Harvard Student Receives Free Sandwiches From B.Good For a Year For Being ‘Customer Of The Year’

At Harvard, the closest most students get to a free lunch is HUDS. But   Phillipa “Pippa” G. Eccles ’09 has been granted a year-long reprieve from oft-dreary Harvard dining—she’s just been named b.good’s Customer of the Year.

Eccles will receive free sandwiches for a year for proving her “love” for the restaurant by knitting a b.good hedgehog (named Herbert) so that the b.good “family” could have a pet.

“I genuinely do love it that much,” Eccles said on why she entered a bid to be named Customer of the Year. “I go there all the time and I figured it would be good to maybe not have to pay every time I went.”

The popular burger joint—which has four locations throughout the Boston area—celebrates its birthday with the Customer of the Year contest each January.

Over 6,000 patrons receive the e-mailed newsletter that is sent out each month to the b.good “family,” which contains instructions on how to enter the contest.

More than 100 people applied for the chance to enjoy free burgers this year, said Jon Olinto, one of the co-founders of b.good.

“We always say it’s not about how many times you come to see us,” Olinto said.

“It’s about the depth of your love [for] b.good.”

Last year’s contest winner created a footstool for the bathroom of the restaurant, explaining—in writing on the stool—that she did so because she was too short to see the mirror.

In previous years, contestants have generally submitted essays, poems, or anecdotes about why they thought themselves worthy of the title, Olinto said.

“The footstool raised the bar for our customers,” Olinto said. “Since that happened, the winners actually submit videos, songs, pictures. It elevated the nature of the entries.”

Olinto said that all b.good servers would be trained in recognizing Eccles, and that plaques honoring her would be put up at each b.good location.

As for whether Eccles would receive one more day’s worth of burgers than the standard 365 since 2008 is a leap year, Olinto said, “Damn right.”