Not sure if this thread has ever been don here yet-- but at least for the moment, I've pinched the idea from the Revs' board, for inspiration. Which stadium has the best food, either inside or out? Might as well include tailgates in this, too, and not just limit it to something that would line the pockets of the stadium vendors. Me, I've been fortunate to have visited many great venues not only around the USA in my MLS and soccer travels, but others around the world, too. Although I've had some wonderful adventures in the way of great stadium food, the MCG in Melbourne gets my vote. (I've put up a poll with the seven of the ten stadiums in some of the MLS venues, but I've decided to think outside the square with my personal preference.) Was at the 'G' for the first time back in late July or thereabouts, and my wife and I had freshly cooked hot dogs on fresh buns, crispy french fries, and nachos that were to die for. And this was on a cold, rainy night, too... didn't ruin our cuisine experience one bit. Share your experiences below... what's your best experience(s)?
In-stadium, Camden Yards. Burgers, BBQ, you name it, all tasty by any standards. Invesco is nothing special, though the $5.25 personal pan pizzas by Bruschetta are decent and a rare item that's not a complete ripoff. Coors Field is pretty good too. Though a bit pricey, you have some sweet brats. Out of stadium, sausages from the carts outside Fenway Park, hands down. No matter how much of a health kick I'm on, at least one of those gets devoured any time I'm in the area. Greasy, yeah. But the damn best sausages anywhere, Italian, anything.
Boog's BBQ at Camden Yards. Pit pork, beef or turkey with beans & slaw for $8. And Boog will sign autographs, too.
Orlando Cepeda's Cha Cha Bowl at Pacific Bell Park. A rice bowl with jerk chicken, black beans, pineapple salsa, hot sauce. You can't beat it.
I go to this stand every time I go to Pac Bell Park, but I generally get the tri tip sandwich instead of the cha cha bowl. They have Red Stripe beer, too.
Speaking of which, does former Warrior center Nate Thurmond still have his rib joint in San Francisco? I've lost track since I've been over here. Not only would that seem like a good BYO tailgate food, but I had those one time, and they had to be the best ribs I ever had, as a once-off.
In stadiums, I've always found that EVERY minor league ballpark has better food than EVERY major league ballpark. Hot dogs are hotter and meatier. Beers are bigger/cheaper. Note: Jeff ain't kidding about the sausages outside Fenway though.
I found it pretty funny you included RFK in your poll. Great soccer stadium as far a sightlines and atmosphere but I wouldn't feed that crap to inmates.
I was at Home Depot last weekend and feasted on the usual stuff...pizza, nachos, hot dogs...I didn't see anything that stood out. Wait...the $10 margaritas that supposedly didn't contain tequila. Camden Yards has Boog's BBQ!!! I've always loved the garlic fries at Spartan.
I think that's very dangerously close to being a mortal sin. Agree with you there... the garlic fries rock.
The mortal sin is that they have this great big flashy stadium and their beer and food selection just outright sucks. They could do so much better!
Now, now, give them time. Rome, or in my case over here, the MCG, wasn't built in a day, you know. I'm sure things food-wise (catering contracts, etc.) will improve at the HDC next season. Any other stadium food stories?
There's a BBQ place on Haight St. called Nate's, so maybe. PacBell is famous for the garlic fries, but I always get the huge brats. Sometimes, two of them.
Since William has been so kind as to link this again... 1) Second the motions on the sausages outside Fenway and the Cha-Cha Bowl at SBC 2) Tri-tip sandwich with BBQ sauce from Turkey Mike's BBQ at San Jose Municipal Stadium (home of the San Jose Giants, the SF Giants Advanced Class-A affiliate)...by the way, we have garlic fries, too! 3) Pulled pork sandwich from Dillard's BBQ at Durham Athletic Park (the old one...I don't know if Dillard's moved with the Bulls to DBAP). I usually got a couple per game and I'd have gotten more if it wasn't such a bitch to crawl over people in the bleachers to get out of my seat! Since William brought up the MCG...there's nothing like a hot Four'n'Twenty meat pie and a cold Carlton Draught. And honorable mention for the imported beer stand at the University of Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center...32 ounce Steinlager and Heineken for $4.50. Thank God UH Wahine Volleyball usually wins in 3 games...any more than a pre-game beer followed by 2 between games beers and I'd be in trouble.
If they do the same thing for soccer as they do for football games, then Rice-Eccles, the temporary home of the Salt Lake franchise for a year or two, has the potential to have some of the best food in the MLS stadiums. For Univ. of Utah pointy ball games, they have a large plaza behind the south seats where they bring in about 10 independent vendors operating portable concession stands. Great variety and great food including Greek stand with Gyros and kabobs Polynesian food Navajo Tacos (Native American cuisine) Char-broiled burgers and thick cut fries Submarine sandwiches Mexican food and a few others I can't remember right at the moment. Seems that whatever I'm in the mood for I can something to whet my appetite.
They used to serve pakora in the Club Deck at Ibrox which was pretty good, but I must say that the best half-time pie I've ever had was at McDiarmid Park, home of St Johnstone FC. I had about seven in one sitting (during a boring Heart of Midlothian - St Johnstone encounter about four years ago). I'm drooling just thinking about it now...
Bumping the old thread to say that the food at one of my other worksites, Telstra Dome, ain't too bad, either.
Stadiums aren't supposed to have good food. A stadium that offers good food loses all street cred in the football community in any case (prawn sandwich eaters!).