Where do kids eat free this summer? We've got the lowdown on restaurants and eateries offering free food for kids or child-friendly meals for just £1, throughout the summer holidays.
While you might find some cheap things to do with kids over the summer, school holidays usually mean the family budget is stretched thin. And with the unpredictable British weather, you might find you need to plan some last-minute indoor activities. If that sounds familiar you're not alone, and there are lots of ways that you can save money in the school holidays.
To help give you some inexpensive ideas, we've compiled this list of all the places kids eat free (or for just £1), so you can save money on keeping the kids fed. Our handy guide to the many great kid's dining deals you need to be aware of this summer holiday takes the stress out of hunting them down yourself. This will help to squeeze a little extra out of the weekly shop, and help you save some extra cash in the process.
Where do kids eat free?
When? Daily until 1 September 2024
Kids under eight eat free when accompanied by a full-price paying adult.
When? Ongoing
At London's Barbican Kitchen, children under 10 can get a free kid’s meal from the children's menu with every adult meal over the value of £10 purchased.
3. Beefeater
When? Ongoing
Two kids under 16 eat breakfast for FREE with every adult breakfast purchased.
4. Bella Italia
When? Sunday - Thursday
Kids eat free all day Thursday, or for just £1 between 4 and 6pm Sunday-Wednesday.
5. Bills
When? Weekdays until 30 August 2024
Up to two kids aged 10 and under can eat free ALL DAY until Friday 30 August (excluding Saturday & Sunday), if one adult orders any main dish (breakfast, lunch or dinner).
When? Ongoing
For every adult purchasing breakfast, TWO kids under 16 can eat breakfast for free. For more: brewersfayre.co.uk/en-gb/school-holidays
7. Burger King
When? From 19 August to 4 September 2024
Kids can get a free King Jr meal when an adult buys a burger meal via the Burger King App (which is available on Google Play and the App Store). Offer is not valid at Burger King's in motorway services, airports, train stations or holiday parks. And can only be used once per transaction.
When? Daily from 12 noon until 3pm
Get a free kid’s meal (from the children’s breakfast or lunch menu) per adult traditional or vegetarian main course lunch purchased. Offer is available daily from 12 noon until 3pm. £1 supplement applies to kid’s roast dinner on Sundays. Offer valid in Dobbies Restaurants with the exception of Beaconsfield, Hungerford, Keston, Andover, Lelant, Marple, Reading, York & Anchorwood.
9. Dunelm
When? Daily after 3pm
For every £4 spent in the Dunelm Pausa Cafe, kids can eat one mini main, two snacks and a drink for free. This offer is available after 3pm.
When? Ongoing
if you are an English Heritage member and spend at least £10 in participating cafes, you'll get two free child's lunch bags, including a sandwich, snack, sweet treat, juice box and fruit. Children must be under 18, and present at the time of purchase, and you must show a valid membership card.
11. Future Inns
When? Ongoing
At Future Inns in Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth, under 5's always eat for free with any meal purchased by an adult. This includes breakfast, lunch and evening dinner.
When? Ongoing
Kids aged 8 and under can eat free from the Ramsay kids menu when ordering an adult main meal from the a la carte menu. There is also the option to add a sweet treat for dessert for just £3.50 extra. Available at selected UK restaurants only – BSK Battersea Power station (weekdays only), Heddon Street Kitchen (weekdays only), all Bread Street Kitchen & Bars, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill, and Pizza East
13. Heathrow Airport
When? Until 1 September 2024
If you're flying between now and 1 September 2024, then remember that kids eat free when an adult chooses an item from the main menu. Participating restaurants only.
14. Morrisons Cafe
When? Ongoing
Kids under 16 eat free at Morrisons Cafe when an adult spends £5 or more on a meal. This is an ongoing offer.
15. OK Diners
When? Ongoing
For every adult purchasing a main course from the a la carte menu, a child under 10 can eat free from the children’s menu. This offer is available all day every day at all OK diners except those on the A1. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, discount or promotion.
16. Premier Inn
When? Ongoing
Interesting fact, you don't have to be staying to tuck into breakfast at a Premier Inn. Which is just as well as up to two under-16s can eat breakfast for free when one adult orders a full Premier Inn Breakfast or a Meal Deal.
17. Preto
When? Weekdays from 4pm
This Brazilian restaurant has an ongoing offer that kids (up to 10 years old and proof of age might be requested) eat free every week day from 4pm, with a maximum of one child for full-paying adult. You'll need to download a voucher and show it to a member of staff.
18. Purezza
When? Ongoing
For every full-paying adult at vegan Purezza pizzerias in Brighton, Hove, London, Bristol and Manchester, one child under 10 can choose a free mini pizza.
19. Sainsbury's Cafe
When? Daily from 11.30am
Kids eat a hot meal or lunch bag (kid's mains include one main, three sides and a piece of fruit) for free with every purchase of a hot adult meal over £5.50.
20. Subway
When? Daily until 25 August 2024
Get a free 4” Sub, snack, and drink, with any full price Footlong Sub or SubMelt, at participating venues.
21. The Real Greek
When? Ongoing
Get a free Kids Meal for every £10 spent by an adult. Offer includes Kids meal from Kids Menu, drink and ice cream/sorbet. One free kids’ meal per adult only. Available to all children under 12.
22. Tesco Cafe
When? Until 30 August 2024 (16 August in Scotland)
Get a free kids' hot Meal Deal, kids' breakfast or kids' Pick ‘n’ Mix deal per any adult item purchased in The Café for dine-in.
23. TGI Fridays
When? Ongoing
Kids eat free all day every day when Stripes Rewards Members purchase a full priced adults main meal. If you're not a Rewards Member, download the app before your visit and still claim your free food.
24. Travelodge
When? Ongoing
Up to two children aged 15 and under eat breakfast free per paying adult (excludes breakfast boxes).
25. YO! Sushi!
When? Weekdays until 30 August 2024
Kids aged 12 and under eat free all day (weekdays only), when dining with a full-paying adult (£10 minimum spend).
26. Whitbread Inns
When? Ongoing
Two children under 16 can eat breakfast for free with every adult breakfast purchased at any Whitbread Inns pub or restaurant.
In addition kids can eat for £1 at the following places:
1. Asda Cafe
When? Ongoing until end of 2024
Asda's Kids Eat for £1 all day, every day, will now continue until the end of 2024. Asda also provides free Ella's baby food pouches for children under 18 months with any purchase.
When? Wednesdays
On Wednesdays all day, kids can eat for £1 with every adult meal purchased.
3. Bella Italia
When? 4 - 6pm Sunday to Wednesday
Kids can eat for just £1 at Bella Italia with the purchase of any adult main meal.
4. Hungry Horse
When? Mondays only
Kids can eat for £1 with every adult meal purchased on Mondays only at Hungry Horse.
When? Monday to Friday, from 3pm
Choose from kid-friendly favourites like fish fingers, pasta, chicken wraps, pizza and veggie nuggets. For every adult 'sizzling meal', you’ll also get a kid’s main meal for £1.
Alternatively, if you can't afford to eat out there are some great meal-saving ideas below that will help you shop well for less.
How to feed the family for less
1. Make a list of household items you have
While making a list tells you what you need to get, it doesn’t tell you what you don’t need. You can shave a little off your shop each week by checking what you’ve already got at home. If you’re looking for a cheap food shop, this is also a good way to plan your meals. Rather than going for something that will require you to buy a whole host of new ingredients, take a look at what’s in the cupboard, fridge, or freezer, and base your meal plans around your existing ingredients.
2. Plan out meals for the week
Planning your meals is a must if you’re trying to shop on a budget, try money-saving store cupboard meal recipes and look up clever food hacks to keep our food fresher for longer. Making these changes means you can buy only what you need and make sure you’re not wasting money on food that will end up in the bin or uneaten. It enables you to focus on the items that you actually need rather than browsing the aisles and picking up whatever takes your fancy.
You can also add up how much the shop will be online and make adjustments if needed to manage your money using a spreadsheet, budgeting current account or app. The UK currently produces the highest amount of food waste in Europe, throwing out around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in just one year. Planning your meals effectively will help reduce the impact of food remaining unused with so many living in food poverty.
3. Stock up on the cheap basics
Most supermarkets do their own brand or cheaper version of essential items such as tinned tomatoes, beans, rice and pasta. You can often buy them in bulk or in much larger quantities, meaning that you can use them as staples for your meals for many weeks to come. Frozen fruit and vegetables are a cheaper alternative to fresh, and can be just as nutritious, as well as less wasteful.
Spices and dried herbs are another good shout when it comes to keeping your costs down, as they are relatively cheap and can save you from having to buy more expensive sauces or marinades. For an even cheaper shop, look for versions of these essentials in the world foods aisle.
4. Try to batch cook
Batch cooking is a great way to save money at the supermarket. Many people find this to be the case as batch cooking uses more individual ingredients, which tend to make for a much cheaper shop than ready meals. Ingredients will also stretch further in batch cooking with just a few simple additions, check out these best batch cooking recipes.
Sometimes batch cooking can mean that you end up eating the same meal over and over again. If you want to avoid this, try freezing some of your portions to have another week. It will also save you time, giving you more chances to explore the great outdoors.
5. Search for money off coupons online
Weekly food shops can be very expensive no matter how much you budget and plan. To try and reduce the costs, have a search for any coupons or discounts for supermarkets in your area. Printable coupons used to be the most commonly found, but in this digital age, finding them online and via apps is the most popular way of accessing them.
To find extra coupons and if your inbox can take it, signing up to newsletters can occasionally come with the reward of birthday freebies or money off vouchers for certain celebrations and occasions. Vouchercloud often has a list of the discounts available for the week ahead, and there are loads of other websites offering similar coupons or advice on how to get supermarket groceries for free.
6. Use reduced sections in supermarkets
If you aren’t too fussed about what you’ll be eating in the week ahead, the reduced section could be your best friend when it comes to saving on your shop. Larger supermarkets will often have plenty of reductions on items set to expire, and so you can pick up a few things to last you the week at a fraction of the cost.
The times supermarkets place the yellow "reduced" stickers on food can vary - although it is usually early in the morning, or into the evening just prior to closing. It's best to research when your local supermarket is likely to add the stickers, to enable you to go in at an optimum time and pick up the best bargains.
7. Try one meat-free day a week
Reducing your meat consumption can be beneficial for your wallet as well as your health and the environment. By switching out meat just one day a week, you could halve the price of one of your meals and reduce overall shopping bills by 1/3. This is another money-saving option that is also good for the planet, reducing emissions, deforestation and soil degradation.
Information from Oxford University shows that Vegan diets were the most likely to reduce food bills by one third, with vegetarian diets coming a close second. Flexitarian diets with low meat and dairy content reduced costs by 14 per cent. They concluded that pescatarian diets actually increased costs by up to two per cent.
Eat seasonally
Eating seasonally doesn't have to be difficult, and looking for the well stocked fruit and vegetables in the supermarket will indicate the seasonal ones - they'll be the most reasonably priced too because they won't have travelled very far to reach the shelves.
This handy fact sheet from Love British Food, has plenty of information regarding which meats, fruit and vegetables are in season. Not only will seasonal eating result in fresher and more nutritious meals, it will also reduce energy and O2 emissions, and support the local economy - a win all around.
For even more ways to make more of your food shop, and great ideas for cheap, quick and easy meals, look no further. One savvy shopper has shared how she saved £121 on monthly food bills by making one simple change.
