Celebrate the History of the “Free Lunch” on March 29 at the Tenement Museum

Hanging with a couple of 19th century Free Lunch Fiends. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

We just wanted to remind you that March 29th is the rain date (er, snow date) for our party at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum to celebrate the history of the Free Lunch, the late 19th century tradition when every bar in the city put out free snacks — sometimes on the order of a massive all you can eat buffet — to keep their drinkers from ordering their beer elsewhere. The night includes beers from Brooklyn Brewery and traditional Free Lunch foods like pretzels, wursts, pickled oysters, herring and pickles, and best yet, a lecture on the concept by culinary historian and 97 Orchard author Jane Ziegelman. We profiled Jane and her research on Free Lunch for the party on our weekly NY1 show a few weeks back, and we also ran the full Q&A right here, too.

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