Free dental work, meals and other deals for veterans on Veterans Day

More and more businesses are offering free meals and other things to veterans and military personnel on Veterans Day to honor their service.

by Arnaldo Rodgers

The offers range from free coffee to a complete free meal.

One of the more unusual is free dental care.

Eastwood Dental Office is offering veterans a choice of a free cleaning, a filling or an extraction. All veterans need is proof that they are a veteran and they need to complete a short medical history form. The dental office is at 2326 James St., Syracuse.

Dr. Joan Laura says she offers the service to help veterans and to honor two veterans in her own family: her father, Dr. John Laura, also a dentist, a Korean War veteran, and her grandfather, Anthony Ross, a World War I vet.

An all-year freebie you might not know about: Onondaga Parks, starting in January, offers free admission to all its parks, including the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. (In past years, the zoo opened its doors free of charge on Veterans Day to veterans.)

Here’s a list of some of the deals offered for veterans*

(All offers are for Tuesday unless otherwise noted. Did we miss a good one? Share it with veterans in the comments below.)

• Applebee’s: Free meal for service members.
• Baskin Robbins: Donating 10-cents for each ice cream scoop to United Service Organizations (USO)
• California Pizza Kitchen: Free entrée from a special menu for all active-duty and retired military.
• Carraba’s: Free appetizer of your choice for active-duty service members and veterans.
• Chili’s: Free meal (7 choices) for active-duty service members and veterans.
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: Free dessert for service members and retired service members. Or, if not a vet, 10 percent of what you spend will be donated to the USO.
• Delta Sonic Car Wash: Free Super Kiss Car wash for all active-duty service members and veterans.
• Denny’s: All active, inactive and retired military get a free Grand Slam breakfast from 5 a.m. to noon.
• Friendly’s: Free breakfast, lunch or dinner to veterans and active military.
• Golden Corral: Free meal and beverage today, Nov. 10, 2014, from 5 to 9 p.m. for all active-duty service members and veterans.
• Hooters: Free entrée for all active-duty and retired military.
• IHOP: From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., free red, white and blue pancakes, or red, white and blue pancakes combo plate including eggs, bacon and hashed browns for all active-duty service members and veterans.
• Little Caesars: Free Crazy Bread for all active-duty service members and veterans.
• LongHorn Steakhouse: Free Texas Tonions and non-alcoholic beverages to veterans and active-duty service members.
• Perkins Restaurant & Bakeries: Free Magnificent Seven meal which includes two eggs, three buttermilk pancakes, and a choice of two bacon strips or two sausage links for all active-duty service members and veterans.
• Red Lobster: Free appetizer for active-duty service members and veterans.
• Red Robin: Free Red’s Tavern Double and Bottomless Steak Fries for active-duty service members and veterans.
• Ruby Tuesday: Free appetizer offered for active-duty service members and veterans.
• Starbucks: Free tall brewed coffee for active-duty, veterans and their spouses.
• T.G.I. Friday’s: Free lunch for all current military members and veterans from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Texas Roadhouse: Free lunch for active, former or retired military.
• The Olive Garden: Free entrée for veterans and active-duty military.
• Tim Hortons: Free donut to all active duty service members and veterans.
• Uno Chicago Grill: Free individual pizza or entrée with the purchase of a pizza or entrée of equal or greater value.

Two things to keep in mind:

• All deals require proof of military service or status as a veteran.
• You may want to contact the business you are going to; some deals are limited to “participating” restaurants or stores only.

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