Chic-fil-A Offers Free Meal for New Mothers-Truth! & Fiction!

Chic-fil-A Offers Free Meal for New Mothers-Truth! & Fiction!

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Summary of eRumor:
Discussion forums and social media have been abuzz with reports that Chic-fil-A offers a free meal for new moms.
The Truth:
It’s true that some Chic-fil-A locations offer a free meal for new moms — but it’s not a companywide promotion.
Rumors about a free lunch for new moms at Chic-fil-A date back years. Pregnancy discussion boards are filled with threads about how if new moms-to-be register at a local restaurant and provide their home address, that Chic-fil-A will deliver a free meal to them:

Then, in April 2016, a post about the new mom promotion at Chic-fil-A went viral on Facebook:

Attention expecting moms. If u contact ur closest chic fil a close to ur due date or right after u have the baby they offer a new mom meal for FREE. It’s a small platter, 4 large fries or fruit, a gallon of lemonade or tea, and cookies. Pretty cool!!!! So ladies, contact them when its time for this awesome deal. Tag expecting mothers u know.

In-store promotions at Chic-fil-A like this one have caused confusion in the past. Last year, it was widely reported that all Chic-fil-A restaurants had a “missing man table” set to honor combat veterans who have gone missing in action. We found that a number of restaurants in the Atlanta market had elected to do that, but that it wasn’t a companywide policy. Click here for that story. The same is true for the free meal for new mothers claim.
There’s no definitive list of Chic-fil-A locations that offer free meals for new mom. Thanks to a Houston-based mom blog, however, we can confirm that some restaurants in the area were offering the promotion as of the beginning of January 2015:

Many Chick-fil-A locations deliver a New Mommy Meal when you are home from the hospital with your newborn. It’s a small nugget tray, fruit tray, a gallon of sweet tea and a gift for baby. You can sign up in their restaurant, or call your local Chick-fil-A to see if they participate in this program.

And the free meal for new moms has also undoubtedly been confused with Chic-fil-A’s “Mom Valet” or “Mommy VIP Service” that some locations rolled out in early 2016. The service enables parents to place an order at the drive-thru window, and then an employee will make up a table inside for the family so they don’t have to stand in line.
Again, the only sure way to know exactly what promotions and services your local Chic-fil-A locations offer to mothers is to check with individual restaurant operators.