Yankee Stadium Media Tour: A review of the new food options for the 2017 season

As I wrote yesterday, on Tuesday I went on a media tour of Yankee Stadium to see the new additions for the 2017 season. In part one of this series, I showed you the new bars, landings, and decks that were built in the offseason. Today, I will give you an insider look into the new food options.

If you’ve been paying attention to Pinstripe Alley over the last year, you would know that I have been following the changes to the stadium very closely. Last year, I wrote about how the new food they introduced was not only disgusting but actually added to the menu in the hopes that it will kill you. I was very happy to see that the organization went in a new direction this year. Instead of embracing the growing trend of monster foods that are just garbage piled on top of garbage, they decided to add food options that look far more edible.

Chinese Buns

What made be most excited was finding out that Yankee Stadium will now be serving bao (Chinese buns) at the Toyota Terrace above the Yankees bullpen. The four varieties available include the Hoisin Braised Pork Belly Bun, the Rotisserie Prime Rib of Beef Bun, the Charbroiled Chicken Bun, and the Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower Bun.

At random, I decided to try the Charbroiled Chicken Bun, which ended up being quite tasty. The item includes marinated chicken, Sriracha ranch dressing, and (oddly) crushed kettle chips. The two drawbacks were that these buns are much smaller than the ones I normally eat. Also, in a shocking twist, the crushed potato chips stab your mouth when you chew. It wasn’t the best bun I’d ever had, but I’d certainly want to try them all.

As a parting gift, Legends Hospitality sent everyone home with a make-your-own bun kit that included all the ingredients to make a Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower Bun. Unfortunately, the food was cold but it was still pretty good. I’d advise getting 3-4 buns per person if you want to make a full meal out of them though.

Yankee Dingers

The Yankees were super excited to introduce their new “grilled custom-ground hand-smashed mini-burgers,” which really just looked like sliders. I didn’t try this on account that I am lactose intolerant (le sigh) but I did take special care to watch how they are prepared. These burgers come with a mound of white onion on them and yellow mustard drizzled on top. I don’t know about anyone else, but I believe mustard on a burger should be illegal.

I’m also not quite sure how I feel about burgers that look like they came out of a cookie press only to see them get smushed down like that. Does anyone know what that really adds? You can try these out at either Terrace.

There is also a Frank’s RedHot Chicken Diablo Sandwich, which I don’t think I even saw. It will be served exclusively at Frank’s RedHot Terrace above the visiting bullpen, so you’ll have to test it out for yourself.

Caramelized Onion French Dip Sandwich

If you tell me there is a dip, I expect there to be some sauce to dunk my food into. The sandwich is a rotisserie-roasted shaved prime rib with caramelized onions and swiss cheese (I’m not convinced there was any) on a semolina roll. Instead of being served au jus, the contents of the sandwich apparently come pre-dipped into French onion soup. The resulting concoction didn’t really taste like anything. While it wasn’t necessarily bad, it simply tasted like bread and wet meat. I didn’t finish it because I didn’t want to fill up on nonsense.

The sandwich is tiny, so it’s more of a snack than a real meal. You can certainly try this item for yourself by checking out the Masterpass Batter’s Eye Deck. They will also be serving a Double Cheeseburger and a Smoked Turkey Leg, neither of which I tried.

The Mutz

Set to be located in the same place as the dip sandwich, the Mutz really redeemed their food selection. It’s a chopped sandwich consisting of Italian salami and chicken with hand-pulled mozzarella mixed in. And when I say hand-pulled, I mean they were pulling it right there. While I highly doubt the hand-puller will be there to see during home games, it was nice to know something was made fresh at the stadium.

I forgot to take a picture before I started eating because I was far too excited to try it. It honestly tasted like an Italian deli sandwich, which is something I haven’t had in years. I think they were handing out small samples, so I’m not sure if the below shot is the final size (probably). There was also a vegetarian option with chopped veggies.

Mighty Quinn’s

Yankee Stadium will be introducing a new group of food partners for the 2017 season. Mighty Quinn’s BBQ has gained popularity throughout New York City and offers some really good barbecue food for the region. Mighty Quinn’s will be operating inside Yankee Stadium in section 132.

Look at that selection of food. The Brontosaurus Rib is a full pound of beef, smoked for 16 hours! There is also the Brisket Sandwich, the Burnt End Sandwich, chili-lime Chicken Wings, a Pulled Pork Sandwich, and Dirty Fries, which are fries topped with burnt ends, a chili-lime sauce, and onions.

I checked out the Brisket Sandwich, which was obviously delicious. It was smoked for 20 hours! I didn’t want to spend too much time with this food because I knew it was going to be amazing, so I tried this one item. I would recommend all their offerings, though.

Lobel’s of New York

Lobel’s has been a family-owned meat specialist since the 1840’s, so going in you have to know it is going to be good. It also doesn’t hurt when they proudly display their fresh meats in section 134.

The vendor offers a Meatloaf Burger, a Hickory Molasses Glazed Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and Steak and Potato Fries. I chose the Meatloaf Burger to try. I don’t know if they changed the name or what, but there is no meatloaf and I was told it was steak. Whatever! Though it was smaller than a burger, it was very tasty and definitely made up for my disappointment with the dip sandwich.

Bareburger

Seemingly in an attempt to counter Citi Field and Shake Shack, the Yankees are bringing Bareburger to Yankee Stadium. The burger place will be in section 132 with several impressive-looking offering.

I know this picture doesn’t show you much, but it should tell you that these are normal-sized hamburgers finally. Bareburger offers the El Matador (Bison, pepper jack, pickled jalapeños, pico de gallo on a brioche bun), the Standard (beef, Colby cheese, dill pickles, special sauce on a brioche bun), the SoCal (turkey burger with Colby cheese, pickled red onions, guacamole on a sprout bun), and the vegan Guadalupe (black bean burger, pickled red onions, spinach, guacamole, spicy pico de gallo, on a sprout bun).

I didn’t try any of these burgers, but they looked legit. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Bareburger fan, which might just be a holdover from an unfortunate dining experience I had there several years ago. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying these, though. I’ve had a black bean burger before and they are good.

Jersey Mike’s

If this is all too fancy for you, don’t worry because the foot-long Philly cheese steak is back with a vengeance in sections 107, 223, and 314.

Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will be available in sections 125 and 318. Get a load of these flavors:

Vanilla, Chocolate, Cherry Garcia, Strawberry Cheesecake, Totally Baked, Frozen Flakes, Fruit Loot and Tonight Dough.

Healthy Food

If you’re like me and need some fruits and vegetables in your life to break up all the meat, Yankee Stadium will now have you covered with some fruit and salad options.

They had some very impressive-looking salads, but I grabbed some fruit to make myself feel better about everything I just ate. It wasn’t the best fruit but it definitely could have been worse. The blueberries were mushy and the strawberries were hit-or-miss. There were actually some good raspberries and blackberries hiding in there, but it clearly wasn’t very fresh. You have to hope that they do a better job once the season starts.

It was a fun experience overall, and I think there are some great additions to the menu that isn’t just fried chicken on top of hamburger on top of hash brown on top of cholesterol. I usually keep it simple when I go to a ballgame. Give me a hot dog and a beer over any of this fancy stuff. However, there are a few things here that might make me change my mind when I finally show up for a game. What do you see that makes you intrigued? Anything look really bad to you?

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