Best Stadium Food Item?
- Thread starter Fijimn
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You know, I wish I could say that there's some really great stadium food I've had (and I'm not talking tailgates), but it's almost universally bad. And Doak may be the absolute worst.
The closest thing would be back about five to ten years ago when they still made fresh strawberry shortcake using localish plant city strawberries at the Tampa Downs but that would be it.
The closest thing would be back about five to ten years ago when they still made fresh strawberry shortcake using localish plant city strawberries at the Tampa Downs but that would be it.
I can honestly say I've never been there, so I can't comment on it.
I would say that considering how much they frigging charge and the fact that alot of the stadiums are in major food city destinations (New Orleans, San Fran, NYC, Chicago, Miami, Tampa, etc...) that you would fully expect there to be five star food all around at the stadiums. Unfortunately...you'd be wrong.
It's kind of like airports. You'd expect there to be really good food and almost universally it isn't. The only two exceptions I can think of are One Flew South in Atlanta which I always hit if there's time and whatever the Cuban place is in Miami. Even Dallas and Houston where they have alleged high class bbq....isn't very good. The Salt lick stuff I had was absolutely dreadful and I've tried probably all of the different places in the Texas airports over the years.
That is because most stadiums have a contract with Sysco--and the vendors have to use their food. Ronnie Killen had, for a short time, a bbq place at Minute Maid (Astros) called Smoke. He could not use his own sourced brisket, etc. The Sysco stuff was not up to his standards and he walked away from a pretty popular place. The food at Hobby is all Pappas Restaurants. The Pappadeaux is pretty good--serves a purpose. And the breakfast Tacos at Pappasitos are fantastic if you are taking an early morning flight.
Love Field was remodeled. It used to just have a Chilis, Mickey D's and a bar. Now it has the usual fast food places (including a Whataburger) and a Steven Pyle restaurant. The only Salt Lick I know in an airport is in Austin, and I have never had it due to the fact I know it can't be good because it is not cooked on site. The Salt Like in Driftwood is quite good.
The worst is New Orleans on the Southwest side. They turned the Live Oak Bar in a Zatarians, which is terrible. They don't even use Leidenheimer bread. The old Live Oak used to make a pretty good po boy, even though it was just one little old lade in the corner with a toaster oven.
Best I ever had was a Johnsonville Sausage sandwich from ATT park in San Francisco (gotta support Buster Posey!).
I'm still not certain if it was that good of a sandwich or it was the off gasses. I happened to attend on Grateful Dead tribute night and the fumes were wafting around pretty heavy.
I'm still not certain if it was that good of a sandwich or it was the off gasses. I happened to attend on Grateful Dead tribute night and the fumes were wafting around pretty heavy.
Winning the "best stadium food" contest is like winning the "best way to die" contest. It's all crappy.
This doesn't suck
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000455328/article/packers-sell-35-pound-big-game-burger-at-lambeau
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big game heart attack
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000455328/article/packers-sell-35-pound-big-game-burger-at-lambeau
Posted from Rivals Mobile
big game heart attack
Interesting Fiji. I never thought about the fact that the main contractor may force its subcontractors to use its own product but that makes sense from a business perspective and the resulting low quality. I didn't think of that, but you're probably dead on.
Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy I pulled up the Dallas and Houston (in the International section) bbq places and there is a Salt Lick in Dallas and Houston airports (I'm not sure which one I went to as I've go relatively frequently to both). Houston doesn't seem to have any other BBQ besides Salt Lick and Pappas (which I haven't had and doubt I would) while Dallas also has currently Cousins (had it and didn't like it but thought it was the best of the Dallas airport despite weird spicing in its beans), Dickeys (had it didn't care for it) and Railhead (haven't tried it).
I did eat at Papppasitos but thought it was just ok nothing special like the One Flew South in Atlanta or La Carreta (I had to look it up) in Miami. Even La Carreta wouldn't make my top ten Cuban places in Tampa list but the fact I name it here shows the awfulness of airport food.
Originally posted by wbnolefan:
I'm no food snob, but when I get good food I actually like to eat on a table with silverware. If that's not available just give me a decent hot dog or slice of pizze and I'll be happy
You don't need knife and fork for it to be amazing. I would take a cheesesteak from Johns Roast Pork, a pastrami Sammy from Langers, an Italian Sub from White House Subs, a pate and watercress with house dressing Sammy from the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg VA, a pit beef sammy with Tiger Sauce from Chaps Pit Beef, pibil soft tacos from Taco Bus, a slice of pepperoni pizza from Totonnos, or a Homerun dog with NY onion sauce and sauerkraut from Papaya King over ANY alleged five star knife and fork meal in Tallahassee. I could name probably a hundred others but thought I'd stop myself as I'm dieting at the moment for my long trip through the Southwest where I will be eating MANY an amazing "nonfine dining" meals.
I'm no food snob, but when I get good food I actually like to eat on a table with silverware. If that's not available just give me a decent hot dog or slice of pizze and I'll be happy
You don't need knife and fork for it to be amazing. I would take a cheesesteak from Johns Roast Pork, a pastrami Sammy from Langers, an Italian Sub from White House Subs, a pate and watercress with house dressing Sammy from the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg VA, a pit beef sammy with Tiger Sauce from Chaps Pit Beef, pibil soft tacos from Taco Bus, a slice of pepperoni pizza from Totonnos, or a Homerun dog with NY onion sauce and sauerkraut from Papaya King over ANY alleged five star knife and fork meal in Tallahassee. I could name probably a hundred others but thought I'd stop myself as I'm dieting at the moment for my long trip through the Southwest where I will be eating MANY an amazing "nonfine dining" meals.
Saltlick is A-16 in Dallas
https://www.dfwairport.com/shops/detail.php?coid=3648
And terminal B in Houston
http://www.fly2houston.com/0/3921890/0/83280D83283/
club level at phillips arena in ATL has a variety of kiosks from some of the better restaurants in town. I usually get the Kevin Rathburn steak sandwich. (Atlanta hawks play there, and FSU won the ACC Tourney there).
they usually have some microbrews available, as do the Atlanta Falcons and Braves.
I think the Braves club level has something similar, but i don't go to many games anymore unless i'm invited to a catered luxury box.
they usually have some microbrews available, as do the Atlanta Falcons and Braves.
I think the Braves club level has something similar, but i don't go to many games anymore unless i'm invited to a catered luxury box.
Eh, I don't know if I ate at the one in Dallas or Houston as it was awhile ago. I'd probably guess Dallas as it says Houston is a new addition from June of last year and I feel like I ate Salt Lick at least a year ago from memory. Either way, it wasn't very good. Not horrible as in I needed to vomit, but Not memorably good either (which is why I literally can't remember which one I had it in) and I definitely threw some of it away. I'm sure it's nowhere as good as the original. And who knows, maybe the brisket sourcing you mentioned is in effect at the airports as well.
This post was edited on 3/30 4:00 PM by FSUTribe76
Yeah, I would not expect much out of airport BBQ. We are going to try a new place in Houston for opening day, Jackson St. BBQ. It's got the name brand behind it---Mike Gaitlin is the pit master and it is owned by Bryan Craswell--who owns an excellent seafood restaurant in town and a (in my opinion) terrible tex-mex place. Gaitlins is a Houston tradition, but recently closed due to the gentrification that's in that part of the loop. Hopefully, they have crawfish and bbq....
Brisket, crawfish, Shiner Bock and opening day...I don't think it can get much better than that.
Brisket, crawfish, Shiner Bock and opening day...I don't think it can get much better than that.
One thing puzzles me. Why would you expect food to be good at the airport, stadium, bus station, school cafeteria, etc? There is no incentive to make it better than it has to be. All these places have a captive clientelle. They have a huge convenience advantage because it's very hard or impossible to go elsewhere.
Actually, currently, one of the main concerns of sports entertainment is competition from stay-at-home fans. Most teams have really tried to step up their game day experience; including, food & beverage, comfort and internet speed/interaction. The NFL is making the Texans spend an additional $55 million before the Super Bowl comes upgrading the broadband and other improvements. they have added craft beer and several higher end taco truck-type restaurants.
I think this would be the best stadium food that I've had (at ATT Stadium in SF):
"Orlando's Caribbean BBQ: This pair of booths is known for the Cha-Cha bowl, which combine rice, beans, grilled chicken, and pineapple-zucchini salsa into a Caribbean take on bibimbap. If you're looking to eat away a beer buzz, it's one of the most filling meals in the park."
I remember it being around $15-18 for a bowl, but it was SO good.
"Orlando's Caribbean BBQ: This pair of booths is known for the Cha-Cha bowl, which combine rice, beans, grilled chicken, and pineapple-zucchini salsa into a Caribbean take on bibimbap. If you're looking to eat away a beer buzz, it's one of the most filling meals in the park."
I remember it being around $15-18 for a bowl, but it was SO good.
Sysco or not, the "mile high" cheesesteak at Coors Field is pretty dang good.
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It's an awesome ballpark, but it's really weird how cold it is at Giants games. For one game we sat out in right field and just about froze to death - I was unprepared for it to be that cold. Everyone else has coats and blankets, and we came straight after work. It was fine where we were working, but substantially colder at the stadium next to the water.
Those rice bowls were terrific though. I remember beer being about $15 apiece also.
[/QUOTE] It was under $15 for a hot dog sized bun full of lobster a couple years back, which I thought was a great deal as we had just been up in Maine and spent a lot $$ more for similar sized lobster rolls. Regardless, Fenway ups the ante on quality stadium food and I'll also agree with your assessment of the Fenway Frank being top notch as well.
Best thing at Doak for the price is the nachos you get from the Chilis. I think they're cheaper than the typical bullshit nachos and way better
Can't remember the name of the place but I had a pretty good meal with good beer at Turner Field last summer. It was a sit down place out in Center Field.
Coors Field has dome decent food and a lot of beer choices. We still would rather eat outside the stadium before the game though.
Coors Field has dome decent food and a lot of beer choices. We still would rather eat outside the stadium before the game though.
Lol pretty much. Only Langers would count as a real sitdown restaurant. Totonnos has maybe three tables and it's really just a takeout so you eat it on the Subway riding back. It's got a James Beard award for best pizza in NYC for the pizza and 89 years of history not the comfort. The Old Cheese Shop has a small handful (more than Totonnos though) of tables outside but it's a takeout counter too so you're probably just standing around outside with locals. Johns Roast Pork has no inside tables but there are a few benches and broken tables near the road, it's really a takeout for the industrial district. Their James Beard award isn't even framed it's just nailed to the wall behind the counter. White House Subs is still in the original diner but it's popularity sails past the maybe dozen inside tables. Their James Beard award isn't even up as it would mean taking down a pic or two of Old Blue Eyes. Taco Bus depends on the location but it started as a food truck and most locations (I believe from memory) still just have outside seating. So yeah. At a football stadium at least you're sitting in a seat with a cupholder. Most of the places I listed you're standing around.
This post was edited on 3/31 11:32 AM by FSUTribe76
that's the Chop House out in right Center, unless you mean the 755 Club in Left Field. great place to drink a beer and watch the game - its like Wrigley's bleachers with a walk up bar and restaurant.
out beyond centerfield is a food court with a big variety of casual food - pizza, bbq, etc. - better than the usual stadium fare.
both of these were relative innovations 20 years ago when they built the stadium for the olympics.
Chop House was the one. Sat outside along the reail so I had a good view of the game and enjoyed a good meal.
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