Free lunch

A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers and increase revenues from other business. The practice was once common in saloons and taverns in many places in the United States, with the phrase appearing frequently in U.S. literature from about 1870 to the late 1920s. These establishments included a "free" lunch, which varied from rudimentary to quite elaborate, with the purchase of at least one drink. These free lunches were typically worth more than the price of a single drink.^[1] The saloon-keeper relied on the expectation that most customers would buy more than one drink, and that the practice would build patronage for other times of day.

In the United States, the financial hardships of the Great Depression marked the virtual end of the free lunch for reasons of economy and it never really returned.^{[citation needed]} In contemporary times, many taverns and lounges offer free food during Happy Hour, along with low-priced drinks and other menu items. Free or lower priced food and drink is frequently supplied by gambling establishments such as casinos.

The concept of a free lunch is critiqued in the phrase "no such thing as a free lunch", popularized in part by authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and Milton Friedman.^[2]