Six restaurants give teachers a real discount you can use any day of the year, not just the one week in May everyone else is talking about. The highest number among them doesn’t come from a steakhouse. It comes from a fast-casual chain most people would guess pays less.
Searching “[restaurant] teacher discount” usually turns up a page about a free sandwich or a free coffee from last May’s Teacher Appreciation Week. That page isn’t wrong, it’s just describing something that already happened and won’t come back until next spring. The six discounts below work today, whatever month it happens to be, no appreciation-week timing required.
Panda Express: Up To 20% Off, The Highest On This List
Show a valid school ID or proof of certification in-store for up to 20% off. Participation varies by location, so it’s worth confirming with your specific Panda Express before counting on it, but this is the highest standing rate of anything on this list, steakhouses included.
Full details in our Panda Express guide.
Texas Roadhouse: 10% Off The Entire Bill
10% off your whole check with a valid school ID, dine-in, at participating locations. It excludes alcohol, gift cards, and combining with any other discount or promotion.
Full details in our Texas Roadhouse guide.
Outback Steakhouse: 10% Off With A School ID
Same mechanism as Texas Roadhouse: show a valid school ID at participating locations for 10% off. Confirm with your specific location before planning a big group order around it, since participation isn’t guaranteed chain-wide.
Full details in our Outback Steakhouse guide.
Peet’s Coffee: 10% Off, But Only Online
Verified through ID.me for 10% off sitewide at peets.com. The catch worth knowing before you plan around it: this is online-only. It isn’t valid at Peet’s physical coffeebars, or at Peet’s locations inside airports, supermarkets, or other licensed retail spots. It also only applies to a one-time purchase or the first order of a new subscription, not to every recurring subscription charge after that.
Full details in our Peet’s Coffee guide.
Sonic’s Teachers’ Circle: Not A Percentage, A Standing Program
This one doesn’t work like the others. Sign up in the SONIC app (profile icon, Account, “I’m a Teacher”) and you get ongoing access to offers exclusive to verified teachers, with extra freebies layered on during Teacher Appreciation Week and back-to-school season. There’s no single fixed percentage to quote because the offers rotate, but the access itself is real and standing, not a one-week thing.
Full details in our Sonic guide.
Noodles & Company: $15 Off Catering Orders Over $100
Narrower than the rest of this list: this is a catering discount, not a per-meal one. Noodles Rewards members get $15 off catering orders of $100 or more using the code THANKSTEACHERS. Useful for a staff lunch or a PD day order, not a solo dinner.
Full details in our Noodles & Company guide.
The One That Used To Be Real: Zaxby’s
Zaxby’s own newsroom once announced a real teacher and nurse promotion, a free boneless wings meal. It’s gone now. Multiple current sources describe the discount as discontinued, and nothing on Zaxby’s current site names a standing teacher rate. If you’ve seen a list claiming Zaxby’s still offers one, it’s describing something that used to be true.
Full details in our Zaxby’s guide.
Chains People Assume Have One, And Don’t
IHOP, Cracker Barrel, Chili’s, McDonald’s, and Chipotle all get checked directly on ID.me’s own discount pages, and all five come back the same way: “We’re not aware that [chain] offers Teachers discounts.” Buffalo Wild Wings and Golden Corral have no standing program either, just a military-only freebie at Buffalo Wild Wings and a Teacher Appreciation Week-only rate at Golden Corral. Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, El Pollo Loco, Waffle House, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Qdoba, Five Guys, Jersey Mike’s, Caribou Coffee, and Tim Hortons round out the list of major chains with nothing standing to offer. Culver’s, Jimmy John’s, Domino’s, Bojangles, and Subway all leave it up to the individual franchise owner, which means the answer genuinely depends on which specific location you walk into, not a number this site can promise chain-wide.
Q&A
Q: Why do so many “teacher discount” pages describe things that aren’t available right now?
A: Most of them are describing a real Teacher Appreciation Week promotion from a past May and not making clear it was a one-week event. Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Dunkin’, Krispy Kreme, Applebee’s, Papa John’s, Firehouse Subs, and Shake Shack have all run genuine one-day or one-week teacher deals in early May, and none of them has a standing discount the rest of the year.
Q: Is Applebee’s “VIP Teacher Appreciation Card” something I can request?
A: No. It’s a prize for winning Applebee’s Teacher of the Year award, not something available to teachers generally.
Q: My local [chain] gives teachers a discount and it’s not on this list. What’s going on?
A: Several chains here (Culver’s, Jimmy John’s, Domino’s, Bojangles, Subway) have no corporate program but leave discounts up to individual franchise owners. Your specific location may genuinely offer one even though the company as a whole doesn’t.
Q: Does the Panda Express or Outback discount work at every location?
A: Not guaranteed. Both name “participating locations” in their own terms, so confirm with your specific restaurant before counting on it for a group order.
More Information:
Every discount above was checked directly on the chain’s own site or its verification partner’s page, not copied from another list. Terms and participation change, so confirm at your specific location before a big order.
