Lack of Dining options in France

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IndyRacingNut

IndyRacingNut

Apr 9, 2013
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Let's talk about dining in the France hamlet. No not the NEW France....Just France. Normally when you think of France, fine dining of some semblance or another is usually one of the top thoughts in your head, right?

Let's review what France has..
This is according to BG's own website.

Café Lulu
Smoked Turkey Legs
Jumbo Soft Pretzels
Nachos with Chili and Cheese
Fresh Churros with Sugar and Cinnamon
Fresh Fruit Smoothies
Frosted Lemonade
Iced Coffees
Assorted Coca-Cola Products
Lemonade, Fruit Punch
Coffee, Milk, Water
Hot Chocolate
Beer

La Grande Glace
Hand Dipped Ice Cream
Waffle Cone Sundaes
Assorted Coca-Cola Products

This is everything you can buy food-wise in France. Really BG? Nothing says France like a nice plate of....Nachos?? Turkey legs?? CHURROS??? Okay, I've been to France twice. If you can find a single churro anywhere in Paris, I'll buy you your next one.

This is a travesty and an insult to all park guests...And THIS is supposed to be one of the original hamlets of the park! You'd have thought they'd have a very nice sit-down restaurant somewhere in there, much like Grogan's Grill or something.

I guess they simply decided that France is nothing more than a distraction on your way to eating at New France or Festhaus, so why bother actually theming what pathetic food they serve there with the hamlet itself, yeah?

Okay, rant over.

Talk amongst yourselves.
 
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LOL...Right after having posted the OP, I knew the first thing someone would say would be a reference to Escargot. Actually if you've had it, it's not all that bad. No worse than eating squid or oysters. No, they can make far more palatable dishes like bouillabaisse (If they can pass Annie Grogan's stew as a dish...Bouillabaisse would be a CINCH for them to sell as well) and many other "French-enough for the general American public" type dishes....But for crying out loud? 7-Eleven type nachos is NOT French by any stretch...

And yes, they HAVE to do a Sit-down restaurant of some kind.

And on a side note...I overheard some college kids complaining about how they couldn't find the smoking area in France, and his friend said "It's FRANCE! I thought they'd keep it real and have the WHOLE COUNTRY be a smoking area!" I almost died laughing....
 
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To add to the sit-down menu restaurant idea that we've all wanted for so long, they could even charge for reservations if they wanted to...Probably would make far much more money just from that then those 4 cabanas they rent out nearby...
 
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They tried Cafe Lulu but it was never open, had an awful location, and served a total of zero original meals. All they did was cart in food from Das Festhaus and Trappers and sell it for $3+ more.
 
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I think we can all agree that we would much rather tolerate a decent offering of actual French food served up theme park style in a nice sit down environment, than have to put up with turkey legs, nachos & churros as their main culinary attraction. I can't stand the food in the Italy hamlet, yet I'd take that slop anyday over what they serve in France.

I took my girlfriend for the first time to BG & she really wanted to eat in the France area. I told her there's not much there beforehand, but she wanted to see for herself. All it took was her to walk into Lulu's for one second and she walked straight back out. Her only word to me was "Nachos???" I started cracking up. LOL
 
Going off what Zach said, there's a point where the park can go too European to fit a theme park. French dishes are not known for something you can easily prepare in a theme park setting and make a profit out of it. I can see something along the lines of a bakery there but not much more.
 
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They just need to talk to French people like my grandma and get their different easy to prepare french dishes. They could have French french toast, or French french fries, or, better yet, French french bread with French french butter! There are endless possibilities.
 
Pretzel Kaiser said:
I can see something along the lines of a bakery there but not much more.
Click to expand...
French bread, cheese & wine house. I'm there!! :cool:

Also, baguette and croissants. Maybe that would go over well and not be too difficult.
 
chickenking said:
Hasn't this already been tried?
Click to expand...

They used to have Bistro 205 which was at first an all you can eat buffet similar to La Cucina but it featured items such as fried chicken, mac and cheese, etc. Once La Cucina was turned all you can eat, they tried to convert Bistro 205 into a full-service dinning restaurant. The main problem with this was that the park cut too many corners for this idea to even work.

I personally, sat down a tried this restaurant out and I was appalled at the experience. First, I was seated very quickly. It was patio seating only, with only barely shade and no fans and I was there on a hot summer day when it was like 100 degrees out with almost 70 percent humidity? Very uncomfortable dinning area unless it was a mild summer day. After being seated I decided just to have cheese sticks and not stay long because it was that uncomfortable. I got my food, I was checked up on frequently, until I was ready to go. It took forever before I could pay and leave. It was just a terrible environment unless the weather was just right. Not to mention the park decided to go with plastic plates and plastic silverware that mimicked fancy dishes. If they offer a full-service restaurant, I expect no less than real dishes, nothing plastic, as well as a temperature controlled environment. Those were their biggest problems that they didn't even want to try and fix.

The Bistro's menu was also a collage of the park's signature dishes to include from other restaurants; however the park then decided that they would only serve Trapper's menu at the Bistro to save costs I assume. Then finally this year they killed the failed project all together. It was a sad excuse for a full-service restaurant; but if they really put the effort into at least some kind of real shade like the plants at Grogan's along with fans, even that would have been so much better. But they decided not to invest their full potential.
 
Yeah, a bakery offering all kinds of stuff from desserts to sandwiches would be at least halfway better than selling friggin' NACHOS for crying out loud....
 
What about breakfast? French toast, crapes, and omelettes. Open France and the skyride early with England. Many people have commented about breakfast at the park and have had good reviews. The skyride has a french name and could fit with a special breakfast event. The park can bring talent from all trades, would getting a couple cooks that can flip some omelettes for the guest willing to get there early hard? They could have real maple syrup imported from 'New France'.
 
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Makes me wonder if the powers that be have given up on France & plan on adding a Killer Whale exhibit to expand the wild animal preserve in the area eventually...geez...
 
I like the breakfast idea. Having a gluten allergy.. eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, corn beef hash, & hashbrowns are all gluten free (mostly). At home, these menu items also become my lunch and dinner as well due to limited options. Unfortunately I could not enjoy crepes without messing up my stomach, but I could go for a bacon, cheese, and mushroom omelette any day or any time of day!
 
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