Holy cow! Chick-fil-A giving away free entrée to those in proper attire

Cowabunga, dude!

Chick-fil-A, home of the classic fried chicken sandwich and waffle fries, is preparing for its Cow Appreciation Day once again.

The event takes place from opening until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, with those people who dress up like a cow — or simply wear a cow-like accessory — receiving a free entrée from the Atlanta-based chain’s breakfast, lunch/dinner and kid’s meal menus.

That means those interested in participating can merely wear a T-shirt with a cow on it to land a free sandwich, chicken nuggets or cool wrap from the menu. Or they can go full bovine crazy by perhaps breaking out a full-body black-and-white cow Halloween costume and strutting their stuff before other less-enthusiastic diners at their favorite Chick-fil-A outlet.

(Read more: Chick-fil-A fans gather for free meals)

(Read more: Chick-fil-A set to open doors in Columbus with traditional giveaway)

Either way, it’s a big deal for the company founded by the late S. Truett Cathy. His first restaurant was called “Dwarf House” and located in Hapeville, Ga., which today is just north of Atlanta’s international airport. In 1961, Cathy began to focus on the merits of chicken, then launched the first Chick-fil-A at an Atlanta-area mall in 1967. There are now nearly 2,200 eateries in 46 states and Washington, D.C.

“Cow Appreciation Day is Chick-fil-A’s largest, single-day customer appreciation event and celebrates the quick service chain’s iconic ‘Eat Mor Chikin’ Cows,” the company said on its appreciation day web page, which notes the event started in 2005 and has expanded nationwide since.

There are a few ground rules for the appreciation day of which participants should be aware. Those wearing “anything cow-like” receive one free entrée, while children doing so get a kid’s meal. Entrée salads are not part of the giveaway in order to “simplify the experience” for customers and employees. Free entrées for the day must be redeemed in restaurants and not using the Chick-fil-A mobile app.

Chick-fil-A has several locations in the Columbus-area, including one that just opened at the corner of Manchester Expressway and Armour Avenue.

All of that said, here are the menu items available on Cow Appreciation Day:

Breakfast entrée includes:

▪ Egg white grill

▪ Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit

▪ Chick-fil-A spicy chicken biscuit

▪ Chick-n-minis (3- or 4-count)

▪ Chicken or sausage breakfast burrito

▪ Chicken or sausage, egg, and cheese bagel

▪ Bacon or sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit

▪ Greek yogurt parfait

▪ Fruit cup (any size)

Lunch/dinner entrée includes:

▪ Smokehouse BBQ bacon sandwich

▪ Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich

▪ Chick-fil-A chicken deluxe sandwich

▪ Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich

▪ Chick-fil-A spicy chicken deluxe sandwich

▪ Grilled chicken sandwich

▪ Grilled chicken club sandwich

▪ Grilled chicken cool wrap

▪ Chick-fil-A nuggets (8- or 12-count)

▪ Chicken salad sandwich; Chick-n-strips (3-or 4-count)

▪ Small hand-spun milkshake (operator discretion), small iced coffee, small frosted coffee or small frosted lemonade

Kid’s meal

▪ Chick-n-strips (1- or 2-count)

▪ Chick-fil-A nuggets (4- or 6-count)

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Holy cow! Chick-fil-A giving away free entrée to those in proper attire."