So what's with the Pepper Market??

[ckpegasus102313]

Every time I go to WDW, my family and I stay at the Pop Century, this year I decided to stay at the Coronado Springs; I'm really confused about what happens at the Pepper Market. Also if anyone has been to the pepper market, what is your favorite thing to eat?

 

[lizandjason]

We stayed at CSR for the first time last year. It's a beautiful resort but to be honest, the Pepper Market was one of the primary reasons we won't return.

First of all, they charge 10% gratuity for the 'service'...you order your drinks and condiments from a server but you still have to go up to different stations cafeteria-style and wait for your food (which takes a LONG time to get because they make many items 'to order'). It's a strange hybrid between counter service and table service. We had trouble tracking down the server for extra drinks and condiments. You also have to wait to be escorted to a table and seated. But again...you have to get your own food.

The worst part was the quality of the food. They have since changed the menu but I don' t know if quality has improved. We much preferred the POP foodcourt to the greasy, low-quality items at the Pepper Market.

The final straw...we tried to eat there one afternoon and there were literally 300+ conventioneers descending on the market. It was chaos...there wasn't a snowball's chance in hades we were going to get anything to eat. My question is...if you KNOW the conventions will release everyone at the same time, why would you design a cumbersome and confusing food court? It doesn't make a bit of sense IMO.

Please keep in mind that this is only my experience, one person. We did enjoy the new, plush rooms (Deluxe-resort quality) and a great pool with a big hot tub. But I wanted to be honest about our Pepper Market experience. The Pepper Market won't make or break your trip, though...and I hope you have a wonderful time!!

 

[KatMark]

The Pepper Market has a love/hate relationship. We've stayed at the CSR eight times (soon to be nine) and have never had an issue with the PM--good food (better than most other counter service restaurants at Disney), never overly crowded, friendly CM's (with the exception of once). Perhaps we've been lucky in that we know it is a convention resort and we know not to go to eat at "key" lunch times, etc.--I don't know. The Pepper Market is NOT owned by Disney (neither are the other restaurant at the CSR)...they are owned by an outside vendor. In order to avoid the 10% gratuity, you can ask for your food to go and eat outside at one of the tables by the lake or under the awning. Now, I've read elsewhere that again some people are being charged the 10% and some are not. I really wish they would be consistent with this practice. And, in truth, I wish they would turn it into a buffet as rumor has it and it would probably please more people. However, we would never let a food court (or bus service) be the reason we would not stay at any particular resort as we eat at the parks for 95% of our meals anyway.

Personally, we like the food court at the POR better than the CSR's Pepper Market; but it is not reason enough for us to change our choice of resort.

 

[DisneyPolve]

Either you love or hate the Pepper Market and my family loves it. I think the main reason we like it so much is because there is a large variety for it being CS, a little something for everyone. The food has always been fresh and tasted good for it being a CS, it's no WPE, but still decent. We have always been on a dining plan so have never had to pay the 10%, eventhough we have heard other people say they have on the dining plan. The waitress aren't the greatest they disappear only to seen 2 minutes before you leave. But we normally just hail down someone to refill our cups. However, the cooks are friendly and talk to people while cooking.

 

[Madisonsmom45]

We stayed one time at CSR. The grounds were beautiful. The conventioneers
bothersome. There was a beach party going on outside our room until about midnight. Mind you they did offer to switch us rooms, but what a bother.
Pepper Market for the 10 % added on. It was a total waste of money.
Servers weren't to be found. And the ones that we did find either acted like they didn't hear you or couldn't understand. We go to WDW once a year and we like POR. We will NOT return to CSR.
Bonnie

 

[dansyr2514]

We love the pepper market. It has something for everyone. I know many people complain about the gratuity but I think it is a grade or 2 higher than the average food court so I don't have a problem with it. My fav thing to get is the fajitas..yummm. Dbf really liked the soup last time. I think it was roasted red pepper and shrimp. We're usually on some kind of a dining plan and the value for a counter service credit is awesome. I say give it try...you're bound to find something you like there.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We all liked the Pepper Market. Not sure why some find it confusing. It's set up like a food court with different types of food in each area. You give the person behind the counter your food ticket and they mark it. We never paid the 10% gratuity because we always got our food packed to go and sat outside by the lake. We preferred to sit outside and eat, the grounds are so pretty We found it much more enjoyable than the interior dining area. We've had breakfast, lunch and dinner at the PM and all were good. Enjoy!

 

[ckpegasus102313]

thanks everyone, now you said you had to order your drinks, what happens if you want something bottled; my family usually gets water bottles with breakfast so that we can take what ever we don't drink with us into the park

 

[J&C@Disney]

We have eaten at the PM once as we were just visiting CS and we thought it was great, although it was very quiet so we didnt have to wait long at all, the food was delish and fresh, deffinatley better than normal CS!

 

[tndisneyfan]

We've stayed at CSR several times and eat at PM at least twice each trip. My family enjoys PM but it does have it's pros and cons. My biggest complaint is everyone can get their food at different times. I know at least a couple of times everyone would be finished eating before one person even got back to the table with their food. But that can happen at any of the resort food courts, but instead of eating at different times you end up standing there waiting with your food getting cold.

Every time we've went we've been on DDP. We have never been charged the 10% surcharge though I have read on here that some people have.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

DW and I have been to Pepper Market once and enjoyed it. We weren't staying at CSR and went for an early dinner (5-ish). It wasn't very crowded and we thought it was a good experience. I do remember thinking it would be weird to eat as your main CS if you were staying at CSR (especially with the 10% gratuity).

 

[7thton]

I thought the food at the PM was fine, but it was very overpriced, by any standard.

 

[Peepster]

We eaten at PM once and will never stay at Coronado Springs again because of PM. We got the food court thing but thought the food was terrible, not to mention incredibly overpriced and we expect to pay a lot while we're at Disney. I even tried a second entree because I thought maybe I just had a bad first pick.

Having owned a small restaurant we were amazed at the bad food handling practices and the lack of organization at some of the food areas.

Sorry, I know some of you love it but I choose not to return and yes, I did write to Disney voicing my opinion. Thank goodness there are about 400 more dining options to choose from

 

[kawing123]

The food handling practices are deplorable. I have witnessed raw meat products being touched and cut up and the same worker without changing gloves handling raw green onions and tomatoes used to garnish the dishes. Bit risky and yes I did let Disney know after I returned home, but I should not have had to. This is where the use of gloves is confusing for some. If meat juice was on your barehands most people would have washed their hands, but when gloves become involved people cut corners. Many still do not realize even if you have gloves on when handling raw products you still need to wash your hands before handing other items before putting on the next set of gloves.

 

[KatMark]

The food handling practices are deplorable. I have witnessed raw meat products being touched and cut up and the same worker without changing gloves handling raw green onions and tomatoes used to garnish the dishes. Bit risky and yes I did let Disney know after I returned home, but I should not have had to. This is where the use of gloves is confusing for some. If meat juice was on your barehands most people would have washed their hands, but when gloves become involved people cut corners. Many still do not realize even if you have gloves on when handling raw products you still need to wash your hands before handing other items before putting on the next set of gloves.

I've seen this too, but not only at the PM; I've seen it at other Disney restaurants as well and it is a very UNSAFE practice--I agree with you.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I don't like the way the operate. The food was good 2 years ago we went back last year and it was terriable. And the food handling well I think that can happen anywhere since we don't all what goes on.

 

[DVC-Don]

Only tried to eat there once. After being escorted to a table we were told someone would be along to take our drink order. No one ever showed up. We wound up leaving without any food or beverage. We were just visiting the resort so we caught a bus out.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

WE LOVE THE PEPPER MARKET!
One reason is because we find the other moderate resort food courts to be really poor quality.
Pepper Market:
Fresh food (made to order omelets, burgers, pizza, etc you just dont get at the other food courts)
Lots of choices
Made to order
Real plates and silverware (which is nice when you eat at the parks with plastic and paper all week. To some this is no big deal)
Large dining area so we have never had to wait
You can take your food to go if you dont want to pay the gratuity

 

[Simba22]

We actually really like the Pepper Market.

When you go in, they give you a ticket - you can opt to eat in the dining room, which they automatically add a 10% gratuity to (someone seats you and cleans off your table when you leave), or you can get a To-Go ticket and avoid the gratuity and take your food with you (you can eat outside or back in your room).

There are several different stations, so you just pick whatever you want and they CMs at the stations will stamp your tickets to indicate what you got. Before you leave, you go to a pay station and they ring it up based on what's on your tickets.

If you went to a regular TS restaurant, you pay a gratuity anyway so in this case, you pay a smaller gratuity and just have to get your own food. No big deal to me...at least I can see what happens to it since they make it there, for the most part.

 

[sharonabe]

Hopefully, you've caught on to the "made to order" in this thread. The food is not sitting in a warmer waiting for you. It is fresh!

However, if you are not on one of the dining plans, it is VERY expensive and probably not worth the extra cost. If you are on a dining plan, it is one of the best uses of a counter service credit. You can get steak at dinner and it is counter service.

My favorite is the Mexican station with fajitas and burritoes. They are huge and very, very good!