Eating light at the Blue Bayou for those who are wondering

[jeanico2000]

We were the couple who asked on this board whether we could go to the Blue Bayou for dessert and coffee only, and we got quite a few responses, including to tip as if we'd eaten a full meal. Well, we went for lunch as planned and only had 1 cup of soup, 2 starter salads and 1 shared crème brûlée (we wanted something salty before our sweet after all) between the 2 of us, and drank only water, and we were received as graciously as those eating full meals. We tipped 18% of the actual amount on the bill. Our waitress was amazing and super friendly and it was a lovely experience. No judgment from anyone. We never eat big meals when in a theme park (too busy exploring and going on rides!)

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Same! We did dessert only for my wife and I. Our daughter wanted to try the monte cristo and just had that. We made sure to make up for it with the tip.

 

[Tinkaboo]

appreciate your post! It’s good to know…we used to make BB a must do every trip, especially for Fantasmic but I’m just not up for that heavy of a meal these days. My friend loves the atmosphere so maybe we can find something on the menu that will work.

 

[Pluto468]

Thanks for the update. I always think about going for coffee & dessert because I'm not wild about the menu. I think I'll try it next time we're there

Which soup did you get?

 

[jeanico2000]

It was gumbo and really good!

 

[starlite_]

Awesome to hear, I kinda wanna try this next time, we shall see if my group indulges me haha

 

[GoingSince1990]

If enough people start using this strategy, Disney will make it prixe fixe. This is exactly what happened with Be Our Guest.

 

[Pluto468]

It was gumbo and really good!

Thanks! My dd wants to try Gumbo, Blue Bayou would be the perfect place to try it

 

[jeanico2000]

If enough people start using this strategy, Disney will make it prixe fixe. This is exactly what happened with Be Our Guest.

It wasn't a stategy, though. We're just not big eaters and wanted to have a birthday bite at Blue Bayou. We ate there on our honeymoon 41 years ago, also just soup and dessert. We had a lovely little meal in an even lovelier atmosphere. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[starlite_]

It wasn't a stategy, though. We're just not big eaters and wanted to have a birthday bite at Blue Bayou. We ate there on our honeymoon 41 years ago, also just soup and dessert. We had a lovely little meal in an even lovelier atmosphere. I see nothing wrong with that.

You did nothing wrong, it's not a requirement to eat a full heavy meal. Some folks just don't like it when others have fun.

 

[Bruno33]

No judgement for not ordering a full meal - I mean, it’s fine to order what you want of course - but 18% is hardly a generous tip for that type of situation. It’s unfortunate for your server.

You ordered $30-35 in food, so you tipped maybe $5-6, when a party of two ordering a full meal there would easily be around $30 in tip. Even if you were only there half the time a full meal would have been, they have to turn that table over for you, so the server doesn’t recoup much of that missed tip.

If the point was just that you wanted less food, that’s great, but I think $15 would have been a more appropriate tip - if it truly was about the food and not the money, that’s what I’d recommend to someone. I’m glad you had a good time, but yeah, if everyone did this, the servers would suffer and they’d move to a fixed price for sure.

 

[starlite_]

American tipping culture is insane. Paying a 50% tip on salad and dessert is insane. No one is required to pay more because they required less service.

 

[DizMe]

American tipping culture is insane. Paying a 50% tip on salad and dessert is insane. No one is required to pay more because they required less service.

I agree with you about tipping in the US. However, in this case it's a popular venue with extremely limited availability. People often go there for the ambiance, which is super cool, and not so much the food quality. If you don't plan to eat much, go somewhere else where small portions are more common. If you want to go because of the location/ambiance, then it's considerate to tip in excess of what you would normally do for the reasons already mentioned. I think with the current demand, that's the best way to handle it.

 

[evilmommie]

OP, I'm glad you enjoyed your food and service at BB. You received what we all should expect at a full service Disneyland restaurant. Gracious service.

Based on being closed for more than a year, I take good care of the wait staff at DLR. Being without jobs and then dealing with the current climate has been challenging to say the least. Just my personal observation on the tipping part of this conversation.

 

[starlite_]

I agree with you about tipping in the US. However, in this case it's a popular venue with extremely limited availability. People often go there for the ambiance, which is super cool, and not so much the food quality. If you don't plan to eat much, go somewhere else where small portions are more common. If you want to go because of the location/ambiance, then it's considerate to tip in excess of what you would normally do for the reasons already mentioned. I think with the current demand, that's the best way to handle it.

We can agree to disagree. It's not like folks are going, having a glass of water and leaving while wasting server's time. You are free, of course to tip however you want for whatever reason you want. But suggesting others are "less generous" because they tipped the normal amount is not ok. (I know you didn't suggest this specifically)

I don't like the implication that you should only go to certain place if you eat a lot. I know you probably didn't mean it that way, but that's how it came off. Agree to disagree.

 

[DizMe]

We can agree to disagree. It's not like folks are going, having a glass of water and leaving while wasting server's time. You are free, of course to tip however you want for whatever reason you want. But suggesting others are "less generous" because they tipped the normal amount is not ok. (I know you didn't suggest this specifically)

I don't like the implication that you should only go to certain place if you eat a lot. I know you probably didn't mean it that way, but that's how it came off. Agree to disagree.

I didn't word that well. I myself am a very light eater, so I totally get the desire to experience BB (I love to go) without eating a bunch of stuff you don't want. I do think that it's good protocol, if you don't eat much, to tip more. To be fair, those of us who eat small portions also tend to leave sooner, so the greater turnaround may help offset the revenue loss to some extent. I don't really know, but I've loved the idea of going for coffee and dessert. I don't do it because I feel like I'm taking a spot away from those who would go and have a whole meal. My mom tells me to stop putting myself second (or last) all the time but it's just something built into my system, I guess.

 

[Living42Day]

I'm glad you had a great time, but do agree on the points mentioned about tipping.

I understand that you didn't order a lot, in fact your probably spent less than what two adult quick service meals would have costed around the park. However, only tipping 18% on the actual amount of the bill was in poor taste, IMO, especially when you received good service. When previous posters mentioned to tip as if you did order a regular meal, they meant to tip as if your bill came to $60+ (the cost of two entrées).

 

[sweethannah]

I'm glad you had a great time, but do agree on the points mentioned about tipping.

I understand that you didn't order a lot, in fact your probably spent less than what two adult quick service meals would have costed around the park. However, only tipping 18% on the actual amount of the bill was in poor taste, IMO, especially when you received good service. When previous posters mentioned to tip as if you did order a regular meal, they meant to tip as if your bill came to $60+ (the cost of two entrées).

Why stop at $60? I mean if we are going to call someone out for being in 'poor taste', and insist we tip on food one hasn't ordered or eaten then why not tip based on the cost of my meal? I spent approx. $250 my last meal at BB, you should therefore tip at least 18% of my meal as you took up a table and prevented the server from potentially serving someone who is even higher value. I mean, that's in poor taste, your table could have been used by a couple whose bill was 3 times yours. Maybe your last meal there was $250 but another couple would have spent double that, you should pre-emptively tip based on their hypothetical bill just in case a server could have made more money by another patron.
It would seriously never end.

 

[jeanico2000]

I'm glad you had a great time, but do agree on the points mentioned about tipping.

I understand that you didn't order a lot, in fact your probably spent less than what two adult quick service meals would have costed around the park. However, only tipping 18% on the actual amount of the bill was in poor taste, IMO, especially when you received good service. When previous posters mentioned to tip as if you did order a regular meal, they meant to tip as if your bill came to $60+ (the cost of two entrées).

You know nothing about me to say I do anything in poor taste. I simply spoke of my experience to assist other disboard members who had questions about eating less at Blue Bayou. Now if all of you big tippers would kindly step off your soapboxes and stop criticizing me, it would be much appreciated. I can't abide all the "Holier than Though" people on these boards. I don't spend my time preaching at others. Live and let live. You should try it. Thank you also to all those speaking up for me. You're all stars!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Really, people? Someone shared their experience. It's not your place to criticize them on these forums for their experience. Locking this thread.

To the OP - glad you were able to enjoy your time at the Blue Bayou. It's a lovely restaurant.