Simple gestures go a long way, especially when you’re saying thank you for something invaluable.
Shoney’s, a diner chain with locations around the Southeast, offers a 15% military discount all year. First responders, including police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians can also use the discount, according to the chain’s website.
To celebrate Veterans Day, Shoney’s also offers a free breakfast from its fresh food bar until 11 a.m. on Nov. 11.
How to Claim Your Military Discount at Shoney’s
Bring your valid military identification or current military ID with you to receive a 15% military discount at Shoney’s.
Service members and veterans can prove their status with several kinds of documentation, including:
Other forms of veteran or armed services identification may also work, such as a state-issued drivers license or ID card with a Veterans stamp or membership cards from veterans service organizations, such as Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Legion.
Other first responders may be eligible as well, with ID. Check with your local Shoney’s for more information.
2022 Shoney’s Veterans Day Free Meal
This year, Shoney’s is offering current and former military members a free breakfast from the fresh food bar until 11 a.m. on Nov. 11. You can find more info here.
Make Sure Your Location Is on Board
Call ahead to make sure your local restaurant participates in a special discount, and to make sure your form of ID will suffice. Locally-owned Shoney’s restaurants may have different discount policies than the corporate chain.
At its height in the late 1990s, Shoney’s had 1,300 locations around the country. Since then, the Nashville, Tennessee-based chain has retreated closer to its West Virginia roots with about 99 locations in 16 states, mostly in the southeast.
The remaining locations continue to offer Shoney’s buffet-style All-You-Care-To-Eat specials:
- All-You-Care-To-Eat Family Favorites on Monday
- Steak Night on Tuesday
- Endless Breakfast for Dinner on Wednesday
- All-You-Care-To-Eat Ribs Night on Thursday
- Endless Seafood on Friday
- Endless Seafood and Steak on Saturday
- All-You-Care-To-Eat Southern-Style Favorites on Sunday.
Shoney’s breakfast menu is another draw for customers. Most stores open at 6 am and have a full breakfast waiting when customers arrive.
Breakfast features include:
- All-Star Breakfast which includes about everything
- Shoney’s Steak Breakfast
- Pancake Breakfast (all you can eat!)
- Signature Slim Jim Omelet
- Create Your Own Omelet, a three-egg omelet with your choice of cheese and toppings.
Shoney’s: Seven Decades and Still Going
As highway construction and car ownership soared in 1947, Alex Schoenbaum opened the doors of the Parkette Drive-In in Charleston, West Virginia, according to the Shoney’s website.
Through a series of business deals, the drive-in merged with the existing Big Boy chain of restaurants in West Virginia and eventually developed the name Shoney’s. The “Big Boy” mascot survived into the 1980s as Shoney’s expanded around the nation, as did two menu favorites, the All-American and Big Boy burgers.
The chain developed a fuller menu as the decades passed and started to specialize in breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets for hotel guests and other travelers, the website said. Though smaller than in previous decades, the current chain of Shoney’s restaurants draws auto travelers alongside busy Interstates connecting Maryland, Ohio, Texas and Florida.