Concession's

I actually look forward to going to Sh*tcago's stadium for an Italian Beef sandwich, they are very good. I don't really mind spending the money if the food is good.

One thing our stadium needs is keeping the employees for more than one (1) game. Each time I have bought a Coke it seems like it is the employee's first sale, God forbid if I wanted something to go with it.

It should'nt be to hard for the concessions to figure out when about 15 minutes before half time is and start filling Cokes or other soft drinks and beer and have food items ready for quick sale in lieu of looking so suprised when some one orders something.

 

Why don't you just bring a grill and cook in the parking lot?

 

I don't mind beating a dead horse...so here goes!!

The prices at first shocked me, but I got used to it. I will usually buy a beer or two and I haven't found a beer that I don't like. Although at the HDC one never knows. (Just kidding I do appreciate the selection)

The service is abysmal!!! I find it hard to believe that just to get a beer could take so long. The people behind the counter look as if a judge sentenced them to work at the HDC to pay back the community.

Since this is my first season at the HDC, (Season ticket holder here, Keep down the applause!!) I have only sampled the beer (obviously), one Coke, and a hot dog. The only complaint that I have is the service, although the season is still young.

 

The food is mediocre, I think everyone would agree with that. AEG is going to do whatever they feel they need to do to keep the profits up. And judging by the lines for food at the HDC, AEG is making money.

A few thoughts....

AEG would be making a LOT more money if they employed better help. I've been astounded by the people they put behind the counter who can't do the simplest procedure. And how many times have I stood at the counter while the worker stumbled around because they didn't really know how to work the register. How is it possible that people get put on the register who don't know how to work it??? The problem with long lines would go down a great deal if they just had people working who knew what they were doing.

Also, I believe there is an opportuinity here for AEG to get outside the box and get better food vendors. Attendence for Galaxy games is very good and the cache for soccer is very high in LA now thanks to Becks. That makes it a much more attractive place to market products, meaning better vendors are far more likely to want a piece of that action. Yet we see very little of that at the HDC, one wonders why.

 

PROBLEM SOLVED!

Really though, regarding TJs post... with so much soccer, I havent been to a Dodger game for many years now.. I thought they had some name brand choices for food there? Or Levy Restaurants does the dodger food? Hows it work? Yah, thats just a hell of a lot of money for some food. WOW. Or $5 at Carls Jr. Or bring some snacks from Whole Foods. Man, anythings gonna cost less then HDC.

Not really in "defense" of the HDC food workers, but Ive never really had a problem with them like what Im reading. WHen Ive ordered food in the past, or help someone order... we are usually an hour before the game starts and no ones really in line. You can order what you want, and yah the people are SLOW but it didnt matter too much. If you get a dog and a drink and some peanuts that should hold you through the game, no? I cant remember the last time I went to get anything at half time. That must be where the nightmare is.

OMG the new Indy movie looks awesome! No wait, check out the new Dream Angels Memory Fit bra by Victoria Secret. Miranda Kerr. YOWZERS!

 

I know you're taking care of it - I don't mean to repeat myself.

 

You are being watched.

That's a good thing.

 

I agree that this is one of the simplest things they can do and can make a huge difference.

During the last world cup I had the pleasure of watching the United States get destroyed live in Gelsenkirchen. One thing I noticed is that the Germans had their consession areas divided or segregated so that specific areas sold certain things. There was one area of the stand for hot food, one for snacks like pretzels et al, one for beer and so on and so forth. The staff also generally appeared to be alert and to not have smoked marijuana until they were unable to pour a beer into a cup without spilling or dropping the cup before reporting for work llike some HDC workers appear to do which also seemed to help.

Point being is that while on the surface you may think that its a hassle to stand in mutliple lines, it really isnt. Those lines hauled. I was able to get up at half time, grab a beer, grab a pretzel, inadvertently bump into Frankie Hejduk who was wandering around the same area I was with so many beers in his hands that he had to have his son help carry them, get a picture with said Frankie Hejduk and still make it back to my seat long before the whistle to kick of the second half sounded. This would never have happend at the HDC and mind you, the Arena auf Schalke is about twice the capacity.

They can pull this off at teh HDC too with a little reorganization.....

 

First I would like to thank you guys for your hard work.
Second I understand the prices are going to be higher than normal, which by now I just consider par for the course in any outing. If the quality was better I would start buying food in HDC again. For now though unless I have my nephews with me I have zero inclination to spend 20 to 30 bucks on steamed weiners on stale bread with a bag of chips and cheese wiz. I now eat at home and at most get a soda from the guys wondering the stands. Also MORE TV's at the concession stands.

 

Germany efficiency at its finest. . It seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I could see it working in the HDC or America in general. Americans like convenience, I'm not sure standing in two or three different lines would fly.

 

HDC HIStory X

Well I would like to pull out my rants on this subject from 2004.

And I would like to pull out my own started thread on this subject back in 2006.

I am now 4 years and a few overpriced beers, and bland camacho nachos later

not into it anymore. Before I knew of a Levy Restaurant Chain ran HDC

concessions I was bright Eyed about change. But since hearing that this group

makes between 400-600 million dollars a year in over 130 stadiums around the

country, fighting them is futile. Now if a nice boycott could be staged then you

might have something. but LA Galaxy fans have no balls or spirit for that type of

thing. Good Luck with the meeting though.

 

The food is pretty crappy and overpriced. I always eat at the KFC across the street, the Jack n the Box off the 91, or the places near the mall, but never (except twice before) at the HDC.
The HDC should have restaurants concessions like pizza hut, McDonald's, or Panda Express, but not the crappy cafateria style crap that is being served.

 

This is a great idea. I have no problem getting in a few lines if they moved quickly. I think at HDC they would move quick if these stoned food vendors had only ONE thing to sell. Ya cant mess that up.

I motion to the Steves to have this idea mentioned.

 

The food quality isn't great, but it's not horrible for stadium food. But it's definately overpriced for the quality.

The quality was much higher at the Rose Bowl. The loss of King Taco as a vendor, which I can only assume was due to AEG's greed in charging a huge license fee, was a blow to the guts. Again, money is proven to be vastly more important to AEG than the quality of the team or the value to fans.

 

It's not a coincidence that Dodger Stadium and the HDC have the same concessionaire. At both places, food service is a pretext to separate you from your money. You don't get any sense that the facilities believe that they are providing a service to their customers.

Anyone who has been to a baseball game at San Diego will know what I mean. The food there may be slightly more expensive, but it is better and the portions are more generous, and it is served by people who seem to know they're serving.

And if you've spent $1.50 for a dog and a soda or $1.99 for a slice at CostCo you know that the HDC is making big money on concessions. They need to put more of it back into the quality of the experience.

We pay the highest ticket prices in the league, and our season ticket holders get the least benefits. We are tied with Chicago for the highest parking prices, but at least we (usually) don't have to park in the dirt, and season ticket holders are not given a parking discount. I've been to MLS matches in San Jose, Denver, Chicago and New York (well New Jersey), and our food service and quality are easily the worst.

The Galaxy need to better invest their league high revenues. Because of the league's salary cap and single entity structure, only a limited amount of the team revenue can be invested in the roster. The Galaxy should take a higher share of their stadium revenues, Beckham shirt revenues, Asian/Australian/ridiculous mid-season "tournament" and friendly revenues and invest them in their fans. And no, that doesn't mean giving away thunder sticks.

And above all, please get them to leave the bacon wrapped hot dog vendors alone.

 

The food is poor quality.

If they sold something similar to BWHD's or some good Mexican food, (King Taco?) then I would gladly pay for the convenience of having it at the stadium.

Last game I went to, the four of us went to Del Taco on Avalon right before the game and had some pretty decent fish tacos before the game and saved about $25 compared to what it would cost at the game.

Congrats to the FO for over-guessing the price point of their food concessions by about 33-50%.

Topper

 

I used to get Camacho Nachos last year, those were the only thing stomachable at the stadium. I got them this year and the nachos were cold, crusty and unappetizing. Since then, all I've bought from concessions is beer (and very grudgingly.) If they bring the quality of food up to par with say, Angels Stadium, I would be more inclined to eat food there, even with higher prices (which should be expected at all ballgames)

 

i will always choose to eat outside the stadium, such as BWHD. never inside, poor quality and overpriced. can the BWHD vendor like register with the stadium, the problem with that is the FO might want to control their prices and want a cut out of it.

 

Same landlord for both venues.

 

The landlord sells the rights to offer concessions to an outside vendor. The vendors bid amongst themselves, driving up the price. The vendor then must set their prices high in order to make back their bid.

What do you want to bet that the heralded coming of Beckham drove up the winning bid amount because they thought that the Galaxy were going to surpase the Lakers in terms of popularity?

Also, I'm not convinced that $12.00 for premium, $8.00 for Bud Light has actually decreased consumption among the Victoria St. faithfull.

 

Sell me something I want, and don't make me miss the game.

If the food got better, demand for it went up, and the same individuals served it, it could easily take 90 minutes to complete a purchase.

As is, I RARELY buy anything from the concession stands.

Also, why aren't the roving vendors, who usually only huge wads of cotton candy, ice cream in November or $6 churros, allowed to sell beer to the people seated in their sections? I ask the guys and gals who come in with candy or peanuts EVERY SINGLE time no matter what they are selling if they will sell me a beer. Most of them recognize me now and just wink. often they say, "I wish..."

Section 137/138 would put someone's kid through college if they allowed them to sell beer in the sections...

 

i will have whatever topper has because whatever hes been smoking all these years seems to be working. i wanna be a believer too!!!

 

Re: Concessions

At the game vs. Toronto, I ordered a soft pretzel, antipasta salad and soft drink. It took an inordinate amount of time to actually place my order and I find generally that to be the case. Either these guys need to move more quickly, there needs to be a better system, or there need to be more people. There is one break, at halftime, and they need to be prepared.

I don't think the prices are that out of the ordinary for sporting events, unfortunately.

The quality, however, is atrocious. Regarding the order above, the soft pretzel wasn't warm and wasn't soft. It was like suffocation waiting to happen. I ate part of it gingerly and then just gave up because it was so bad.

The salad was FROZEN SOLID. Seriously. It was a saladsicle. I couldn't even eat it because of how solidly it was frozen and the plastic fork wouldn't do anything with it.

In addition I find that many options seem to be sold out by halftime. I think that a hot dog and popcorn as your only options are not sufficient, especially in a place like LA. Especially with the amount that season tix cost. There should be options and they should not be sold out all the time.

Now I just avoid eating there.