Take Mom out for Mother's Day - to Hooters

Restaurants are doing much to lure mothers on Mother's Day, one of the most popular dining days of the year.

The higher-end places may be booked by now.

That's where casual comes in.

Which brings me to Hooters. The breastaurant chain, hoping to polish its image among the gender it objectifies, is offering a free entree to any mother who buys a drink and brings "one or more of her offspring."

Naturally, this has inspired all sorts of backlash, writes USA Today.

The paper rang up Broomall-based restaurant consultant Linda Lipsky, who opined: "It's like offering Weight Watchers customers a free meal with dessert at the Cheesecake Factory."

See, last year Hooters gave away wings. But Hooters is now touting its entree-size salads, which it believes are more popular among women. The chain says a recent makeover has boosted its female business; it was one in four customers and now is one in three.

If Hooters won't do the trick, there's always that Swedish destination Ikea, which is giving mothers a free breakfast plate and a cup of coffee from 10 to 11 a.m.

Wash it down with a free 6-ounce froyo from TCBY.

Or just cook for her. James Beard Award winners Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton offer some great and fairly easy breakfast ideas in this Inquirer article.

Any other freebies out there? Let me know.