Outback Steakhouse, Operation Homefront, & Tim McGraw Honor Military

I had the honor of being invited to a special luncheon last week, sponsored by Outback Steakhouse and in conjunction with Operation Homefront, which is a great organization that “assists military families during difficult financial times by providing food assistance in the form of food boxes and gift certificates to grocery stores.”

(Disclosure: I received a gift bag from Outback Steakhouse on the way out of the luncheon and was not compensated financially for attending OR for writing this post. Writing this post–all words and opinions are mine, by the way–was not required as a condition of attending.)

The event was lovely, and I was one of only a few bloggers there: the restaurant was full of military families, some who had been flown in from other parts of the country, and some with members of different generations serving or having served our country.

Oh, and Tim McGraw showed up, too. (Yes, THAT Tim McGraw.) He gave a lovely speech of thanks to the military and then made his way around to each and every table to chat–ours included. He and I talked about (what else?) Chicago: he loves my city. He grabbed some of our Bloomin’ Onion on his way to the next table (I think he was eating everybody’s Bloomin’ Onion but I can’t be sure!), and after he spoke with everyone, we were allowed to get our picture taken with him before he hit the road to get ready for his concert that night. Super nice guy, really.

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This picture provided by Outback Steakhouse.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch (featuring Outback’s new-and-available-for-a-limited-time-only “Steak Flights”. YUM.)

Steak Flights

Steak Flights aren’t the only thing that’s being offered for a limited time…

From May 27 through July 4, Outback is offering a Military Mates 10% off discount. The discount is open to Military Personnel who have one of the following forms of identification: 2013 U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card, U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card, Current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), Veterans Organization Card (i.e., American Legion and VFW), DD214 Certificate, Veteran Identification Card (VIC), Photograph in U.S. Uniform or wearing U.S. Uniform. Military Personnel with any of the foregoing forms of identification, will receive 10% OFF their entire guest check (excluding alcohol, applicable taxes and gratuity) May 27 – July 4, 2013.

Such a nice afternoon with Outback Steakhouse, Operation Homefront, and my new buddy Tim McGraw, and it was a nice opener for Memorial Day weekend. If you know of anyone in the military (active or not!), first thank them for their service and THEN please tell them about Military Mates. In fact, while you’re at it, please tell them that Melisa recommends the Steak Flights.

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