Thoughts on the food

[Forsaken85]

Give me your thoughts on the food; both meal ticket and what was available to puchase at the Reliant Stadium.

I personally thought the food stunk, it was over priced at Reliant Stadium. I could not believe they wanted $5.50 for a small personal pan pizza. My parents and brother had ice cream with M&Ms and paid $18.00 for the 3 cups. Students cannot afford to pay football fan prices. I missed my Thursday lunch at the Astrodome because they closed before I could get there after the matches. On Friday my chicken sandwich was overcooked and my friend's was undercooked. The food at AstroWorld was not that good either. They had burnt fried chicken and rubbery hot dogs. Also where was the vegetarian meals for those who don't eat meat. Better luck next year.

[Bduggan04]

I can't believe no one else replied to this, I was sure that I wasn't the only one who hated the wristband and almost lost every tag in order an hour before lunch. I actually think losing a tag was an act of god so I wouldn't get sick from some of the food. Disney was much better food wise, but even at disney the price was astounding without the food tickets.

[Koko Ed]

The food was the same as it was at all the regionals. Overpriced.
I did enjoy the variety. The Smoothies were delicious as was the ice cream. $4.95 for 4 Krispy Kreames ! Somebody call the cops!!!

[xavior06]

i thought the food was decent especially compared to what i remembered at the team party 2 years ago in epcot.

i folded the tags in and didnt lose any, astroworld was eh, foodwise and i agree everything was overpriced, but i came prepared for that, we went out for dinner and got some good food when we could. i thoguht the team party food was great, hotdogs looked weird but tasted fine. chicken was dry but tasted alright.

i didnt expect excellent food for a couple thousand people. but i loved the free ice cream!

vegetarian thing was kinda big prob. my friend doesnt eat meat and he got screwed alot.

[Koko Ed]

Originally posted by xavior06


vegetarian thing was kinda big prob. my friend doesnt eat meat and he got screwed alot.

Yeah that was really uncool.

[Mark2]

Originally posted by Forsaken85
I could not believe they wanted $5.50 for a small personal pan pizza.

no kidding... A block away from our hotel (the Marriot on the Medical Center) was a Popa John's - One large one topping for $6.50! Only a dollar more! Yea, we had pizza just about every night as soon as we got back to the rooms becasue we were all starving even after eatting those meals at the stadium - which you had to be starving to eat in the first place.

[GateRunner]

Im still in shock at the price for a soda.... I mean, $3.75 for what can normally be had at $1 for a profit? I nearly bought four bottles of soda at our hotel just in spite

Needless to say, the two soda machines with the 50 cent cans saw plenty of action on Friday (all sold out!? NOO!)

[MORLET]

I have a few comments:

I ended up losing one of the tickets. It probably tore off while I was carrying or fixing the robot. The paper coupons of the past worked much better. In terms of variety and value the Disney prepaid meals were by far superior.

I could not believe it on Friday when I found out the prepaid service had closed at 2 PM. I settled on buying a hot dog and water for $5. It was either this, a pizza, or nachos ($6.50). Later that day, after the conclusion of our matches, I returned to the Astrodome, hoping to buy some water. I discovered that the vendors had closed at 4:30 (or was it 5:00?). By this time, I was feeling quite dehydrated from making 6 round trips pulling the robot between venues. I found an Astrodome employee and told him I was more that willing to pay double for the water, but there was nobody to sell it to me. He took pity on me, and insisted on giving bottle for free.

I stayed at the pits until closing time, two hours later. FIRST is a very gratifying, yet physically draining experience. It was a long day, and I left feeling very hungry and weak. From those that I have spoken to, many people would appreciate it if at least one concession stayed open for the entire day, to accommodate those too busy to eat during peak hours.

It was hardly easier to find food in downtown Houston (in the neighbourhood of the Hyatt). McDonald's closed at 7, and Subway closed at 8, after running out of bread at about 7:40.

[Matt Attallah]

Well, first of all, I am thankful that there was food, but the free food did suck. The chicken was bland. Very few condiments. Texture wasn't too great. One day (I think Friday) they served fish! I was ready to hurl. The drink selection was nice. Didn't eat a hot dog. The cheese pizza was proally' the best thing there in my opinion.

I didn't even eat the other food from the stadium. WAY too much money. $3.75 for a 20 oz!?!? $5 for 4 Krispy Kreames?!?! I just ate what I could of the free food, than ate Domino's Pizza or Denny's! (o, yea, doritos chips also!!)

In general, food wise, (at the competition) it sucked. I thought FIRST could do better...

[MikeDubreuil]

One day (I think Friday) they served fish!

This was probably for religous reasons.

[ReggieB]

In addition to the bad lunches (and team dinner which looked like leftovers from the lunches), the breakfast at the Rennaisance was disapointing. The only day with good food there was sat. morning, but we were rushing to get to the astrodome, so i couldn't eat much.

Oh well, dinners (other than the team dinner) were good....

--Aaron

[Christina47]

hey you guys/girls. we all know the food sucked, even though i did take part in eating it. LOLS. =P come on? I was hungry. anyways, i thought instead they should of had the pre paid meals at the reliant stadium and the astrodome so that people wouldnt have to take LONG walks here and there. dont you think? but, they did open the stands there and yes, some of my team member bought their food instead of walking all over there for free food. =P

[dez250]

i voulenteered so the food i had was awsome, but i heard the food that everyone else got was really bad and i know people who got sick from it, so that says enough for me. Yay to really good food and not needing a wristband tag for it!

~Mike

[KathieK]

I will agree that the food situation at the Nationals left a lot to be desired. Our hotel offered only one breakfast selection for the package (scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit, potatoes) along with a choice of juice or coffee or tea. Five days of that was boring, and not nutritious. We purchased fruit at a nearby grocery store to eat at the competition.

I have a food allergy that normally is not an issue since I am not a picky eater. However, the lack of food choices made it difficult to eat the prepaid meals. I attempted several times to find out what was to be offered the following day so that I could purchase food ahead of time and bring it with me, but no one could tell me what was going to be on the menu, let alone if it contained the item I am allergic to. The fish, while a nice thought for those who do not eat meat on Fridays during Lent, was burnt, cold and inedible.

My suggestions:
*Better food quality (prepare cold items - ie sandwiches and salads and fruits - for mass consumption and the fear of food illness will be lessened)
*More variety (OK to offer the standard "fast food" stuff if nutritious alternatives are also offered)
*Offered at several locations (have a location close to the pits for those who are working there, and other locations close to the competition arenas)
*Work with vendors to keep prices to a minimum to accomodate those who do not purchase the package.

[alphagrl2]

Yea the food definitely was "insatiable" When I first got to houston, i had no idea about the free food until our moderator gave us those bracelets, which didn't workout quite well. most of the tabs fell off, plus i didn't know it wasn't removable. (haha, i haven't even gotten around to remove it yet) i bet my friend i'll keep it on until the end of spring break. but anyway, this was my food check list


thursday the wannabe KFC, what was up with that? it was WAY to salty.
friday's meal, yea, so i'm catholic, had to resort to the Filet, ackk.. McDonald's could do better.
saturday, ok, so hotdogs were decent. i spend some of my time looking for polish, but they're far more expensive. ugh..yeah i agree about the team dinner, it did look like leftovers.

now. you're probably wondering why i never ate the pizza, well it's cuz i'm lactose intolerant. haha, i but i couldn't help myself so i bought some dippin' dots cuz i've never tried them. i never bought any other food from the venue except for 2 bags of cotton candy.

hotel food at the hyatt was good, but breakfast was only served from 5-7am. first day i had to run down in my nighties cuz i only had 5 minutes left... it was a bit hard adjusting to texas time. my friends and i ended up buying food at the starbucks instead.