What's wrong with the Midway Market?

My issue is the constantly changing price. When it gets over 11 bucks, I won't go.

" You are expected to tip though"

I never understood why they don't get self serve drink stations at the midway market. All of the buffet that I have been to have them.

I would rather (and perfer) to get my own drink. This way I can put as much ice in as I want, and don't have to tip someone to do it.

The midway market is probaly the best deal in the park when it comes to food. Like someone else mentiond, it cost's about the same to get a burger,fries and drink from a food stand in the park.

Kings island has a buffet as well, but the buffet there is (if I remember right) $16 per person. Alittle steep in my oppinion. I can get a good meal at famouse daves for that price.

MM has become a staple for my family. It is now part of our routine for lunch. Heck, a few years ago we were on a first name basis with some of the waitresses because we went there so much.

I agree the food is not that great but doing the math like some of you have done, for just a couple dollars more than a food standstand we get all you can eat, including desert, and drinks. Add in the fact that it makes the kids happy and it is a winner in our minds.

My only complaint is they took the nachos away last year. That bummed the kids (and dad) out a bit.

crazy horse said:
This way I can put as much ice in as I want, and don't have to tip someone to do it.

Diners are still expected to tip in that situation. Not as much as in a traditional dining experience, but definitely not zero.

If only because they're clearing your plates and making sure your table isn't overflowing with dishes. Still, that's usually a couple of bucks, and I don't mind doing that.

I feel bad for the servers in situations like that, where all they do is get your drink and clear your plates, yet they're still paid a tip-earner's wage. Not just at CP, but other buffet-style places as well. I tend to tip very well, especially when service is good, but it's really hard to figure out what to leave when you don't really interact with your server.

I've had some great ones at Midway Market. My friend Jeff and I were in Midway Market a couple of years ago (2005, I think), and the server was very interactive, knelt down by the table, asked us how our day was, chatted a bit about the upcoming rollercoaster they were building in the back, asked what we thought it was etc.. We wound up leaving him a nice tip, and going to the food service office to fill out a compliment card on him.

Another time I was there with my wife and my parents, and I went with my dad to get something, and mom and wife forgot to leave the tip on the table. I felt so horrible, that we went back and gave her $20. I'm sure when she saw an empty table, and no money, she felt horrible, like she had done something wrong. I hope the $20 justified it.

I've eaten there before as well and thought the food was good. A little pricey, but I don't mind paying the extra couple dollars for a good buffet meal. By the way e x i t English, that was very nice of you to give the waitress $20. I bet you made her day.

I sure hope so.
Like I said, I consider myself a very generous tipper. It's always nice to imagine that you brighten somebody's day when you leave them a little more than 20%. Then again, I'm pretty outgoing, so I can usually get a server talking a little more than just taking orders, so I guess it's partially my fault that I always get good service. :-P

Personally, I think tipping at a buffet kind of defeats the purpose of the buffet. The idea of the buffet is that it is *self service*. Tipping is how you express gratitude for *service*, which you don't generally expect at a buffet.

When I have eaten at the Midway Market, the food was decent, but I had to keep hunting down a server for things like ketchup, salt, napkins, and drink refills. Stuff that ought to be out in the open, on the table, or on the buffet was hidden away just to give an excessive number of servers something to fail to do, and for diners to be angered by being expected to tip them (my last visits to Midway Market, Johnny Rockets, and Game Time Grill have all featured **LOUSY** service). What kind of a tip am I supposed to leave for lousy service? And what kind of a tip am I supposed to leave for lousy service in an environment where I would have been happier to get *no* service?

So what's wrong with Midway Market?

1) They pay their help too little to do the wrong things. Pay them a proper salary, eliminate the tip-begging cards, and move the drink machines and condiments out into the open. Let the staff concentrate on maintaining the buffet and clearing the empty tables. Allow diners to leave tips for exceptional service or special treatment, but expect them not to, and pay the help accordingly. This is not a table service establishment.

2) They hide the drinks and condiments. Put the drink machine out in the open and let us take care of that ourselves instead of making us hunt down a server.

3) The Soup of the Day is *always* Cream of @#$!ing Broccoli. I can't even stand the smell of that stuff; I am certainly not going to eat it!

4) The food tends to be good, but it also tends to be very heavy. Lots of really dense food that may not be what you have in mind for a really hot, humid day.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'd rather just go to TGI Fridays anyways. Its really good. My all time favorite restaurant.

On heavy food - Dave, you know better than that. :) That's the nature of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Every buffet I've ever been to, save for Indian food and maybe a few other "ethnic" food buffets, are full of heavy comfort food. Why? because it's extremely filling, and it is cheap.

The restaurant saves money, because you feel like you've eaten your money's worth when you feel like you've got to be rolled out the door because you're stuffed, when all you ate was 50 cents worth of mashed potatoes and a chicken breast. It makes great sense for them. It also makes sense (usually) for the consumer, because for $10 you get gut-busting full, and you feel like you won't have to eat again all day.

Not that its great for hot, sticky weather - which was entirely your point, I was just saying. :)

I'll be working at Midway Market this summer, and having no previous experiences with this particular establishment, how much do servers at MM usually make in tips?

Why didn't you go back to Soak City, Dan?

I figured I'd work somewhere new in the park. The past couple of years I gained alot of food/beverage experience working for Chili's and On The Border. I'll certainly stop in Soak City when I'm up.

On tips, I usually leave about 10% since it is just bringing drinks and clearing dishes. That's about $3.00 for a table of two guests.

e x i t english said:
I sure hope so.
Like I said, I consider myself a very generous tipper. It's always nice to imagine that you brighten somebody's day when you leave them a little more than 20%. Then again, I'm pretty outgoing, so I can usually get a server talking a little more than just taking orders, so I guess it's partially my fault that I always get good service. :-P

I usually have a standard rate of pay in terms of tips. There's been one occasion in which the tip was amazing. It was me and my friends Richard and Tim at an Olgas. When our waitress came to our table Richard said in a REALLY creepy stalker tone "WE know you!". Tim and I stood there confused, not realizing she was in our grad class. So for about 20 seconds, the poor girl stood there with a surprised/confused look on her face and answered "Ummm, I dont know how to answer that....". After all was corrected and right with the world, we ended up leaving a $35 tip cause we felt so bad for what Richard had done.

Now as for MM, I haven't been there in a while, but whenever I DO go, I usually have great service and food. The price is meh, but it's Cedar Point.

e x i t, I know, you're absolutely right about the heavy food, and when you go to a buffet, that's kind of what you expect. And unlike everything else on my list, it really isn't something the park ought to fix. But for a lot of potential customers, that can be a bit of a turn-off.

Chip Flipper, as for tips in the Market, let me suggest this: I believe it is the only table service restaurant at Cedar Point where they put a card on the table explaining that servers are paid below minimum and therefore should be tipped. My GUESS is that tips in there are probably lower than in the other restaurants. I know that I'm typically a "15%+rounding, always in cash" tipper in most restaurants, and I pretty much chop that by a third or more for tipped buffets...and still grumble about it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm not a fan at all, but for that matter I'm not a fan of eating anywhere in the park. Its all the same food besides Johnny Rockets. You can get the same chicken fingers, burgers etc that they serve at Gameday at any of the counter service places and not have to bother with a tip. Not to mention the buffet makes no sense. It all just seems so random.

If I'm going to pay out the ass for a meal I want some originality. I recently joined Friday's "give me more stripes club". You can sign up for it on their site. They're constantly sending me coupons and for every hundred dollars spent in the restaurant get you a free entree I believe. So basically I'll eat free every 3 to 4 times I'm there this summer. I'm just wondering if I can get points at the bar :).

I do hope they have the 5$ Brat, chips and pop deal again this year. I was actually all over that one.

Clevelandkid said:
I think it was $13.95 for lunch and $15.95 after 3pm for dinner last year.

For those kind of prices you can head over to Fridays on the beach. I figured out last year (when I learned the beach Fridays has nearly identical pricing to all other Fridays) that place probably has the best price/quality ratio of anywhere on the peninsula. For what you'd pay for a nasty burger, fries and a drink at one of the park locations, you can have a Fridays meal, and Fridays may even be cheaper if you get a water.

I've been told 10% is good for a buffet. Because they're only refilling drinks and clearing dishes, they can service 2-3 times as many tables as at a full service restaurant, so that helps. The little "we pay our workers sh!t so please tip" cards on the table are tacky, yet helpful. I will be honest, I wasn't aware it was proper to tip at a buffet until I read that card at MM and started asking friends about the practice. I had just assumed the wait staff were paid minimum wage because it was a non-tipping job. Then I felt foolish for not having tipped at my favorite Chinese buffet back home.

Admittedly the last time I ate at MM was 2 seasons ago, but I remember it was nice being able to have a meal featuring'normal' food rather than 'carnival' or burger-based food. As in, you canactually get a side dish that doesn't consist of a heaping gallon of salty fried potato product. :)

birdman said:
Then I felt foolish for not having tipped at my favorite Chinese buffet back home.

The difference is that most buffets like that also have regular table service. You can actually skip the buffet and order (and pay just for) Kung Pao Chicken or whatever you want. At Mediocre Market, you have the buffet and that is it.

Doesn't CP have to make up the difference between paid wage and minimum wage if the tips don't do the trick? Or is there some exemption that allows them to get around that.