Pay to Play at FLGS?

[renau1g]

"French fries in gravy" sounds pretty much as weird to me, but I'd try it.

It's delicious, up here in Canada we also throw some cheese on. It's Poutine and if you don't mind approx. 100,000 calories it's great.

Poutine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Imperialus]

It's delicious, up here in Canada we also throw some cheese on. It's Poutine and if you don't mind approx. 100,000 calories it's great.

Poutine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

mmmmm poutine... [/homer drool]

 

[Derulbaskul]

...French fries with mayonnaise? I'm an American and I've never heard of that.

Frankly, gravy sounds a lot better than mayo on fries. (Or chips if you prefer. )

Really? No worries, I'm happy to stand corrected on it. I thought it was part of the mayonnaise-rich diet you folks indulged in. Personally, I like gravy or mayonnaise on my chips/fries: both are great (although I rarely eat chips/fries these day).

Poutine sounds great. I've had chips with cheese and mayonnaise many times in Singapore at one of the takeaway chains (Taco Bell, I think, or maybe KFC or both?).

 

[arscott]

Ketchup and Fries is the tradition in the US (Though it's generally a dipping sauce, rather than poured on). And it is damned disgusting. Much better (but a bit harder to find) are fries with chilli con carne and cheese.

As far as pay to play--I my FLGS just went out of business last month. They were generally full of gamers on thurs-sat nights and sold snacks. They just didn't have enough sales of merchandise to support the table space they had. So while I prefer less clunky solutions, I won't object to a table fee.

 

[wingsandsword]

Australians often find the idea of chips (um, french fries) with mayonnaise to be off-putting but, from what I understand, that's something Americans do (I also understand Americans eat almost anything with mayonnaise but that's another topic). Personally, I like both.

Not really. Heck, go watch "Pulp Fiction", part of the commentary early on between the characters is how one just came back from Amsterdam and was amazed at people eating fries with mayonnaise, to which both characters are disgusted.

Mayonnaise (or "Mayo" as it's often called) is not used that widely. It's placed on burgers, and used as a base for some side-dishes eaten at picnics (potato salad, cole slaw), but definitely not something eaten every day in the typical diet.

Ketchup is the stereotypical sauce for french fries, usually dipped. Cheese sauce is sometimes used for dipping. Chili & cheese (and possibly green onions, jalapeno peppers, and sour cream) is occasionally placed on top of a plate of fries. I've known some people use barbeque sauce instead of ketchup, but since many BBQ sauces are essentially a thicker, smoky-flavored and spicier version of ketchup it isn't that much of a stretch.

 

[the Jester]

From what I understand, French fries with mayonnaise is a very French thing.

As Americans, we tend to use mayo mixed with ketchup and call it "secret sauce" or "fry sauce", although ketchup is definitely our culturally preferred condiment choice for fries.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

From what I understand, French fries with mayonnaise is a very French thing.

As Americans, we tend to use mayo mixed with ketchup and call it "secret sauce" or "fry sauce", although ketchup is definitely our culturally preferred condiment choice for fries.

Being originally from Seattle I can tell you that when I moved less than 10 years ago mayo was still unthinkable - but tartar sauce was quite common. I've become a fan of using ranch sauce/dressing for my fries here in California in the absence of decent tartar sauce.

 

[billd91]

I have no problem with a pay to play policy - $5/table or somesuch seems pretty reasonable to me. Or even $1 a player if there are more than 5 players. Space for gaming costs money, sometimes a lot depending on where you're renting. Busy shopping areas close to the campus are very expensive, particularly when competing against places like the Gap or Starbucks. It's a major reason my FLGS isn't even in the heart of the city close to the college anymore.

The FLGS I go to rented the space next to theirs for a while, even had a doorway put in between the two spaces. But the local players complained when they tried to recoup to pay some of the rent on the expanded area. A relatively short time later, they had to give up the lease on the extra space, the landlord rebuilt the regular wall between the spaces, and a new shop came in. The FLGS simply couldn't take on the extra rent permanently without it generating more income. Mind you, this was when the economy was pretty decent.

A few years later and the store that went into that space is gone again and the landlord is having trouble renting it out. The FLGS is renting it again, I'm sure at a reduced price. I notice they have NOT put in a doorway directly between the spaces again...
They do manage, I think, to make some money by doing weekly sanctioned Magic Booster Drafts. The entry is $16 and you get 3 packs for that. I presume that helps pay the bills, but I haven't seen anything more about general pay to play.

 

[Dykstrav]

The best french fry condiment, by far, is malt vinegar.

Since you're in Raleigh (I live in Apex), would you mind telling me which store that was?

I had a talk with the people at the store yesterday. I'm going to refrain from discussing much more of it here, because they're actually being cool about it and I'd rather not air something that could be considered dirty laundry in a public venue. I'll send you a PM or something with the details.

 

[Henry]

My local store charges $2.00 per person to be in the game room (unless it's a sanctioned event, like Encounters) or that person needs to have made $20 in purchases that day, but it's a fee for the whole day, not just for a few hours.

I think it's a pretty reasonable policy, myself, even though I don't avail myself of it (I have been to the encounters, but they don't charge for that. ) After all, they have to keep the lights on somehow, and they don't offer any discounts from MSRP, so if keeping the place open means I and other gamers pony up a couple of bucks every couple of weeks (which, let's be honest, you can't get a decent meal from a fast food joint for two bucks any more)then so be it. Plus, they sell a wide variety of snacks, drinks, and have some really nice setpieces available to play with, so in all it's a pretty friendly LGS.