Citi Field

[sickchangeup]

Made my way to Citi field for the first time today. Fairly certain that the overlap between foodie and sports fan isn't that great, but at least for the first time ever - there's good food to be had for those that fit the mold.

This report will be somewhat limited in some sense, but hopefully useful in others. Today being a national holiday AND this being a "Value" game (i.e. 1 of 10 of the cheapest games to attend), the stadium was as close to full capacity as it's gonna get I'm guessing (97.9%, 41,103 fans in attendance). 30+ minutes before game time the Shake Shack line looked like it was a 60+ minute wait, waaaay worse that I've ever seen it at Madison Park. Box Frittes (the french fry place) was packed, and although Catch of the Day (Pasternak's Fish place) had a line, it was far less absurd a wait than the rest (maybe 10-15 minutes). Sushi is available in the Global Market food court along the Right Field side, where the Italian Hero place is as well, with relatively short lines.

And had we not purchased seats in the "Delta Sky360 Club" that kind of would have been the end of it, cause I wasn't about to battle it out for the Danny Meyer places, and well.. no one needs a report on eating a ballpark dog and cracker jacks. Thankfully, and despite the stupid name, this "club" is awesome - at least 2 bars (private to club seat holders), multiple dining options and tons of comfortable and non-hectic places to eat (apart from your seat).

First surprise was the menu at our seats:

This blew me away. It would take you longer than a baseball game to visit all these places, while option B involves buying a (comfy leather) seat mere rows from the field and having it all brought to you for what is really not exorbitant prices. We went with a New York Dog, Single Shackburger & Fries (Ballpark Mayo and BACON Mayo). What's that last thing you ask?

BACON Mayo. Very very good.

The Burger arrived warm, and was right on. The hot dog had a delicious fresh warm chewy bun and sauerkraut. Really good. And the fries, while a little thicker than I prefer, were also really well done and arrived warm. Very impressive overall.

The other Delta Club options (where you grabbed the food yourself) looked great as well, although I didn't sample them. Here are some of the menus for the food options in the club itself:

Now for the last surprise: In the back, only accessible to Club Seat ticket holders, is a full blown Danny Meyer restaurant (the manager came from USQ Cafe I believe) called "Sterling". Although they have an Open Table system up and running for their own use, its not on opentable.com for reservations yet - they have a number which they gave me if you want to call to reserve a spot. When we went to our seats close to game time, the place was pretty much full. When we went back around the 5th inning, the place was empty.

Here's their food menu:

They also have a relatively extensive wine menu, including options for a $300 bottle of Dom or a $250 bottle of Cab-Sav from Napa. Pretty neat.

Unfortunately I have zero information on the actual publicized restaurant that exists out in left field, the place run by the Myriad Group. Hopefully someone else checks that out and reports back.

[docsconz]

Very interesting. When I went to the Citi Field Culinary All-Stars press conference at the end of March the restaurant within the Delta 360 Club did not yet appear to have a specific name such as the "Sterling" that you mentioned. I was impressed with the various offerings. They certainly make the choice of eating at the ball park versus eating outside or brown-bagging an easy one, though nothing that I had was so good that I would go there just to eat.

[sickchangeup]

nothing that I had was so good that I would go there just to eat.

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Definitely true.

Bruni chimes in today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/dining/2..._r=1&ref=dining

Looks like we ordered well, he loves the burger and the fries (and bacon mayo), only compliments the fried fish sandwich from Catch of the Day and casts aside most of the rest. He left out the Queens Italian Sub Shop though, which seems a shame. He also specifically noted he was bypassing the pricey seat sections which would get him into the two restaurants and the club section.

In the end he concludes what everyone already knows, that the Mets food options are much better than the Yankees.

Edited May 27, 2009 by sickchangeup (log)

[raji]

In the end he concludes what everyone already knows, that the Mets food options are much better than the Yankees.

Great report man - I've been out a dozen or so times - I'm a season ticket holder. As a season ticket holder, even though I'm up in the Promenade, I have access to all of the clubs including the Sterling, Ebbets and Caesar clubs on the 3 levels, but I tend to walk and watch and eat around the stadium, I'm too into the game.

I think this is a big win for our New Yorker restaurateurs - I expected nothing less from Danny Meyer, Dave Pasternack and Drew Neirpont all under one (very large) roof, while our cousins up north feature a Hard Rock Cafe and "Food Network Chefs", where guest chefs I guess are somehow involved in large buffets and chafing dishes....

I'm extremely happy with the food options and have stopped bringing my own food to the stadium. Most of Danny Meyer's options are the same prices as his restaurants. My favorite has to be the $9.50 3-taco platter. When SF-born Keith Hernandez is praising the authentic tacos on-air, you know it's gonna be good. Even if a hot dog is in order, you can turn a $4.50 plump nathan's dog into practically a Chicago-style dog, with relish, chiles, raw onion, cooked onions, saurkraut and other condiments all available. I wonder how long that will last, seems like it could get out of hand if there was a bad bunch of fans around. I guess I'll see what happens the next time the Phillies are in town.

I would say the biggest improvements are 1) service, as Danny Meyer arranged for the entire old and new Citifield staff to be re-trained (even Omar Minaya attended) 2) execution, they have proper kitchens now and seem to at least be trying a lot harder, 3) variety, and 4) pricing. Yeah we all expected some jacked up stadium prices, but they are pretty reasonable for most things, so you're paying on average another 75 cents for what you got at the old stadium, but a much much higher quality product.

All that and Brooklyn Lager is on tap, a pint for $6.25, literally 20 seconds from my seat. That's cheaper than most of Manhattan!

I think like the teams themselves, the Yankees are catering to baseball tourists while the Mets cater to New Yorkers by bringing in our culinary hometown heroes...

[sickchangeup]

I have access to all of the clubs including the Sterling, Ebbets and Caesar clubs on the 3 levels

So wait, there are two more clubs? Can you tell me how they compare to Sterling? Are there food ordering options from the seats that you know of?

[Shmily]

Has anyone tasted the ear of corn at the Mexican place?? We are going later in June for the first time...thanks in advance....

[BryanZ]

Took me a while to get this report up, but I went to a Mets-Phillies game the other week. This was a few weeks after visiting the new Yankee Stadium for a game against the Twins. I'm far from a diehard sports fan, and perhaps for this reason I feel qualified to objectively comment on the food programs at each. No allegiances here. I also have some experience working with and designing institutional dining programs so it's not like all this is foreign to me.

With that said, it's not difficult to see how superior the food program is at Citi Field, at least for casual fans like me who are far from VIP and care as much about the atmosphere as the baseball. The lines at Citifield at the USHG concepts are long, but they move quickly. Shake Shack was daunting, but waiting for fries, tacos, and barbecue took no more than 10 minutes at each restaurant. Granted, waiting 30 minutes seems quite a while, but if you go with friends and split up, as you probably will, you'll be eating in what I consider a reasonable amount of time. I should also note that the more "typical" vendors had shorter lines than what I saw at Yankee Stadium. The Daily Catch, or whatever Pasternack's concept is called, was also far from mobbed.

Beer prices are expensive but not entirely unfair. Can't say I saw the pints of Brooklyn Lager for $6.25. Raji, you'll have to take me to a game and show me your ways.

The quality of the food was actually good, and very good for stadium food. Much better than typical fast-food offerings and surpassing most all suite/box food I've had at corporate events and the like. The pork sandwich at $9 was downright generous, literally overflowing with pork. I do concede we might've gotten lucky and received a particularly large specimen, however. The bacon mayo with the fries could use some refining but is undeniably tasty. The taco combo plate was perhaps the least remarkable, and the most expensive, item but the carnitas would be at home in any reputable Manhattan Mexican restaurant.

So all in all, a success. I think I paid $32 for my (cheap) ticket, maybe spent about that much on food and beer and was pleasantly sated. $65ish for a night's food and entertainment is not bad at all.

[oakapple]

We were there on Saturday (photos here). Our ticket level gave us access to the Caesar's Club, which has fast food-style service, but comfortable restaurant-style seating. None of Danny Meyer's food is served in the Caesar's Club; still, it struck us as far nicer than it needed to be for a stadium.

From our seats, we had a clear view of Shake Shack and Blue Smoke behind center field. Both appeared to be packed all game long, despite inclement weather and a crowd far short of a sell-out. I figure a trip over there would have cost us at least two full innings of game time, maybe three. I don't quite grasp the point of buying a ticket, only to miss a third of the game waiting for food that is probably inferior to its Manhattan equivalent.

Edited June 23, 2009 by oakapple (log)

[Fat Guy]

Has anyone tasted the ear of corn at the Mexican place??  We are going later in June for the first time...thanks in advance....

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They had the El Verano Taqueria cart set up recently at the Big Apple Barbecue event in Manhattan, and I tried the pork-and-chicken taco combination box as well as an ear of corn. I was very impressed with both. I thought the fillings in the tacos as well as the salsas were as good as any I've had, even though the wrappers were as unremarkable as most. The corn was really nice -- not exactly a light item (it's slathered in mayo and cheese), and not exactly easy to eat without making a mess, but delicious. If you've had the corn at Kampuchea or Num Pang, it's a sibling of that.

[raji]

From our seats, we had a clear view of Shake Shack and Blue Smoke behind center field. Both appeared to be packed all game long, despite inclement weather and a crowd far short of a sell-out. I figure a trip over there would have cost us at least two full innings of game time, maybe three. I don't quite grasp the point of buying a ticket, only to miss a third of the game waiting for food that is probably inferior to its Manhattan equivalent.

While the Shake Shack line can take that long - 2 innings, I've never waited on line at Blue Smoke for more than 5 minutes. Also, if you had gone back there Oak, you would have realized that there is a huge LED screen overlooking Danny's area, so you don't miss a beat of the game. It's a huge picnic area/party back there. And we're getting to halfway through the season and the food is still pretty much the same as what you'd get in Manhattan, it's just more inconsistent, which is what I'd expect from the level of staff and equipment they have access to there.

I've been out to Citi about a dozen times, and i will be out for the Subway Series games tonight and tomorrow night. I have no desire to carry any food in (maybe some shochu to mix into my lemonade if the Mets are gonna cough another one up), in fact I'm going early to get my food and settle in before the game. While the consensus out there is that the concessions at Citi ARE that much better than those at Yankee stadium, I think it's also telling that I haven't gotten tired of what's avialable after quite a few visits.

[oakapple]

From our seats, we had a clear view of Shake Shack and Blue Smoke behind center field. Both appeared to be packed all game long, despite inclement weather and a crowd far short of a sell-out. I figure a trip over there would have cost us at least two full innings of game time, maybe three. I don't quite grasp the point of buying a ticket, only to miss a third of the game waiting for food that is probably inferior to its Manhattan equivalent.

While the Shake Shack line can take that long - 2 innings, I've never waited on line at Blue Smoke for more than 5 minutes. Also, if you had gone back there Oak, you would have realized that there is a huge LED screen overlooking Danny's area, so you don't miss a beat of the game.

I was aware of the screen. But just as I don't get the point of buying a ticket only to miss a third of the game, I don't get the point of buying a ticket only to watch it on a TV screen.

...the food is still pretty much the same as what you'd get in Manhattan, it's just more inconsistent, which is what I'd expect from the level of staff and equipment they have access to there.

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If it's more inconsistent, I'd class that as "inferior to its Manhattan equivalent."