Alton Towers Burger Kitchen

[Ben]

Dont Legoland have some kind of Merlin style subway? Anyone know how this works?

Alton now has a sub sandwich outlet already! Sadly it was placed in the waterpark replacing Quenchers. Yes, it is a random move that would have been better on park.

As for Burger Kitchen - theres no surprise its coming, Merlin have been desperate to run all the food outlets and BK is the bigger fish to fry at the moment. I dont dislike the food at Burger King (nor do I go out of my way for it) but I find their service to be awful, very slow and the staff are often quite poor in customer service skills. So I look forward to Burger Kitchen for the fact the service should improve.
I am quite surprised at the tiny menu they offer - Id hope this would expand when it hits Alton, purely due to the larger amount of guests Alton attracts compared to Blackpool Tower.

As for Eastern Express, perhaps another Sub sandwich shop could end up there?

 

[Aly]

I heard a rumor today, that it's Burger King's final season this year, and it's going to be replaced by the Burger Kitchen..


Let's hope this is correct. Then it just leaves Eastern Express to get rid of. Then they have completely fazed out the external brands!

Hurrah!

Yeah, the word going around since Burger King replaced McDonalds is that it's been on a year-on-year lease/franchise so it's been expected to leave every year since it appeared at the park. Fingers crossed it's this year!

 

[Alastair]

I think the perception by the public will change as outside brands are phased out. The escapism is severely lost when you see things like Fanta sponsorship plastered everywhere or a well known fast food outlet - but when you see exclusive equivalents it adds that extra feeling of being somewhere completely different.

 

[thefatone]

Dont Legoland have some kind of Merlin style subway? Anyone know how this works?

Its literally pre-made sandwiches really.

They'll probably never have a Subway or equivelant, its not fast and easy enough to make to order at a theme park with potentially 30,000 guests.

 

[Aly]

Movie Park in Germany has an actual Subway in their theme park, no surprise really considering it's just a franchise business model that Subway operate, however it actually worked really well. It was actually about the size of your average Subway store - it just had loads of external seating. The service was really quick though due to the number of staff.

I think the thing to remember is, it wouldn't be an anchor food outlet, however would still be rather popular. It would be one of thoose where if the queue was a certain length then people will likely skip it.

However if the right set-up, right staff and the right training a Subway style outlet could work well on the park - unfortunately though, food outlets at Alton Towers never seem to have staff who are on the ball or efficent.

 

[Dan]

In my experience the Subway at Movie Park Germany was very slow and there was flys crawling all over the bread, we had to ask for bread from the unit with the door on. I think Subway could work at at Towers but it would need to be a lot bigger than Movie Parks

 

[IanB]

Does anyone else find it a little strange, that rides are starting to have an IP attached to them, the food outlets are going the opposite direction?

Ian

 

[Stelios]

As much as I want this Sub Co. I wouldn't whack it in CCL at all. Leave that at the Burger Kitchen and replace Eastern Express or the Ben and Jerry's outlet as it's never that busy especially with a cheaper Ice Cream outlet now. And besides, savoury food is popular and at home in Mutiny too. Yes it's a family area and families love Ice Cream. But there is one easily nearby in Towers Street.


Speaking of food, I'd but some sort of stall on the lawn to tempt many "freebie sandwich" guests in the summer

 

[Alastair]

on the lawn to tempt many "freebie sandwich" guests in the summer

Good idea, although of course it would be closed for the majority of the year which would lead to people complaining about how dilapidated AT looks with so many outlets closed!

 

[Stelios]

on the lawn to tempt many "freebie sandwich" guests in the summer

Good idea, although of course it would be closed for the majority of the year which would lead to people complaining about how dilapidated AT looks with so many outlets closed!

I was hoping someone would assume that It'd only be used in the peak summer at a budget price. But thanks. ;D

 

[tothetowers]

Id love Alton Towers to have a Subway style shop, I think it would work really well. But I don't think it should be in CCL Burger King, I think that should always be a Burger Restraunt just due to it's size. I don't no why, I'd like a new building to made in Gloomy Wood to accommodate it, but theirs not really room and I don't really think they'd fork out for it tbh.

 

[Nick]

A Subway barely needs to be a shop really, it's just a counter and a oven basically. Would probably only need a stall really, and there could be seating outside. Nothing else is needed really.

 

[AirFAN]

Do you think the introduction of more gourmet offerings which could charge slightly more would be successful at the Towers? Gourmet street food is definitely becoming more popular. I'm unsure if something like this would work at the park?

For example Ostrich Burgers?

I'm not too sure what the food offering is like at the Towers today, haven't been for a while. What's the alternative to the standard burger, fried chicken, pizza etc. fast food?

 

[djtruefitt]

I would say the most "upmarket" food outlet on park at the moment would be woodcutters, but that is still pretty standard pub type food. The hotels offer much higher quality and expensive meals, but I dont know if this would work on park.

In general most guests want to spend as little amount of time as possible eating so they can do more rides, so im not sure if people would want to spend large amounts of money on nice food but to rush it.

 

[AirFAN]

I don't think time would be an issue. The idea of gourmet street food is it's served on the street very much in the same way a burger van operates. Have a look at Google images to get an idea: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gourmet+street+food&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=W4jnT_2OIOWg0QWimcn3CA&ved=0CFYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1271&bih=635. It's serving gourmet food on the go, perfect for those who want something good but who are in a rush - perfect for the Towers' guests in my opinion. It's definitely something I would be interested in, but I'm not sure if it's something most guests would appreciate?

Edit: This is good to get an idea of what I'm talking about: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/apr/24/top-10-london-street-food-stalls

 

[josht]

Personally I would covert the burger king (cloud cuckoo land) into a fine dining outlet I know theres the woodcutters buger restaurant right round the corner but I think that it has the best building to accommodate a restaurant (don't really know when burger king come out of contract but I think towers are try get rid of outside fast food outlets with KFC and pizza hut going in the past)

 

[Ben]

glad an upmarket idea has been suggested.

I would love for the current Towers Street Restaurant to be converted into something akin to Secret Garden. I mean rip out the awful current set up.
It only needs to be small, relatively formal and have a nice atmosphere.
I want tabled not squashed together, staff in a nice uniform, nice music in the background, smart lighting and high end furniture and good quality food.

Providing a waiter/waitress service lunch and snacks, coffee and afternoon treats on the verandah area.

Then, as the park closes, keep it open late - maybe an hour or two. Make people really feel they are getting a massive perk out of normal hours. A nice little bar menu to keep people even longer, taking in views of the towers while no-one else is around. Then perhaps run a bus every hour to take people back to the hotels.

 

[Sam]

Towers Family Restaurant is the most dated place in the whole park. It needs something doing with it.

 

[AirFAN]

glad an upmarket idea has been suggested.

I would love for the current Towers Street Restaurant to be converted into something akin to Secret Garden. I mean rip out the awful current set up.
It only needs to be small, relatively formal and have a nice atmosphere.
I want tabled not squashed together, staff in a nice uniform, nice music in the background, smart lighting and high end furniture and good quality food.

Providing a waiter/waitress service lunch and snacks, coffee and afternoon treats on the verandah area.

Then, as the park closes, keep it open late - maybe an hour or two. Make people really feel they are getting a massive perk out of normal hours. A nice little bar menu to keep people even longer, taking in views of the towers while no-one else is around. Then perhaps run a bus every hour to take people back to the hotels.

Interesting suggestion. I think on its own it wouldn't be feasible and the cost of not being able to close the park as early as possible and running shuttles to and from the hotel would far outweigh any earnings. I feel it has the potential to work if Towers Street is made into more of a destination which is attractive both in the day and at night (thinking City Walk). However it's something that isn't likely to prove massively popular purely due to the fact the park is in such a remote area and therefore wouldn't appeal to a great deal of people.

Having said that, and going back to your original suggestion, I feel there is a need for a more upmarket dining experience in which people aren't rushed when eating. There must be a lot of people who go to the park as chaperones who aren't massively interested in the rides - something like this would be nice to occupy their time.

Personally I think the Towers Street restaurant is awful and is on par to something you saw in service stations a good 10 years ago. There definitely needs to be an alternative offering to those who wish to sit down but don't want the full-on dining experience. A food court perhaps?

I feel the park has a chance to really make itself a 'food destination'. Instead of offering the standard fried chicken options, really marketing say, for example, a 'gourmet offering' to be appealing enough for people to pay a slightly higher price. Make food desirable and not a necessity. Food can be interesting and enjoyable. I genuinely feel the park has the potential to bring its 'magic' into this area.

 

[Alastair]

Towers Family Restaurant is the most dated place in the whole park. It needs something doing with it.

Not much chance of that now it's only open till 12 though is there?

That is assuming that the reversal of the decision to open some rides at 11 did not include reversal of that particular decision.