This is going to be a picture heavy post, so bear with me! And I promise, food ties into this quite a bit.
I’m a huge Mets fan. I grew up near Shea (I can technically walk there, though I never have; it would take about an hour), but I’ll admit that the reason I became a Mets fan was because there was a substitute teacher at my elementary school who was a mean b*tch and she always said things like Go Yankees, the Mets suck, and it would piss off two of my (male) classmates with whom I was friends. I didn’t fully grasp back then the harsh reality that most Yankees fans are like that, but whatever, I started saying “Let’s go Mets!!!” to irritate her as well. That was starting in 1985. I tried watching games on TV but without anyone in my family a baseball fan, my understanding of the game was limited to the very basics, and games got tiring very quickly. Fast forward years later… well, let’s just say that my understanding of the game is good enough that last season, I attended every Sunday home game at Shea… alone. And only twice did I have to ask the nice older gentleman next to me (who brought either his grandson or his granddaughter to every game, what a nice guy) why something happened, because they had busted out the rulebook and done something weird.
I will be a Mets fan until the day I die.
When baseball season ended last year, I posted about my heartbreak. I felt empty inside, and have been so anxious for this season to start, well, it’s been insanity basically. My lovely BF surprised me for Christmas with the decision that this year, he would purchase tickets for the same (or equivalent… it’s a long story about the Mets changing their ticket packages…) plan I had last year for not just me, but for himself as well! Yay! (BF is not into most professional sports… he prefers playing to spectating. After being exposed to the Mets and baseball in general from dating me for so long, though, I am proud to say that he is now the proud owner of a Mets jersey, pullover, t-shirt, and a cap. 🙂
So now baseball season is here, let’s PLAY BALL!!!
I managed to score tickets to the exhibition game for this past Saturday, and Citi Field was open on Sunday to people who had Sunday Plans (that’s us) just to walk around, check out the team as they had a workout, and look at the stadium. I think that was a really nice thing to do since during the exhibition game – especially because we lost big time – the corridors were packed and a little scary, while yesterday, it wasn’t as bad and I was able to freely move around and take pictures more easily.
Catch of the Day (which I am going to call Esca) had the shortest line in “Taste of the City” – which is behind centerfield – the furthest point from our seats possible, but what can you do? – on Saturday, and absolutely no line on Sunday. I don’t know why.
Here’s a closer shot of the menu. I am definitely going to have some chowder at our first game – it’s a weeknight game, so I’m sure to be frozen solid. Mmm. (The Meat Hiatus is still going.) And po’boys? Fried calamari (which I heard was pretty good)? Mmm!
There’s Shake Shack and Blue Smoke… this was the crowd on Saturday, but bear in mind, it’s early days yet, I’m hoping the crowd eases up a bit once people are in the swing of things.
Blue Smoke sign.
Blue Smoke menu… I couldn’t get close enough to get a really good shot, but there’s a pulled pork sandwich for $9, ribs for $10 (I wonder how many that is?), chipotle chicken wings for $8, and fries. The first two come with sliced pickles too. It all sounds good and on Sunday (when these pictures were taken), I really almost broke down and got some ribs because they smelled so damn good. The smoke was in full force and I was ready to run over there…
Here are the Shake Shack menus.
The prices aren’t that much more than the city – I think $1 more? – but I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t have just a few more options. I realized on Sunday that vegetarians can’t eat very much at the park at all – fries and nachos, really. Sadface. Anyway, I will still be going to Shake Shack at the park… at least for a double-Shackburger, or…
frozen custard yums! I started to wait on line on Sunday since the line wasn’t as ridiculous as on Saturday (still beyond its ropes though), but I decided my first food of the day shouldn’t be frozen custard. I’m not sure I could take it. Mmm.
Across the way is the taqueria. Elote! but coming soon, not quite yet. I can’t wait!
The other offerings. I clearly didn’t try any of these, but Blondie & Brownie did! You can see their thoughts (and their photos) about Citi Field here.
Well, what I COULD eat, I did (on Saturday)! Belgian frites! This line moved really fast. Maybe because they throw away any fries left sitting for more than 2 minutes and people don’t want food to be wasted?
SO many people working back there.
I guess the place is called Box Frites? Not sure.
What $13 got me. Large frites, the first sauce is included, and then I got 2 more because I’m a saucy girl. (I admit, I did wind up wasting some sauce, but it wasn’t that bad.) From left to right: house mayo, chipotle ketchup (which is spelled wrong on all the signs – go look, I’ll still be here), and blue cheese.
The house mayo is this bright yellow, which is a bit unnerving, but I reminded myself that it was house made so the egg shows itself more clearly. It was thick, good, very eggy, but after a minute or two, I started hating myself for eating mayo on my fries. I’ve never felt any revulsion for doing so before; I think it’s because it was so thick, that a good dip in there gathered too much mayo (yes, there is such a thing) on each frite; with thinner mayos, you can dip and still feel okay with it.
The chipotle ketchup was nice and smokey, slightly sweet, vinegary, and very nice. It did get a bit too spicy for me after a few minutes, so I moved on.
Last and not least, the blue cheese, which was a lot thinner than I’m used to. As I pushed a frite through the sauce, I noticed little air bubble bursting – I think maybe a blender was used to blend it down into a thin dipping sauce? I really liked the blue cheese taste – mild but not too subtle, and nowhere near overwhelming. I admit the thinness turned me off initially, but this was the only sauce I wound up finishing, as it was thin enough to dip and not feel sick for eating, and a very mild taste.
I have to try the smoked bacon sauce…
On Sunday, the BF and I wandered around (and stimulated the economy by buying over $300 worth of baseball gear) and made our way to check out the location of our seats. This is the area directly behind our seats – lots of food choices (not in the picture is the grilled sausage cart to my right [as I’m taking the photo], the Carvel stand next to that, the hot dog stand across from that, and I think something else…?), a team store – yes there are a ton of places around the stadium for you to buy gear, including at least one store I saw that focused on gear for women called Touch! – and… oh my gosh… is that… OH MY GOSH!
It’s Mama’s of Corona! YAY!!! I’m so glad to see they made the move to Citi Field! And better yet, that there’s an actual permanent stand and… *whispers* it’s right behind our seats, literally.
The menu – yes, of course they have their special sandwich – for the same price as before!, and some other offerings as well.
Uh, yeah they do! tiramisu, cannoli, chocolate mousse, I don’t know what tarralli is but I’m sure I’ll find out…, biscotti, awesome! (Kind of wish they had coffee, too, if they’re doing biscotti?)
But yeah, there’s that cute little picnic area right behind our seats, which is awesome, since our seats were pretty cheap too. The only weird thing is that throughout the entire stadium, the big bragging point has been that you can watch the game from anywhere – while on line at the concession stands, usually just by staring out onto the field, and there are flat screen TVs everywhere from which to watch the games – but in this little picnic area, there was no TV to be found. Maybe they just had it off since they were just working out on the field? I don’t know. I’ll have to look into this a bit more — I don’t want to go there for food and then be stuck not knowing what’s going on! That would just be wrong.
No, this isn’t the view from our seats…it’s the view from the Ebbets Club access area (on Sunday, everyone had access to EVERY part of the stadium, pretty awesome, right?). Actually, our view is two tiers up, but same location, not bad, right? 🙂
And the shot everyone’s been taking, mine isn’t nicer than anyone’s, I don’t think, but there you have it – the inside of the Jackie Robinson rotunda. This is on Sunday, so the crowd isn’t that insane. It was MUCH more crowded on Saturday.
So, before I leave off – I should tell you, I will be eating everything I’ve mentioned above and reporting back here throughout the season! – here are my thoughts on the stadium overall.
The stadium is gorgeous and I see what they are trying to do and where they’re going with most of the things they’ve done. The layout is very open, and on a nice day, if the game is going poorly or if you arrive very early, it would be nice to walk around and just enjoy; it feels very much like a very clean, nice theme park with many stores and eateries everywhere. There’s even a kid’s section (behind/to the right of Taste of the City) with a dunk tank, video games, t-ball, etc. in case you have small children who may get antsy during a game.
There are TVs and/or views of the field from just about everywhere you stand in the park, so you never really have to miss much of the game even while you’re waiting for something. That’s a nice thing.
There are a ton of food options – I didn’t even visit Daruma or World Fare Market – and it’s easy to glut yourself on very tasty food for sure. The prices aren’t bad – they are inflated for a ballpark, sure, but even so, the fact that you can get $5 beers and spend less than $10 for food items shows me that they’re still thinking about the fan, which is nice. It’s important that they don’t just crap on the fan to get a new ballpark, you know? And they definitely showed restraint in a lot of areas in that regard.
On the flip side, there are a few sit down restaurants that you can only gain access to with certain tickets. Though we had access to the Acela Club, the guy working the line (yes, there was a line to get in) was rude and not letting people in for some really strange reason (it’s a long, complicated story that I’d rather not get into). A lot of the workers I encountered were horribly rude, actually, but I’m hoping that changes over time – they were nice to me, but rude to the people around me. Anyway, the Acela Club boasts a sit down restaurant with reservations and all sorts of high end food. The Ebbets Club, which I went into on Sunday, seemed to have very normal food (hot dogs, sausages, salads, etc.), but was nicely laid out.
The most ridiculous “club” we saw was definitely the Caesar’s Club, which you have access to if you sit on… hmm, what’s the name of the second level, directly above field level? – well, this one had no view of the field at all, but tons of cushy couches and lounge chairs, and a full bar. It felt exactly like an actual club, except it was brightly lit from the huge windows along the outside of the stadium. It was nice, but part of me thought why would you go to a game to sit inside? Aside from when it’s really cold (the beginning of the season), it really seems unnecessary. (The food options here were pretty normal as well.) There’s a nice view of the skyline though – you can see the Empire State Building from the windows.
Speaking of bars, there are at least one or two (maybe more?) full bars on that level as well, with alcohol, which I found interesting… considering the potential implications there.
Having said all that, here is a totally gratuitous photo of David Wright at bat for the first time on Saturday, from my assigned seats that day.
You can tell it’s him by his batting stance, it’s fairly unique.
One of my friends remarked that he didn’t like the coloring of the seats, which I had to agree with – at Shea, you could tell what section you were in by the color of the seats (orange = the most expensive, field level). These are all the same color throughout the entire stadium. Interesting observation.
I’m really curious how the stadium will be after a few months of use, and what problems will arise and how they will be fixed, but I guess only time will tell.
Let’s Go Mets!!! 2009 is our year, baby!!! 🙂
PLAY BALL~!!!
Lizz says
I tried the Smoked bacon sauce from Box Frites it was yummy and felt like an explosion of bacon in my mouth. However I started getting sick of it and wished I had also picked up some kethcup. The fries were ok, but probably bc they got cold by the time I sat down to eat. I’m curious to try the Bayside Fries with *eek* Old Bay seasoning.. nom nom. I can’t wait to sample the rest of the food as well!
SkippyMom says
We received our new stadium last year for our Nationals – and it is very similar in seating, bars, food offerings [our locals set up shop there – think Ben’s Chili Bowl] and they have the game area for the kids which I find strange…I take the kids to watch the game not play video games, but to each his own I suppose.
Now, I have one small problem. $300 worth of gear? Did you leave me anything, I mean ANYTHING to put in the happy swap? sigh…I am running out of ideas here girlie. [I am just kidding ;D]
Tell BF I said “Nicccccccccce” the ticket package sounds sweet and it is great that he is going with you too! Have fun.
Rozie says
don’t forget knishes for while you’re still going veggie! (my sis is vegan and she will be going there quite often).
Andi says
Thanks for visiting my blog! I had no idea there was a Feisty Foodie out there! And now I have discovered you!. Food and baseball, what could be better? My dad was in the military so I grew up living all over and we always made sure we got to the whatever baseball stadium there was to offer, whether that be pro or local. Can’t beat food there either, especially these days. I have total food envy after reading this post! You have a new follower!
Yvo says
Lizz – where did you see Bayside fries? Damn that sounds good! I don’t know that I’d get sick of the bacon flavor 😉 and yea, walking back to my seats from the Frites place – even though it was pretty close on Saturday – the wind made everything cold 🙁 but the fries were super crispy so I could see them being uber delicious. My big issue is with how far they are from my regular seats… boo
SkippyMom – half smokes! I can’t wait to go to Nationals Park! I think the video games/kids area is for younger kids or when the game gets long/boring, y’know?
Rozie – where did you see knishes?! I must have totally missed that?
Andi – haha, I have a Google Alert set up so I know when people mention ‘feisty foodie’ haha. That’s pretty awesome though – one of my goals is to visit every MLB stadium in the US, hopefully before I start to have kids (just cuz once I start, I won’t want to/won’t be able to go while they’re still very young). How many stadiums does that mean you’ve visited so far?
Sarah says
josh was on the verge of buying some season tickets but was so appalled by the ticket charge that he didn’t. the stadium looks beautiful in your pictures. the food even looks exciting. but we’re not sure when we’ll even set foot in citifield yet. 🙁
Anonymous says
I was wondering if I was making stuff up hahah! But I found the reference – Bayside Fries, with smoked sea salt with cheddar cheese sauce – to be sold at Catch of the Day. Maybe it’s not available yet? 🙁
– Lizz
eonyc says
I am going in 2 weeks–I cannot wait! Thanks for the preview! I hope they’ve fixed the ‘chipolte’ (sic) by then!
Rozie says
i believe they are at nathans…field level on the third base side near the outfield. nathans also has onion rings now, another meatless treat for you!!
Rochelle says
You are a saucy girl, indeed! Hehe, I still love the honey mustard we had on our fries.
Nearsighted Life says
Great post! Found this site by Googling about Citi Field food. Going to the game tomorrow (4/18.)
Thanks for the info and GO METS!!!
Carlo says
Great overview of all the food available at Citi Field. Going to my first game soon, and this got me very excited. Thanks for doing this!
One comment then one question.
1. To the person who complained about ticket prices, tickets for certain games this year go for as little as $11 a ticket. You can’t complain much about that.
2. Anyone know anything about the beer situation at Citi field? I heard different Brooklyn brews were available in different parts of the stadium, but does anyone know where?
Yvo says
Hi Carlo! Thanks for reading! As for the beer, though it’s true I didn’t mention beer – if you look at some of the menus I posted, they have beer (the local brews). I also didn’t get a chance to post about all of the food options that I did get to try thusfar (been to 2 games and another on Sunday) but will be doing so shortly.
There is also, directly next to Shake Shack and Blue Smoke (which is by outfield), a complete beer-bar thing that has a ton of different local brews. I just walk right by because I don’t drink beer, but that would probably be where you can get a good idea of all the local beers offered! Hope that helps, let me know how you fare at the stadium!
Seth says
There is a different Brooklyn Brewery beer at each of the Danny Meyer restaurants in center field. Shackmeister Ale at Shake Shack, Blue Smoke Original at Blue Smoke, Blanche de Queens at Box Frites, and Sabroso Ale at the taco place.
None of these 4 are available anywhere else in Citi Field.
Catch of the Day, in right field (or right center field?) also has a beer there that’s not available elsewhere in the park, Blue Point Toasted Ale.
And, as mentioned, also in center field, there’s a place called “Big Apple Brews” which has 25 or 30 other beers.