Prestige Lounge Replacing Country Kitchen

[warfelg]

The big part of this that we can criticize them on no one knows yet:
What’s it like in there? Is it nicely done and you have stuff like free snacks and sodas? Or is it basically the Country Kitchen without the food device open? Or is it likely renovated to hide that and it’s just a place to sit?

I think the loss of an indoor dining option is bad but just waiting to see what the value of having the ability to use it is before fully roasting KD.

 

[Nicole]

Based on the tweet, it appears that there will be food of some kind.

 

[Mushroom]

The big part of this that we can criticize them on no one knows yet:
What’s it like in there? Is it nicely done and you have stuff like free snacks and sodas? Or is it basically the Country Kitchen without the food device open? Or is it likely renovated to hide that and it’s just a place to sit?

I think the loss of an indoor dining option is bad but just waiting to see what the value of having the ability to use it is before fully roasting KD.

Just curious, when was the last time you ate at Country Kitchen?

I’m not happy about the loss of Country Kitchen either, mostly because I’ll miss chilling by the outdoor pond. But I really don’t understand all the folks acting like the loss of the restaurant is some travesty for the park. As @Zachary and others have been arguing for years, KD has too many restaurants compared to other parks of its size, which puts strains staffing, resources, and culinary focus for the park. Focusing culinary direction and staff on fewer restaurants, and getting those restaurants right, is a good thing. Hence why Country Kitchen has essentially been SBNO in recent memory anyway.

We gained a new original restaurant in the park in 2023 with Firehouse. The addition of Outpost in 2022 turned an “unvisitable” restaurant into a great one. Grain & Grill added yet another original restaurant to the park in 2021. And the Victoria’s renovation is hopefully turning yet another “unvisitable” restaurant into one worth visiting. Not only does the park have plenty of dining capacity, but they effectively keep adding more by transforming restaurants that no one cared about into real winners.

And if you really miss Country Kitchen’s menu, most of it is at Firehouse now — and it’s better than it ever was at Country Kitchen.

I also contend that the park has plenty of indoor dining capacity, so I don’t buy that argument either. I’d almost certainly argue they have more indoor dining than BGW. Whereas BGW has only Das Festhaus and Grogan’s Pub, KD has Borders, Victoria’s, Firehouse, Outpost, and Jungle Market Eatery. If the park ever needs more indoor dining capacity during Winterfest, they can more than make up for the lost capacity at Country Kitchen by simply opening the latter two.

I’m not going to pay for the Prestige Pass, so I won’t be using the VIP lounge. But I can’t imagine criticizing, or “roasting,” the park for delivering on a promise they made for the new pass’s perks — a perk that many on this forum have been clamoring to have in a Virginia park for years. Yeah, I’ll miss the pond and all that, but taking what was essentially an SBNO building that had minimal marginal value for the park and using it to provide a perk that people have already paid for, seems like common sense to me.

 

[warfelg]

Just curious, when was the last time you ate at Country Kitchen?

I’m not happy about the loss of Country Kitchen either, mostly because I’ll miss chilling by the outdoor pond. But I really don’t understand all the folks acting like the loss of the restaurant is some travesty for the park. As @Zachary and others have been arguing for years, KD has too many restaurants compared to other parks of its size, which puts strains staffing, resources, and culinary focus for the park. Focusing culinary direction and staff on fewer restaurants, and getting those restaurants right, is a good thing. Hence why Country Kitchen has essentially been SBNO in recent memory anyway.

We gained a new original restaurant in the park in 2023 with Firehouse. The addition of Outpost in 2022 turned an “unvisitable” restaurant into a great one. Grain & Grill added yet another original restaurant to the park in 2021. And the Victoria’s renovation is hopefully turning yet another “unvisitable” restaurant into one worth visiting. Not only does the park have plenty of dining capacity, but they effectively keep adding more by transforming restaurants that no one cared about into real winners.

And if you really miss Country Kitchen’s menu, most of it is at Firehouse now — and it’s better than it ever was at Country Kitchen.

I also contend that the park has plenty of indoor dining capacity, so I don’t buy that argument either. I’d almost certainly argue they have more indoor dining than BGW. Whereas BGW has only Das Festhaus and Grogan’s Pub, KD has Borders, Victoria’s, Outpost, and Jungle Market Eatery. If the park ever needs more indoor dining capacity during Winterfest, they can more than make up for the lost capacity at Country Kitchen by simply opening the latter two.

I’m not going to pay for the Prestige Pass, so I won’t be using the VIP lounge. But I can’t imagine criticizing, or “roasting,” the park for delivering on a promise they made for the new pass’s perks — a perk that many on this forum have been clamoring to have in a Virginia park for years. Yeah, I’ll miss the pond and all that, but taking what was essentially an SBNO building that had minimal marginal value for the park and using it to provide a perk that people have already paid for, seems like common sense to me.

It’s been a while since I’ve been there.

My point isn’t about the quality of what CK was at all - it’s more about the quality of what replaces it.

 

[Mushroom]

It’s been a while since I’ve been there.

My point isn’t about the quality of what CK was at all - it’s more about the quality of what replaces it.

I think you may have missed my point, though. My point is that while Country Kitchen is being physically replaced with the lounge, its role in the park’s dining lineup has been replaced by a plethora of other dining concepts.

I guess I just don’t see the point in “roasting” the changes to a building you haven’t visited in “a while,” especially when the park has provided so many other options.

 

[Nicole]

It’s been a while since I’ve been there.

My point isn’t about the quality of what CK was at all - it’s more about the quality of what replaces it.

The new restaurants are a million times better than Country Kitchen, in my opinion. Moreover, a pass holder lounge, if done properly, is a fantastic retreat and a great place to escape the weather and crowds and get a drink and snacks without waiting in long lines.

 

[warfelg]

The new restaurants are a million times better than Country Kitchen, in my opinion. Moreover, a pass holder lounge, if done properly, is a fantastic retreat and a great place to escape the weather and crowds and get a drink and snacks without waiting in long lines.

That’s my point. We need to see if it’s done properly before judging anything.

 

[Thriller]

Its closure is a result of poor decisions by park mgmt (bad menus, frequent closures) at chased away customers over time.

 

[horsesboy]

Its closure is a result of poor decisions by park mgmt (bad menus, frequent closures) at chased away customers over time.

Is it or is it that the park made huge improvements to food else where in the park and location like G&G which saw lower crowd flow suddenly started eating into CK's traffic flow causing it to not have the flow worth opening as frequently.

 

[warfelg]

Is it or is it that the park made huge improvements to food else where in the park and location like G&G which saw lower crowd flow suddenly started eating into CK's traffic flow causing it to not have the flow worth opening as frequently.

Flip side - this leaves Parched Pig and Boardwalk Fries as the only dining options in Old Virginia. A agree with an earlier comment that KD might have too many food options, but missing an entire area of the park is not great.

Personally I think with Victoria’s being redone, the Pizza Parlor on I-Street should be made into something else. A little extra opinion, one of the Boardwalk Fries and one of the Rita‘s should be closed. They’re like 5 steps apart from each other (sarcasm). You also don’t need a funnel cake spot on I street and CAG. At least dedicated.

Again, my opinion, Country Kitchen would have been a good spot for a BBQ themed restaurant with a moonshine theme to it. Then one of the open spaces from the above suggested closures could have made a nice members lounge that’s more centrally located.

 

[horsesboy]

Flip side - this leaves Parched Pig and Boardwalk Fries as the only dining options in Old Virginia. A agree with an earlier comment that KD might have too many food options, but missing an entire area of the park is not great.

Personally I think with Victoria’s being redone, the Pizza Parlor on I-Street should be made into something else. A little extra opinion, one of the Boardwalk Fries and one of the Rita‘s should be closed. They’re like 5 steps apart from each other (sarcasm). You also don’t need a funnel cake spot on I street and CAG. At least dedicated.

Again, my opinion, Country Kitchen would have been a good spot for a BBQ themed restaurant with a moonshine theme to it. Then one of the open spaces from the above suggested closures could have made a nice members lounge that’s more centrally located.

What evidence do we have to support Dogwood Grill not reopening? Also CK is right in the middle of at least 3 possibly 4 if Dogwood dies reopen restaurants including the newly refurbished Victoria's I fail to see it closing as a significant loss to the area.

 

[warfelg]

What evidence do we have to support Dogwood Grill not reopening? Also CK is right in the middle of at least 3 possibly 4 if Dogwood dies reopen restaurants including the newly refurbished Victoria's I fail to see it closing as a significant loss to the area.

I was just going off what the current map on KD’s website listed. Must have missed Dogwood if it was on there.

Here’s what I saw on their map currently on the site:


And again, my point isn’t that CK closing is some major loss - it was that we shouldn’t lament it until we see what the member lounge is like. Personally I would take the loss of some other spots around the park for food than this location being used for a half assed lounge, but we can’t know that until it’s open.

I feel like my view is getting really twisted. KD has shown that they can make good food right now, so I feel like they could turn this around if they wanted to. If they lost a nice location place to put in a half assed sub-par lounge (like the tents at Caro) then this would be a mistake IMO. If it turns out to be a really good lounge, then it’s no big deal to me.

Point being - I’m not missing the food at CK, but I would miss the location and if the lounge kinda sucks, the park wasted a good location on something I have no incentive to spend money on.

 

[Riboflavenus]

There have been consistent requests for pass holder lounges in Virginia for ages. It is a great perk in Florida, and I think it is a fantastic idea at KD. Whether the Country Kitchen building is the best location is open for debate, but I don’t understand an objection to their providing a benefit promised under the new annual pass structure. Everyone is able to decide whether to pay a premium for access.

The problem is that the park already has limited indoor seating options with A/C. This will further exacerbate it.

 

[Nicole]

As I said, whether they picked the best location is a reasonable question to ask. The position that a pass holder lounge is intrinsically bad, however, seems unreasonable to me. Those are separate issues and some people seem to be attempting to use one to debate the other.

 

[Riboflavenus]

As I said, whether they picked the best location is a reasonable question to ask. The position that a pass holder lounge is intrinsically bad, however, seems unreasonable to me. Those are separate issues and some people seem to be attempting to use one to debate the other.

I don't have a problem with passholder areas in general. They should have renovated the upstairs of someplace of International street, and added a rooftop bar. That would have been great. I have a problem with getting rid of one of the few existing air conditioned dining areas to do it.

 

[Nicole]

Right. So, you are objecting to something I never said.

 

[warfelg]

As I said, whether they picked the best location is a reasonable question to ask. The position that a pass holder lounge is intrinsically bad, however, seems unreasonable to me. Those are separate issues and some people seem to be attempting to use one to debate the other.

Very much agreed.

Pass Holder Lounge = good IMO.

I have an issue with the location the chose.

And I think something lost yesterday: KD is doing a good job turning the food around, so using the reasoning of CKs food not being good doesn’t sit well with me. I cannot recall if KD has a formal sit down dining (full service) eatery or not but CK’s location could have been nice for that. Really give the Executive Chef and his team a chance to shine where you can charge a premium due to the environment. Then you can have a more central to the park lounge.

 

[guy305]

I actually like that the lounge isn’t in a centralized location.

 

[Riboflavenus]

Right. So, you are objecting to something I never said.

I never objected to anything you said or didn't say, I was clarifying my position.

 

[warfelg]

I actually like that the lounge isn’t in a centralized location.

I realized I didn’t justify my reasoning for that:
More centralized and more visible means more people would wonder what it is and want access. If they can set up at the door to upgrade members that want access it could be a real win.