Ballpark Food: Home Runs and Strike Outs
This weekend the New York Times ran a splashy story on the nation's increasingly satisfactory ballpark eats.
The writer, Peter Meehan, is thrilled with his "chance to jump from the local hot dog beat to the national one," although he praises nary a hotdog in his ten-city, 12-ballpark tour. Meehan does, however, encounter copious tastiness. At Seattle’s Safeco Field, he delights in a fresh, meaty Ichiroll, a spicy tuna roll named after the Mariners' center fielder, Ichiro Suzuki. He also approves of the Sea Dog, a 10-inch-long baton of cod meat, battered, fried, and served in a hot dog bun with some tartar sauce and a squeeze of lemon.
But Meehan strikes out, too. In Chicago, he tries mushy corn that tastes like "furniture polish." His crab cake sandwich at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a "horror." As a Baltimore native myself, this comes as sad news. I have never eaten at Charm City Seafood. If, as Meehan says, the crab cake is "tepid, soggy, and fishy, like a sponge that had been used to clean fish," I guess it's no big loss.
The accompanying interactive map advises fans what to order and what to avoid at all 30 major league baseball stadiums, from Kansas City to Miami. In the latter's Dolphin Stadium, Jonathon Vigliotti recommends Argentine empanadas from Maggie's Empanada Bistro &mdash beef, eggs and olives stuffed into a crispy shell &mdash and warns against the Cavery's cuban, which is smothered in "too much neon yellow mustard." The eight bucks better "could've been spent on a beer."
Meehan did not venture to every ballpark, so others fill in where his road trip left off. Among others, Wade Evans reports from Houston, Nick Bunkley from Detroit, and David Shneer from Denver. They love sizzling beef fajitas, gyros, and mini-doughnuts, and frown on rubbery chili cheese dogs, Little Caesars pizza, and stale nachos, respectively. But I am skeptical. When there are myriad contributors and scores of goods to sample, it's hard to know who and how much to trust.
Meehan disparages San Francisco's garlic fries, accusing them of limpness and mealiness. Alaina, here at Serious Eats, maintains that they are worthwhile ballpark eats. Alaina is also a fan of the Ghirardelli hot chocolate (and coffee), that vendors hawk from backpacks. Perfect for a chilly San Francisco day. But missing from the the NY Times article.
So, serious eaters, we ask you: What do you eat and drink at the game? What do you love? What has left you wishing you had stuck with Cracker Jacks and peanuts?
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16 Comments:
I wanted to do a piece on this on my own blog but never had the resources to take a national baseball park road trip. I did however call out for help. Since I'm from Chicago, my favorite is the grilled hot dogs (yes the grilled ones, not the best kosher in the carts) at Wrigley Field. I loved this article but I'm sad the writer didn't get to try one of the good hot dogs, giving Chicago a bit of a bad rap.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 4:08PM on 06/09/08
Barbecue nachos from Autozone Park in Memphis (AAA Cardinals) hold up against any ballpark food in the nation.
jccvi at 4:21PM on 06/09/08
I like the mixed Italian and turkey and mozzarella heroes at the Mama's stand behind home plate at Shea Stadium.
Ed Levine at 4:31PM on 06/09/08
I wrote about the eats at my local stadium, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati-- and found myself agreeing, to some degree, with the person who did the Cinci review. The nachos are atrocious-- comparable to really stale movie theater nachos-- and the Skyline cheese coneys are pretty good. However, I argue that their hot dogs are far worse than anything else available: no taste whatsoever, awful texture, and pretty small. The Kosher dogs are only available on the exclusive club level, and they're not a whole lot better. Stick with the Skyline coneys, Penn Station (killer fresh-cut fries) or a slice of pizza.
anadequatenovel at 4:37PM on 06/09/08
I wonder what's up with the bad hot dog trend--it seems like Meehan and others encountered a lot of really disappointing hot dogs.
I bet Meehan missed out on those grilled hot dogs you speak so highly of, Hillary, which makes me wonder what other awesome finds went undiscovered...
Hannah Howard at 4:44PM on 06/09/08
I agree with Alaina - the garlic fries at AT&T Park in SF rocks but it depends if you get a fresh batch and how fast you eat them. I noticed that the club level garlic fries are generally crispier than most fries served at the park. Also, some of the better restaurant/stands are on that level but alas, it's only open to club level and luxury box ticket holders. :(
mandabear at 4:53PM on 06/09/08
As a native of Baltimore and a passionate O's fan, I just want to say that any person who goes to the ballpark to get a crab cake in B'more is an idiot. If you want to get the true Oriole Park feel, hit up Boog's BBQ inside the Eutaw Street entrance, where you just might get served by one of the greatest first basemen in O's history, Boog Powell. Or grab yourself an Esskay hotdog, the only franks good enough to be endorsed by Baltimore's Iron Man, Cal Ripken Jr. If you want crab cakes, wait until the game is over and go to Obrycki's.
srbrooklyn at 5:21PM on 06/09/08
you go to obrycki's for crab (as you would go to cantler's riverside inn for crab), but i never went for the crab cake. part of the visit was for the ambiance and everyone tearing into crab and cheap beer.
having lived in baltimore, i actually liked the crab cake sandwich at Camden Yards. maybe i had a good batch? who knows.
french tart at 5:27PM on 06/09/08
I have to agree with Mandabear... you have to get your garlic fries hot at AT&T otherwise it's not worth the bad breath you will have for the next two days. Seriously.
evilchefmom at 7:34PM on 06/09/08
i also forgot... at at&t, they have something called a cha-cha bowl named after hall of famer, Orlando Cepeda... jerk chicken, black bean, rice, and a vareity of salsas. that's really good, so good i made it at home. how many times do you want to cook food that you had at a game?
evilchefmom at 7:39PM on 06/09/08
The stadium mustard in Cleveland is the best mustard of all the ballparks!
phillipjman at 9:11PM on 06/09/08
It seems a shame to interfere with the great American sport of face stuffing by adding the distraction of a baseball game.
srhcb at 9:46PM on 06/09/08
After watching the sausages race around the field at Miller Park in Milwaukee, I like a bratwurst covered in Secret Stadium Sauce (which is, I think, ketchup, bbq sauce, mustard, and liquid smoke, but I'm not sure). Anyway, it's heaven.
BangieB at 1:09AM on 06/10/08
There is a two-foot long Italian beef at Wrigley Field. TWO FEET!
Oh, and as much as I hate going against bratwurst in the state of Wisconsin, Klement's Italian sausage is my favorite up at Miller Park. Not that there's anything wrong with the brat. Or the polish. Or the hot dog.
worldcupfever at 1:06PM on 06/10/08
Yeah, worldcupfever, no mention of an Italian Beef at Wrigley Field????? Sacrilege! Mmmmm, topped with tons of the hot giardinera....
mjane79 at 9:18PM on 06/10/08
Oops, meant the Italian Beef at Comiskey/Cellular Field or whatever you want to call it. Either way, it's Chicago and for an author who said he grew up here, I can't believe he didn't say anything about it.
mjane79 at 10:08PM on 06/10/08