The summer holidays are upon us and many parents will be well familiar with these classic phrases: ‘Can I have a snack?' and ‘I’m bored’. It can prove costly to feed and entertain the kids for six whole weeks without the respite of school, but a number of businesses are setting out to give mums and dads a break this summer.
The last thing you want to be doing is spending the whole summer in the kitchen, at least not if the weather remains as it has been this week through until September, but dining out can get expensive.
So we’ve been looking at all the restaurants and cafes where kids can eat for FREE or for £1 over the holidays. From unlimited breakfasts to three course meals, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at a reduced cost.
Most of the offers require a paying adult or a minimum spend, but some, like supermarket café Asda have no adult spend requirements to access the £1 meal - and in some places two children can eat for free with just one adult.
As the cost of living crisis continues, these offers should help you save a bit of cash while you try and find things to do over the summer holidays.
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer have brought back their popular Kids Eat Free deal for the October school holidays. The much-loved offer has returned to M&S cafes today (Monday 17) and will run until October 28.
To claim the deal, £5 or more must be spent on an adult’s food or drink for young cafe visitors to enjoy a main, snack and drink from the Kids’ Munch Menu for free. There’s only one free kids’ meal available per transaction, but the offer can save families up to £3.95 on their visit depending on whether they pick a breakfast or lunch meal.
Hot mains include pancakes with blueberries and honey, jacket potato with sausage and baked beans or a ham and cheese toastie, alongside cheese and tomato pasta and pizza options.
Alternatively, kids can pick up a ham mini roll or cheesy triangle sandwich from the Café chillers. All purchases in the café are also eligible for a free piece of fruit for kids, meaning children can get a four-piece meal for free over the holidays.
See the website here for more details.
Frankie and Benny’s
American Italian restaurant Frankie and Benny’s has ditched their ‘kids eat free’ offer for the October half term - and replaced it with something even better. Instead of children eating free with every adult meal, Frankie and Benny’s has flipped the offer on its head and is giving adults the chance to eat free, when dining with a child, of course.
To get your meal for free at Frankie and Benny’s, all you have to do is bring a child under the age of 11. Guests can choose one free adult’s meal for every one child’s set menu paid for, including small eaters, big eaters and kid’s gluten-free.
On the small eaters menu, kids can choose a drink, main, side and dessert for £6.49, while big eaters are charged at £7.99. Some of the menu items on offer include chicken or vegan nuggets, bolognaise or even pizza. All the children’s meals are served with a veggie pot of cherry tomato, cucumber and pepper sticks.
The dishes adults can choose from for free include the margarita pizza, bolognese pasta, arrabbiata pasta, cheeseburger and the classic dog, saving up to £11.90.
To get the great offer, sign up on email via the website, you will be sent a QR code which must be shown on your phone or tablet in the restaurant. The QR code can only be used once between October 24 and 28.
Asda
Asda launched their kids eat for £1 deal in summer, and were originally going to run it from July 25 to September 4. In August, they announced that the offer would be extended until the end of the year.
With no adult spend required, kids can eat for £1 all day, every day in Asda cafes across the UK. Depending on the store, a hot meal or cold meal, or both, will be on offer.
Children aged 16 and under can access the deal, originally designed to tackle school holiday hunger. Other offers from Asda include free Ella’s baby food pouches for children under 18 months with any purchase, and 10 per cent off for over 60s on Wednesdays. See the website for more details.
Toby Carvery
Children can get a meal for just £1 over the half-term week when you order an adult meal, saving around £3.99.
The Kids Eat For £1 offer will run from October 24 to 28 and parents will need a voucher to claim the offer, which you can get by downloading the app or signing up to the newsletter. Customers will also get a ‘complimentary drink’ for signing up to the newsletter.
Dunelm, Pausa Cafe
If you're having to take the kids cushion shopping, or are hoping to pick up some new bits for the garden, then you could always stop off at Dunelm's Pausa Cafe over the holidays.
Kids can get a free mini main, two snacks and a drink for every £4 spent in the cafe after 3pm Monday to Friday.
The offer originally launched in summer and is continuing throughout the year, which means you can get the deal in half term from October 24 to October 28.
Whitbread Inns
Two kids under 16 can eat free when adults purchase one £9.50 breakfast at any Whitbread Inns pub or restaurant.
The unlimited breakfast includes eggs, premium sausages and back bacon rashers, hash browns and black pudding, with unlimited tea, coffee and juice. Breakfast is served daily until 10.30am midweek and 11am at weekend, costing £9.50 for full English and £7.50 for continental.
The Real Greek
Located inside the Trafford Centre, The Real Greek sees kids eat free on Sundays. Children under 12 get to choose a kids meal, a drink and an ice cream or sorbet from the menu for every £10 adult spend.
The Trafford Centre restaurant opened earlier this year, hot on the heels of the first Manchester opening for the Real Greek at The Corn Exchange in the city centre in December. See the website for more details.
Sizzling Pub & Grill
Taking the whole family out for a weekday meal can prove costly, but for every adult Sizzling meal, you’ll also get a kid’s main meal for £1 at Sizzling Pub & Grill venues.
There are loads of venues to choose from, including The Haddon Hall in Droylsden, Henry Boddington in Salford, Wilton Arms in Middleton and The White Hart in Heywood. You can put your postcode in here to find a pub nearest to you.
There’s a huge range of children’s dishes, from fish fingers, to pasta, chicken wraps, pizza and Birdseye Green Cuisine nuggets, promising ‘something for all the family’.
The offer runs from Monday to Friday between 3pm and 7pm, with one £1 kids meal available with the purchase of every one adult main bought in the same transaction.
Beefeater / Table Table / Brewers Fayre
Other places kids can enjoy breakfast on the house is at Beefeater, Table Table and Brewers Fayre restaurants. For every adult buying a breakfast, two children under 16 get to eat for free.
The unlimited breakfast includes eggs cooked just the way you like them, and from premium sausages to back bacon rashers, hash browns and black pudding, you can build your breakfast to your taste. AND there’s unlimited tea, coffee and juice.
Breakfast is served daily until 10.30am midweek and 11am at weekends, costing £9.50 for full English and £7.50 for continental.
For more details visit www.beefeater.co.uk.
Tesco
Tesco also has a Kids Eat Free deal this half-term. Parents have to spend just 60p at a Tesco café to get their child a meal worth up to £3.25.
The deal is available across the country between October 17 and 28, but you will need to have a Clubcard to claim it. Manchester shoppers can find Tesco cafes at Salford, Cheetham Hill, Stretford, Failsworth, Middleton, Stockport, Baguley, Oldham Chadderton and Walkden.
Morrisons
Kids can eat for free in Morrisons cafes nationwide all day, every day with every adult meal.
The offer applies with each adult meal ordered over £4.99 and can be used for children under 16. Youngsters can order from the kids menu or the chilled kids snack pack.
As well as the meal, children will receive a piece of fruit and Tropicana Kids Orange or Apple drink or bottle of water. See the website for more details.
Bill's
At both their Spinningfields and the Trafford Centre venues,diners at Bill’s can feed the family for less with the return of their Kids Eat Free deal. From Monday, October 24 to Friday, October 28, up to two children can eat a meal for free all day, if one adult orders any main dish (breakfast, lunch or dinner).
The children’s menu features family faves including Bill's famous buttermilk pancakes, mac and cheese, and fish fingers and chips. Find out more on the Bill's website here.
Hungry Horse
Kids can fuel up on a free breakfast at Hungry Horse venues over the holidays.
The offer, running daily from 7am to noon, is available at all open Hungry Horse pubs nationwide, including the Flying Horse in Heald Green, the Hornet in Rochdale, and the Matchstick Man in Salford.
Little ones can choose a kids breakfast worth up to £2.49 for free when you buy an adult breakfast for at least £3.49, however, there is a minimum spend of £5.98 for the discount to apply, with a maximum of two kids breakfasts free per one paying adult.
The deal will run from October 21 to October 31.Visit the website here for more details.
Farmhouse Inns
Whether it's Applewood Farm in Worsley, Ash Tree Farm in Ashton, or Barley Farm in Eccles, kids eat for £1 deal is back at Farmhouse Inns.
Children can choose a small breakfast, a kids meal or a junior carvery for a quid and up to two children can eat with every adult purchasing a main meal or carvery.
The deal is only available as an email-exclusive voucher, which means parents will need to sign up to the mailing list to access the offer.
The deal runs from Monday to Saturday throughout the school holidays, but you’ll need to sign up to their mailing list before October 26.
Bella Italia
Children can eat for £1 with any adult main meal, and the offer is valid from 4pm to 6pm from Monday to Thursday. The children’s meal includes up to three courses and a pressed fruit water.
The Piccolo menu is aimed at children aged two to six years, with the Grande for seven to 11-year-olds. Dishes include meatballs, bolognese, carbonara and pizza and the deal includes three courses and a fruit water.
The Italian restaurant chain also has activity packs to keep little ones entertained during their visit.
To find your nearest Bella Italia, including restaurants at Salford Quays, Horwich and Manchester Arndale, visit the website here.
YO!
Japanese street food and sushi favourite YO! is letting children under 10 eat free all day from Monday to Friday, taking the pressure off weekday dinners.
Kids can tuck into one of the kiddo bento boxes for free, for every £10 spent by an adult. A maximum of three children per booking can eat for free.
YO!’s mini bento boxes contain a main, side and drink, as well as a side of popping edamame beans, and usually cost £7.30. And don't forget to check the back of the menu for puzzles, quizzes and stuff to draw while you're waiting for you food to hit your table.
The offer is valid from Monday to Friday until October 28. Visit the website for more details.
IKEA
From October 11, children can enjoy any meal from the children's menu for 95p in IKEA stores. A combo meal option is also available for £1.50, which includes one hot meal, jelly, a soft drink and a piece of fruit.
Yard & Coop
The home of buttermilk fried chicken, otherwise known as Yard & Coop, is also offering a kids eat free deal.
At their Northern Quarter restaurant, kids can get a free meal with every adult main ordered from Monday to Friday during the school holidays.
The deal is applicable between 12pm and 7pm, with Lego and crayons on hand to keep everyone entertained.
The children's menu includes the likes of Nugz - boneless fried chicken - and the veggie option Not Chicken Nugz or vegan chicken. Reserve a table by calling 0161 710 2570, visit the website at www.yardandcoop.com, or just walk in on the day.
Dobbies Garden Centre
At Dobbies Garden Centre cafes, like at Altrincham, kids eat free with an adult main meal. The offer includes the kids lunch menu or pick ‘n’ mix meal, plus a drink, and is available daily from noon.
The pick ‘n’ mix meal, worth £5.20 allows little ones to choose from a ham, cheese or tuna sandwich, three snacks from jelly, crisps, biscuits and banana loaf, followed by a drink like a Capri-Sun or Innocent smoothie.
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