I have a backlog of baseball posts to get through, from my West Coast trip to all the visits to Citi Field I’ve made this year. The food has been excellent, per usual, but you know… my team’s out of the running. I’m broke from all this eating, the tickets, the whole being a student full time without a paying job thing… it’s getting to me. And we ARE in a recession (I realize someone in power just announced that the recession is over, but y’know, tell it to those of us looking for a job). So you want to know: you finally scored reasonably priced tickets to a Mets game, you’re excited about going, you don’t care about Shake Shack in Citi Field, you want to feast – perhaps feed yourself and your family – for a reasonable price. And you’re a fairly adventurous eater.
You’ve come to the right place.
All of the above food cost just over $8 and comfortably fed two adults. The soda? Free, when you sign up to be a designated driver at one of the Budweiser stands around the stadium (offhand, I only know where two are: as you enter the stadium through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, go up the stairs and veer left, and just inside the hall is a stand with a really funny, sarcastic, I think she might be Asian girl manning it – she’s always there when I go; the other location is on the left side of home plate on the promenade level, which is where my seats are anyway). It just means you can’t drink, but if you’re trying to save money, you really shouldn’t be drinking anyway.
Two “fish balls on skewers” (four fish balls per) (the least worth it by pure price vs. fullness): $1 each = $2
Huge container of vegetable lo mein: $1.25
Two fried chicken drumsticks: $1 for 2
Taiwanese hamburgers (pork belly, sugared peanuts, cilantro, pickled mustard greens): $2 each = $4
Is that not ridiculous? And it can all be had just one stop away from the stadium! It requires just having enough time before the game to walk around Flushing to pick up the goodies, and an adventurous side – or just patience with dealing with a possible language barrier.
(I actually wanted to pick up dumplings from White Bear but found they were closed on a Thursday. Boo.)
We sat at one of the many picnic tables behind homeplate on the promenade level to enjoy our feast before the game started (we were in our seats for first pitch, something about which I am adamant).
Enjoying my Taiwanese burger later in the evening, as I was pretty full already just eating the other food.
Oh and for those who are curious: Citi Field allows you to bring in outside food and one factory-sealed PLASTIC bottle of soda or water per person. (Sometimes they’re picky about it being still sealed, sometimes they’re not.) Do not try to bring in your Sigg bottle, they will confiscate it. Do not try to bring in glass… they will think you’re insane. But they raised no eyebrows at my giant bag of food. Love my ballpark for this – of all the ballparks I’ve read up on the rules, the only one I’ve heard is really a pain in the butt is Minute Maid Park (sorry Dawn!). Minute Maid Park doesn’t even let you bring in water.
Lo mein, fish balls on skewers (curry and plain), fried chicken all procured from the windows next to the stairs that lead to the Flushing LIRR station. The language barrier shouldn’t be an issue; just point and say how many. There are signs in English all over telling you what they have.
Taiwanese hamburgers from Gu Shine located at 135-38 39th Ave. There are a few shelves along the wall when you walk in, to your right, just grab a box but make sure it’s the pork belly one and not the vegetarian one (I asked to clarify – I just said “is there meat in this?” and she said “yes” so I bought it).
And if you want to branch out a little, more food can be found here (with a map!) and here (no map, but more food). NOM!
Happy nomming! What are your ideas to save money while still enjoying a favorite pasttime? 🙂
TT says
i thought you got all that food at the stadium at first, hehe.
i would rather just stay in flushing and eat than see the mets 😛
Feisty Foodie says
Well, with us officially eliminated, you could probably score tickets for free, so why not go to the game… and spend money elsewhere… I guess I’m not helping my team.
T.C. says
Man, forget waiting on line for SS or Blue Smoke. Cheap Flushing eats!!! Still need to try the taiwanese burger. Oh well.
Mmm fried chicken. Bring in a whole box of Korean FC/ Popeyes and split that at the game. 😛
Feisty Foodie says
That’s possible too – although I’m not sure the closest Bon Chon or Kyochon locations are accessible by train? Popeye’s… they just opened one up in Flushing on Main St. next to the train station! (where Benetton used to be)
CT says
I want one of those taiwanese burgers! yum!
Gary says
I’ve never had the Taiwanese burger – gonna have to make that a must-have on my next Flushing food run.
Monique says
this whole time i have been “smuggling” food into the stadium and you can bring it in???
HI, im an ass!
the taiwanese burgers look soooo good!
Hungry says
I knew it! People argue with me all the time about bringing food but I knew I was right because I did it and see people bring in coolers for god’s sake (okay, the cooler thing was pre 9/11 so not sure about that anymore).
Props to you and all that good food!
Feisty Foodie says
Soft sided coolers are still allowed, they will search you though. I’m not sure about cans, and as I mentioned, sometimes they’re picky about the factory-sealed water, sometimes they let me walk by with a Starbucks drink and sometimes they don’t. I emailed about Thermoses last season because it was really cold, and I was told those are not allowed, but I do still feel that it’s up to the guard who actually searches you (though glass, Sigg bottles, alcohol, are all strictly forbidden no matter what). Also, each team’s website has a “Stadium A-to-Z” or “Stadium FAQ” section that should have extensive details on what is and isn’t allowed in, to give people a better idea (and so you can send this link to people and go IN YOUR FACE, IDIOT!) 🙂
I see a lot of people bring in McDonald’s. I’m still surprised that McDonald’s isn’t in some stadiums!
skippymom says
The Nationals frown on bringing in anything from what I can tell from our last two forays – but it might have been the gate keepers. Don’t know.
The food looks awesome. I want fishballs and those lil’ drummies like now. YUM.
Feisty Foodie says
Hmm, the official policy is as follows (from http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ballpark/a-z_guide.jsp#outside_food)
All food items must be contained in single serving bags within a soft-sided container or cooler that does not exceed 16″ x 16″ x 8″. Metal, plastic or glass containers of any kind (except for factory-sealed, clear plastic water bottles, no larger than 1 liter, baby food, empty Nalgene bottles and juice boxes) are prohibited at Nationals Park. Only one bottle of water per person will be permitted.
Not the most lenient but by no means the most stringent, either. If you have any issue next time, I would go prepared with a print out of that link so that you can get in with no further hassle. It isn’t fair for them to give you a problem when the website states explicitly what you are and are not allowed to bring in! Good luck!
Feisty Foodie says
Hey everyone, I went to double check the official rules at Citi Field and stumbled on this:
•Prohibited Items: Items larger than 16″x16″x8″, coolers (hard-sided), metal cans, metal bottles, glass bottles, beverage containers, open containers, commercial audio/video equipment, alcoholic beverages, illegal substances, laser pointers, noisemaking devices, fireworks, animals (except for assistive purposes), weapons, aerosol cans, pocket knives, food items and the like.
from
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/guide.jsp (under Citi Field Security Procedures)
Note the mention of “food items” being prohibited. However, under a separate section titled “Security Procedures” there is no mention of food being prohibited, though the above list is repeated (minus the food). Very strange. But as I said above, I’ve entered the stadium multiple times with purchased food (and occasionally, with homemade food, which they’re less likely to bother looking at since I stick it in my bag), and they have never harassed me. I see plenty of people entering with McDonald’s or other types of food – I actually first got the above idea from my friends TCC – so I don’t imagine it would be a problem for anyone to bring food in, within reason.
A bit confusing, to be sure!
Nicholas says
Ugh, now you have me craving Gua Bao.
Must… try… Flushing’s. Glad to see they don’t possess the same absurd markup that most transplanted foods do.