What To Expect When Dining At Chili's On Your Birthday

In recent years, TikTok and Instagram users across the internet have dedicated their birthdays (and birth weeks or birth months) to collecting free birthday items, from free birthday coffee and desserts to fast food birthday rewards and more. Beyond this thrifty trend, however, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't enjoy a little something special (and complimentary) for their big day. With this aim towards the complimentary in mind, you might be wondering what an American casual dining staple such as Chili's Grill & Bar has in store for guests celebrating the occasion.

Now, if you're hoping for a birthday freebie from Chili's, you're in luck. But there's a catch. Unlike restaurant celebrations of yore (read as: before every dining chain had their own app), which offered up a free slice of cake to anyone who claimed it was their birthday, Chili's now offers a free dessert via its My Chili's Rewards program. You'll need to sign up for My Chili's Rewards in order to get your free dessert (you'll also get free chips and salsa when you sign up), and Chili's will send you a code before and on your birthday for you to redeem your sweet treat either for dine-in or takeout. However, you will need to make a five-dollar purchase in order to redeem it. So we suppose there really is no such thing as a free lunch (or, rather, free dessert).

Of course, the full Chili's birthday experience goes far beyond its app-based birthday rewards. And even if you don't have or don't wish to sign up for a Chili's rewards program, you can still have a sweet birthday at the casual dining chain. If you let your server know that it's your birthday, you will receive a fun birthday serenade from the Chili's staff. Chili's celebration thankfully isn't as embarrassing as Texas Roadhouse's birthday ritual, which takes the cake for the most humiliating chain restaurant birthday. However, it will certainly draw attention from other diners. Along with this birthday song, if you're not a rewards member, you'll receive a free scoop of ice cream along with a "Happy Birthday" scrawled in chocolate sauce on a plate. It's certainly more spare than a free dessert, but it is a little something sweet to top off your day.

According to some insiders on the Chili's subreddit, your server may still comp a birthday dessert for you if it is your birthday. However, whether or not you're offered a free molten lava cake even if you aren't a rewards member depends almost entirely on the policies and practices of your local Chili's. Your Chili's may offer a free mini version of the cake as a middle ground, though, again, this is by no means a sure thing. So if you are dead set on getting your complimentary treat, you might want to go ahead and sign up for the rewards program just to be assured of your birthday freebie.