Plain noodles, only $16.79!

[apostolic4life]

I'm just saying what I have charged for a small plate of pasta when requested by a child. It would have nothing to do with what the cost of any pasta dish is on the menu after all they are not removing the sauce. Besides, I'm sure she wasn't ordering from a menu listed entree and asking to remove the sauce.She just wanted a plate of plain pasta which was probably not even the same quantity as the entree.From "experience" you are not looking at what the cost or profit is on a plate of plain pasta but again what a perceived value may be. The restaurants that I have been Chef in are as expensive as any at WDW, and I'm saying you would not charge that for a plate of plain pasta for a child. Yes if someone order a caesar w/no dressing the charge would not differ but if they just wanted a small plate of romaine lettuce(no croutons,cheese,anchovies) I would not charge for a caesar but probably a small house salad.On your fast food, a more appropriate example would be ordering just a bun with no meat or fish filet... my daughter the bread lover has done this-not charged for a whopper.. The main cost of a pasta dish is the addded ingredients not the pasta as in a composed salad the cost of the lettuce is nothing. In fact a caesar salad is a very inexpensive salad to make but is usually charged as an expensive salad mainly because of perception. People will pay for it. Now if a menu listed a wonderful 3oz cooked to perfection plate of plain pasta I'm sure at $16.79 they would sell very few. I'll repeat, they probably rang up a Rigatoni w/"plain see server". Customer does not care what is charged for this because they have already paid.The customer probably asked if they could get a plain,dry pasta not "my daughter will have the Rigatoni with no sausage,mushrooms,tomatoes,cheese or olive oil, or she'll have the Fettucine Alfredo but could you leave off the heavy cream, butter and parmigiano reggiano. Now the waitperson wants a larger tip and definetely deserves one so they charge the max. possible. OOP they don't get charged this without complaints I can bet and WDW does not like complaints.A more appropriate charge would be maybe charging for the most expensive childs entree, but also being 11 she would be two years removed from being able to order from the childs menu.Now if they are going to allow a small child that is 11 to order off the childs menu why would they not also charge for a childs portion of pasta? Why would they not you say, because the customer in question has already paid for the meal using the DDP, so they could usually care less what is printed.The waitstaff does not get the standard 20% tip that you would see added on but somewhere closer to 10% when you are using the DDP. That's why we always leave extra when we used the DDP. I guess we can agree to disagree on this but my two cents worth comes from 28 years of experience.

WOW, it's like we are of one mind...are we twins seperated at birth???

 

[apostolic4life]

Precisely, since cost of ingredients is such a small percentage of the cost of running a restaurant.

Again, if you look at my cost breakdown from an earlier post you will see I have factored in all costs associated with a plate of plain pasta. This includes percentage breakdowns for the relevant costs. You seem to be unwilling (even when being addressed by multiple people of expertise) to produce anything other than unsubstaniated opinions. I would respect an opinion (even one I disagree with) if the opinion was predicated on at least some sort of measureable and relevant expertise, education or experience.

I also have some relevant experience, but I'm not going to get into "mine is longer than yours" situation.

I always know when a person has come to the limit of useful dialog; they resort to vulgarity and crude referances instead of facts. Am I an expert in my field? Yes! Am I proud if the hours of apprenticeship, school work and discipline I have put in to obtain my position as an Executive Chef? Yes! Will facts presented by muliple persons sway someone who chooses only to listen to the hollow ringing of their on voice?? No, but we can hope!! Thanks for the vulgarity bicker......

 

[apostolic4life]

My daughter is a chef in London when I get a chance to talk to her on the phone I am going to ask her her opinion... I might send her a link to this post but not sure how busy she is right now....I would love to hear what she thinks, of course keeping in mind that she lives in London and it is very expensive to eat there..

Her mother, however, does think that is exhorbitant for a plate of plain noodles...

Sent my daughter the link in an email... do keep in mind that she was brought up on WDW, her and her sisters....this is what she had to say:


"ridiculous. why wouldn't they have a separate kids menu as it is wdw...

if they want to factor in labour and service etc it should be about $5"

of course, that is her opinion.....not to argue, just wanted another chef's opinion.

...I thank you for getting another Chef's take on this subject. Send her my thank you for boosting my credibility here on the DIS!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I am not in disagreement with you kaytieelder on this; the OP was charged (it seems) for an entire entree at $16.79. I was addressing the question of if the price seemed inflated for plain pasta. The OP says she ordered a plate of plain pasta, not a a sauced entree. The server (being astute to the fact OP was on DDP) took the opportunity to pad their tip without extra cost to the OP.

I don't agree that the server 'padded' anything.
The daughter is 11, and an adult on the DDP.
She ordered plain pasta
There is no plain pasta on Spoodles' menu.
There is fettucine Alfredo at $16.79.
She was served (apparently) the adult entree of fettucine Alfredo without the sauce, i.e. plain.
Therefore, on the check, she was 'charged' for that entree.

If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on your and splashmtnman's estimates), that means the fettucine SAUCE costs the typical diner $12.79.

I'm just saying what I have charged for a small plate of pasta when requested by a child.

But (a) she's an adult as far as Disney's restaurants are concerned and (b) there IS no child's entree of pasta - unless you count the mac & cheese, which, since it's prepared together, can't be served plain.

I'll repeat, they probably rang up a Rigatoni w/"plain see server".

You're right - I missed the rigatoni on the menu. That, along with the fettuncine Alfredo, is priced at $16.79. So Spoodles charges $16.79 for their pasta dishes. Again, if a plate of pasta should cost the customer $4, these sauces apparently cost almost $13 each. I went back and checked the original post - there wasn't anything about a 'small' order; it appears the daughter order her whatever-pasta plain - and Spoodles billed it at the menu price.

Now if they are going to allow a small child that is 11 to order off the childs menu why would they not also charge for a childs portion of pasta?

Because there isn't one http://allearsnet.com/menu/men_spkl.htm ?

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

1.) Should one have experience, education or training in food and beverage management before attemping to position themselves as an expert voice in this area? or correct those who may be expert in this area?

A food and beverage manager is not the only one that would know the cost structure of a restaurant. Certainly an accountant that has done books for such would. Certainly an owner would. And they'd be privey to things that an executive chef wouldn't be. There are several walks of life that would have access to the numbers.

2.) If one has no training or experience in food and beverage management, why is it hard to defer to those who do? I would never assume to tell my auto mechanic I knew better than him.....because I don't.

If a garbage collector came into see me and said don't worry son, no heart attack has ever been fatal, would you have me defer to his authority? What if a Doctor made that same statement, would you have me defer to his?
So you see, the statement in the example was wrong when the person making it wasn't an expert in the field, and the statement was wrong when the person making it was an expert in the field. And it didn't take an expert in the field of medicine to detect that it was wrong.

Not picking on anyone, just honestly trying to figure out how positions are rationalized.

Nor am I picking on you or saying you are necessarily wrong. My point above is that logically, your word must stand and fall on its own no matter who you are or what you do.

The server (being astute to the fact OP was on DDP) took the opportunity to pad their tip without extra cost to the OP.

This is speculation. It may be informed speculation, but it's still speculation. . You haven't quoted any policy as to whether Spoodles allows a lesser charge or not. If they don't, then the server didn't pad anything.

I always know when a person has come to the limit of useful dialog; they resort to vulgarity and crude referances instead of facts.

He was a bit crude but all he's trying to tell you is you're trying to make appeals to your expertise as a crutch rather than letting your argument stand on its own.

 

[Laurafoster]

I disagree that the server bumped it up due to being on DDP!

On our visit in May when we were NOT on DDP, my 12 year old cousin ordered a plain pasta - which as numerous people have stated does not exist on the menu. The server informed us that they had a pasta option on the menu and we would be charged the same amount for this dish as we would be basically served the same pasta but without the sauce! They said this to us upfront and asked us if we were ok with that. As she was a "Disney Adult" as was the OP's daughter we said that was fine.

Now im not saying that the cost isnt over the top but as she was ordering from an adults menu and not a kids menu then she should expect to be charged an adults price.

I do however still think the pasta is over priced but this is Disney - isnt everything over priced!!

 

[bicker]

Precisely. Everything is expensive at WDW. Every asset at WDW can be applied to multiple purposes, and so each is not only in competition with alternatives to what it offers, but is also in competition with every other alternative use those asset can applied to. The prices at WDW restaurants contributes to their existence, by making that specific application of assets better than applying those assets to another attraction (for example). If it wasn't for how expensive things were, it isn't clear that folks investing in WDW would be justified in doing so, as even as things are, DIS isn't that much better of a use for folks' personal assets than many available alternatives.

It is clear to me, though, that servers at Disney-owned restaurants are (and should be) working to get guests to charge-up as much stuff as they possibly can. It costs Disney a pittance, given how little food ingredients cost, and it pays back in how guests feel about the value of the Dining Plan as well as helps feed the server's family better.

 

[splashmtnman]

If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on your and splashmtnman's estimates), that means the fettucine SAUCE costs the typical diner $12.79.

I never said I would charge $4. I think $10 would be more appropriate for that age group. Now if it was a 3 yr old sure $4. The charge on Alfredo is def. perceived value because it costs very little to make. Pasta dishes are huge money makers in restaurants. Again just saying what I have charged for a plain bowl of pasta and it is never listed on the menu like you said, but in making it the cost of another pasta entree using the same pasta is not even discussed. The waitperson usually lets the kitchen know that there is a child that would like a plain pasta. Plain pasta is then dropped in boiling water and placed on a plate. Cost is usually never discussed unless the waitperson asks. They may have a policy now of charging that price at spoodles but we were not charged that last October. If the waitperson asked the manager what does she charge for this she may very well have been told $16.79 or she may have done this on her own. Don't know since I was not there. I have to say this has been an interesting discussion in perceived values. I know WDW is expensive I never really look much at prices... I'm on vacation. Would say though if I was paying out of pocket I would feel they overcharged for that particuliar item but like Bicker says hey it's WDW. I will have to say I have never charged a child that much(may charge an adult though) but times are a changing. It has been 4 yrs. since I stepped out of the kitchen, needed more time w/the family, wanted to keep my hair also.(think I waited too long on that one) Anyway, I think some of the analogies used here are wrong...Hamburger no pickle,lettuce...but Spoodles may now charge that considering the popularity of the DDP. No I don't think a person should expect to pay the same price for that as the reg. entree. Now if this person had said you know I would like a Fett. alfredo w/shrimp but I don't want the pasta because of my low carb diet you would charge them for a Fett. Alfredo w/shrimp. One of the reasons is again the cost of it and also the action of composing this dish you are basically making it, you are just not dropping the pasta for two seconds in the water. I know this may be hard to understand and I'm not being a smart... it's just there are many things that go into preparation of entrees. The pasta is not the star in the entree it's the accompaniements. Well this has been an education on customer expectations. I think one important thing to remember that when your are dining in a place that has high standards you don't want to do anything that could cloud the experience for a customer. I think you would be taking a chance of doing that over something as unimportant as a plain bowl of pasta. Making a large profit on it would never be a priority. Some people would not think anything of it and the OP I don't think thought much about it but just was putting it out there for discussion. Just the fact the she is thinking about it takes some shine off a wonderful experience. Had she been charged 10,12 maybe even 14 we would not be having this discussion would we. Had I been paying OOP I don't know that I would have even said anything but I would have thought about it in a negative light so in that aspect the restaurant would have failed. Do you see what I'm getting at? I remember one restaurant I was the Chef at in California we had received a wonderful write up in the newspaper except at the very end he made mention of what he felt was substandard coffee. The owner was so livid over this. He felt that we had failed because the very last thing the reviewer had remembered was the coffe which he did not like. Think about that for awhile, that is the mindset of many people that are in this industry especially when you get to the higher end restaurants. Anyway it has been fun discussing this and you can see from the variety of responses how difficult it is to create a perfect experience for customers and that includes perception also.

 

[bicker]

I think $10 would be more appropriate for that age group.

And folks might wonder what "age group" has to do with whether a pricing is profitable or not... and that really is the point some folks are missing. Charging a token amount for young children is nothing short of a promotional expense: Charging so little for young children is part of the cost of customer acquisition. You cannot expect to get as many families with young children choosing expensive full-service meals, if you charge even the little ones the same as the big ones, because of a perception issue in the minds of parents of young children (in general) that the dining experience shouldn't cost as much for young children as for the parents themselves.

The charge on Alfredo is def. perceived value because it costs very little to make.

The assertion that there is any real correlation between cost and price in full-service restaurant pricing at a vacation destination is illusory. In that scenario, pricing is always based on perceived value.

Just the fact the she is thinking about it takes some shine off a wonderful experience.

Yes and no. First, the chances of something like that happening is relatively low, for the reasons you mentioned (on vacation, etc.) Second, it provides an opportunity for the restaurant to delight the customer. Consider the scenario: Customer "complains" about $16 charge for plain noodles. Server says, "let me check with my manager." Manager comes over and says, "Gosh I'm sorry this upset you. Let's just take that dish off your bill." Customer is not just satisfied, but delighted (with minor exception). Given how infrequently it happens, the loss of (say) $5 in that case is more than made up by the frequency that the restaurant makes the extra $11, with no appreciable mitigation of customer satisfaction.

 

[apostolic4life]

I don't agree that the server 'padded' anything.
The daughter is 11, and an adult on the DDP.
She ordered plain pasta
There is no plain pasta on Spoodles' menu.
There is fettucine Alfredo at $16.79.
She was served (apparently) the adult entree of fettucine Alfredo without the sauce, i.e. plain.
Therefore, on the check, she was 'charged' for that entree.

I can understand what you are saying, and I agree that spoodles has the right to charge as they have done in this case if that is the policy they have. My posts have been only to address profit and cost of said pasta. I do not disagree with Spoodles charging the price for the complete pasta entree. The only point I have been trying to make from the beginning is simple: you will be charged a price that reflects market conditions of said entree, not a price that is based only on direct and indirect cost. You can make a profit on plain pasta at $4 a portion. Most people in the industry have and will continue to charge $9 - $17 dollars for the pasta without further thought because they want the highest profit available to them.

If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on your and splashmtnman's estimates), that means the fettucine SAUCE costs the typical diner $12.79.

Exactly, she would have been charged $12.79 for sauce based on your representation here. The price a customer pays is not the "cost" of the entree; it is the selling price that has been formulated from fixed and variable cost with a consideration to maximize profit.

But (a) she's an adult as far as Disney's restaurants are concerned and (b) there IS no child's entree of pasta - unless you count the mac & cheese, which, since it's prepared together, can't be served plain.

I agree about the age issue..no problem there. To say you can't have an item not listed on the menu is not exactly true in WDW. Chefs here constantly come up with inspiring dishes for people with certain dietary requirements that are not on the menu. Many times I have witnessed people order "half" entrees that are not on the menu and recieve them along with a reduced cost. They do not get a half sized price though (still maximizing profit so they will get a price equal to about 2/3 the printed menu price).

Again, if a plate of pasta should cost the customer $4, these sauces apparently cost almost $13 each. I went back and checked the original post - there wasn't anything about a 'small' order; it appears the daughter order her whatever-pasta plain - and Spoodles billed it at the menu price.

I have never said the plate should cost the customer $4; I have said the plate could be profitable at $4. A very small profit, but still a profit. The market in the area you are buying this pasta will determine how high the customer price point (menu price) ends for this entree. As for a small or large order, it is a non-factor because of the pricing of the pasta. I just recieved a 20# box of good quality angelhair pasta at a cost of $17.08 (that would be $.0533 per oz) so you can see how the pasta cost, large or small, is in no way a major factor.

Again, let me clairify my position:

A plate of plain pasta can be marginally profitable at the rediculously low price of $4. I will gladly charge the most I can for that pasta to increase my profit and lower my food cost, labor cost and misc. cost percentages.

kaytieeldr, I am not in disagreement with you on much, and I do see your point of view on this discussion.....Thank you for the thoughtful dialouge!!!

 

[apostolic4life]

Anyway, I think some of the analogies used here are wrong...Hamburger no pickle,lettuce...but Spoodles may now charge that considering the popularity of the DDP.

Yes, I admit that my analogy was a bit over the top........I thought it was funny though!


splashmtnman, I have appreciated your input and experienced voice in this discussion. I will be looking forward to hearing more from you in other discussions.

 

[apostolic4life]

A food and beverage manager is not the only one that would know the cost structure of a restaurant. Certainly an accountant that has done books for such would. Certainly an owner would. And they'd be privey to things that an executive chef wouldn't be. There are several walks of life that would have access to the numbers.

I would have to agree about other people knowing of the cost structure, but disagree with the sentiment that someone other than the Executive Chef is privey to some other info where cost and pricing are concerned. Every establishment I have worked for has given absolute control of ordering, menu costing and pricing to the Executive Chef. Many, if not most, Executive Chefs are paid bonuses based on food cost and profit.

If a garbage collector came into see me and said don't worry son, no heart attack has ever been fatal, would you have me defer to his authority? What if a Doctor made that same statement, would you have me defer to his?So you see, the statement in the example was wrong when the person making it wasn't an expert in the field, and the statement was wrong when the person making it was an expert in the field. And it didn't take an expert in the field of medicine to detect that it was wrong.

Second opinions are warranted in all discussions. Here we have had approx. 4-5 persons with Executive Chef credentials agree on much of what is being discussed, but no one wants to be wrong so our experience and expertise gets attacked by those who claim experience without sharing the origin of said experience. Hey, if when 3 or 4 doctors tell you the same bad news but it makes you feel better when a garbage man gives you a clean bill of health, ce la vie.

Nor am I picking on you or saying you are necessarily wrong. My point above is that logically, your word must stand and fall on its own no matter who you are or what you do.

Yes, that is correct. My collegues have backed me up on many of my assertions, but some still want to insist every expert voice is incorrect because it counters their "opinion". I am sure every person invovled in this discussion has a career or field in which they consider themselves knowledgable or even expertly qualified to comment on. I would not assume to discredit them just because I had a differing opinion.....I would expect them to expound on their credentials so the words they speak could carry weight and possibly I could learn from them.

This is speculation. It may be informed speculation, but it's still speculation. . You haven't quoted any policy as to whether Spoodles allows a lesser charge or not. If they don't, then the server didn't pad anything.

No arguement here.....it was speculation and I am not aware of Spoodles policy on this.

He was a bit crude but all he's trying to tell you is you're trying to make appeals to your expertise as a crutch rather than letting your argument stand on its own.

I am willing to make a statement of expertise in the discussion at hand, but I would never make a statement of expertise in a discussion on auto mechanics because I don't know anything about it. If I entered a discussion and attempted to discredit someone, I would offer more than a simple "I don't believe you" as the kickstand for my disagreement. I have presented verifiable fact only to be countered with a lack of reciprocating fact.

How many times have you gone to a doctor thinking you had one illness only to be diagnossed differently by your physician? I hope my doctor never uses his education as a crutch.........that would be terrible.

As you said earlier, I am not picking at you. I think you respectfully questioned me and I hope you feel my responses were equally respectful.You have put forth many good questions and hopefully my answers are worthy and will be of help in this thread.

 

[apostolic4life]

I disagree that the server bumped it up due to being on DDP!

On our visit in May when we were NOT on DDP, my 12 year old cousin ordered a plain pasta - which as numerous people have stated does not exist on the menu. The server informed us that they had a pasta option on the menu and we would be charged the same amount for this dish as we would be basically served the same pasta but without the sauce! They said this to us upfront and asked us if we were ok with that. As she was a "Disney Adult" as was the OP's daughter we said that was fine.

Now im not saying that the cost isnt over the top but as she was ordering from an adults menu and not a kids menu then she should expect to be charged an adults price.

I do however still think the pasta is over priced but this is Disney - isnt everything over priced!!

I was speculating on this practice when I said "padding" the bill. If the policy is in place, then I stand corrected. Since I have never eaten at Spoodles I am not sure of their pasta/sauce/no sauce policy. Mea Culpa!!!

 

[apostolic4life]

Precisely. Everything is expensive at WDW. Every asset at WDW can be applied to multiple purposes, and so each is not only in competition with alternatives to what it offers, but is also in competition with every other alternative use those asset can applied to. The prices at WDW restaurants contributes to their existence, by making that specific application of assets better than applying those assets to another attraction (for example). If it wasn't for how expensive things were, it isn't clear that folks investing in WDW would be justified in doing so, as even as things are, DIS isn't that much better of a use for folks' personal assets than many available alternatives.

It is clear to me, though, that servers at Disney-owned restaurants are (and should be) working to get guests to charge-up as much stuff as they possibly can. It costs Disney a pittance, given how little food ingredients cost, and it pays back in how guests feel about the value of the Dining Plan as well as helps feed the server's family better.

I agree entirely with this bicker.........see, eventually we all can come to a point of understanding and agreement.

I feel as though our main point of disagreement has been the difference between profit and selling price points. I have been trying to point out the fact a profit can be made with a lower price, but to offset the smaller profit a larger volume must be sold. WDW has the wonderful position to deal in strong per item profits and also get huge volume sales. I do not think we are in as strong a disagreement as it seems on the surface, but I will admit, the discussion has been fun!

 

[apostolic4life]

And folks might wonder what "age group" has to do with whether a pricing is profitable or not... and that really is the point some folks are missing. Charging a token amount for young children is nothing short of a promotional expense: Charging so little for young children is part of the cost of customer acquisition. You cannot expect to get as many families with young children choosing expensive full-service meals, if you charge even the little ones the same as the big ones, because of a perception issue in the minds of parents of young children (in general) that the dining experience shouldn't cost as much for young children as for the parents themselves.

The assertion that there is any real correlation between cost and price in full-service restaurant pricing at a vacation destination is illusory. In that scenario, pricing is always based on perceived value.

Yes and no. First, the chances of something like that happening is relatively low, for the reasons you mentioned (on vacation, etc.) Second, it provides an opportunity for the restaurant to delight the customer. Consider the scenario: Customer "complains" about $16 charge for plain noodles. Server says, "let me check with my manager." Manager comes over and says, "Gosh I'm sorry this upset you. Let's just take that dish off your bill." Customer is not just satisfied, but delighted (with minor exception). Given how infrequently it happens, the loss of (say) $5 in that case is more than made up by the frequency that the restaurant makes the extra $11, with no appreciable mitigation of customer satisfaction.

Wonderful points made here.......I fully agree with everthing you have written in this one bicker.

Thanks for the great discussion/dialouge/debate/yada yada yada.......

 

[gina2000]

I think this is one instance where a little goodwill would have gone a very long way. Most adults would never order plain pasta but it's not unusual for a child to do so. At what point it stops, I'm not sure when but those tween years still produce plenty of picky eaters.

To me, it's not the cost, the value or the price of the various components. It takes a saavy host to recognize that this is one child that is ordering a child's type meal with a child's palate on an adult plan and to price accordingly. It's a goodwill gesture and an expensive restaurant manager can be gracious enough to do it. I would have done it had I been in charge.

BTW, the Burger King analogy is not as off base as you think. I have friends who are vegetarians and when they go to BK (with friends who are not vegetarians), they order Whoppers ..... hold the meat. And they get charged for a full priced Whopper. They do it knowing that it's going to cost them full price and accepting it. I can understand BK not taking off $.50 for the meat because it's negligible. While this supports the premise that taking off a major component of the meal shouldn't prompt a price reduction, it's a different type of restaurant. So I'll stick to my gut and suggest that a fine restaurant can easily make the occasional accomodation should they choose to.

Contradictory, ain't I?

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

I'm sure it was 50 cents for the noodles, and $16.29 for the pixiedust

Love it.

 

[MissD]

I mean no disrespect, but isn't the reality that--in the end, the OP didn't actually pay OOP for the item since it was included on the free DDP?

If her daughter utilized no other part of the TS credit for that meal whatsoever--no appetizer, dessert or beverage--that might be different, but if an adult portion of pasta (naked or not) was served along with the other components of a TS meal, DDP reimbursing the restaurant according to their policy seems fair.

The Burger King analogy reminded me of my Atkins days--whopper, no bun--gotta watch those carbs!

 

[kaytieeldr]

If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on your and splashmtnman's estimates), that means the fettucine SAUCE costs the typical diner $12.79.

I never said I would charge $4. I think $10 would be more appropriate for that age group.

"That" age group is, as far as Disney is concerned - for both dining and park admission - an adult.

The waitperson usually lets the kitchen know that there is a child that would like a plain pasta. Plain pasta is then dropped in boiling water and placed on a plate. Cost is usually never discussed unless the waitperson asks. They may have a policy now of charging that price at spoodles but we were not charged that last October. If the waitperson asked the manager what does she charge for this she may very well have been told $16.79 or she may have done this on her own.

Adult, for food-service purposes; and see post # 46, above. The seeming difference between the OP's experience and number 46 is that the latter must have been paying out of pocket for the entree. They were informed that the cost is $16.79 for the twelve-year-old Disney-adult-for-dining-purposes Guest, and accepted it. The OP wasn't told in advance of the price because it was covered by the dining plan.

I know this may be hard to understand and I'm not being a smart... it's just there are many things that go into preparation of entrees

It doesn't matter what goes into the preparation of a particular dish - the restaurant charges $16.79 for it. Period. The entree as described on the menu. The entree with only the base (pasta). The entree with only the sauce. Doesn't matter. The menu price is $16.79. Doesn't matter what the ingredients cost. Doesn't matter what the labor costs are. Doesn't matter what the overhead is. Doesn't matter what expenses each entree is expected to cover.

If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on your and splashmtnman's estimates), that means the fettucine SAUCE costs the typical diner $12.79.

Exactly, she would have been charged $12.79 for sauce based on your representation here. The price a customer pays is not the "cost" of the entree; it is the selling price that has been formulated from fixed and variable cost with a consideration to maximize profit.

Apparently my use of the word "costs" is being misunderstood. Let me restate what you quoted... If she had been charged, say, $4 for that entree (based on previous estimates, above), that means the diner pays $12.79 for the fettucince SAUCE.

Anyway, I think some of the analogies used here are wrong...Hamburger no pickle,lettuce...but Spoodles may now charge that considering the popularity of the DDP.

Don't know about Spoodles - but have you seen the new menu from Chefs de France (speaking of hamburgers)?

I feel as though our main point of disagreement has been the difference between profit and selling price points.

Argh! Somebody used the "P" words!! I thought I wasn't going to be exposed to that phrase until ( ) The Apprentice comes back on the air in February!

BTW, the Burger King analogy is not as off base as you think. I have friends who are vegetarians and when they go to BK (with friends who are not vegetarians), they order Whoppers ..... hold the meat. And they get charged for a full priced Whopper.

Thank you! Do you already have a best friend?

 

[splashmtnman]

Yes and no. First, the chances of something like that happening is relatively low, for the reasons you mentioned (on vacation, etc.) Second, it provides an opportunity for the restaurant to delight the customer. Consider the scenario: Customer "complains" about $16 charge for plain noodles. Server says, "let me check with my manager." Manager comes over and says, "Gosh I'm sorry this upset you. Let's just take that dish off your bill." Customer is not just satisfied, but delighted (with minor exception). Given how infrequently it happens, the loss of (say) $5 in that case is more than made up by the frequency that the restaurant makes the extra $11, with no appreciable mitigation of customer satisfaction.[/QUOTE]


It's the one that does not complain that WDW would be worried about. Apostolic and Bicker this has been fun but I'm on vacation in 75 days. You guys have been enlightening. We will have to share a good Belgian Beer one day! Bickers treat of course!