CP Dining and Meal Plans 2018

ImpulsivePhoenix said:

Urumqi said:
Is the beer-and-wine kiosk on frontier trail open? If so, does anyone know the listing of beers it is selling?

The Trail Tavern (if that is what you are referring to, not sure) is open but I don't know what is being sold cause I don't drink.

Yes, the Trail Tavern is the name of the kiosk about which I was thinking. Thank you. Does anyone know what beers are being sold there?

They have that fake shine, I know that. As for beers, I recall a pretty good selection. I found a decent IPA there.
It’s a pretty big place that originally housed a craftsman, (wasn’t Paul there originally?), then it was a home decor store. There’s a lot of outdoor space too. When I think of kiosk I think of that little place at the mall that sells bedazzled phone cases.

What I've truly been waiting for is... When in the world is Buckaroo's Burritos going to open?

Hopefully by next week. I loved it last year. Not quite Chipotle but not bad at all.

Trail Tavern is a really nicely done establishment, it is so much more than a kiosk.

Just experienced Frontier Foldovers for the first time yesterday.

While this is probably just the staff getting used to everything, service was really slow and disorganized. I got my food ahead of two people who ordered before me. I had the Crispy Chicken Foldover w/ Fruit Cup. Surprisingly, the food preparers were in the habit of adding French Fries to every basket, so I got an extra item free.

This foldover is big. It's a sizable chicken tender wrapped in pita bread and stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing, then cut in half to present two halves. I can eat my fill, but I was feeling kinda stuffed by the time I finished the first half. Unfortunately, the chicken doesn't cover a lot of bread so a lot of the bites you're getting are just lettuce and bread, but once you get a full bite of everything, it's really good for CP food standards. The fruit cup is similar to what Crystal Rock Cafe has, with a choice of watermelon or grapes; I'm so glad that a fruit cup is available on a dining plan in the main park. Eating actual healthy food goes a long way to replenish my energy for the rest of the day.

All in all, this is a worthy stop for food in the park and the second best new food addition this year, only falling to Miss Keats Smokehouse (btw get the chopped pork w/ BBQ sauce there, its superb). If you're looking for a more sizable meal in the park, or just curious to try the new offerings, eat one of these foldovers.

I got Frontier Foldovers Thursday too, was probably the most hassle I ever had in getting a food item at the park. Very bad setup, drink stand is set pretty far away from register. But it took me quite a while to get my order, Sicilians kept on being made (I ordered Crispy Chicken). People who ordered before me getting their food. Needless to say, I enjoyed the crispy chicken foldover, but I won't be going there next week, let that staff sort things out and get more used to it.

ImpulsivePhoenix said:
People who ordered before me getting their food

I never understood this complaint from people, you do understand it’s a kitchen and not a car wash.
Anyway, I’m by no means a fan of CP food services, it is run like a 2 bit carnival. They are way over staffed and under trained, actually they probably are trained. By a complete incompetent imbecile. Other parks with similar staffing issues have figured this out years ago, it has to come down to management being stuck in some weird pre-Kinzel time warp.

There is light though! The new offerings In Frontier town have good food and great service so far! I’m actually impressed enough by the new food that I bought the dining plan pass add on again.

XS NightClub said:
I never understood this complaint from people, you do understand it’s a kitchen and not a car wash.

Serving food in the sequence in which it was ordered is standard practice, at least in restaurants.

Well McDonalds doesn’t hold up the whole operation because someone ordered a filet-of-fish that has to be dropped in the fryer. Unfortunately I experienced this very thing last week at KI’s Coney BBQ which is very similar to Miss Keats. They ran out of Mac and Cheese and didn’t know what to do and ended up just stopping the line for 10 whole minutes while they waited for the kitchen to get more out. Not everyone wanted mac and cheese as a side. Clearly there was not a well trained supervisor on deck to direct the minions.

Coney also has some quality control and training issues regarding consistent quantity. They serve tri tip frequently instead of brisket and it seems the rule is three slices. Tri tip is a triangular cut so it works out great until you start getting down to the narrow end. I noticed Miss Keats weighing the brisket and “chopped” pork portions on small digital scales yesterday to help with consistency.

McDonald's is not what I'd call a "restaurant."

And of course there are exceptions, even in actual restaurants. But my point was only that, at least where I've worked and visited, it is definitely standard operating procedure to serve tables in the sequence in which they ordered.

All the restaurants I've been in serve food as it comes out of the kitchen regardless of the sequence it was ordered. I don't see why it would be done different, something quick to prepare shouldn't be sitting under heat lamps waiting for something that takes longer to finish so it can be served first.

Correct. If I order the pizza that takes 20 minutes while everyone else orders a ham n cheese, a good restaurant times it so they are served at the same time. If the table next to us orders nothing but ham n cheese they’ll get theirs first.

Yep. I thought that was pretty obvious.

What I noticed though, the Sicilian and Crispy Chicken foldover both look to take the same amount of time to prepare. The Crispy Chicken might need to be fried (I don't know if they have some ready or not to use). But the amount of time I waited certainly was plenty enough for Crispy Chicken to be ready. I'd say a good 5 people got their items before me. I think I made it more confusing getting a side salad, they're so used to just putting on french fries (they might've handed me mine and I didn't know cause it had fries). It was bad disorganization going on there.The other thing that made it worse was the cashier took my receipt to write something and never gave it back (I'll have to make sure to ask for it back next time). I will come back cause it was good, just not in the coming week.

ImpulsivePhoenix said:
What I've truly been waiting for is... When in the world is Buckaroo's Burritos going to open?

Saw posts on Facebook that it opened today

Can confirm Buckaroos opened Saturday June 9. We nearly went there to use our meal plan but the wife wanted the famous fries which are always good at least. Maybe today if it opens again.

I keep hearing rave reviews about Miss Keats Smokehouse and Brew & BBQ. B&BBQ always smelled amazing during past CoasterMania trips but we never tried it because that’s the hardcore coaster trip. Miss Keats smelled awesome this year but I am hesitant to try it when we go back in August. Why? Hersheypark’s smokehouse has kinda scared me off. It smelled amazing, looked great, but was damn near inedible. It was awful. I have my reservations about another in-park BBQ joint. May have to stick with Famous Dave’s (not the greatest BBQ but it’s consistent).

Don't be afraid to try Miss Keats Smokehouse. The food there is amazing! I haven't had a bad meal there yet. Hard to believe it is Cedar Point food.

I use my meal plan for the Beef Brisket every time I'm there. Even without the meal plan, the prices are not bad. And the quantity is more than you'd expect!