Baseball season is here, and you can get a look inside every major league park with MLB EXTRA INNINGS on DIRECTV. But there’s one thing that you simply can’t access from your living room: ballpark food. When you think of food at baseball games, your mind might go to classics like hot dogs, peanuts, Cracker Jack and popcorn.
These days, though, you can find so much more. The choices are seemingly endless: Local delicacies. International cuisine. Creations from celebrity chefs. Gluten-free and vegetarian fare. And bizarre treats unique to certain stadiums.
Your guide to top food options at AMERICAN League ballparks
Beyond peanuts and Cracker Jack:
Here’s some ballpark fare from the American League you don’t want to miss.* But save your pennies — a lot of these aren’t cheap!
Hot dogs — with a twist
A corndog becomes something special when you slather it in queso fresco, jalapeños, grilled corn, cilantro and cotija cheese.
Elote Corndog
Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago White Sox:
While you watch two of the world’s greatest baseball players, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, enjoy this nine-inch bacon-wrapped beef dog with sauerkraut, caramelized onions, yellow mustard and (wait for it) Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
(Check out other bizarre takes on hot dogs on Carnival Eats)
Out of the Park Dog
Angel Stadium, Los Angeles Angels:
A beef hot dog topped with pimento mac and cheese, bacon and . . . Froot Loops? It’s not your standard dog, to say the least. If that’s not your style, try the Killer Kilbane, which comes with pickle relish, chunky peanut butter and sriracha sauce.
Slider Dog
Progressive Field, Cleveland Guardians:
FRENCH FRIES
Ordering these waffle fries smothered in crab dip is a tasty way to try Maryland’s famous crabs.
Chesapeake Fries
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles:
Lobel’s butcher shop is a New York City institution, and you can savor their French fries topped with shaved strip loin, queso sauce and chopped scallions.
Lobel’s Steak-Topped Fries
Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees:
If you venture to Canada, it’s well worth sampling this traditional favorite: French fries and cheese curds topped with gravy.
Poutine
Rogers Centre, Toronto Blue Jays:
BURGERS
Chicago-style hot dogs are delicious, and here you get their trademark toppings — yellow mustard, chopped onions, relish, diced pickle, tomato chunks and celery salt — on two big beef patties with cheddar cheese.
Comiskey Burger
Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago White Sox:
(Cruz, who turns 43 this summer, is still playing; you can see him and the rest of the powerful San Diego Padres lineup on MLB EXTRA INNINGS)
The Rangers developed a fan favorite with the Boomstick, a two-foot-long (!) chili cheese dog. In 2023 they debuted this burger companion: a two-foot-long beef patty covered in chili, nacho cheese, jalapeños and onion rings. The Boomstick and Boomstick Burger get bonus points for the cool name — a nod to former Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz.
Boomstick Burger
Globe Life Field, Texas Rangers:
(Barbecue is an art form in Texas, as you’ll see in this episode of BBQ Beatdown)
Save room for this burger that comes with onion rings, bacon, jalapeño slaw and barbecue sauce served on a jalapeño cheddar bun.
Texas BBQ Burger
Minute Maid Park, Houston Astros:
Somehow this is one of the bestsellers at Seattle’s park.
Toasted Grasshoppers
T-Mobile Park, Seattle Mariners:
RARE FINDS
What’s so unusual about a sausage at the ballpark, you ask? This sausage is made from rattlesnake. It even comes with “venom sauce”.
Rattler Sausage
Globe Life Field, Texas Rangers:
When else will you try a 12-inch-long tater tot? Better yet, it’s got cheddar and cheese sauce, smoked bacon, sour cream and jalapeños.
Loaded Footlong Tater Tot
Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay Rays:
Roasted jerk chicken glazed with pineapple jerk sauce, served with sweet plantains and yellow rice: this is one of several soul food offerings from Minnesota chef Gerard Klass.
Soul Bowl’s Jr. Gong Jerk Chicken Bowl
Target Field, Minnesota Twins:
From acclaimed chefs
Did you ever think James Beard Award–winning chefs would set up shop at ballparks? Try the fried chicken, cornbread waffle, hot honey and house-made pickles from Marcus Samuelsson, the chef behind Harlem’s famed Red Rooster.
Streetbird’s Big Fly Chicken and Waffle
Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees:
Inspired by the traditional Middle Eastern dish, these eggrolls come from one of the top 3 food trucks in America, according to US Weekly.
Detroit 75 Kitchen’s Shawarma Eggrolls
Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers:
Hey, if you’re going to be in New England, you’ve gotta try one.
Lobster Roll
Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox:
LOCAL DELICACIES
Mac’s has been serving fried fish in the Twin Cities since 1991 — the last year the Twins won the World Series. And walleye, the restaurant says, “is the ‘go to’ for fried fish in Minnesota and one of the most sought after in our 10,000 lakes.” Enjoy the hand-battered fish with jalapeño-lime tartar sauce and French fries.
Mac’s Walleye Basket
Target Field, Minnesota Twins:
Belfonte has been delighting KC residents for more than 50 years — and its ice cream is a heckuva lot better than Dippin’ Dots, which have taken over so many ballparks.
Belfonte Ice Cream
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Royals:
* Menus at major league ballparks may be subject to change
(Get more ideas for places to eat from Man v. Food’s tour through Baltimore)
(Chef Jonathon Sawyer shares his love for poutine on The Best Thing I Ever Ate)
(Whet your appetite with Bizarre Foods America’s look at Detroit cuisine)
(On Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri introduces you to a lobster roll from one of Boston’s top chefs)
