It doesn't get any cheaper than free. And Tuesday's corporate promotion of a free Grand Slam breakfast at area Denny's restaurants drew hungry patrons looking for a real bargain.

Grand Slam breakfasts of two eggs, two sausage links, two strips of bacon and two pancakes went flying out of the kitchen at the Merrillville Denny's on U.S. 30 Tuesday. The promotion, which ended at 2 p.m., took a shot at attracting customers to the business during a recession in which more Americans then ever are pinching their pennies.

Denny's promoted the freebie heavily, with a 30-second ad that aired during the third quarter of the Super Bowl Sunday, another 15-second ad during the post-game show and a full page ad in USA Today's Monday editions. The company reported 14 million hits on its Web site between Sunday night and Monday morning. And on Tuesday, service to the Web site was unavailable.

"We started at 6 a.m., and by 10 we had already served 518 free Grand Slam breakfasts," said General Manager Lauri Vallejo. "We have 1,200 breakfasts to serve."

Customers waited in a line outside the restaurant, braving temperatures in the single digits and a brisk north wind for a free breakfast. Larry Stewart, of Sauk Village, Ill., said he started his day at the Lansing Denny's but found the line circling the building. Customers also stood in lines that stretched outside of the Portage Denny's.

"I thought, 'There's got to be another Denny's in Indiana.' Then I remembered this one in Merrillville," said Stewart, who waited about an hour to be seated. "They really did a wonderful job here."

Frank Marquez, of Valparaiso, decided to stop for a breakfast on his way to work at Custom Midwest Solutions in Crown Point.

"I saw the commercial on TV during the Super Bowl. We've been here about an hour and 25 minutes," Marquez said as he waited to pay for the beverages he and a co-worker ordered. Coffee and other drinks as well special additions to the breakfast, such as cheese on the eggs, were not free.

Even with those charges, Fred Griffin Jr., of Gary, said the meal was well worth the wait.

"We need more offers like this to stimulate the economy," Griffin said.

The Spartanburg, S.C.-based company anticipated up to 2 million people took advantage of the deal, with spokeswoman Cori Rice saying each restaurant would be able to churn out about 100 Grand Slams an hour.

Denny's, which has more than 1,500 locations, sells more than 12.5 million Grand Slam breakfasts a year, the company reports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.