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Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins

Plastic Person said:
There's a vast industry around street food that has accelerated in the last decade or so. I think a lot of the stigma or associations with a bacon bap van in the car park of a B&Q or a layby has vanished, and presumably the "maggot wagon" idea with it. If anything, people seem to gravitate more towards the concept. One of the local kebab houses near my place has recently started turning up at a market with a 'street food' concept and some nice graphics and seem to have reinvented their trade by association. In Towers case, I would now always opt for one of the event street food vans than Burger Kitchen or Pizza & Pasta, if the option is available.
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I totally agree - the "maggot wagon" moniker was made as a joke (although as you rightly say, in years gone by it was probably well justified in some cases). The street food scene has really exploded in the past decade (as has the Food Standards Agency "scores on the doors" inspections). In Leeds the Trinity Kitchen food court fairly regularly rotate the selection of street food vans on offer in their indoor location to keep the food offer "fresh" to guests.

Whilst many on here may not be fans of the Aramark food offer, they do in the main get 4 or 5 food hygiene ratings (it's not hard to get a 5 with properly documented procedures, documented records, stock rotation, food handling, hygiene etc). There is of course the niggling issue of that "blip" report on Chessington where the findings make the Fawlty Towers kitchen look good [think "Basil the Rat" episode].
 
I love a good food van. Aberah Kebabrah, a bacon sandwich from the van in Proper Job car park, and a burger from Snack in the Mouth in the layby on the A371 are some of my local favourites. They'd do worse than to bring back some Yorkshire pudding wraps, they were gorgeous.
 
I'd be amazed if these don't turn out to be the four airstreams they already have. There is a sizeable empty corner of x-sector this year near to the entrances and with great views of two major coasters. Makes perfect sense to fill it with temporary f&b options and seating for non-riders.
Airstreams are also bare metal and fit in fairly easily with the aesthetic
 
The American caravan thing(s) at Thorpe look class. More of that, rather than a local council firework display vibe, please.
 
It will of course depend on the execution, but I really like the idea of a mini street food court in X-Sector, could be lovely on a nice sunny day for a bite to eat and a beer. Hopefully it is a little bit more than 4 mobile units and some picnic benches/tables and chairs; would be nice for it to be themed accordingly and maybe even a place for some street entertainment.

Oh and please let the smash burgers be good!

As for the Aramark contract, it could well be 12 years but there will be clauses and options within that.
 
I think it could be a nice idea, living in South London I feel like these street food places are literally everywhere I go and they're always popular, adds a bit of a different vibe to the standard food outlets, it should allow the park to experiment a bit with different food options too which Alton Towers really needs - Chessie and Thorpe have a much wider range of food types.

The thing that could let it down is presentation, hopefully they don't just end up looking like plonked fairground stands and have something to try and fit them in with whatever X-Sector's supposed to be these days!
 
The app has been updated with the renamed FV outlets for 2024, including the Generator which seems to have had a menu change:

IMG_6278.jpeg
 
Martin said:
Tried the new chicken shop by Nemesis and it was decent enough, price was acceptable with a MAP, wish the spiciest sauce was spicier though. Didn't try the 701 calories one though 😉1000025397.jpg
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I assume that's an XL Parmo option? :p
 
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