[srosenbery]

Plese participate in this poll. Steve L. and I have a meeting with HDC next week and this is one of the topics to be discussed. I am looking for ammo for the meeting.


Do you purchase food before or after the game at an outside location due to poor food quality at HDC?

[dashiel]

yes i do.

poor food coupled with bad prices. i probably wouldn't mind buying a hot dog & coke at $3 (which is still grossly overpriced) but not the $6.50 it was last time i bought something at the HDC (2004/2005?)

[Soccer Obsession]

My answer is not one of the choices. I think the food is poor quality, and over priced... But I still eat it. I wish it would be better, the cost isn't as much of a problem. I expect to over pay for food at sporting events, but if the quality doesn't improve I may consider other options. For now I continue to eat the food, becuase it is edible its easier than going somewhere else or bringing my own food.

Hopefully this isn't what the FO is trying to do: have food just edible enough that people will still buy it, and just the right price that people will grudgingly buy it.

[jscott23]

I chose the last option but my answer is more like "I would buy a hell of a lot more if the food was better, if the prices were better and most importantly if the service was better." If you don't address the service issue all other points are moot.

Now instead of just bitch and complain I am going to offer you a real solution. I have worked in the sports facility business for nearly a decade. My F&B guys (a company we work with) are the best in the business. They run all the F&B facilities for dozens of golf courses, water parks and sports parks around the country. They are the featured speakers on how to run a tasty, profitable concession operation at the annual PGA show in Orlando every year. They were hired by the biggest developers in Dubai (yes, the guys with the indoor ski slope) to design their concessions and create the operating plan. If you could get them a meeting with the FO we could actually do something about the concessions instead of just piss in the wind, I mean talk about it.

I'd love to help, but I need to see that there is an opportunity to actually meet with decision makers on this on. Otherwise I'll continue to spend as much on BWHD and a Big Gulp across the street as I do in the HDC. If you guys are for real, PM me.

[The Cadaver]

At the risk of beating a dead horse, in addition to the quality and service issues, SOMEBODY needs to think beyond standard stadium fare.

How many pastrami sandwiches could a Langer's stand sell per game?

King Taco?

Garlic Fries from Gordon Biersche?

Sushi from any one of half a dozen quality providers?

Thai?


Sure, that's harder than handing the whole job over to one provider and getting lowest common denominator food, but it would so augment the experience that I have to think it would pay for itself.

That would SOLVE the quality problem, first. Not sure about the AEG commitment to hire from the neighborhood and whether the service issue isn't a tougher nut to crack.

[Baysider]

The food is expensive but I expect stadium food to be expensive. It's the quality and service that's abysmal.

For example, I commonly get nachos with stale chips and one time they gave me nachos with grated cheese instead of melted cheese, why I don't know. There's really nothing I want to eat at the HDC but I end up getting something anyway. The only thing I've been excited about is when I used to get a hot chocolate at the coffee bean place.


Bottom line is if the food was halfway decent I'd have dinner at the game instead of just a snack.

[shirteesdotnet]

I voted for the last one. I dont mind paying money if the food is good. Then again, in this economical climate, I no longer buy food at movie theaters anymore either. Not only is it bad for you ('cept the jujubee's which have high vitamin C and a days worth of calcium). But I always make pizza an exception. Even a good burger and fries.

I really dont know how you'll get around the slow workers (and the myriad of other names I could call them). They are what they are and you find the same type all over the country serving food at games. Although, I went to the circus once at Staples center and the food was HOT, fresh and people really knew what they were doing there. So I take that back.

I also take reservation with the beer prices too. An $8 good sized beer is within reason. I wouldnt have more than two whether they were $8 or $12 each. $12 is steep, especially since the Heineken's seem watered down to me. The HDC is serving regular Joes and Janes, not the Beckham's of the world.

First it was saying goodbye to the ST's for me to save money, then it was buying less food, then going to less games (but I hate that part), then it was buying no food at HDC. Id rather get my meal at Carls Jr a couple blocks away... big ol Coke (served by a big ol Hawaiian) and decent sized burger and fries for a decent price. No really. If someone is married with a couple kids food adds up fast. HDC is banking on the kids saying they want this or they want that. But money is money. My goal for this season is to go to more games, but eat no food at HDC. If you put a Dominhoes, or Carls, or Pizza Butt, In-N-Out (no spin on that needed) then I know I'd be suckered in to buying all food at HDC. But I have enough will power to go elsewhere since the food is soo soo bad.

Good food within the HDC, decent priced beer, and good concession workers would be my main focus.

*I was joking about the jujubee's

[shirteesdotnet]

Originally Posted by The Cadaver

King Taco?

Garlic Fries from Gordon Biersch?

Is King Taco still a sponsor? I know they had big banners at RB. GB Garlic Fries... Ohhh man. And their Marzen beer is excellent... OK, I might spend $12 for one of their beers. Sheez. What are you doing to me... its only 3pm.

If everyone who left the stadium raved about the food, I guarantee more people would come back more often. With LA being such a competitive sports market already, HDC needs to up their quality of food and service. If people DONT COMPLAIN they will have a good experience. Thats what it should be about. The game on the pitch, not the crap food or the crap service.

[Since1996]

Originally Posted by Soccer Obsession

My answer is not one of the choices. I think the food is poor quality, and over priced... But I still eat it. ..

That's my answer too.

I would suggest that the entire front office staff, especially the upper management, get in line during half time and buy some food. Do this not just for one game but for one entire season. While you're at it please ask Wayne, Tom, Katie, Victoria, Drew & others to join you. At the end of the season decide if you want to change anything!!!

[mbar]

Originally Posted by Baysider

The only thing I've been excited about is when I used to get a hot chocolate at the coffee bean place.

The coffee bean was the best thing in the place. And the store and the little kiosks were always packed. So give the fans some quality, and you get plenty of business.

Last season when they got rid of the coffee bean it was a clear sign to me that the direction management was heading with concessions was the wrong one.