Packers’ stadium to offer new food choices
Football has always pushed the limits on entertaining its fans. For years it has attempted to supplant baseball as the America’s national pastime, trying to create new ways to draw fans. Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers play, has decided to overhaul its menu offerings to give fans fare that speaks to the American soul. When it comes to American food, all online culinary arts program students know that health is not always the No. 1 goal. The Packers have paid attention, and will now be serving some interpretations of Wisconsin and American classics at their games.
“There’s definitely a foodie trend going on,” Barbato told ESPN.
The Green Bay Packers found that many of their fans were asking for more food options at the stadium. With food competitions like “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Top Chef” becoming popular non-athletic television shows for football fans, the organization realized that it could make some changes at its concession stands.
Big bites
Most fans start off with an appetizer when visiting the park, usually ordering a classic dish of nachos. Many football stadiums across the nation have been rehabbing this dish to cater to area fans by creating a more local option. Green Bay has decided to rebrand their nachos as Brachos.
“It’s basically Wisconsin in a bucket,” Heath Barbato, executive chef at Lambeau Field, told the source.
The nachos are made of diced bratwurst, melted cheese and fried chips. In keeping with servings that are rich and filling, one dessert offering is meant to please not only the taste buds of the fan, but the foodie. Green Bay’s doughnut with ice cream is special not because of the breakfast-dessert combination, but because it serves the two as a hot ice cream sandwich. Thanks to a special panini press made by PreGel, vendors can heat up the donut without melting the ice cream inside.
But the dish that will bring all the football fans to the concession stands is not what some may expect like an inverted hot dog, or a modern interpretation of the funnel cake, but something called a Horse Collar. Costing $20, this dish is a 22-inch kielbasa placed on a roll and topped with beer cheese and fried sauerkraut. Some Packers fans may choose to stay home and watch the game on tv rather than at the stadium, a fact that Green Bay is hoping to change. They hope new food will keep fans regulary commited to not only one game a year but perhaps even season tickets.