More to a stadium...more to a dish

Corey Costelloe.

A good stadium experience isn't only about the team you are cheering for, but potentially that one food item that while secondary to the reason for your trip, can make or break your entire experience.

I have had the privilege of attending and covering sporting events all over the country and given that it is summertime and we have reached the midway point of the baseball season, I figured I can share some culinary musts that have made some of my ballpark trips worthwhile.

First, in full disclosure, I am not a Dodgers fan, quite the contrary, I still dislike Kirk Gibson for what he did to my A's in 1988. I still think he got lucky, but the ball left the yard, and it is what it is. However, for the longest time, Dodgers Stadium and the iconic Dodger Dog, was one of the few reasons I would even head to Chavez Ravine from time to time. I have not sampled the latest version ever since Farmer John stopped supplying the franks, but all reports claim that it is just not the same. Oh well, I guess you cannot remake a classic.

West coast stadiums like to dabble with things like Sonoran Dogs (hot dogs wrapped in bacon, ton of toppings, lots of bread), and will even serve things like poke, sushi or french fries served with a myriad of toppings. I am all for that, but not my most memorable.

If you have ever been to Chicago, you most likely have tried their most famous dish. No, it is not the deep-dish pizza, but the beloved Italian beef sandwich. Many of you may have watched "The Bear" on Hulu and learned of this delight. I had it the first time I visited Chicago in 2012 and it was life changing. Unfamiliar? Take a French dip, use chuck roast instead of steak, slow cook it in beef broth, pepperoncini, giardiniera and then slap the meat on a hoagie roll. "Dipped" Italian beef sandwiches are when they take the entire sandwich and dip the whole thing in the juice before wrapping it up. Think "consommé" as we now say on the west coast during our current birria phase. But you do not get your own sauce to dip, it is done once, saturates the sandwich and its down the hatch.

Now, these sandwiches can be found in stadiums around Chicago, but one of the greatest foods ever consumed at a baseball game would be on my first visit to Wrigley Field, when my wife ordered a polish dog topped with Italian beef...we have never been able to duplicate that concoction since. Fattening and heavenly all at once. It almost took away from the nostalgia of Wrigley. Almost.

The Midwest does have great fare. On that same trip to Chicago we visited what was then U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox. It happened to be "Greek Heritage Night" and the smells from the concourses into the stands were amazing. Lots of onions, peppers, gyros, you name it. I honestly cannot remember what I ate that night, but the whole place smelled delicious.

On a similar note, on few trips to Milwaukee and attendance at Brewers' games I have had some of the best bratwurst imaginable. Nobody does a brat like Wisconsin. It is not one of their four official state foods, but it should be (cheese is obviously one of them).

I am not leaving the west coast out of this, one of my memorable dishes came in San Francisco, while at Oracle Park watching the Giants play the Padres. The setting for this game made all the difference for this dish. Now the Bay Area is near Gilroy, which is famous for its garlic crop. So, naturally "Gilroy Garlic Fries" are a popular dish for the Giants. The problem on this day was, we attended a Sunday afternoon game in the grips of a heatwave. Temperatures in the upper 90s, which is hot for the Bay, so much so they kept checking our tickets on the ferry over from Oakland because they had been having so many issues with people riding the ferries all day to take advantage of the ocean breeze.

We were also sitting in the left field bleachers, in the direct sun. So, not only was everyone around you enjoying garlic fries, but we also got to keep enjoying them as the near capacity grandstand fans sweated that garlic out during the afternoon's festivities. Still love those fries though.

There always certain givens at ballparks, hotdogs in some form or another are a must, but most share the same vendor and these days taste mostly the same. I saw recently where the New York Yankees introduced a "grub tub," which is a drink with a straw, but instead of a lid, the straw pokes through a small bowl of sorts holding chicken tenders and fries. So, it is unique and convenient, you can also swap out the tendies for nachos or chili fries...but who wants that? Not sure what it tastes like, but the engineering is impressive.

Baseball seems to be the innovator of stadium food. You do not hear much about the fare at an NFL stadium, NBA game or NHL contest, although I am sure there are some cool offerings out there. I guess the time that baseball takes lends us more opportunities to get creative with food. Of course, now with the pitch clock and limited mound visits I have stood in concession lines from the first to the fourth inning only to realize that the game is half over once I complete the snacks run. Call it progress, I guess.

You still have half of a baseball season to go enjoy some of what I have mentioned, and I would be curious if you have had that "OMG" moment at a game, not because of the play on the field, but because of the tastes from your seat. Please let me know, I might need to make a few ballpark trips to try them myself...and, of course, watch the game, when I am not in line for one of your recommendations of course.

Corey Costelloe has covered NCAA, professional and local sports for more than 20 years as a reporter, broadcaster and athletics administrator. He advocates for the value of athletic competition and serves as the President of the Tehachapi Warriors Booster Club. He can be reached at [email protected]/.