Why does the Pepper Market always get some not so good reviews?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have always wondered why does the Pepper Market always get not so good reviews? Is it the fact that it's not owned by WDW, how the ordering system is, the way the food tastes or the attitude of the Cast Members working there?

In Toronto there is a location my family and I go to which is called Richtree Market Restaurant that has the exact same ordering system as the Pepper Market and we never had problems ordering and the food tasted the way it was supposed to.

 

[KatMark]

I have always wondered why does the Pepper Market always get not so good reviews? Is it the fact that it's not owned by WDW, how the ordering system is, the way the food tastes or the attitude of the Cast Members working there?

In Toronto there is a location my family and I go to which is called Richtree Market Restaurant that has the exact same ordering system as the Pepper Market and we never had problems ordering and the food tasted the way it was supposed to.

I think more than half the time it is families who have young children and everyone wants something else to eat and you have to all go to different stations then and not everyone's food is then ready at the same time. We've always had great food, but I know that they have decreased the items on the menu. Another complaint is that the cast memebers are not friendly; I will admit they are not the most outgoing of people (I don't think half of them can speak very good English), but we tend to take our meals to go more than half the time to go and eat outside and we just don't let them bother us when we do dine in.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for your reply.

 

[candielips]

I love the Richtree dining in Toronto and am so excited to try this place on our up coming trip next year.

 

[webray]

The only problem we have ever had there was the low quality of the food and the taste/flavor.

 

[safetymom]

I didn't think the quality of the food was all that good. I don't think I should have to pay a 10% tip to be seated. All the times I have been there I got the first drink and then never saw they again.

 

[shellybaxter]

We are a couple without children and didn't care for the Pepper Market. First, we tried to go there twice and couldn't because of the huge line waiting to be seated. I don't mean just a few people, people lined up almost to the gift shop from a convention letting out for lunch. The third time we did eat. The gratuity didn't bother us even though we didn't really have much service. We didn't care for the food - it wasn't great - even for counter service. I had a chicken paramisan sandwich with fries (a special that day) and my husband had a wet burrito. My was not good - the chicken was rubbery and the sauce was runny. The burrito was okay - but not any better than a gas station burrito with sauce on it. The worst part was the attitude of the employees. When you have a cafeteria type place (which I know about because I supervise a cafe as part of my job at a community college) you have to make people feel comfortable. It is not always easy to figure out what to do. The employees should always be asking if people need help, smiling, etc. These employees weren't - it was like we were bothering them by asking them to do their jobs - this trip it wasn't very busy - we went before lunch. The feeling of being bothersome is the reason we won't go back and a big reason we won't stay at CSR

 

[dalstitch45]

I have never liked the food at the Pepper Market. I love the resort, but the food at the Pepper Market is terrible.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I think more than half the time it is families who have young children and everyone wants something else to eat and you have to all go to different stations then and not everyone's food is then ready at the same time. We've always had great food, but I know that they have decreased the items on the menu. Another complaint is that the cast memebers are not friendly; I will admit they are not the most outgoing of people (I don't think half of them can speak very good English), but we tend to take our meals to go more than half the time to go and eat outside and we just don't let them bother us when we do dine in.

This is the exact reason we didn't like it. By the time I had coordinated my families meals/orders I didn't even have time to notice the CM's being friendly or the quality of food!

 

[tfoster]

I'm always surprised by the number of bad reviews because when we went (Sep 2007), I really liked it. I liked that there were so many different stations, and I thought it was fun for us to walk around and pick what we wanted. I can't remember what we all had, but I can't remember anyone complaining about anything there and all of the food was very fresh. The only complaint I can think of is that we really did have to wait in a L - O - N - G line to get in.

 

[B-Ride]

We stayed at Coronado on our first 3 trips and ate at Pepper Market each trip. In fact the first couple of times when we weren't on the DDP we thought Pepper Market was a great deal for an inexpensive dinner.

I am from Toronto as well, and I have never been a big fan of the serve yourself style at Richtree, but at least I was used to it so the Pepper Market wasn't a big shock as I think it is for some people.

On our last stay at CSR both my son and I got sick one day and although I can't be sure it was food poisoning we both had the same lunch at the Pepper Market so that kind of turned us off going back.

I also think people are a bit shocked having to pay a gratuity at a CS restaurant to simply get you drinks which you could easily get yourself. Wolfgang Puck Express has better service for a CS restaurant as they cheerfully deliver you meals, desserts and rush around getting you refills without being asked. And there the gratuity is optional so I am always quite happy to leave a tip.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I am from Toronto as well, and I have never been a big fan of the serve yourself style at Richtree, but at least I was used to it so the Pepper Market wasn't a big shock as I think it is for some people.

I think that's a great point because if others have been to a restaurant like Richtree then you would know how things work when going to the Pepper Market, however I don't know of any other restaurants which opperate like that.

 

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

I wasn't bothered by the system of ordering/stations.
The food was OK.
The servers were hard to find and not overly friendly.
Am I correct that we paid on our way out? I think I remember that a huge convention-type group got up to leave just ahead of our party of 3. It took us FOREVER to get out of that place.
I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again, but I guess I'd give it another try if it didn't look overly crowded.

 

[ryanmcin]

The ordering system isn't awful, but I don't understand why there needs to be a wait staff since you have to walk up there to order and to get your food. In theory they could refill your drinks, but that doesn't happen.

The food itself isn't bad, but it isn't great and it is pretty pricey for counter service food even before you add the 10% "service" charge. The food quality is better than many other counter service locations, but not so much better that the price needs to be 50% higher.

 

[TDC Nala]

There's no restaurant existing at WDW which doesn't get some bad reviews on this board.

 

[2manypets]

I didn't care for PM mostly because of the rude staff. We gave it a try twice and at both times they were rude. The food was not good either.

 

[blanq]

I have always wondered why does the Pepper Market always get not so good reviews? Is it the fact that it's not owned by WDW, how the ordering system is, the way the food tastes or the attitude of the Cast Members working there?

In Toronto there is a location my family and I go to which is called Richtree Market Restaurant that has the exact same ordering system as the Pepper Market and we never had problems ordering and the food tasted the way it was supposed to.

The Pepper Market gets my bad review because the food is more tasteless and bland than school lunch food, is outrageously expensive (even by Disney standards), and the service is ehh for which they charge you a 10% service fee..

 

[laura74]

We stayed at CSR a few years ago and we liked the setup at Pepper Market. I liked that they seated us so we were assured of a table and that we could take turns getting food/watching our daughter. I also liked the ticket system because the food didn't get cold while waiting in a long line to pay. I thought it was a more efficient system than the food court at POR.

 

[tony67]

I have been to pepper market several times since it has opened and it has gotten worse every time.

The quality of food has dropped and so has the quality of service.
I understand they have to turn a profit, so they can no longer offer a top quality steak for a CS credit.
Too many people were taking a trip over from the parks for lunch and getting a steak and then heading back to the parks.
Like any of the good Disney CS locations it eventually became a victim of its own success.

Now they have a lower quality steak and it is only offered after 4PM.
The fajitas became very popular, so they removed them from the menu.
The desserts look amazing, but have absolutely no taste.

But what I was really surprised at the rudeness of the staff on my last few visit.
They were busy stocking things and did not want to answer any questions.
They acted as if we were bothering them by coming in for a meal.

In the past some of the staff may have looked like they were on work release, but they were ALWAYS pleasant.
Now they are just rude most of the time.

As I have said elsewhere, unless I am staying at the CSR I would no longer eat at PM.
I would not waste the travel time.

As for the mixed reviews one thing you always have to keep in mind is when did the people eat there.
It may have been good two years ago, but things can change very quickly in Disney.
If you ate somewhere in Disney 6 months ago your review is not of much use today.
That is an eternity when it comes to Disney Dinning.

Look at the Cantina de San Angel in Epcot for example, It was very good in July and awful in September. The menu changed completely.
The food is no longer as good as taco bell.
People are still posting how good it is, but they have not been there since the menu changes.
BTW: I looked at the menu today and it is dated November 2009. Have they changed it back to the old menu?

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have been there twice, once for breakfast and once for dinner. The service and staff have always been very nice.

The breakfast food was great, the muffins were gross.

The dinner food was awesome but the salsa was just plain diced tomatoes, nothing great about that

If I am in that vicinity I would def eat there again