Did midway market raise the price?

Well I certainly felt no obligation to leave a tip when I decided to give it another go this year. I swear it was the worst service I've ever had and I have pretty low expectations at a buffet. Our server pretty much ignored our table, we had to flag down a manager to find him to get our first drink orders after 15 minutes of waiting and then when I asked for a refill he told me I was drinking too fast.

Now that definitely wasn't worth the price...

I don't understand why I would have to tip for someone to bring me a drink that I could get myself if they just put in a pepsi machine.

Here's an idea, treat it just like a fast food place, just with a buffet. You walk in pay for your meal, get a glass, and choose a table. They would have a pop machine where you could get your own refills, and of course the plates and such on the buffet. When you are done with your plate, and going back to the buffet there is a trash can just like you see in fast food joints, that has a place on top for trays (in this case your plates).

This way you minimize the staff (saving money) to just 1 person, 2 during rush, who can clean off the tables after people leave. It would reduce their staffing from 4 servers a shift to 1 busser, pay them the going rate (which is still saving money) and presto no more issues with bad service. Price and quality of food is something else though :)

That's how all the buffet places I have ever been to operate.

There is no need for a wait staff, just a few bussers to clear out the used plates.

Morté615 said:
When you are done with your plate, and going back to the buffet there is a trash can just like you see in fast food joints, that has a place on top for trays (in this case your plates).

Because that wouldn't result in dozens of lost plates per day.

Yes, but the question is, would the lost plates outweigh the minimum wage employee wages? :)

I eaten at MM dozens of times only only once did I have bad service, so the complaints about the service surprise me. I'm not saying those complaints aren't valid. Bad service happens. I've always found the servers to be prompt and attentive. If I have a complaint it would be that some are too attentive. I've had a few servers that were too quick to want to remove plates from our table, plates that still had plenty of uneaten food on them. The one time we had bad service we waited for about 15 minutes for someone to come to our table. It turns out that due to assembling multiple tables for a large group our waitress was switched to our table but, apparently was not informed of the switch. She'd waited on us on previous visits and was sorry. We'd always been happy with her.

We went to Ryans after leaving CP last evening. They have waitresses that bring drinks/refills and bread. They also remove the dirty plates for you. While we were there Bill Spehn came in with two other men and dined.