There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but one of the owners of the Guelph Mandarin restaurant says 1,300 people were fed for free as part of a Canada Day promotion earlier this week.
On Monday, all 29 Mandarin restaurants across the country offered a free buffet to Canadian citizens as its way of saying thanks on Canada Day.
Over 1,300 people were served in Guelph on Monday, said Michael Lee, one of the managing partners for the local Mandarin location.
“We thought it was going to be about 1,000, but it was 33 per cent more than we were expecting,” said Lee.
The influx of customers led to the line being closed a little earlier than expected, said Lee.
“We tried our best to serve as many as we could,” said Lee. “There were some we had to turn away.”
Despite that hiccup, Lee said the day went well.
“The turn out was good and all of the customers seemed happy,” said Lee.
He said staff were thankful that many customers paid the generosity forward to the restaurant’s staff.
“Our service staff worked so hard just to make sure everyone is happy,” said Lee. “They were very grateful that customers tipped, every though it was a free meal.”
The company expected to give out 40,000 spring rolls, 2,500 pounds of rice, 65,000 sweet and sour chicken balls and 40,000 fortune cookies during the one-day event throughout its 29 locations.
The promotion was a part of the Mandarin’s 40th anniversary celebration.
Lee said the company has been giving out free meals on Canada Day every five years since it opened.
He said he hopes to see the promotion run again in 2024.
“It’s all completely up to head office,” he said.
