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Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch. Fast food restaurants love to entice hungry customers with offers of free food, and many of them are instant gratification. Most reward you just for downloading their app, signing up for text or email offers, or taking a short survey about your last visit. So if you don't have the patience to rack up points on a loyalty program over multiple visits, check out these ways to score free fast food right now.
BK always has a number of free offers available.
Get a free Whopper when you buy another.
Get a free Whopper, original chicken sandwich, or Croissan'wich with purchase of drink and fries (or coffee and hash browns) after you complete a survey at mybkexperience.com about your last experience within 48 hours.
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Yes, you can get free guac at Chipotle. All you have to do is sign up to be a member of their rewards program, and you get a free order of guacamole and chips with your first purchase.
Downloading the mobile app at McDonald's will get you access to a slew of freebies. You'll get a free large fries when you also sign up for MyMcDonald's Rewards in the app, plus a free vanilla cone, hash brown, McChicken or cheeseburger after your first purchase. You'll also get free medium fries every Friday (Fry-day, get it?) with any $1 purchase when you use the app. Make sure to check out the Deals section of the app for ever-changing freebies.
New members to the Taco Bell rewards program will get an instant coupon for a free chicken burrito supreme, though the free item changes occasionally. Give them your birthday and you'll get a free Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze.
There are many ways to score free stuff at Wendy's.
Download the app and then open the offers section, where you'll find rotating coupons like free any size soft drink with a purchase, or free small chili with any fry purchase.
Fill out the survey on the back of your receipt to get a free burger or chicken sandwich on your next purchase.
Make sure you add your birthday when you sign up for a rewards account to get a free Frosty on your special day.
This one requires some planning ahead, but you can buy a Frosty key tag in November each year to get free Frostys with a purchase the entire next calendar year.
Related: We Tasted All 9 Wendy's Breakfast Sandwiches and This Is the Best
Firehouse Subs, the sub shop known for its hot sauce selection, is giving away a free large drink when you sign up for its rewards program and buy a sub. If that's not good enough for you, you'll get a free medium sub once your birthday rolls around, too.
Sign up for the Blizzard Fan Club — who isn't a Blizzard fan? — and get an email for a buy one get one free Blizzard. Plus, check the bottom of your receipt because you can often score a free Dilly Bar by filling out a survey.
Long gone are the days of $5 Footlongs, but the ubiquitous free cookie offer will seemingly never die. Take the survey at the bottom of your receipt and you'll get an offer for a free cookie or drink on your next purchase.
If you sign up for MyCulver's rewards and finish your profile — it's just simple information like preferred location and favorite flavors of the day — you get a coupon emailed to you for a buy one get one free value basket. Enter your birthday for a free sundae that day.
When you join the MyPanera rewards program, you'll get a coupon for a free sweet or treat in your account in the app. You'll get the same thing when your birthday rolls around, and you'll get a free offer.
You'll get a freaky fast free sub at Jimmy John's when you sign up for the Freaky Fast Rewards program. The only catch is you earn it after you make your first purchase through the program, but you'll get a birthday freebie, too.
You can grab a free beverage just for signing up for DD Perks, Dunkin's rewards program. Plus, if you enter your birthday, you'll get a free beverage when that rolls around, too.
There are two ways to get free drinks at Sonic. First, sign up for their text offers — different than the app rewards— and you'll get a coupon for a free drink. Then use the code at the bottom of your receipt to get another free drink next time.
You'll get a free cup of queso (and chips, but those are always free here) when you sign up for the rewards program at Moe's. And get excited for your birthday, because you'll get a free burrito as well.
Those cheap tacos at Jack in the Box are crave worthy, and you can grab a pair for free with any purchase when you sign up for the restaurant's text or email promotions. It'll also unlock freebie coupons for items like mini churros.
Join Noodles Rewards and you'll get a free small entree after your first purchase. The most difficult part will be deciding between mac and cheese and Japanese pan noodles.
The reward for downloading and signing up for the Checker's loyalty app is points, not food, but in the app you can get a small shake for free with purchase.
Sign up for Popeye's Rewards in order to take advantage of their best deals. You'll get two free pieces of chicken with a $10 minimum order to enjoy right away. And check your receipt because you can get a 2-piece chicken tenders and biscuit if you fill out the guest feedback survey.
It's hard to go to Steak 'n Shake without getting a shake; it's in the name, after all. Sign up for the rewards club and you'll get a free shake with your first purchase.
There are two free tacos on the horizon when you sign up for Del Taco's rewards program, cleverly called Del Yeah! Rewards. Plus you'll get a free regular size shake on your birthday each year.
If you sign up for the email offers at Hardee's, you'll get a coupon for a free small fries and drink with the purchase of a burger — turn your burger into a combo meal for free, essentially.
Just sign up for the Zax Fan Club online or in their app and you'll get a free Big Zax Snak to munch on.
Related: The Best (and Worst) Fast-Food Spicy Chicken Sandwiches
The loyalty program at Quizno's, called Toasty Points, will award you $5 off any purchase just for signing up.
The receipts at Panda Express always have a way to claim free food on them. Just go to the website listed, fill out the quick survey, and you'll be rewarded with a free extra entree on your next visit.
This West- and Midwestern-based competitor to Taco Bell has a pretty sweet deal for downloading their app: a free small combo meal.
Everyone who craves White Castle should download the company's app. Once you sign up for the Craver Nation loyalty program, you'll get a coupon for a free combo meal.
Weirdly enough, Raising Cane's still uses actual cards for their loyalty program. So in order to score a free box combo meal, you need to go to a Raising Cane's location and sign up for the Caniac Club, then register the account online. Your coupon will be emailed to you.
