Parking lot campout nets good food, new friends

Most of you probably know by now about the new burger and beer joint – Roadhouse Jack’s – in the Target shopping center in Gilroy. I got an interesting introduction to the restaurant last Saturday night … er, Sunday morning, when the grand opening was held.
When my friend (and newspaper photographer) Lora called Saturday and said she and her burger-loving husband, Ross, were going out Sunday to try and get in on the year’s worth of free food for the first 100 customers, I had to join in. She said they’d meet me at the restaurant at 7 a.m. Sunday.
I’ve gotten in lines for various things in the past – when I was much younger – including movies and hockey playoff tickets, and I remember tents pitched in parking lots and sleeping bags laid out on sidewalks. But never for free burgers … so I wondered how many people would actually show up for such a promotion. Would we be the only ones? Or would 7 a.m. even be early enough?
It became clear Sunday morning that Lora and Ross wondered the same thing, when my phone went off about 4 a.m. with a text: “Ross wanted to head down earlier, so we’re leaving in five minutes.”
Being a light sleeper – and often non-sleeper – I was already awake and headed to Roadhouse Jack’s to join my two friends, who even brought an extra chair for me.
Pulling into the lot in the pre-dawn darkness, I saw several tents set up in the parking area, along with a line of folks wrapped in hats, hoodies and blankets, playing on cell phones and tablets and reading books. A group had brought a heater attached to a propane tank to keep warm, and toward the front of the line there was even a sofa, where three young men napped, covered to their chins in a mound of blankets.
It became clear to me that people saw the chance for free food as a really big deal.
After receiving several “good morning” welcomes, our group of three got in the back of the line, estimating there were about 70 people ahead of us. And the line continued to grow behind us, including a mom and son from Hollister who joined the line right behind me.
We settled in for the six-hour wait until the opening, hunkering down in the chairs in our hats and heavy coats. I pulled out a book and my iPad; Lora got out her laptop and started watching episodes of “CSI”; and Ross put in headphones and zoned out.
After what seemed like a couple of hours sitting in the cold, dark morning, I looked at the clock on my iPad.
“Well that can’t be right,” I thought to myself as it said only about 45 minutes had passed. So I asked Lora to confirm; She chuckled and said indeed, it hadn’t even been an hour.
It was going to be a long wait.
There were chats with other people waiting out in the cold, walks to and from Starbucks for drinks to warm our insides and bathroom breaks at the Shell station and Panera (once they opened).
Eventually, the sky began to lighten, people began to rouse from tents, from sleeping bags and from under comforters. We could finally see the faces of those around us – which ranged from teens to seniors – and could see there were well over 100 people. Yet people continued to join in.
Employees began to show up and organize the line so they could get a head count and sign up the first 100. Our group of three were nos. 64, 65 and 66. We made it!
Soon, there was a ribbon-cutting, and classic cars were brought into the lot for display, a clown showed up to entertain the kids with balloon animals and a radio station set up and played music.
Once Roadhouse Jack’s officially opened, 10 people were allowed in at a time, as to not overwhelm the cooks and the seating. At about 11:30 a.m., we made it to the front, were given our laminated “free burgers” card and ordered. Even as we ate really good burgers and chicken sandwiches, there was still a line of people outside winding around the building and into the drive-through area.
Was it really worth it, to wait a total of about seven hours to get one free burger a month for one year? (No one knew how many free burgers we’d get until they opened, and there was some disappointment felt throughout the line.) My honest answer would have to be, well, probably not. But hanging out with two friends – and hundreds of strangers – on what felt like a parking lot campout, was an experience in itself.
And that was worth it.