worst concessions

[DropDocK]

I went to my first game of the year tonight and spent the entire 5th inning waiting in the LaRosas line. Pizza wasn't even on my agenda. It was the only stand I saw in the vicinity selling pretzels, which was the only thing I wanted. All the registers were open and the lines were a decent length, but the slow pace of service was ridiculous. If your big product pizza I'd expect you would have it up and ready to go instead of constantly looking about like you have no clue what you are doing back there.
:thumbdown


LaRosas is one of my favorite restaurants so it's awkward to feel this way towards them but to wait that long.....at least it saved me the trouble of seeing Dunn drop the fly ball.

[RedsFan74]

It seems like the concession stands/carts that are run by charitable groups (athletic boosters, PTA's, church groups, etc) usually have the slowest service. They obviously do the best they can but those folks usually just aren't experienced enough for that type of setting. That's why I try to look for concessionaires that look like they're "professionals".

[Caveat Emperor]

Part of the problem with the Reds concessions is that the stands are almost always manned by volunteers from groups looking to raise money for whatever their pet causes are, as opposed to places like, say, the movie theatre, where concessionists more or less do that every night.

As such, it's usually pretty hit or miss as to whether or not you get good service at the ballpark.

For a pretzel, I'd never have waited in a LaRosas line. You'd have been better off just finding a generic hot dog stand and going there to get one. Also, fun tip: If the only thing you want is a soda, the best lines to hit are usually the ice cream lines, as they move the fastest and generally have fewer people compared to other stands.

[NastyBoy]

Service can be a real problem especially with these concessions manned by charitable groups. I had a similar situation earlier in the season at one of the LaRosas stands. It was a Girl Scouts group... interesting enough, none of the people behind the counter were girls, but parents or family of the girls. Rather than get frustrated, cut them some slack. They do not get paid, they get a percentage of the concessions... for Bengals games I know it is 10%, so I am sure they are doing the best they can. Not sure what it is for the Reds.

[DropDocK]

Ok that makes me feel a little better. I didn't realize they had charitable groups running some of the food services.

[Yachtzee]

Service can be a real problem especially with these concessions manned by charitable groups. I had a similar situation earlier in the season at one of the LaRosas stands. It was a Girl Scouts group... interesting enough, none of the people behind the counter were girls, but parents or family of the girls. Rather than get frustrated, cut them some slack. They do not get paid, they get a percentage of the concessions... for Bengals games I know it is 10%, so I am sure they are doing the best they can. Not sure what it is for the Reds.

Just be glad they had parents working behind the counter. I went to a game at the Jake once where they had some cheerleading squad running the only food stand in our section (Mezzanine). They had 8 teenaged girls and one coach. Of course, since everyone wanted beer, it was really 1 woman running around trying to serve 4 lines and 8 girls standing around with nothing to do.

Personally, I think that for the prices people pay at the ballpark, concession stands should be run by trained professionals. If nonprofits want to make some money, give them a table in the concourses to sell candy bars or something. I think it's a little misleading to label some of these groups "charitable" as well. I don't see how Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, cheerleaders, high school marching bands, and college fraternities are "charitable." Sure they may participate in philanthropic causes, but it's not a fundamental reason for their existence. If they were raising money to help find a cure for cancer or support Big Brothers/Big Sisters, I would support that, no problem. But there are other ways for these groups to fund their trip to summer camp, new uniforms, or that trip to the national convention other than running a concession stand.

[Caveat Emperor]

Just be glad they had parents working behind the counter. I went to a game at the Jake once where they had some cheerleading squad running the only food stand in our section (Mezzanine). They had 8 teenaged girls and one coach. Of course, since everyone wanted beer, it was really 1 woman running around trying to serve 4 lines and 8 girls standing around with nothing to do.

Personally, I think that for the prices people pay at the ballpark, concession stands should be run by trained professionals. If nonprofits want to make some money, give them a table in the concourses to sell candy bars or something. I think it's a little misleading to label some of these groups "charitable" as well. I don't see how Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, cheerleaders, high school marching bands, and college fraternities are "charitable." Sure they may participate in philanthropic causes, but it's not a fundamental reason for their existence. If they were raising money to help find a cure for cancer or support Big Brothers/Big Sisters, I would support that, no problem. But there are other ways for these groups to fund their trip to summer camp, new uniforms, or that trip to the national convention other than running a concession stand.

The reason why they don't have professional concession staffers working at the games is because you'd have to find a regular staff of people, all over the age of 21 (to avoid the very problem you mentioned), to work the games for an entire summer. That eliminates the main source of cheap summer labor -- high school and college students -- from consideration.

Attracting reliable, +21 workers for minimal pay is probably quite difficult. But, you package the work as "charity work" for an organization, suddenly someone else is suplying the bulk of the workforce for you. They're responsible for getting people to the park to work and the nature of the work (not for their own personal income) means they're not at all likely to complain about poor take home at the end of the night.

[NastyBoy]

Sportservice Fundraising

Sportservice, the food service provider for the Cincinnati Reds, is proud of the many scholastic, athletic and religious fundraising groups that have made us their choice when raising money for their many worthy causes.

More than 100 organizations have utilized money earned at the concession stands at the ballpark to provide everything from scholarships and band uniforms to new places of worship for their members.

Like any successful Major League team, Sportservice is always on the lookout for new talent and encourages any charitable group looking to do some serious fundraising to contact us.

Key Information:

    * All participants must be at least 19 years of age
    * All participants must participate in a training session
    * Group must commit to working at least 10 games during the season

For more information on fundraising at Great American Ball Park in 2006 contact:

The Group Fundraising Manager @ 513.765.7585 or email: cincygrp@dncinc.com

[Yachtzee]

The reason why they don't have professional concession staffers working at the games is because you'd have to find a regular staff of people, all over the age of 21 (to avoid the very problem you mentioned), to work the games for an entire summer. That eliminates the main source of cheap summer labor -- high school and college students -- from consideration.

Attracting reliable, +21 workers for minimal pay is probably quite difficult. But, you package the work as "charity work" for an organization, suddenly someone else is suplying the bulk of the workforce for you. They're responsible for getting people to the park to work and the nature of the work (not for their own personal income) means they're not at all likely to complain about poor take home at the end of the night.

Is that really a problem these days? I can remember working my summers in college and afterwards at a summer concert venue. The summer concert schedule was a little more balanced than a ballpark, where you have a week of home games followed by a week of road games, but it was somewhat similar in that it required people to get there 1 1/2 to 2 hours before the show to set up (usually around 5:00 to 5:30 pm). There were plenty of people who worked there who had regular day jobs who would come staight from that job to work the concerts. The pay wasn't great, but it wasn't difficult and you got free passes to come in on off days. You could either catch a show yourself or give them to friends and family. They had no shortage of people 21+ years old looking for these jobs. But hey, this was 15 years ago and times are different I guess.

[Wheelhouse]

I tell ya, the thing that bugs me at GABP is that they don't give tops with the sodas. If you're buying for a group it makes it very hard to get back to your seat without spilling all over the place, including on your food. Seems like such a cheapo move.

[Ltlabner]

I wasn't going to gripe about the concessions until I read about the soda lids. That too bugs me. Overall I think the service is fine, people make an effort to be friendly and I like the varrious selections. I don't mind the prices because I usually don't gorge myself on food and know that is what I should expect at a ballpark. If I wanted value priced, good healthy food, I wouldn't go looking for it at GABP.

Anyway, the no lids thing is kinda werid. I don't know if it's an attempt to eliminate additional trash, some sorta cost savings issue or a plain old cost reduction. All I know is that it makes carying them back to the seat a chore. I know it's my job to be carefull but you know what? I'm a clutz and a simple lid would be nice.

[MattyHo4Life]

It seems like the concession stands/carts that are run by charitable groups (athletic boosters, PTA's, church groups, etc) usually have the slowest service. They obviously do the best they can but those folks usually just aren't experienced enough for that type of setting. That's why I try to look for concessionaires that look like they're "professionals".

The Cardinals do the same thing with having charitable groups run some of their concessions. I actually have had the opposite experiences that you have had though. The charitable groups are the ones that always seem to be on the ball. They are more friendly and much faster. they always seem to be working harder behind the counter. I always thought it was because they believe in their charity, and they are working for something other than just themselves. The "professionals" always seem to be much slower, not as friendly, and they don't really seem to care much about their job. I wouldn't expect much enthusiasm since they are likely minimum wage jobs. I don't see many college students, they usually seem much older than your typical college student. Anyways, I always look for the charities, and go to those lines. Maybe it's different in Cincinnati.

[Heath]

I'm waiting for "self-service" lines sometime soon.

Cut the non-profits' some slack. I'm in a group that used to do Dragons' games. The money we made funded youth programs and we didn't have to go door to door. What makes it slow is getting people to know what to do.

[reds1869]

The reason why they don't have professional concession staffers working at the games is because you'd have to find a regular staff of people, all over the age of 21 (to avoid the very problem you mentioned), to work the games for an entire summer.

I believe anyone over the age of 18 may serve alcohol. This used to be the case, but perhaps it has changed. If it hasn't, there sure are a lot of places that break the law.

[paintmered]

I believe anyone over the age of 18 may serve alcohol. This used to be the case, but perhaps it has changed. If it hasn't, there sure are a lot of places that break the law.

I think the age to serve it is 19.