2019 Ocala Winter Meet Banquet Food

[StevenTuck 2]

I felt a need to express my great disappointment in the banquet food on Saturday night. One would expect when being at the Hilton and paying $50 per plate that the food would be exemptional to outstanding. I have nothing to say but awful! I had the salmon and it tasted as if it had been prepared the day before and heated up. The edges were rubbery. You can go anywhere and get a fabulous meal for two people for $50 or less. Those in charge of the event should know.  If no one speaks out then no one will know.

[ejboyd5 103]

14 minutes ago, StevenTuck said:

You can go anywhere and get a fabulous meal for two people for $50 or less. 

Where do you live?

[Steve Moskowitz 1,347]

Steven, not sure this is the best way to let us know as this is the general forum  and not always monitored by us but our apologies about the banquet.  We are having a lot of discussion about hotels, cost of food and the quality as well.  It has been a concern at our first two events and we feel bad for our members and the hard working folks at the regions who put the show on.  They did not prepare the food. 

 

Our board of directors have had a lot of emails fly back and forth since Philadelphia and Ocala and the subject is being visited.  The solution?  Not sure but I can tell you the banquet at Auburn is fabulous and at a much lower cost.  Guarantee you that your comments are being taken seriously and if you visit the page on meets and tours you will find others who also had the same feeling.  

[Joe in Canada 549]

The Philly banquet dinner was great.

[charlier 218]

1 hour ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Our board of directors have had a lot of emails fly back and forth since Philadelphia and Ocala and the subject is being visited.  The solution?  Not sure but I can tell you the banquet at Auburn is fabulous and at a much lower cost.  Guarantee you that your comments are being taken seriously and if you visit the page on meets and tours you will find others who also had the same feeling.  

 

Steve, if the board has not already done so they might consider reaching out to current AACA members who are working or have worked in the Hotel/Banquet industry. My father ran a few Hotel/Banquet operations in the over 50 years he worked in that industry. Someone with experience in that industry will have insights into this situation and could be very valuable in establishing a policy & procedure for regions to follow when evaluating a Hotel/Banquet operation. 

 

Also, when a region is deciding on a host hotel, do members of the region have the banquet facility "audition" for the job? IE does the hotel prepare each of the menu items to be served at the banquet for a select group of region members to taste test? If regions are not doing this maybe an "audition" should be a prerequisite  before an agreement is signed for banquet services? Many years ago when my sister got married our Father had the final one or two banquet operations "audition" for the job. Needless to say, the one that hosted my sister's wedding reception earned it. 

 

If the suggestions above are already being done that is great. If not maybe the Board should consider them.

 

FYI, I just sent in my show registration for Auburn this year. I am looking forward to the Banquet and all the events and museums.

 

Charlie

 

 

 

[StevenTuck 2]

15 hours ago, ejboyd5 said:

Where do you live?

Land O Lakes, Florida which is north of Tampa. Two of us just had a meal last night that was great for less than $50. The $45 meal included two appetizers, two entrees and one mixed drink. More than the cost is the quality for what one spends.

Edited March 1 by StevenTuck (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna 2,153]

I agree that, at a restaurant, $50 would cover the

cost of TWO people, and the food would be very good.

[Bob Hill 116]

Thus why I do not attend the banquets when I got to a National Meet.  My wife and I go somewhere and have a nice meal (almost always less than the cost of the banquet) and then show up for the awards presentation. 

 

Bob

[gwells 143]

The meet chairman of another large car club event offered this opinion in a meeting planning manual he subsequently authored: 

 

"Avoid plated breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The hotel will give you a better deal on food if you use the buffet line, with more variety and selection of food. Less set-up for them, and no charge by the plate."

[Joe in Canada 549]

The price of the meal also includes the rental of the hall for the evening for awards or dancing after the dinner. You can not compare the cost to a restaurant to a banquet dinner.  

[edinmass 2,607]

To be fair... hotel banquet food is rarely great, I buy a ticket and go to the dinner to support the club, and take what I get... the people and the cars are why I attend... not for  the hotel food.

[John348 898]

I thought the food was pretty good for a catered meal. The service was not the best. They brought out deserts before the salad, no plates for the bread, and I turned to speak to the person seated next to me and my plate was taken with half of my meal still on it. When I finally got the server's attention he said it was too late and asked if I wanted an extra dessert. The cocktails were very pricey for Florida, I think I paid $26 for two mixed drinks.

 

Again none of the catering problems are in anyway the fault of the hosting regions. I know there was a wedding going on as well so the staff might have been "extras" brought in to handle the extra volume. 

[Robert Street 85]

John, I think your dinner was replaced with awards. When I went by your table there must have been half a dozen! Did you bring the whole NY garage down?

 

Robert

[John348 898]

Actually there were five awards, but three of them were for a local guy in Ocala who could not attend the banquet.

[C Carl 1,361]

Well, congratulations to you anyway, John, my friend! Sure wish I could have been with you guys.

 

I used to get out of this dark, gloomy, damp corner of the country every winter. I would generally spend around two months in Florida, primarily on the East coast most everywhere between Big Pine Key and Merritt Island.

 

Banquet? I think I would eat scrapple sandwiches on Wonder Bread three meals a day if that would be the price I had to pay to get way down yonder for a while.  

     

Vicariously enjoying all the postings from the Sunny Southland,  

 

Cadillac Carl 

[padgett 870]

Well, since I live about three miles from Orlando's "Restaurant Row," my standards are pretty high. Most have great "happy hours" but do not understand the infatuation with the Patagonian toothfish.

[Robert G. Smits 130]

With my wife serving as president of a large non profit board we are at a banquet once or twice a month.  In my limited experience Hilton's are at the bottom of the barrel.  I certainly agree that anyone sponsoring a banquet should "audition" the meal.  In the final analysis you are there for the people, not the food.  

[John_S_in_Penna 2,153]

7 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

In the final analysis you are there for the people, not the food.  

 

Thank you for your observations.  They should help others.

 

A couple of people have said that we all go to banquets for

the camaraderie, not the food.  That's true.  However, at the

same time, we can't excuse mediocre food that comes at

ANY price.  And often we're paying a HIGH price.

 

Dismissing the food would be like saying, "I paid a lot of money

for rechroming, and I'm not satisfied with the result.  The chrome

didn't turn out well.  But I go to car shows for the people, so what

I spent doesn't matter!"