With the upcoming NFL season around the corner, Aramark is finalizing three playbooks of new menu items at the 11 stadiums it serves across the NFL.
The foodservice vendor has curated new general concessions items, customized celebrity dishes and reformulated traditional stadium foods to be healthier.
"We're continually looking for new and innovative ways to enhance the game day experience, whether that's making a better pretzel, or bringing in a new, local restaurant partner," said Carl Mittleman, president of Aramark's Sports and Entertainment division, in a statement.
Part of the revamp involved partnering with several celebrity chefs from across the country, including five James Beard Award winners (Andrew Zimmern, Chris Shepherd, Jonathon Sawyer, Marc Vetri and Michael Symon). The new dishes include:
- Chris Hodgson's Buffalo Gobbler – A turkey dog with buffalo aioli, bleu cheese, crispy potato straws and jalapeno slaw. (FirstEnergy Stadium)
- Chris Shepherd's – A Greek-inspired spiced meatball shawarma with creamy tzatziki sauce. (NRG Stadium)
- Marc Vetri's vegetarian pizza slices – A rotating lineup of vegetarian pizzas, including Summer Eggplant, Fall Spinach and Winter Calabrian Pepper. (Lincoln Financial Field)
Aramark’s culinary team focused on local flavors and trends for its “general” concessions menu. The seven new items include:
- Mac Daddy – A quarter-pound Black Angus all-beef hot dog topped with mac & cheese and bacon, on a pretzel bun. (Paul Brown Stadium)
- Midway Monster – A jumbo hot dog topped with corned beef, bacon caraway kraut and stone ground mustard, on a pretzel bun. (Soldier Field)
- Tampa Tacos – Three soft tortilla shells filled with slow braised Cuban pork, black beans, and pico de gallo and cilantro crema. (Raymond James Stadium)
- Heinz Field Italian Beef Sandwich – Shaved, slow roasted sirloin with spicy giardiniera and sweet peppers, on Italian loaf bread, dipped in au jus. (Heinz Field)
The contractor’s Better For You Options line—part of the company’s Healthy for Life commitments and menu initiatives—is serving up traditional stadium foods with healthful twists. The changes include:
- Chris Hodgson's Downtown Dogs Make it Vegan! – Fans can substitute any beef hot dog offered at the stand for a tofu dog. (FirstEnergy Stadium)
- Healthy Options Cart – A new Club level portable offering hummus and vegetarian hummus cups, Caesar salad, fresh fruit plates, veggie straws and other options. (Soldier Field)
- Salad Of The Game – Aramark chefs will feature a different, made to order salad every week. (Heinz Field)