The catering thread

[Stuart Munday]

I had lots of pies last season, always got the pie I wanted unlike alot of people on here . Had 2 pies this season (Chelsea & Cardiff) both times asked for steak, both times when I opened the box there was chicken inside, not a major problem but how difficult can it be.

 

[The Large One]

Got into the WSU early for a pie and a pint.

All of the staff looked absolutely terrified, mainly because, as I found out, it was the first game for all of them. They seemed to want to be friendly and helpful as possible. The girl on the till bollocksed up the Pie & Pint deal, but she soon sorted that out.

Aside from that, hardly any problems in WSU - pretty much same as last season.

One thing - they had the Harvey's and Dark Star kiosks at the back of the concourse, but once there's some people in there, you can't see them. They still need that overhead banner. Oh, and another minor point is placing forks, salt, pepper etc in one place (together with some very nice napkiny, paper towel things) is fine, but don't then stick the mustard/ketchup dispenser somewhere completely different. But that's tiny niggles.

 

[Stuart Munday]

I thought the pie and soft drink option had gone as it is not advertised anymore, but ordered a pie and a 7up and it showed up on the till receipt as £6 meal deal so it is still around.

 

[Hotchilidog]

WSU pie and pint procured immediately upon entry, managed to get a further couple of pints in pre and post-match too, no complaints.

 

[grummitts gloves]

ESL was much better today

No real queues in ESL before the game or at half time.

 

[NS Herald]

Pissed off that still don't have card readers on the mobile Harveys outlets so people are having to pay higher price and no discount.

 

[kingcole]

Pissed off that still don't have card readers on the mobile Harveys outlets so people are having to pay higher price and no discount.

I agree - how difficult can it be to Wifi/Bluetooth to the mobile outlets.

Also the fact that you can only get a pie meal deal with alcohol surely needs addressing.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

The club have made the classic mistake of ramping up prices after one successful season. They have looked at the increased crowds this season, worked out the potential return and rubbed their hands.
I had disgruntled fans all round me in WSL last night. The pie and pint deal has gone up £1 in cost. An increase in the region of 15%!!! and all other catering prices have gone up by similar amounts.
Yes its a captive market but fans are still looking for relative value for money. They recognise that the club have put up individual item prices as high as they can, without breaking through that £4 barrier. A lot of items are now £3.80/£3.90.
Demand will now start to drop. Fans are paying increased seat and programme prices and will cut back somewhere. The club are getting too greedy, too quickly. These are tough economic times and a lot of people will now decide to go without inside the ground.
Not only have prices gone up but quality has gone down. Another classic mistake. " How can we make even more money " scenario.
Never assume the public won't notice. THEY DO and vote with their feet.
The pies and hot-dogs have been down-graded in quality since introduction and no longer represent value for money. A price for an individual pie between £3-£4 places it firmly in the gourmet category. These are not and they are using cheaper cuts of meat for filling.
I am disappointed but sadly, not surprised. A lot of businesses looking to recoup major expense make the same mistake of ramping up prices and sneakily down-grading quality.
The fans are all investing in the long-term. The club should do the same and not expect to ' milk ' us all in the short-term.

 

[severnside gull]

No problems at all in ESL

 

[The Large One]

The pies and hot-dogs have been down-graded in quality since introduction and no longer represent value for money. A price for an individual pie between £3-£4 places it firmly in the gourmet category. These are not and they are using cheaper cuts of meat for filling.
I am disappointed but sadly, not surprised. A lot of businesses looking to recoup major expense make the same mistake of ramping up prices and sneakily down-grading quality.
The fans are all investing in the long-term. The club should do the same and not expect to ' milk ' us all in the short-term.

That, I can promise you, is total and utter gibberish.

 

[detsknil]

Got to WSL at 19:15, no stand alone beer sellers in sight. No Hophead. Had to settle for Harvey's Best, beer & pint stall out of pies. Just as terrible as last season but it's now costing us more.
Only option is drink and eat in town beforehand, said to the missus last night at the game, the town pubs will be rubbing their hands together because of the Amex price increase & still useless catering before long. Roll on Saturday, an session in the Queen's Head before the game and straight to the Evening Star post game.

 

[Birdie Boy]

Arrived at ESU at 19:10, very small queues at kiosks and moving nicely. I stayed on my self-imposed ban of Foster's and had a Strongbow and Chicken Pie, nice. Half-time bigger queues but I can never do more than 2 pints of Strongbow due to the taste, so happy to go without. Toilets, although smaller the ESL they moved along briskly. I will now email off to Azure about the Kronenbourg but will start off on a good foot by mentioning last nights good effort.

BTW, my new seat in ESU was bloody awesome!

 

[Shanker45]

No complaints from me about the catering as my self imposed ban started last night.

Ditto, my mate and I feel a bit like old men now as we have started to take our own food and drink in. Travel blanket to follow when it gets a bit chilly!

 

[halbpro]

Got up to WSU at about 7.25, had a quick pee (with no queue) then went and grabbed my pie and Pepsi, queued for maybe 5 minutes tops and was absolutely fine. Think I got the last veggie pie though.

 

[Chris0979]

Topped up my boy's card earlier today as we decided over the summer that he's now old enough to go and get his own pie during the game. Top up hadn't worked even though I got receipt via email and he was treated pretty much like a schoolboy nicking sweets from a newsagent when he went to buy his pie. So I'm £20 down and he feels like a criminal.

I quite frankly am disgusted by this as a father of 2 if they made my son feel bad I'd be making a formal complaint obviously this is the problem when they have nothing more than teenagers on the kiosks. If someone is under 16 and well behaved then there is no need to make them feel bad. It is I guess something you get from being around children and that is how to speak to them!

On a seperate note Chicken and Ham pies were great in the North Stand, queues by the entrance were very busy but the ones closer to West Stand moved quickly

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Spare a though for the Profile Lounge members. Last season we started with 4 lounge hostesses.....now we are down to one.

 

[smeariestbat]

got a hotdog and soft drink for under a fiver when used with my loaded ST, cant complain really, pay twice that at cineworld!

edit: also no queue and lots of pies etc left after the game. North stand

 

[The Stout Yeoman]

Spare a though for the Profile Lounge members. Last season we started with 4 lounge hostesses.....now we are down to one.

Yes but is she the prettiest ?

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Bought two pints of Harveys, glass of red wine, two Pepsi's, two cheeseburgers, one hotdog and one chicken pie and was charged £19.00. Very reasonable.

 

[countryman]

I thought the service was good last night. They had someone helping each person who was at a till so they could get the food and drinks whilst it was being ordered which I thought was a good idea. My pie was a little bit overcooked so the pastry was a bit too crunchy but it was still a top notch pie.