On the house
Meaning: something given for free at a place like a restaurant, a hotel or a bar.
Sometimes, restaurants give out food for free. This could be for various reasons.
It could be,
- To make an angry customer calm down.
- A reward to NEW customers.
- A customer or the restaurant itself could be celebrating an anniversary.
The idiom that we can use in such situations is on the house.
This is not limited to restaurants, hotels and bars. It can be used for other businesses too.
A mechanic can change your engine oil for free and say, “It’s on the house.”
Imagine you went to a restaurant and ordered food. The waiter brought your food and also an extra slice of piece which you did not order.
You said, “I didn’t order the cake.”
The waiter said with a smile, “It’s on the house. It is 10th anniversary of our restaurant.”
The waiter means that the slice of cake is free.
More examples:
- At this ice cream shop, there is a rule. If you drop your ice cream cone by accident, they will give you a new one on the house.
- After my dental surgery, the dentist gave me a full cleaning service on the house.
- My son spilled his hot chocolate and he was crying incessantly. After a few minutes, the waiter came with a new hot chocolate and said, “It’s on the house.”
(IDIOM)
