McAlister's Deli® is thanking guests on Thursday, July 18th, with its annual Free Tea Day! McAlister’s locations across the country are treating guests to a free 32-ounce glass of McAlister's Famous Tea. Guests can choose between iced sweet or unsweet black tea.

“Free Tea Day is always our favorite day of the year,” said Jeff Smith, Co-Owner of Peak Restaurants, which operates McAlister’s Delis in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.

“We are thrilled to once again share our Famous Sweet Tea on this day that brings happiness to our guests and our team members,” added Peak Co-Owner Chris Smith. “It really is a special day and we encourage everyone to come enjoy it with us!”

This year, Free Tea Day is the culmination of McAlister’s Deli’s Tea Town Showdown, a national competition held by McAlister’s aimed at raising funds for local charities. Each McAlister’s Deli is sponsoring a charity in its town. Since June 1st, guests have been voting for their town both by buying a tea at the restaurant and by voting online at The first-place winner of the national competition will win $10,000 for its sponsored charity. Second place will win $5,000, and third place will win $2,500.

McAlister’s also celebrated the lead-up to Free Tea Day with a tumbler giveaway on July 1st, when the first 20 guests in line received the 2019 Tea Tumbler for free. The 2019 Tea Tumblers are 32 ounces to match in-restaurant tea glasses and are available at participating McAlister’s restaurants for $9.99, with 99-cent refills for the life of the cup.

To learn more about the event, visit your local McAlister’s Facebook page or

About Peak Restaurants

Headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, Peak Restaurants, LLC is a franchise of 13 McAlister's Deli restaurants located in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Peak Restaurants was named McAlister’s Deli’s Franchisee of the Year in 2018 and in 2015. It operates restaurants in Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Alcoa, Pigeon Forge, Johnson City, and Kingsport in Tennessee, and in Bristol, Roanoke, Blacksburg, and Lynchburg, Virginia – and is growing. For more information, visit

About McAlister’s

Founded in 1989, McAlister’s Deli® is a fast casual restaurant chain known for its genuine hospitality, sandwiches, spuds, soups, salads, desserts and McAlister’s Famous Sweet Tea. In addition to dine-in and take-out service, McAlister’s also offers catering with a selection of sandwich trays, box lunches, desserts, a hot spud bar and more. With numerous industry accolades, the McAlister’s brand has more than 400 restaurants in 29 states. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, visit and find McAlister’s on social media at and