By: Rachel Bernstein

Baltimore’s taxi drivers were all smiles during lunch hour Wednesday.

Phillips Seafood, of Phillips Foods Inc., along with Visit Baltimore staffers and volunteers parked out by Light Street in front of the Baltimore Visitor Center to dole out free lunch to drivers.

Phillips does this same promotion with several cities across the U.S., and did this last year in Baltimore as well. Last year, the event gave away 475 lunches. From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Phillips staffers had prepared 425 lunches already — with crab sandwiches, chips and water.

And the rain wasn’t deterring cabbies from pulling right into the spot where Phillips mascot Captain Phil was braving the elements and handing out food.

By the time I arrived at the spot around 11:30, the volunteers had already given out nearly 100 lunches, according to Michelle Torres, corporate director of marketing for Phillips.

Eric Masterton-Mott was also on hand, taking a break from being director of group tour sales and hospitality service training and representing Visit Baltimore on the streets. Visit Baltimore got involved to inform cab drivers of some of the big conventions coming into town this summer and to show a little thanks for shuttling around the ever-busy tourist part of Baltimore.

See Mom, there is such a thing as a free lunch, I just should’ve been a taxi driver.