Seriously? these people probabaly spent more in Gas than they would have if they bought the breakfast.

I thought only kids geeked out on crystal meth went to Dennys? How will Wal-mart retaliate for Dennys stealing all of their white trash clientele?

I'm thinking about going to breakfast at Denny's tomorrow just so I can leave a good tip to the workers who had to endure today. Luckily my local Denny's just got a 100 on their last restaurant inspection. (they are required to post the score in the front window!)

This is honestly pathetic. Denny's doesn't even have good breakfasts. In my neighborhood there's a mom and pop place that does a 'skillet' meal. Hashbrowns, corn beef (not hash, but real corn beef shaved off the block) onions, chedder, green peppers and they put a ladel of sausage gravy on top for an extra 75 cents. All put, it's like 6 bucks.

You can get the same thing Denny's was offering for around 3 dollars, and it's fresh, not some frozen/prepackaged garbage. The hasbrowns they use are real peeled potatoes shredded right before they get tossed on the skillet.

Denny's, IHOP, Waffle House, etc. They're all over priced. Go local and find some little coney island/diner/greasy spoon/truck stop that has much better food for much less money.

3 million dollars for a superbowl ad + god knows how much in costs for today.. phew I hope they got some cash reserves cause it sounds like they about to be about 10 mil in the hole after this

There was a day especially on the weekend there would be a line to eat at Dennys and alot of other places .Not like today's crowd but a wait to eat .I don't like eating in an aptmosphere like that .

But the word FREE does say alot .Great marketing ploy .Hopefully they got future customers and didn't botch the food .Sometimes overly busy restaraunts either over or under cook the food .

Hopefully most just wanted to try the food and didn't need it .

Scary though ,there was a time I would jump on anything for FREE but now the crowds these promotions draw out weigh the free stuff .

@Davan: They will just ask the government for a bailout

I went today and it was lotsa fun. The wait was only 15 minutes and I dragged a few members of the family with me. I actually took video of the event and I'm in the process of uploading it right now. I was sorta disappointed it wasn't more zoo-like. I was really expecting a show and all I got was a small line around 15-20 people long.

@lockdog: So you want to send me a tip because I stayed late at my computer job?

If my closest Denny's hadn't failed more than 10 years ago I would've jumped on that deal too. I like Denny's for breakfast. Its obviously not as good as a freshly made, home-cooked style breakfast like you would get at a good non-chain diner. But its pretty good for what you pay and you get a lot for the price.

My two local denny's were packed. I had my conference period off so I called my parents to meet me. We waited about 30 minutes. The whole time I was wondering, "People question why the economy is so bad?" Well because apparently nobody has a job.

If you do the math, it's really not worth it. How much is the dish itself? $5 at most? Could someone pay you $5 to stand in line for two hours or drive all over town to stand in line? Insanity!!

A friend ask me if I wanted to do this days ago. I would much rather pay for my $5 breakfast than waste gas and stand in line.

I am unsure what these people were thinking. Does they time and gas have no value? Odd.

Experts say that we have not slipped into a depression but that looks suspiciously like a modern day food line to me.

Is there really anyone who didn't see this coming? People will line up for anything if it's free, no matter how stupid and insignificant. $5 pizza? Sure! A free $6 breakfast? Why not? A free half cup of ghastly McDonalds coffee? Hold me a place!

I worked next to a Baskin Robbins for a couple of years, and I remember the lines on free cone night. People would seriously stand in line for hours for a free mini-scoop of ice cream... and they would use my store as a daycare center for their ill-behaved little breedlings and then they would come in and drip ice cream all over everything. Of course they would not actually buy anything.

I HATED free scoop night.

@sicknick: Local food dose not equal higher quality. I was a short order cook at a local diner in my home town. We used frozen hash browns (and other pre packaged food) just like everyone else. Short of outright asking the cook, there is no way to tell if a diner is using frozen/pre-packaged food.

@sicknick: Agree completely about the chain breakfast places. And usually not really a breakfast person.

But DAMN you've made me hungry with your local restaurants description.

@Maulleigh:

$6 a pop. I went with 3 people so $18. I drove 4 miles, so I guess around $1 in gas round trip rounded up. I waited 15 minutes in line.

So, is it worth $17 for 15 minutes worth of waiting...err, yes.

I wonder if Pfizer paid for this promotion, what better way to promote lipitor than to encourage people to eat an 500-600 calories packed full of fat.

Our local paper is reporting about 1,200 people hit the local Denny's for a free $6 breakfast. To me, it's simply not worth it, but obviously a bunch of people nation-wide do.

Looks like a successful promo by Denny's!

@ryohazuki222: It's working, hehe...

@Corporate_guy:

I was unaware that "computer jobs" pay $2.75/hour.

Perhaps you missed his point

It is amazing that all these people would line up for some unhealthy food.

@sicknick: You mention coney islands, which makes me think you're from Michigan. Then you mention Waffle House, which makes me think you're not from Michigan.

IIRC, Waffle House was always dirt cheap, more so than a local coney. Of course it's a huge, huge step down.

I'm so glad I decided against going to Denny's today, and instead went to work.

@henwy: Bad math, since not everyone made $17, that was the group earnings. Individually that's only $5.67 each. Less if you count your drive times.

I wonder how many people realize you're still supposed to tip on the value of free food?

@balthisar: We have both Waffle House and James Coney Island in Texas.

This just makes me sad.

My ops manager went to Denny's before work. It was a zoo of humanity, but he got in. Tipped the girl $20. Said he saw people who ate and left without leaving a tip for the waitress.

YO, if you are guilty of NO TIP may I strongly make a suggestion you return and remedy the situation as soon as possible.

@TrueBlue63:

500-600 calories?

Boy you are dreaming light.

@DogiiKurugaa:

Damn right. Good bang for the buck.

All this for a free $6 breakfast? What a waste of time/money. Most of these people just spent way more that in gas, time, aggravation, etc.

Oh well.

Does the Pope shit in the woods? Is a bear catholic? McDonald's gets mobbed when they have a free small coffee offer. People love free shit and are willing to go through a lot of pain to get it.

@Maulleigh: If you don't do the math it's still not worth it.

i thought about going to a dennys today.

looked on their site for one close, none closer than 15 minutes.

decided it wasnt worth it to chance a free 4$ meal.

even working retail, my time is worth more than that!

@VOIDMunashii: I am always amazed at the free cone day at Ben and Jerry's. People wait for a couple of hours there, too just as you describe at the Baskin Robbins where you worked. I've always wondered, how many of them would stand in line for two hours if someone were handing out two dollars and fifty cents at the end of the line.

@Plates: That part is really not different than any time there's a line at most restaurants in the country.

@Davan: I used to work at a Denny's when I was in college. Considering the cost of the grand slam (about $0.25 10 years ago, adjust for inflation) and the fact that they did NOT include a free drink (cost about $0.002 per cup/glass for most stuff) I don't think it hurt them at all. Plus this filled the stores to capacity during a normally slow period in the middle of a week, I'll bet they made a profit on it over any normal Tuesday at most stores.

@u1itn0w2day: ... you do know the space comes after the period, correct?

@Corporate-Shill: I believe he was referring to splitting it with one (or two) other people.

In 30 years when this downturn is in the history books, they will write a sentence that resembles, "Things got so bad that people stood in line for hours when a chain of diners offered a free breakfast promotion."

@vitaminmax: I got his point. First they get paid minimum wage. If their tips don't equal minimum wage, the restaurant has to pay it out. So please don't lie about what they are paid.

Second, are you claiming you tip because people make minimum wage? The other guy tips because people have to work hard. I hope you tip at every business where people make minimum wage. Especially the people at movie theaters who legally get paid under minimum wage because their is a loop hole that lets you pay "trainees" like 50 cents less for the first couple of months.

@balthisar: I'm from Michigan, but I road trip south enough to know Waffle House. My friends were always "OMG WH!" and we went last year on a trip to KY and back. I wasn't that impressed.

Wow. I live down the street from Denny's and had no idea about this marketing stunt. I did see a MASSIVE line of people standing outside on my way to work, and it left me a little confused.

If you are in the market for a crap-breakfast, you can get a much bigger crap-breakfast at MCDonalds for $5, including a drink. Otherwise, I would suggest a local Mom'n'Pop, which costs a little more for much higher quality food!

@DogiiKurugaa: Yea, same here..Mine closed about 2 years ago. You always got a decent meal for the price but there service was really slow.

They were giving away nanerpusses, right?

Or is that nanerpi?

@xtc46: Right now the average price is 2 bucks a gallon. Even if they only got 20mpg that means they would have had to have traveled at least... how much is gland Slam?

Besides my guess is for some people gas is a necessity and any type of breakfast at a restaurant is a luxury, everyone likes a little luxury even when they might be down on their luck.

I had the day off so I decided to stop by the Denny's that is near my house and I had a pretty great experience. I probably spent about 45 minutes there including the time it took to be seated and wait for my food which was amazing considering how many people were there.

I generally prefer going to local breakfast joints but there aren't many places around here that are open at 2 AM where a group of people can go to sit around for two hours while drinking coffee and leaching the free wi-fi.