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New Yankee Stadium Food Review – Bronx, NY
June 18th, 2009
Tuesday I attended my first game at New Yankee Stadium with lead singer and guitarist of the band Left Me Bashful, Phil Vicario. I’ve heard the new
stadium been called everything from a Cathedral of baseball to the Homer Dome as a result of balls flying out of the park. On my visit I witnessed
both, the Great Hall is certainly cathedral like and the fact that the weak Anderson Hernandez hit a home run proves the home dome theory. In all I
liked the New Yankee Stadium, the old one was past its prime but I did have a few complains.
Now before I proceed I am a Mets fan but that’s not the reason I disliked a few things about the stadium. To start with my favorite parks have been
places like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, both of which are not large stadiums. I just like the ballpark feel and intimacy those places offer. New and
Old Yankees Stadium offers no intimacy. In fact in certain areas the stadium felt more like a shopping mall or an airport then a ballpark. It just felt a
little cold and lacked personality.
I did like a lot of aspects of the new stadium. The Yankees have a great museum in the right field corner featuring a complete history of the team and
some amazing memorabilia. I’ve always respected the Yankees history and its on full display here. In the center of the room is a display of signed
baseballs of all kinds of past Yankees from the loveable Steve Balboni to Babe Ruth. Ironically both those players probably were the same weight. The
balls were sandwiched on either side by statues of Yogi Berra and Don Larson depicting the perfect game from the 1956 world series. The signed balls
form the arch of the pitch from Larson to Berra. The most moving tribute however is the locker of the late Thurman Munson. Munson died tragically
in a plane crash back in 1979. After his death his locker remained in the clubhouse at the old Yankee Stadium in tribute. The locker has been moved
from the old stadium into the new Yankee museum and you could sense the seriousness of the mood as fans pasted in front of it. The museum is a
great tribute to the organizations history and will be a must see for all fans. The Mets need to take notes and make a similar tribute in their new
ballpark.
June 18th, 2009
Tuesday I attended my first game at New Yankee Stadium with lead singer and guitarist of the band Left Me Bashful, Phil Vicario. I’ve heard the new
stadium been called everything from a Cathedral of baseball to the Homer Dome as a result of balls flying out of the park. On my visit I witnessed
both, the Great Hall is certainly cathedral like and the fact that the weak Anderson Hernandez hit a home run proves the home dome theory. In all I
liked the New Yankee Stadium, the old one was past its prime but I did have a few complains.
Now before I proceed I am a Mets fan but that’s not the reason I disliked a few things about the stadium. To start with my favorite parks have been
places like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, both of which are not large stadiums. I just like the ballpark feel and intimacy those places offer. New and
Old Yankees Stadium offers no intimacy. In fact in certain areas the stadium felt more like a shopping mall or an airport then a ballpark. It just felt a
little cold and lacked personality.
I did like a lot of aspects of the new stadium. The Yankees have a great museum in the right field corner featuring a complete history of the team and
some amazing memorabilia. I’ve always respected the Yankees history and its on full display here. In the center of the room is a display of signed
baseballs of all kinds of past Yankees from the loveable Steve Balboni to Babe Ruth. Ironically both those players probably were the same weight. The
balls were sandwiched on either side by statues of Yogi Berra and Don Larson depicting the perfect game from the 1956 world series. The signed balls
form the arch of the pitch from Larson to Berra. The most moving tribute however is the locker of the late Thurman Munson. Munson died tragically
in a plane crash back in 1979. After his death his locker remained in the clubhouse at the old Yankee Stadium in tribute. The locker has been moved
from the old stadium into the new Yankee museum and you could sense the seriousness of the mood as fans pasted in front of it. The museum is a
great tribute to the organizations history and will be a must see for all fans. The Mets need to take notes and make a similar tribute in their new
ballpark.
Now the whole reason for this article is to discuss the food. Teams are focused
on food more than ever before. I walked around the entire stadium taking
note of the different options available. On the field level is a food court, that
again feels like a mall, but it includes sushi, raemen, an Italian deli and your
hot dogs and burgers. I continued past the food court to the Lobel’s cart which
is an outpost of the famous Manhattan butcher shop. The dry aged meat is on
display in a window while the cart serves up Prime Steak Sandwiches. The
price is a hefty $15 but so is the amount of meat piled onto the soft roll. The
meat was cooked a perfect medium rare and was as tender as could be. Some
of the jous was ladled on top as a perfect compliment. They also offer
horseradish and olive tapenade as toppings. The sandwich was worth the
price and the short wait which took about 10 minutes to move through the
line.
My visit to the general food stand in the upper deck was not as pleasurable.
We tried the sliders with fries. They should just call them hockey pucks. It
was later in the game but these things were as dry as could be and the fries
were soggy. Not a good showing. We tried to get a Carl’s Cheese steak which
has a few locations around the stadium but the one we tried had steaks but no
bread.
The other options at the concession stand is Johnny Rocket’s which seemed to
be on every level. I just don’t like the fact that the Yankees decided to go with
a major chain restaurant instead of a more local focus. I’m sure the food is ok
but it’s just not my thing.
Overall I thought the stadium was nice. The elevators were a great way to
get up and down to the upper deck. The seating offered a pretty good view,
even from the upper deck. The jumbo-tron in centerfield is so large and clear
that sometimes you forget to watch the action on the field instead of the TV.
My big complaint was that it just lacked intimacy. As we do in New York we
have to make comparison so if I had to choose between Citifield or New
Yankee Stadium I’d take Citifield hands down, and not just because I’m a
Mets fan. I just prefer a ballpark over a stadium so it never really had a
chance, plus the by food standards there is no comparison.
on food more than ever before. I walked around the entire stadium taking
note of the different options available. On the field level is a food court, that
again feels like a mall, but it includes sushi, raemen, an Italian deli and your
hot dogs and burgers. I continued past the food court to the Lobel’s cart which
is an outpost of the famous Manhattan butcher shop. The dry aged meat is on
display in a window while the cart serves up Prime Steak Sandwiches. The
price is a hefty $15 but so is the amount of meat piled onto the soft roll. The
meat was cooked a perfect medium rare and was as tender as could be. Some
of the jous was ladled on top as a perfect compliment. They also offer
horseradish and olive tapenade as toppings. The sandwich was worth the
price and the short wait which took about 10 minutes to move through the
line.
My visit to the general food stand in the upper deck was not as pleasurable.
We tried the sliders with fries. They should just call them hockey pucks. It
was later in the game but these things were as dry as could be and the fries
were soggy. Not a good showing. We tried to get a Carl’s Cheese steak which
has a few locations around the stadium but the one we tried had steaks but no
bread.
The other options at the concession stand is Johnny Rocket’s which seemed to
be on every level. I just don’t like the fact that the Yankees decided to go with
a major chain restaurant instead of a more local focus. I’m sure the food is ok
but it’s just not my thing.
Overall I thought the stadium was nice. The elevators were a great way to
get up and down to the upper deck. The seating offered a pretty good view,
even from the upper deck. The jumbo-tron in centerfield is so large and clear
that sometimes you forget to watch the action on the field instead of the TV.
My big complaint was that it just lacked intimacy. As we do in New York we
have to make comparison so if I had to choose between Citifield or New
Yankee Stadium I’d take Citifield hands down, and not just because I’m a
Mets fan. I just prefer a ballpark over a stadium so it never really had a
chance, plus the by food standards there is no comparison.
Hudson Valley Food Blog
