Workington 2018 .

[A.N.Other]

I entered the stadium at 6.10pm, intending to purchase something from the burger van near the pits. There were about 15 people infront of me queuing for food. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...not one person had  been served !!  The staff seemed totally in chaos and completely disorganised. In the end I ran out of patience and  I decided to trek round to Lauras Cafe on the back straight. There was no queue there, and I asked for Cheeseburger and Chips.  The burger was good and the bun was very soft and pleasant. HOWEVER....the CHIPS WERE DISGUSTING !  They were totally uncooked !  I overheard a member of staff (at 6.25pm mind you), say that "there were no more chips left" after serving me ..with 35 mins to go till tapes up. I could not eat my chips,. they were completely anaemic. I was charged £4.50 for my meal. 

I went to Laura in person, to complain at the end of the meeting, about the problems at both venues. She had also received complaints about long waits at the pits burger van. with several fans missing 4 or 5 races whilst waiting to be served. In fairness to Laura she was horrified to hear what had happened. and has given an assurance that it will be looked in to, and put right by  next Saturdays meeting. In the case of her own Cafe and the uncooked chips, she was embarrassed. 

I cant make it to next Saturdays meeting, so will await any reports from those who attend, as to any improvements in the meal quality, before deciding whether to ever eat at the stadium again. 

I have to say that when "Lakes Caterers" operated the franchise at the pits, their food was second to none. 

[jenga]

41 minutes ago, A.N.Other said:

I entered the stadium at 6.10pm, intending to purchase something from the burger van near the pits. There were about 15 people infront of me queuing for food. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...not one person had  been served !!  The staff seemed totally in chaos and completely disorganised. In the end I ran out of patience and  I decided to trek round to Lauras Cafe on the back straight. There was no queue there, and I asked for Cheeseburger and Chips.  The burger was good and the bun was very soft and pleasant. HOWEVER....the CHIPS WERE DISGUSTING !  They were totally uncooked !  I overheard a member of staff (at 6.25pm mind you), say that "there were no more chips left" after serving me ..with 35 mins to go till tapes up. I could not eat my chips,. they were completely anaemic. I was charged £4.50 for my meal. 

I went to Laura in person, to complain at the end of the meeting, about the problems at both venues. She had also received complaints about long waits at the pits burger van. with several fans missing 4 or 5 races whilst waiting to be served. In fairness to Laura she was horrified to hear what had happened. and has given an assurance that it will be looked in to, and put right by  next Saturdays meeting. In the case of her own Cafe and the uncooked chips, she was embarrassed. 

I cant make it to next Saturdays meeting, so will await any reports from those who attend, as to any improvements in the meal quality, before deciding whether to ever eat at the stadium again. 

I have to say that when "Lakes Caterers" operated the franchise at the pits, their food was second to none. 

it was not a good night to be eating food / i take it you didnt try the dishwater tea or coffee . there must be something in the pipe line (maybe a dead rat ) 

olso the Q for the pits burger van needs to be tighter . + people standing on the opposite side of the Q made it even tighter for fans trying to get accross to the 1st bend steps . 

a good night of speedway , spoiled by very poor staff and uncooked food and even poorer drinks . buy some BIG bottles of water to fill uo the boilers . it costs a quid  a go .

move the ex K.F.C. staff on as well . if they are cooks , i will eat my shoes .(cleaned up ) !

so if Laura knows about it , why no apology from the management . 

Edited April 1, 2018 by jenga

[cometbaz]

Have to agree food has been totally rubbish since Keswick Outside Caterers finished a couple of seasons ago.

Used to always get something to eat but now try to get my tea before I leave home. 

A real shame. 

[scaramanga]

gotta disagree that its been rubish since keswick caterers finished

personaly i didnt like the burgers from keswick caterers  but the service was much better

 

it was good at the start last year on back straight

on the subject of staff where have all the stewards gone ?

i was always led to believe this was a council stadium and had to have a minimum amount of stewrads i was actualy asked years ago to become a steward to allow me free entry

which i declined and continued to pay

but saturday night id say i only seen 1 steward on all off the steps/back straight  with the odd walk round from the new saftey officer

 

[jenga]

i think the back straight cafe will do better with a member of staff being  a  designated cook and as soon as one ore two items have been ordered or sold . the cook (if there is one) should replace the missing items . chips should be ALWAYS available stock piled if nec in a hot oven or something . this WILL  cut down %80 of the waiting time and things will run better . water should ALWAYS be boiling hot and with  fresh water being topped up into the boilers . BOIL THAT FREAKING BOILER . F.F.S. or someone will get poisoned .

its not good getting free water from the pipeline if its not good . make sure and buy some fresh water . or run a couple of large containers off @ your houses . make sure you empty the remains out AFTER the meeting and always make sure the containers are stored in a clean place .  + dont forget to empty those boilers after meetings and wipe well before use  .

if chips bend when you pick them up , THEY ARE NPT COOKED 

how hard is that to do ?

WILL I RETURN TO THE CAFE . yes, i will give it a shot . but not next week . maybe the week after . awaiting feedback from next weeks meeting .

[StevePark]

It's a shame that we are talking more about the catering than the speedway.  But, having said that, people will be put off going if things aren't right, and, with a small(er) crowd to begin with, that's the last thing Workington (or any other track) need.

Last season (when Newcastle were there) my mate and myself went round to the cafe to get food, only to be told that the generator had broken and they couldn't cook any food, so burgers/chips/hot pies etc., were off the menu.  So we had to walk back to the 'pits van,' which, thankfully was good enough, although, because of the problems with the cafe on bend 2, the queue was longer than normal.

The last time I bought anything from the mobile van on the apex of bends 1 & 2, the nicest thing about the burger and chips was the bun.  The chips weren't cooked enough and the burger just didn't taste nice.

Hopefully things will improve and I will check them out for myself when the Diamonds visit on Friday 13th July, and hopefully it won't be ominous (Friday the 13th and all that!).

[Gazc]

1 hour ago, jenga said:

i think the back straight cafe will do better with a member of staff being  a  designated cook and as soon as one ore two items have been ordered or sold . the cook (if there is one) should replace the missing items . chips should be ALWAYS available stock piled if nec in a hot oven or something . this WILL  cut down %80 of the waiting time and things will run better . water should ALWAYS be boiling hot and with  fresh water being topped up into the boilers . BOIL THAT FREAKING BOILER . F.F.S. or someone will get poisoned .

its not good getting free water from the pipeline if its not good . make sure and buy some fresh water . or run a couple of large containers off @ your houses . make sure you empty the remains out AFTER the meeting and always make sure the containers are stored in a clean place .  + dont forget to empty those boilers after meetings and wipe well before use  .

if chips bend when you pick them up , THEY ARE NPT COOKED 

how hard is that to do ?

WILL I RETURN TO THE CAFE . yes, i will give it a shot . but not next week . maybe the week after . awaiting feedback from next weeks meeting .

I will check it out on Saturday and prepare my report for Diners, Drive in's & Dives.

[jenga]

as the saying goes Steve . 

prevention is better than the cure !

although its a shame we are talking about the food/drink etc and not the speedway . we have had no feedback from the promotion . something like , we are looking into it and it will be put right . althoygh laura was informed about the problem , still no reply . 

we were aware of it being run off a generator. maybe it cant cope with the huge stress of running so many electrical item and each item is not running on enough power , therefore undercooking food and drink or its the staff in there that cant think outdie the box and wait until someone asks for something and then the have to cook it .food should be stock piled in a heated area  and replenished when sold . not when asked for it .

hope things get sorted because it does make a difference having a cuppa and some grub @ meetings .

[jenga]

10 minutes ago, Gazc said:

I will check it out on Saturday and prepare my report for Diners, Drive in's & Dives.

if we dont see someone getting their stomach pumped , we will buy food .see if you can get it announced on the P.A. that you have survived the man v food thing .

GAZC is my mate going to be there or has he been sacked ?

Edited April 2, 2018 by jenga

[scaramanga]

especially for the odd ones who go straight from work

[Lord Lucan]

21 hours ago, scaramanga said:

and none of us has comented on the disaster of the new ticket system

thats not a great idea is it for getting anywhere except the grandstand 

anyone going bends or back straight has to squeeze past the que for food at whats probably a better food outlet from what im told

 

Bought my ticket walked five yards and had it marked and inspected, got my prog by the grandstand, £2.50, hope that was a one off into the tunnel and ticket inspected again and made my way across pit entrance, didn't see any staff tho!!

Thought, that's going to be an issue if someone arrives late and wants the bend/back straight location and your looking to get across the pits, bit dangerous that at a motor sports event or, are you going to be stopped and told, it's grandstand only for you mate?

Yeah, it was a bit messy but first time normally is so, we'll see what happens next time, doesn't appear to be the best of ideas tho.....??

[scaramanga]

15 hours ago, Taylorj said:

If you are meaning the mobile van on the grandstand side , it was rubbish,  I missed 5 heats waiting for food , they’d ran out of chips . Got 2 burgers ended up taking them back as they weren’t cooked , missed another 2 heats waiting for replacements. Someone said last night they were being tested out so let’s hope they get better . The new ticket system will be fine , will stop anyone getting in without paying , more control it .

if there that worried about people getting in for free it distracts them from seeing the real problems then were in trouble

and STEVE WHITEHEAD should stop offering free admisson to someone hes battled with the last few years

 

 

[jenga]

53 minutes ago, scaramanga said:

if there that worried about people getting in for free it distracts them from seeing the real problems then were in trouble

and STEVE WHITEHEAD should stop offering free admisson to someone hes battled with the last few years

 

 

WHAT free admission . thought all that was coming to an end . come on Scaramanga , spill the beans .

off for a bath now  , tell us (me) l8ter .  txt talk soz , oopps there it is again lol .

[shazza13]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news if u like Lord Lucan but £2.50 will be the programme price this season... it was announced at meet the riders thatJacko wanted to bring back a proper programme this season..24 colour pages. Unfortunately the price is determined by printing costs.  

I have also informed Steve of my disappointment in the catering facility on the grandstand side... a little girl behind me was totally ignored and several others served before her until I noticed her standing trying to get attention... they had also ran out of tomato sauce.. shock horror. Oh and the height of the canopy is not adequate for taller people it will have someones eye out if they are not paying full attention!! Its very dangerous!!! Oh and i waited ages for  a very poor excuse for burger chips and a hot chocolate like dishwater not only that but serving 'hot'drinks in cups with no lid is a danger too when walking past children running around and passing people in the grandstand as well as trying to carry food. Whinge over.

[StevePark]

I can see McDonald's up the road getting extra business, unless things change.

[jenga]

MCdonalds yes .K.F.C.  no.   ... no one goes to KFC  ., undercooked food. wonder where their staff  went to ?

Edited April 2, 2018 by jenga

[Chas245]

Well, it was cold, very cold, Though the riders got on with it, well done to them, Nice to have Hoggy back too. some good racing. There were 2/3 excellent races. nice to see that. the track was smooth and made for racing,  I endured the cold and enjoyed the racing,

My only reservation was the white noise they played at the end of each race !! Now I know they are trying to attract younger fans, surely not at the risk of losing all the older ones. Or was Rentokil trying to force the rodents out of the Stadium, I might have to join the youngsters n bring my own ear defenders or iPod thingy.

Mason doesn't need to pretend he has bike problems when he gets it wrong, we are all human after all, just learn from the small errors. you know it makes sense.

Well done to all

[comet49]

Apparently the new ticket system is a joint Comets and Town thing. 

[scaramanga]

1 hour ago, shazza13 said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news if u like Lord Lucan but £2.50 will be the programme price this season... it was announced at meet the riders thatJacko wanted to bring back a proper programme this season..24 colour pages. Unfortunately the price is determined by printing costs.  

I have also informed Steve of my disappointment in the catering facility on the grandstand side... a little girl behind me was totally ignored and several others served before her until I noticed her standing trying to get attention... they had also ran out of tomato sauce.. shock horror. Oh and the height of the canopy is not adequate for taller people it will have someones eye out if they are not paying full attention!! Its very dangerous!!! Oh and i waited ages for  a very poor excuse for burger chips and a hot chocolate like dishwater not only that but serving 'hot'drinks in cups with no lid is a danger too when walking past children running around and passing people in the grandstand as well as trying to carry food. Whinge over.

id just like to say its nice and honest from you to join in

rather than defend the promotion 

we know how you dislike the negativity regarding speedway but it needs sorted if we are to survive

 

not just the food but everything

[comet49]

Oh dear, on local news programme.  “Workington Comets rider Charles Wright came second in the Cumberland  Open”.....

Edited April 2, 2018 by comet49
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