Birthday freebies can take the cake
By Amy Crocker
May 5, 2008 9:27 p.m.
Today is my birthday, so I’ve been thinking for a while about all the different fun things one could possibly do on this holiday of holidays.
Birthdays are the one time of the year when you can throw whatever sort of party you want, because it’s all about you. But with school and work, it can be difficult to find time for the blowout celebration of your dreams, and focus tends to shift toward gathering people as opposed to being outrageous.
Those students of legal age can go to bars, but I remember turning 19 and 20 in Westwood, living in the dorms and feeling like I had extremely limited options.
And though its importance decreases exponentially with age, the question of “What can I get?” also tends to creep into mind once a year. Combine this thought with the fact that, as college students, we tend to gravitate toward free food and suddenly visions of waiters bringing a free slice of cake with a candle start looking good.
Local restaurants can be nice low-key birthday celebration venues. You can get a large group together, and you won’t have to clean up after any of them or worry about getting written up.
But before you head out to dinner, you want to be sure they will be giving out good stuff. In the mood for a birthday serenade? Or maybe a free sundae? I called a few places around town to see what they would offer a birthday dinner guest.
Several places I called, like Jerry’s Deli, Bombay Bite and Tengu, said they did not have any set specials. Other places, like C&O Trattoria, will sing to you in Italian, but they do not give out free desserts anymore. I take this decline to mean that people have been abusing the honor system. (Waiters generally do not ask for proof of birthday.) So use this information for good. Try to only ask for a special if it’s your birthday or if your birthday is 10 months away when you’ve had a particularly bad Monday. And if you do get a dessert for free, you sort of have to tip the waiter pretty well ““ nothing is entirely free.
Palomino: gives you a slice of tiramisu cake.
Acapulco: sings “Happy Birthday” with a mariachi band.
Tomodachi: gives you scoops of orange, mochi or green tea ice cream, depending on availability.
Chili’s: gives you scoops of ice cream.
Cafe 50’s: gives you a free scoop of ice cream and plays a birthday song on the jukebox.
California Pizza Kitchen: lets you pick whatever dessert you want from the dessert menu, usually a sundae or a brownie, and they will put a candle on it.
C&O Trattoria: no free desserts, but they will sing “Happy Birthday” to you in Italian.
BJ’s Restaurant: gives you a free pizookie (cookie pizza with ice cream).
If you think 22 is over the hill, do not e-mail Crocker at [email protected].
