No bread for you

[gardenia]

They don't serve the complimentary plate of bread and dipping sauces at Mama Melrose's anymore. No bread with your dinner at an Italian restaurant?!?!? Unless you pay extra, of course.

 

[simonkodousek]

That's insane. I mean, the food costs so much, so why not get free bread?!

 

[Tiffany]

That's insane. I mean, the food costs so much, so why not get free bread?!

Even back here in Boston they do not automatically put bread out anymore due to alot of the the diets that recommend not eating white starch. A place we go to does not charge extra for bread and butter but you do need to request it.

 

[AGPrincess]

They didn't serve it to us when we went a few years ago. My mom asked and got a very confusing answer. The server told her that bread is available (for free) but only if you ask and AND only at certain meals...

I think that is absurd, though. Why is Mama Melrose's so cheap?

 

[TAKitty]

We love Mama Melrose and the bread. I wonder if the other places will start this as well.

 

[Debby7]

The last time we ate at Tony's there was no breadsticks either. My thoughts were the same---What kind of Italian restaurant doesn't put out bread? (unless you pay extra) Talk about cheap !!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We were there in Dec 06 and I asked our server twice for bread...she never brought it BUT she never said that I had to pay extra for it either....

I got to tell ya, I missed the bread that usually comes with an Italian dinner!

 

[kcrew]

Wow, that's really disappointing. Kind of like having to pay for chips and salsa at a Mexican restuarant.....

 

[mom2my3kids]

Our favorite Mexican restaurant here only allows one small basket of chips and salsa per table. After that you have to pay extra, no matter how many is at the table..Kinda sucks with a family of 5..

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for posting! I had seen this mentoined on another post, and questioned it, so its good to have an answer...although not one I'm happy about.

This is very disappointing! I dont think I have seen 1 change in dining that has been for the better in the past year and there have been many.

 

[kcrew]

Our favorite Mexican restaurant here only allows one small basket of chips and salsa per table. After that you have to pay extra, no matter how many is at the table..Kinda sucks with a family of 5..

I HATE that!!

 

[kcrew]

Thanks for posting! I had seen this mentoined on another post, and questioned it, so its good to have an answer...although not one I'm happy about.

This is very disappointing! I dont think I have seen 1 change in dining that has been for the better in the past year and there have been many.

I tried to remain calm when I heard they had removed the cheese sauce from the condiments bar...but now this! And I am not buying the "health" theory--cutting costs plain and simple. ITA CamColt, when is the last time anything exciting was added to a menu anywhere?

 

[scottny]

Wow, that's really disappointing. Kind of like having to pay for chips and salsa at a Mexican restuarant.....

I live in NYC and a place on the corner by me you do have to pay $2.50 for chips and salsa on the table.

 

[Gidget985]

Hey Guys! I'm new here and I know many of you are not going to like what I have to say but I figured I'd put in my input. Now I don't necessarily agree with everything I'm about to say so hopefully you will not tear me apart for it! I'm a server at an Italian restaurant so I'm just going to give you a restaurant's perspective! We do serve bread and we don't charge you for it. But I can see where they do charge for it. Many customers ask for multiple baskets of bread. This means in some cases 4-5 baskets. This allows customers to fill up on bread and eat less of the things that cost more. As far as the restaurant is concerned this can bring down sales while they're paying more to make more bread. I don't know, makes sense to me. Maybe it's just the business. Also, we don't serve bread during lunch. If a customer requests it we can bring it to them for free, but we don't just bring it out right away. Some people even ask to take a box of free bread to go home! So that's just from my perspective! Hope no one tears me apart for this!




Amy

 

[DISFANS3]

Just back yesterday, no bread for us at Mama Melrose, great meal but no bread. The table next to us had bread so we were looking foward to bread like we have had in the past. The food was awesome just no bread.. We were not on dis dinning, still cost us $50 for 1 drink each and 2 meals.. I quess we were just lucky to walk in at 3 pm.. DO not ask me about SCI FY two thumbs down.....

 

[gina2000]

WDW is nickel and diming......nickel and diming......

 

[kcrew]

Hey Guys! I'm new here and I know many of you are not going to like what I have to say but I figured I'd put in my input. Now I don't necessarily agree with everything I'm about to say so hopefully you will not tear me apart for it! I'm a server at an Italian restaurant so I'm just going to give you a restaurant's perspective! We do serve bread and we don't charge you for it. But I can see where they do charge for it. Many customers ask for multiple baskets of bread. This means in some cases 4-5 baskets. This allows customers to fill up on bread and eat less of the things that cost more. As far as the restaurant is concerned this can bring down sales while they're paying more to make more bread. I don't know, makes sense to me. Maybe it's just the business. Also, we don't serve bread during lunch. If a customer requests it we can bring it to them for free, but we don't just bring it out right away. Some people even ask to take a box of free bread to go home! So that's just from my perspective! Hope no one tears me apart for this!




Amy

Of course its money motivated--but the "free" bread was already figured into the entree price, so what they have essentially done is raise their prices. Same price/less food, and on top of that the intent is for us to either now pay for the bread or order more food to fill up on? That's a double whammy!

 

[aubriee]

Last Sept during the free dining time we had to ask for bread at Mama Melrose's. He brought it and didn't charge us for it, but seemed a little put out that we asked for it.

 

[BCV23]

Just another confirmation that bread is still available at Mama's but only if you pay for it.

We have lunch there every trip. In January, bread was still free. In May, if you wanted it, you paid.

Other WDW restaurants have stopped automatically serving bread though this is the only one we've come across that charges. GF Cafe and LTT used to serve bread. Several years ago it changed to upon request.

 

[estherhead]

Hmmm... I'm all for the bread not being on the table when I get there, as I do fill up on bread & like to watch my waistline. However, it then begs the questions: which restaurants is it worth it to request bread? We're eating at Tony's, are there breadsticks worth my waist-line being widened? Does San Angel put out ships & salsa or do I have to ask for that?

I'm sure it is nickel & diming (as Disney is known to do this anyway so I'm not shocked) but they also have started a VIGOROUS slim down campaign with their in-store products too. 60%, YES 60% of Americans are overweight/obese & 1/5 of our young people are obese. Not that Disney alone can stop this, but many countries are trying to pass legislation that makes food producers liable for obesity. I can understand Disney wanting to get ahead of the game & being able to say, "We're part of the solution, not the problem."

That being said, a server should never be ticked off by a customer's request. That irritates me.