[CH] Such a deal!
John Benz Fentner, Jr. (johnfentner@home.com)
Tue, 13 Apr 1999 16:58:31 -0400
Free Lunches Offered for Tattoo
By DAVID KLIGMAN=
Associated Press Writer=
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Some people will do anything for a free
burrito.
A Mexican restaurant offered a lifetime of free lunches to
anyone willing to get a tattoo of its logo, Jimmy the Corn
Man, a sombrero-wearing mariachi boy riding a blazing
corncob. Just show the cashier the tattoo _ any size, on any
part of the body _ and get a free meal.
Since word of the promotion got out six months ago, 38
people have braved the tattoo needle for a permanent coupon
at Casa Sanchez.
A much-tattooed Guido Brenner has a coaster-size Corn Man
emblazoned under his right armpit, the only open space he
had left. ``Actually everybody's dug it, even my mom,'' he
said. ``She looked at me kind of funny and then I took her
there for lunch. She was like, `Wow, this restaurant is
really good.'''
Marty Sanchez, whose grandfather founded Casa Sanchez in
1927, came up with the idea while testing a color computer
printer. She taped a sign to the window with the
restaurant's logo that read, ``Tattoo me on yourself and get
free lunch for life.''
Her sister and brothers thought the idea was strange and
kept taking the sign down. She kept putting it back up. Two
nightclub employees who learned the promotion was no joke
took the plunge and spread the word.
Ribcages, calves, legs, arms and even buttocks have been
prime sites for the logo. `One guy said, `I want to get it
on my stomach because that's where my food is going to
go,''' said Barnaby Williams, the owner
of Mom's Body Shop who created about 30 of the Casa Sanchez
tattoos. ``I think people have gotten much stupider tattoos
for much stupider reasons.''
An $80 tattoo pays for itself after about a dozen lunches (a
$4.50 super burrito with sour cream, cheese and guacamole,
and a $1.75 Mexican beer). And given the restaurant's long
history and success (its chips and salsa are considered
among the city's best), few are worried that they will ever
lose their free lunch.
The family estimates it gives away only two meals a week,
and the tattooed who do come back feel a bit guilty.
`They get embarrassed about the not paying, so they always
leave big tips,'' Ms. Sanchez said.
Makes perfect sense to me. :)
JB
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John Benz Fentner, Jr.
Unionville, Connecticut, USA
http://www.geocities.com/~jbenz/
"Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis"
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