First Look at the New Yankee Stadium Food

At first, the new Yankee Stadium food sounded like a middle school cafeteria ("Carvel Ice Cream, French's Mustard, Hebrew National, Famous Famiglia Pizza, Poland Spring Water, Utz Potato Chips!" the press release advertised). Not to mention, it lacks the superstar restaurateurs—Danny Meyer, Dave Pasternack, and Drew Nieporent—over at Citi Field. Even if bottled water will set you back $5, and other foods keep up with the yikes-expensive ballpark food stereotype, there's some tastiness to be had at the new Bronx ball field.
Photo tour, after the jump.
Johnny Rockets

It's no Shake Shack, the burger counterpart at Citi Field, but Johnny Rockets gets the job done. Single ($9) and double burgers ($12) are available. Milkshakes ($7)—both vanilla and chocolate—should not be served with a straw. So thick, this is spoon territory.
Brother Jimmy's BBQ

Clockwise from top: Frickles, hush puppies, and pulled chicken sandwich.
One word: frickles ($8). Deep-fried pickle coins. Aw, yeahh. They also have brisket, pulled pork, and chicken sandwiches ($10), which, be aware, can range from 470 to 700 calories. Maybe specify that you want the 700 calorie one? Hush puppies ($8) available too.
Lobel's of New York

Hopefully you've gotten this far because this is really the magic of Yankee concession land. Lobel's, the institutional New York butcher shop, has a carving station with rotating meat sandwiches ($15). Today it was USDA prime strip steak, but they'll also have filet mignon and prime rib at future games. It came slathered with an olive spread—so much yes—on a warm, doughy bun.
Carl's Philly Cheese Steak

Beef or chicken ($10.75), with your choice of cheese: Whiz or white American.
Garlic Fries

They get their own section! You'll want to brush your teeth after a few, so mission accomplished. Small is $5, and large is $8. This seems to be a little nod to the Gilroy Garlic Fries at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
Moe's Southwest Grill

Clockwise from top left: Burrito, burrito fillings, cuban sandwich, and Billy Barou nachos.
Part of the "Latin-themed area" behind right field. Originally, a few vendors were involved (like La Esquina, which is still on the sign) but now it's just Moe's. Burritos ($9) can be filled with anything you see on the assembly line (beans, rice, guac, sour cream, salsa, cheese), and they have two nacho variations: Billy Barou ($9; the crazy one with all that junk piled) and just queso ($6). Cuban sandwiches ($9.75) aren't from Moe's but sold at the same stand—meh, tasted like airline food.
Hot Dogs

Nathan's and Hebrew National hot dogs.
Both Nathan's ($6.75) and Hebrew National ($5.50) are available. The Nathan's dogs—longer and thinner—are only at Nathan's-branded stands. The Hebrew Nats are at the special suites, a few "Stadium Favorites" stands, and in-seat service vendors will be hawking them.
Farmers' Market

There's another section of the stand to the right of the cart.
Fruit stands and baseball go hand-in-hand like, eh, peanut butter and tuna. The little cart is stocked with pears, apples, bananas and cups of baby carrots and watermelon from something called "Melissa's farmers' market." They didn't provide much background info on who Melissa is or where her produce is grown. This seems like a punishment for kids who are goofing off during the game and lose ice cream privileges.
Mike's Deli

Clockwise from top left: Mike's Deli stand, eggplant parmigiana samples, sandwich samples, zeppoles.
Locavores, you'll really like this. The true Bronx local food: cold cuts and eggplant parmigiana sandwiches ($10 to $10.75)—the recipe that beat Bobby Flay on a Throwdown episode!—from the nearby Mike's Deli on Arthur Avenue. "Bobby did his with thick eggplant, the skin still on, very Irish, and four kinds of cheese that didn't need to be there." Mike's version is cut real thin and better, they'll remind you.
Maybe so, but his zeppoles, fried wads of sugared dough, are too dry. Not worth the 500 cals-per-ball (six pieces for $6).
Carvel Ice Cream

Vanilla and chocolate soft serve in little keepable Yankee cap cups ($6.50). Rainbow sprinkles! Such a sucker for overpriced frozen desserts when sprinkles are involved.
Sushi and Noodle Bar

Looks pretty, if you're into the whole raw fish at a baseball game thing.
Waste Management

Trash bins come in threes—plastic, trash, and compost. Hopefully fans will know what to do with the compost. They make it pretty easy since all food containers are compost-friendly (the plastic ones are sugar-based) except the special souvenir cups.
Related: First Look at Citi Field Stadium Food
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32 Comments:
A Nathan's hot dog is $6.75?!? FUCK. THAT.
Adam Kuban at 6:40PM on 04/15/09
Love the "middle school cafeteria food" - Hot dogs, sodas, and the always yummy Carvel are the way ballpark food should be! I don't get all the fancy food but I'm excited to try 'frickles'!!!
theurbanwhisk at 6:48PM on 04/15/09
Compost bin? That's AWESOME! Way to go Yankee Stadium!!! =)
astoria at 6:56PM on 04/15/09
Compost. For when the team itself is knee-deep in shit and needs a change of scenery. Say, around July.
shoneyjoe at 7:19PM on 04/15/09
No one will pay these prices. Look for a downward adjustment within two years. In fact both these two new stadiums are taxpayer funded welfare bums. Both are monuments to a bygone era of excess where teams would threaten to move. Wall Street is dead, New York tax revenues are in the toilet and the NYC fiscal situation is worse
gaffer at 10:36PM on 04/15/09
@gaffer/Michael Savage: People will pay these prices. End of story.
Prairie at 10:43PM on 04/15/09
The cheap standbys are still there, I think the good food will have a place and sell pretty well. If I had season's tickets, it would be one thing, but if I only make it to a few games each year then it is a real night out and I can pay and extra $5-6.
Erin, I hope that Carl's cheesesteak with American rather than Cheez Whiz wasn't yours!
Big B at 11:23PM on 04/15/09
Just gonna say I am going to both stadiums tomorrow. Opening day at Yankee stadium, than off to Citi field. I am going to just gorge away all day on delicious, yet overpriced, food.
achilles21 at 11:37PM on 04/15/09
BigB
What are the cheap standbys?
A bag of peanuts?
gaffer at 12:34AM on 04/16/09
Come on. When did ballparks LOSE points because Thomas Freakin' Keller doesn't have a posh eatery stand? Hot dogs. Ice cream. Beer. Peanuts. In other words - Ballpark food. No wonder there are people complaining about "food elitism."
Expecting foie gras at a ballpark is about as ridiculous as razzing Danny Meyer about his batting average.
Let's keep focused here, people. I go to Yankee Stadium to see someone wearing pinstripes knock the casing right off the f'n ball, looking damn fine while he's doing it. Not for fine dining. Sheesh.
therealchiffonade at 6:28AM on 04/16/09
I grew up on Carvel and miss it desperately living up in New England.
Now I just need me some Yankees tickets so I can try those frickles... Alas, the tickets are way more expensive than the food... :(
eatboutique at 8:47AM on 04/16/09
I'll still take a few $5.25 Shackburgers and the Mets at Citifield, thank you.
JudgeFudge at 9:05AM on 04/16/09
@eatboutique: I'm not sure where you live, but I grew up on Carvel in Connecticut, too (their ice cream cakes were standard for birthday parties). I'm no longer there, but I think Carvel is still around. : )
Junie at 9:44AM on 04/16/09
You can blame the Dodgers for this shit when they started serving sushi at least 15 years ago
gaffer at 9:45AM on 04/16/09
As someone who works in waste I really respect how you entitled that picture "waste management" for waste management is an industry not just a company.
Timothyrows at 10:09AM on 04/16/09
@eatboutique: I grew up on Carvel in MA, too...and we had it in ME. In fact, they serve those very little souvenir-cap ice creams from Carvel at the Seadogs games in Portland :-) I think you should be able to find some!
littlestcapy at 10:48AM on 04/16/09
@ shoneyjoe - LOL!!!
Sorry, but the food in the pictures just doesn't look that good. It all seems a little...blah.
I do love fried pickles, so props for that.
erinlovestoeat at 11:06AM on 04/16/09
The plural form of "zeppola" is "zeppole", not "zeppoles."
alesbica at 11:19AM on 04/16/09
@alesbica: Grazie! The post has been updated.
Erin Zimmer at 11:23AM on 04/16/09
The real problem is not that people expect foie gras and sushi at the ballpark now. That's just ridiculous. No, the REAL problem is that they are charging an arm and a leg for these so-called "ballpark staples!" $5 for a bottle of water and $6+ for a hotdog is ROBBERY. They should just have some guy stand at the entrance and mug people on the way into the stadium!
aeg42 at 12:14PM on 04/16/09
Those prices are INSANE. $6.50 for a little cup of ice cream with sprinkles? CARVEL ice cream, no less? Keep the freakin' Yankee cap and knock a couple of bucks off the price. Who'll be able to take their kids to a ball game at this rate? It'd be cheaper to take 'em to a Broadway show.
And...."frickles"? What a horrible name. I can never take my Mississippi friends there--you know, the folks who first introduced me to the concept of deep-fried dill pickles....
klg19 at 12:52PM on 04/16/09
@eatboutique: http://carvel.findlocation.com/search.aspx
But in New England, there's little need for franchised ice cream :)
Wally East at 12:52PM on 04/16/09
I still think Citi Field has better food:
http://nycfoodguy.com/2009/04/03/nyc-food-guy-video-citi-field-food-preview/
And here:
http://nycfoodguy.com/2009/04/01/citi-field-food-preview-a-culinary-revolution/
NYC Food Guy at 5:49PM on 04/16/09
I've always been a fickle baseball fan -- rooting for the NY team wth cuter players, prettier uniforms, or star players, but now I see the fault of my ways. Must root for the team with the best stadium food. Citi field seems to win the food game, so I'll be a Met's fan for now.
P.S. I heard a rumor that the original Carvel on Central Ave. was closing; is it true?
Picklejuice at 7:09PM on 04/16/09
Wow, those prices are crazy! I'm glad I live in a minor league town. We can get BBQ sandwiches and burgers for $5. What's the price of a soft pretzel going for at the new stadiums? I hope the mustard is free.
Raiders757 at 7:35PM on 04/16/09
Went to the game yesterday. Other than the prices being ridiculous - I think only the pretzel and pizza prices stayed the same - what is even more ridiculous is the calories listed for every single menu item. I will be bringing my food in the rest of the season. It might have the same amount of calories, but it will taste 100 times better and cost less than half the price.
flavacrisp at 10:47AM on 04/17/09
Oh, and soft pretzels were $4.50 and 600-something calories. I had a bite of one and it was gross.
flavacrisp at 10:50AM on 04/17/09
@Picklejuice: That rumor has been around for a few months, still nothing announced by them.
JerseyJeff at 11:06AM on 04/18/09
Awesome post.
GrubGrade at 3:43PM on 04/18/09
Good stuff. I've been to 2 games and had my fair share of food. Overall not impressed, but wasn't expecting much. The Billy Barou nachos were tops on my list followed by Lobels, and the chicken noodle bowl was decent. Still prefer grabbing a quality boars head sandwich from the Banana Deli on 161st St. for $5 and bringing it in. Thankfully we're still able to bring food in. Check out my rundown with a lot pics HERE.
howfresheats at 12:18PM on 04/24/09
I only tried the garlic fries on my first visit, but they were the best I've had. More well done than at Safeco Field and the Ballpark Formerly Known As PacBell. It's a good thing I didn't eat more. I might not have been able to keep it down after the Indians scored 14 runs in the second inning. I'm heading back this Saturday and plan to get some BBQ. I was gonna check out the Cuban sandwich too. Thanks for the heads up, Erin. I hope I have some room when I get to the stadium. I'm making my inaugaral visit to the Red Hook trucks on their 2009 opening day.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:00AM on 04/28/09
I recently did 1st visit to pro baseball last month to new Yankee Stadium. Carl's philly steak w/ cheezwhiz was fantastic, luckily took advice that I would not have room for fries. I've spent $20 on far worse than one of them babies and a beer in my time. If any AA members are reading, screw the meetings "Hi, I'm Adam, I'm an alcoholic, and my wife Eve is addicted to apples." (or something like that) At $9 a beer, recovery comes quickly. I wasn't even driving, legally could have though. Dinner at Hard Rock next time, not just a t-shirt and a draft...
mssr1966 at 6:54PM on 07/01/09