It was the first thing many people thought when free meals were offered to celebrate the official opening of The Bowling Club food truck’s permanent home in South Rd, Caversham yesterday.
Usually, there was no such thing as a free meal, but on this occasion, it appeared there was such luck.
Business co-owner Jackie Bannon said people queued out the door for much of the afternoon and about 500 meals were given away.
"We do normally have set prices, but the opening is special, so all the mains were free.
"We did the same thing to celebrate when we opened the food truck last year, and it felt really good.
"So we decided to do it again."
When customer Dean Mooynan, of Green Island, heard about the new eatery, he was so sceptical about "the free food" that he refused to believe it was free until he reached the front of the queue and was told there would be no charge.
"I didn’t know it was free. I’m prepared to pay.
"It’s also great for the community. It’s much needed and it’s nice to have some caring stuff going on when there’s so much hardship and food prices are so expensive right now."
The menu was always changing from day to day, but in general, it was "healthy, wholesome and homely food", Ms Bannon said.
"Consistently on the menu, we always have a baked mac‘n cheese."
Mains were usually $4 each, drinks and desserts were $3 and it cost 50c extra to take food away, she said.
But if customers found themselves short of cash for a meal, there was a system in place to help.
"We have a little pay-it-forward jar, and people always put money in it.
"On average, we get about $100 in the jar each night which is enough to give free food to those who can’t afford it."
It was one of the many things that had made the business so popular so quickly, she said.
