The New York Yankees offer sushi as a dining option at Yankee Stadium. Think about that for a second. The most storied franchise in all of Major League Baseball, the one so tied to tradition that players can't even have facial hair, is serving sushi as part of its new-wave cuisine at the ballpark. Sushi. And we haven't even talked about the Yankee Stadium Avocado Bites yet.
But that's Major League Baseball today. While the game remains the same, the ever-changing tastes of its customers needed to be addressed - from the decadent to gluten-free to the eclectic.
These are some of the best food items offered at MLB ballparks.
Team: Chicago White Sox
Cost: N/A
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Delaware North
Main ingredients: French fries, gyro meat, feta cheese, bacon, shredded chicken and way, way more.
Bottom line: Near Section 110 lies the Sweet & Savory food stand with five different covered and smothered fries. They include:
Dessert Sweet Potato Fries, topped with powdered sugar, chopped pecans, whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce and Nutella.
Greek Fries, with gyro meat, tomatoes, crumbled feta and tzatziki sauce.
Irish Fries, covered with bacon, sour cream, chives and nacho cheese.
Buffalo Chicken Fries, with shredded chicken, hot Buffalo sauce, ranch dressing and crumbled bleu cheese.
And Dusted French Fries, with a choice of Caribbean jerk topping, Delaware Bay, garlic and parmesan, or salt and pepper with Sriracha ketchup.
Note: We focused on traditional walk-up concession stands/grab-and-go style food, not upscale items and sit-down restaurants at stadiums.
Team: Kansas City Royals
Cost: $12 for a single, $14.25 for a double
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Aramark
Main ingredients: Kansas City steakburger, cheese, pulled pork, onion rings, BBQ Sauce.
Bottom line: The ironic thing here is that Kansas City is one of the best, if not the best, barbecue towns in the country. And while it does serve other barbecue such as a BBQ chicken sandwich and even Korean BBQ kielbasa, there's not a plethora of it.
The burger, with its smoked pulled pork, two patties (might as well go big), onion rings, and melted cheese, is topped off with what is arguably the best BBQ sauce ever - Sweet Baby Rays.
Find it in Sections 221, 234, 251 and 422.
Team: San Francisco Giants
Cost: Varies. $9.75 combo (one entree, fried rice, noodles, egg roll), $12.50 combo (two entrees, fried rice, noodles, egg roll)
Year created: N/A
Inventor: Mashi's
Main ingredients: Varies. Standard Chinese food menu with noodles, rice, vegetables, beef, chicken.
Bottom line: We went with the umbrella selection here, the only team we chose to do this for. And with good reason. The Giants are one of the few clubs with a thriving Asian fan base (the Dodgers and Mariners also come to mind) and have numerous Asian food items for all to enjoy.
That's especially true at Edsel Ford Fong's, a concession stand whimsically named for the famous (infamous?) waiter of the same name at Sam Wo's restaurant who was notoriously rude and verbally abusive. In a loving way, of course.
Dishes include beef and broccoli, orange chicken, Chinese chicken salad, egg rolls, and sushi boxes.
Team: Los Angeles Angels
Cost: $12
Year created/first sold: 2019
Inventor: Legends Hospitality, executive chef Robert Biebrich
Main ingredients: Beef. Lots of beef. Cheese. Lots of cheese.
Bottom line: Hot dogs are usually the staple at ballparks with burgers running a close second in the food category. But this is no ordinary burger.
This thing is monstrous - two patties, lettuce, tomato, perfectly melted cheese, secret sauce and a nice soft potato bun. Some have compared it to an In-N-Out burger, and you can't go wrong there.
All that said, if going to the ballpark and not having a hot dog is sacrilege, check out Crafty Dawg. Get this - one option is they give you the dog, you build the rest.
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Cost: $14
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Aramark
Main ingredients: Burger patty, glazed donut, cherry pepper jam, American cheese, bacon.
Bottom line: Let's pass on sharing with your doctor that you ordered this, shall we?
Burgers have been put between a lot of things - buns, bread, bagels, English muffins, tortilla - but decadence takes on a whole new meaning with the Donut Burger. It's a little bit savory, a little bit sweet, and a little bit spicy with the jam.
This menu item is part of the new "Boardwalk Eats" section of the ballpark, giving a little taste of the nearby Jersey Shore.
Team: Cleveland Indians
Cost: $11
Year created: 2016
Inventor: Happy Dog
Main ingredients: Beef hot dog, pimento macaroni and cheese, bacon, Froot Loops.
Bottom line: No, we didn't just go off the rails, nor did we just decide to pick food items out of a hat to add to our hot dog.
The Slider Dog debuted in 2016, and for some reason, the fans love the outlandish, quirky combination of a fifth-of-a-pound hot dog, topped with pimento mac and cheese, bacon and, yes, breakfast favorite Froot Loops.
Why they didn't go with Fruity Pebbles is beyond us, but nonetheless, this dog remains the only frankfurter in America topped with cereal.
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Cost: $5.50-$11.50
Year created: 1949
Inventor: Lambrinides family
Main ingredients: Secret-recipe chili, onions, beans, shredded cheese.
Bottom line: With the exception of ingredients like onions, beans and shredded cheese, nobody knows what the secret family recipe is to the actual famous chili. But it's ridiculously delicious.
You can have it in a bowl, on a Coney Dog, or with its famous 3-Way, 4-Way and 5-Way.
A 3-Way is a bowl of steaming spaghetti covered with Skyline's original secret-recipe chili and topped with a mound of shredded cheddar cheese. Add diced onions or beans for a 4-Way. Add onions and beans for a 5-Way.
Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Cost: N/A
Year created: 1999
Inventor: Levy
Main ingredients: Ham, pork, salami, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles on toasted Cuban bread.
Bottom line: The Tampa-St. Petersburg area has one of the most vibrant Cuban communities around in Ybot City, maybe second only to Miami's Calle Ocho.
And by all accounts, the Cuban sandwich served at Tropicana Field is a delicious, authentic sandwich and not some knockoff.
Just remember, if you want one - or anything else at the Trop - bring your plastic and not your paper. The venue became the first Major League Ballpark to go cashless earlier this year.
Team: St. Louis Cardinals
Cost: $8
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Delaware North
Main ingredients: Dough, sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni.
Bottom line: So let's try to give you some context and perspective on the Mega Slice. The Meg is 16 inches long. Most large pizzas at your local pizza joint are 16 inches in diameter. Yep, that's how big.
It comes in its own triangle-shaped, single-serving box, which is a big help if you're trying to pick this thing up with two hands and set it back down.
Team: Oakland Athletics
Cost: N/A
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Aramark
Main ingredients: Popsicle molds. Alcohol.
Bottom line: Oakland-Alameda Coliseum has never been known as a facility that offers game-changing food and beverage, but things have picked up since Aramark was brought on board to start the 2019 season.
And this is something new - Party Pops. Known among the locals as "Boozy Popsicles," these adult refreshments are popsicles infused with alcohol.
The pops are available in the concourse on an oversized tricycle. They're trying them out in Oakland, and starting to turn them around.
Team: Miami Marlins
Cost: $10
Year created: 2019
Inventor: Suviche's restaurant
Main ingredients: Shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, spicy mayo, drizzled with eel sauce.
Bottom line: Those are the ingredients for the Marlins Roll, one of several new sushi selections and one of several new overall additions to the menu at Marlins Park in the 2019 season.
This has been one of the most moribund franchises in Major League Baseball.
Food alone won't bring in the crowds, but at least the Marlins are trying.