sometimes I would get a senior discount of 10 percent at Carl’s, sometimes nothing, and the last time I asked, the cashier had to check, then informed me it “wasn’t available for combos,” though I had received it on a combo before.

I am not old enough for many senior discounts, so I never push my case—but such haphazard applications of the senior discount makes it impossible to accurately report on what they are. 

Of course, each of the above restaurants has its own eligibility age for a senior discount, which can range from 55-65 years old, and each has a different policy.  You’d have to carry an extensive file on your smart phone (there should be an app for that) or a printout in your purse to remember them.

Since a quick burger or taco tends to be either an impulse purchase or an expedience on a busy day, the best tactic might be to politely inquire and settle for what you get.  It isn’t going to be a big-ticket item like a hotel room or airplane ticket that’s worth researching.

I might have known that I would have tough sledding.  I received my first senior discount way too early—at a McDonalds when I was 40 years old.  I was going through a divorce and midlife crisis and not taking care of myself very well—but nevertheless, when the kid behind the counter charged me a quarter for a cup of coffee and told me why, it came as quite a shock.  I was grateful that it happened, however; I appreciated the cheap cup of java and started taking better care of myself.