How to get free food at one of Delaware's eight Chipotle restaurants

Everyone loves free food, and Chipotle Mexican Grill is the latest restaurant chain in the U.S. to test drive a rewards system that gifts loyal customers a free meal.

There are eight Chipotles in Delaware, according to the company's website. 

Join the new Chipotle Rewards program this month and you can get free food at any of them. 

The company is marking the national launch of the program with a contest and a freebie — chips and guac — for all new members after they complete their first purchase.

“To show people how good it feels to get rewarded, Chipotle is using Venmo payouts to give away up to a quarter of a million dollars, to approximately 25,000 Chipotle fans per day, from now through March 15,” the company said in a statement.

No purchase is necessary to participate in the Venmo cash giveaway, and prizes range from $1 to $500. There's a limit of one entry per person.

Here's how to sign up — and unlock some free food. 

Enter the contest

Go to ChipotleRewardMe.com and submit the phone number associated with your Venmo account.

Winners will be alerted of the payment in the Venmo app within 24 hours, Chipotle said. The message will come with a custom Chipotle pepper emoji. 

Don't know what Venmo is? It's a digital wallet service owned by PayPal and lets users transfer funds through a phone app or website.

Find out more at venmo.com. 

Get rewarded 

To start earning free Chipotle food — and get those free chips and guacamole — sign up for the new Chipotle Rewards program in the chain's mobile app or at Chipotle.com/rewards. 

You can order food in the app, online or scan your code at the register. 

For every $1 spent at Chipotle, users earn 10 points. Every time you hit 1,250 points, you get one free entree. 

There will also be "extra point days" when you can earn more toward your free meal. 

"Chipotle Rewards brings instant gratification to customers with free chips and guac after the first purchase as a member, and with surprise birthday rewards," the company said.

The offer expires June 23, and additional restrictions may apply.

After you download the app, keep an eye out for bonus points, challenges that let you earn points faster, special deals and more. 

Points may take 24 to 48 hours to be added to your new account. 

If you forget to scan your rewards code, you can sign in online and request that points be added to your account. You will need your receipt. 

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USA Today contributed reporting. Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.