Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 September 20

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September 20

Marble Slab Creamery ordering procedure

How do ordering and payment work at Marble Slab Creamery? Is it a sit-down restaurant with table service, where customers are delivered a check at the end of the meal? Or is it more like a fast-food restaurant, where customers approach the counter, make their orders, and pay before receiving the requested items? I am most interested in details pertaining to locations in Canada.

If table service is not the norm at Marble Slab, are there any other highly reputable chains of ice cream shops with locations in Canada at which it is?--Unscented (talk) 16:46, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Here is a video showing the whole process from start to finish. --Jayron32 17:36, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Table service is not the norm. At the ones I've been to, there are a couple of tables for eating at, but you'd get counter service. You could always ask them to bring it to your table if you have mobility issues or trouble carrying stuff. I can't say that I'm aware of a premium ice cream place that does table service as part of their normal operations; if you're determined, you might get what you want from a high end full menu restaurant that makes its own ice cream (which is not uncommon in my experience). Matt Deres (talk) 15:20, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Agreed. People who get ice cream often want to either get it themselves or at least look at the selection, like at Baskin-Robbins, before deciding which they want. While the sit-down restaurant idea is good, you don't necessarily need a high end restaurant which makes their own ice cream. Many sit-down restaurants offer a selection of ice cream desserts.

Also, if lack of mobility is the issue, you might consider a drive-through ice cream shop. Some Baskin-Robbins locations have this option. Another option might be delivery, although a minimum order and/or delivery charge might apply. StuRat (talk) 15:50, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Obviously, ice cream melts - and the equipment required to store and dispense it isn't mobile. So I suspect that most customers would prefer to get their purchases as soon after they are dispensed as possible...hence counter service makes a certain degree of sense. Also, the typical cost of an order of ice cream is much less than a full meal order - so the fractional cost of providing wait-staff would much higher than for more traditional restaurants.

That said, drive-in restaurants (most of whom seem to serve ice cream) will have wait-staff bring the product to your car. Certainly this is the way that "Sonic" stores operate in the USA. Our local Sonic also has a few tables where you can sit - and though you order through a drive-thru kind of microphone/speaker arrangement, your order is delivered to you by the wait-staff - sometimes, on roller skates!

But I'm not aware of any restaurants where a person will come to the table to take your order - then return with the product for you.

SteveBaker (talk) 04:12, 22 September 2016 (UTC)