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New Concessions Partner

Yeah $2.50 increase on DB cans from last year is pretty steep. And there is no draft anywhere. The grab and go seems like great idea for drinks and candy and stuff, but grabbing a hot dog that's been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour doesn't seem like a great idea.
 
My biggest gripe was trying to find decent food without waiting forever. Wake concessions lines have pretty mediocre offerings as noted. There are some good looking food trucks, but the lines/wait were prohibitive. Hopefully Wake continues to tweak given bold proclamations about providing the best gameday fan experience in NC.

I will add that the atmosphere was pretty strong considering we were playing Elon on a Thursday night. The gameday experience has come a long way.
 
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Unless you have kids who you're forced to feed, why don't you people eat before you go inside ? You know the food is going to suck and be way overpriced and probably take forever. I'll usually break down and buy a hotdog that I swallow whole in about 30 seconds, but that's just so I don't pass out from too much beer and sun.
 
Biff Ochocinco Tannen said:
Unless you have kids who you're forced to feed, why don't you people eat before you go inside ? You know the food is going to suck and be way overpriced and probably take forever. I'll usually break down and buy a hotdog that I swallow whole in about 30 seconds, but that's just so I don't pass out from too much beer and sun.
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tag: biff swallows whole sausage
 
PhDeac said:
Cash-only concessions for sporting events? Wake should be going cashless.
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Ugh, my bad. I just revisited this thread after making my post last week. I should have written "credit card only" - the opposite of what I wrote. The stadium has gone essentially cashless.

The lack of cash options makes it hard with kids. You can't just send them to the concessions with a $20 bill.

I didn't get food last night - ate at the tailgate and the lines looked long for the food trucks. But there was a Flatland Burgers, which is local and always looks and smells delicious https://www.flatlandburgers.com
 
Rafi said:
Ugh, my bad. I just revisited this thread after making my post last week. I should have written "credit card only" - the opposite of what I wrote. The stadium has gone essentially cashless.

The lack of cash options makes it hard with kids. You can't just send them to the concessions with a $20 bill.

I didn't get food last night - ate at the tailgate and the lines looked long for the food trucks. But there was a Flatland Burgers, which is local and always looks and smells delicious https://www.flatlandburgers.com
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I don't know how old your kids are, but they learn pretty quickly how to use a credit card, or even their own debit card. Like, if they're old enough to go get their own food, they can probably manage paying with a card.
 
Biff Ochocinco Tannen said:
Unless you have kids who you're forced to feed, why don't you people eat before you go inside ? You know the food is going to suck and be way overpriced and probably take forever. I'll usually break down and buy a hotdog that I swallow whole in about 30 seconds, but that's just so I don't pass out from too much beer and sun.
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For most games this is the play. For a weeknight game where many of us came straight from work/kids sports and arrived at kickoff, the concessions were the default option. And they sucked.
 
Had the wife fix me a chicken sandwich on my way home from work to pick up the daughter. Scarfed that down on the way to the stadium and then bought a bottled water and bottled Dr. Pepper for like $9 plus a tip to the volunteer concession peeps.
 
PhDeac said:
What's the advantage of having one concessions partner vs. several deals with local caterers/restaurants?
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There is no advantage for customers, but several advantages for WFU:
  • Less work for the WFU staff whose job it is to arrange such deals.
  • Higher profit margin for WFU if you give one vendor an exclusive contract.
  • Naive belief that lack of competition is a good thing for everyone.
  • People already have very low expectations of concession food at a stadium so it doesn't matter what you do.
  • John Currie wants it to be "the best game day experience" in NC (or is it the USA?) and the good intention is more important than actually achieving the desired end.
 
I did like the grab and go drinks and snacks. Passed up one area because they only had pre-made fountain sodas, wasn't sure how long they were sitting there getting watered down.

Agree with others that hot food sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long is no bueno. That should be addressed, IMO.
 
Biff Ochocinco Tannen said:
I don't know how old your kids are, but they learn pretty quickly how to use a credit card, or even their own debit card. Like, if they're old enough to go get their own food, they can probably manage paying with a card.
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Our older child has his own card, but the younger ones run with a group of friends that are all 9-12 years old, none with a card. Giving them some cash to get ice cream was way easier.
 
If they don't have those machines that turn cash into a debit card, they will soon.
 
We ended up buying a Deacon sausage dog, Bavarian pretzel, and chicken tenders from a couple of the grab and go places, knowing the food trucks likely offered better fare but the grab and go places were somewhat more convenient. Two water bottles and two Deacon brews and some peanuts.

The pretzel was pretty good, the rest of the prepared food was meh, as expected…so acceptably mediocre. It wasn’t awful, was fatty and salty and filling.

Too expensive but that’s expected in a sports venue.

I like the tap and go credit card capability. Hate that they actively solicit tips at a grab an go place.

Also hate that they grab your beer and pop the top open for you like it’s a great service or something. Is this some kind of dumb regulation or just part of a pitiful (and gross) effort to earn a tip?
 
ConnorEl said:
We ended up buying a Deacon sausage dog, Bavarian pretzel, and chicken tenders from a couple of the grab and go places, knowing the food trucks likely offered better fare but the grab and go places were somewhat more convenient. Two water bottles and two Deacon brews and some peanuts.

The pretzel was pretty good, the rest of the prepared food was meh, as expected…so acceptably mediocre. It wasn’t awful, was fatty and salty and filling.

Too expensive but that’s expected in a sports venue.

I like the tap and go credit card capability. Hate that they actively solicit tips at a grab an go place.

Also hate that they grab your beer and pop the top open for you like it’s a great service or something. Is this some kind of dumb regulation or just part of a pitiful (and gross) effort to earn a tip?
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Legally required to open it - no self-service in North Carolina for alcohol
 
Ahhh…dumb.

I’ll just start opening it before I get to the cashier.
 
Liquid Karma said:
For most games this is the play. For a weeknight game where many of us came straight from work/kids sports and arrived at kickoff, the concessions were the default option. And they sucked.
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I have Tower and Touchdown tickets. I sat with my daughter in the TD club last night and other family in the Tower. To my knowledge, none of them ate in the Tower so no report there. But in the fieldhouse, Proof of the Pudding better step up their game in a MASSIVE way! God, it was horrible. Their main feature were weenies that looked like they came out of a Hormel can and burger sliders that Sonic would throw out. Again, this was the MAIN feature for dining. Last year ranged from beef and pork tenderloin to flank steak with all kinds of sides. I felt sorry for the poor attendants as they were hearing complaints. NOT their fault and they're probably getting $10/hour to serve.

I told the guy in line behind me, "This caterer is on the PGA Tour". To which he astutely replied, "yeah, but Tiger Woods ain't eating this stuff!"

As for the atmosphere.... It is FAR improved and hats-off to all involved. The LED lights, the music.... I thought everything really provided a much-improved gameday feel. They just need to fix the food and I think they will.

And final observation.... it appears the parking pass ticket scanning lasted all of 5 minutes. Guy at our lot motioned us in and we didn't see a scanner in sight.
 
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Biff Ochocinco Tannen said:
I don't know how old your kids are, but they learn pretty quickly how to use a credit card, or even their own debit card. Like, if they're old enough to go get their own food, they can probably manage paying with a card.
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I’m like- if they’re old enough to go to the line, old enough to use the credit card…
 
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