New Food in the Bullpen Market
by Matthew on Jan 27, 2011 12:02 AM PST
in Safeco Field
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Centerplate, the company that oversees the culinary operations at Safeco Field introduced a host of new options last season. The easy response would be to decry the yuppification of a baseball stadium away from the standard hot dogs and peanuts and maybe make a comparison to Seattle as a whole. I think that's short-sighted and a cantankerous attitude though. Variety is interesting and as someone who can never anticipate what food I will end up craving, except to know that it will not be whatever I ate last, I appreciate having lots of options.
They aren't standing pat in 2011 either and continuing the diversity trend, they're also rolling with the foodie movement ongoing in Seattle currently. Ethan Stowell who runs Tavolata, Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook a Wolf and Staple + Fancy is consulting on revamping the whole market to make it more restuaranty and will also open up two new stands. Hamburg + Frites will be a burger joint and La Crêperie will serve crepes because crepes are awesome and why not?
If you aren't from Connecticut, you might not be familiar with apizza, a regional style of pizza native to New Haven. Apizza is closest in resemblance to Neapolitan style. Among the many great pizzerias in New Haven, perhaps the most highly regarded is Modern Apizza, being named one of the best ten pizza places in the country by Playboy and having won a reader poll in New Haven 12 years running. The man who runs Modern Apizza, Bill Pustari, will be opening up the creatively named, Apizza.
Roberto Santibañez is one of the better known Mexican cuisine chefs in the country. He's running or has run eateries and food trucks across the US and Mexico to great acclaim. See here, here, here and here. He will have either one place called Flying Turtle Cantina/Tortugas Voladoras or those might be two separate restaurants. I cannot tell from the releases. I have a hunch that they will be serving Mexican food.
Not only is this an increase in choices, but based on the people involved, a big push to increase the quality as well. Coupled with the permissibility of being able to bring your own food in and Safeco might be rapidly becoming among the best stadia at which to eat. That's a plus because if the product on the field sucks, at least the products in the concourse can be captivating.
Not everyone will be interested in the new fare or what it will likely cost, but that's okay. Nobody forces you to purchase concessions. Besides, the hot dogs are still there, the pretzels are still there, the peanuts are still there and you better believe the beer is still there.
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Yes!
Karma police, arrest this man.
by wyte_lightning on Jan 27, 2011 12:08 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
How can we be sure the beer will still be there?
by Patrick Stites on Jan 27, 2011 12:47 AM PST reply actions
Isn't it like $7 a bottle?
Of course they’ll make sure it never runs out. Their profit margin on it is like 1.0 × 10^6%.
Profits on beer sales are probably paying half the team’s salary.
So the moral of this story is to drink more beer to ensure King Felix and Ichiro get paid. Just stop drinking before you pay Milton Bradley’s salary.
by hunterfan on Jan 27, 2011 5:06 AM PST up reply actions 5 recs
Dear Mrs. Bradley,
I understand your son is entitled to receive any money his contract entitles him to. Please understand that sometimes people make things called “jokes” that are not meant to be taken literally.
Didn't realize it was a joke there! My bad.
It’s hard to pick up on the subtley of your wit.
by katal on Jan 27, 2011 8:22 AM PST up reply actions 2 recs
This is the NW
We serve Beer with our Crepes
by Scruffy Lefty on Jan 27, 2011 8:54 AM PST up reply actions
I have always wondered why they don't try getting some really good beer in safeco
I mean, I’m already paying way way too much for beer.. might as well give me some good brew
I'm pretty impressed with Safeco's beer selection
I think they usually have 20+ different beer options, which is insane compared to most other parks.
There are good beers available at Safeco
There’s a bar at the back on the third base side (behind sec 136 I think) that has a ton of good beers.
It's there. Look harder.
Specifically, the bullpen market has around 20 different beers on tap alone.
I will do this
I usually get to the game during the 1st inning and grab the closest beer and food and run to my seat
If that's what you usually do
then it would seem to me that investigating whether there were more palatable beer options available would have been the better first step than criticizing.
Sorry, I don't feel like scouring the entire stadium looking for which places have better beer.
When I look in any beer vendor’s stash, and I see MGD, Coors and Mikes Hard Lemonade in ALL of them, it doesn’t make sense to think that there would be any different selections anywhere else.
You don't have to scour. You just have to ask. Or do some web searching
Such as: here where we had a whole thread on food and drink in safeco with several mentions on the beer selection or here on the Official food/drink guide which has links to whats sold at each vendor station
And it doesn’t make sense that beer that vendors need to be in special bottles in order to sell in the stands wouldn’t be the only things sold in the stadium?
The good beers are on tap.
Only the shitty megabrewers make the plastic stadium bottles. You have to go get the good beer.
And on that note, I would recommend just taking a walk around once in a while.
The selection varies from stand to stand. Even the big beer garden out in CF might not have every beer that’s on tap in the park. Always some nice surprises.
Re: "Nobody forces you to purchase concessions."
I take it you don’t have a spouse, significant other, or children?
you need to train your household better
"I still don’t understand what commercial is better than having me on tv" – Chris Carpenter
coming in 2011: Boog would've moments count....
Try telling a pregnant woman she can't have food
Get back to me on how many limbs you have left after that.
by hunterfan on Jan 27, 2011 7:21 AM PST up reply actions 5 recs
i retract my previous statement
i would like to keep all my limbs
"I still don’t understand what commercial is better than having me on tv" – Chris Carpenter
coming in 2011: Boog would've moments count....
Spoken like a man who likes to sleep on the couch.
by SeattExPat on Jan 27, 2011 8:44 AM PST up reply actions 4 recs
As was said, all that really needs to be exercised is some self control.
You can eat before the game, after, or bring food in. I would forgive buying a drink or two as I don’t think you can bring liquid into the park.
No Liquid, but you can bring empty plastic bottles.
We bring the single serving propel or crystal light flavors and make our own drinks for the game. Being huge baseball fans but unemployed for the past 2 years makes it necessary to find every way to save as much money at a ballgame. The tickets are expensive enough without spending 100 on concessions.
by ambrosia2112 on Jan 27, 2011 5:34 PM PST up reply actions
I guess if you get there early enough and it's really warm
you could brew your own beer for the game inside the stadium
But if it's really warm
how would you chill the wort?
Thank you sir, for appropriately spelling "cannot" as one word
Some other SBN scribes have the extremely annoying habit of writing “can not”, which makes me want to kill somebody.
If cannot is the correct way to write it then is can't a contraction
by Edgar for Pres on Jan 27, 2011 8:52 AM PST up reply actions
I don't see why not,
replacing the no with a ‘, works for me but I don’t know the rules.
by hairofthedawg on Jan 27, 2011 8:54 AM PST up reply actions
I haven't thought about it since elementary school
but in all other uses the ’ punctuation combines two words (i suck at grammar so I am sure I’m wrong).
by Edgar for Pres on Jan 27, 2011 8:57 AM PST up reply actions
Well, except ain't
so I’m probably wrong as well. Cheers!
by hairofthedawg on Jan 27, 2011 9:01 AM PST up reply actions
But he did misspell oversee.
Dawg! He put da team on his back!
My favorite part!
Spellcheck for the win!
by ambrosia2112 on Jan 27, 2011 5:36 PM PST up reply actions
Modern Apizza is fine but it's no Frank Pepe's
I’m happy that there’s more to eat this season, and will probably try most if not all of it. Even if I have to second mortgage my home to do it.
It's funny that people still cling to the idea that baseball is a blue collar entertainment
I don’t know if its possible for a family of four to have a full ballgame experience – parking, hot dogs, beer or two etc – without dropping two hundred bucks. So, fuck yeah yuppie food. And fuck year Apizza.
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Jan 27, 2011 7:22 AM PST reply actions
I'm hitting the age where there are faint whispers in my head "When I was a kid we could do this for under $50"
$200 sounds about right until you really start putting some effort into cutting that down. Taking transit, eating before/after the game outside the stadium. Inflation is a hell of a thing.
I'm strict about this now.
Probably has something to do with going to over 30 games last year, but it is really impossible if you don’t make a serious game plan. Pack of sunflower seeds and two bottles of water (one each for me and my girlfriend) bought outside the park. If we really couldn’t eat beforehand, grab a $2 hot dog outside the park.
It sucks not being able to get a dog and a beer every time you go to the park, but there really is no way to do it otherwise if you are on any kind of a budget at all. My grandpa was poor when he was my age-poor poor poor, possible poorer than I am now. But back then, season tickets to the giants and a dog and a beer at every game were almost trivial expenses for a working class man (he repaired bowling pins for a living).
The hot dog was supposed to be the cheapest kind of snack you could get at a game aside from peanuts. An affordable snack for the masses. In 1916 they sold for five cents—just $1 in today’s currency as measured by the consumer price index. I see hotdogs at ball games going for $6 now.
Its something I have often wondered—how much would attendance increase were profits on food and beverage kept to reasonable levels? If going to a game and actually enjoying the fare as part of the experience were the norm rather than the budget-busting exception.
by SeattExPat on Jan 27, 2011 8:06 AM PST up reply actions 4 recs
That is a good question, I've often wondered if economists have a name for that
Because instead of buying zero sodas I’d buy two or three if they were priced right.
They pay people to figure this stuff out.
One reason why costs are high is that they don’t want lines to be ridiculously long.
Interesting. Didn't consider that.
The economics of baseball stadiums, attendance and concessions has always fascinated me.
I'm not an economist
But I have taken some business and stat classes that might answer your question.
There are specialized formulas used to determine how to maximize profit. Set the price too low, you’ll get a lot of people buying your products; however, you won’t maximize your profit. Set the price too high, hardly anybody will want to buy it.
There’s a midpoint between these two at which you maximize your profit.
There’s quite a bit of equations, formulas, and statistical analysis that goes into how much the powers that be price your hot dog. Trust me, they’re not intentionally leaving money on the table. If they could make MORE money selling the hot dogs for $1, they would.
Right, I definitely understand that.
I guess what I am exceptionally curious about is the effect that more budget-friendly pricing would have on customer satisfaction, retention, and expansion of the fanbase over the long term. Would making price concessions on the front end result in more people who liked and followed the team in the long run, possibly including greater merchandise and ticket sales, as well as radio and television viewership? Especially when the team is taking an absolute dive.
Don't places like Safeco contract their vending services out to 3rd parties?
I’m not sure that’s entirely their decision to make.
by Johnny Slick on Jan 27, 2011 9:03 AM PST up reply actions
Yep
Exactly what Johnny said.
I suppose if the owners of Safeco went to the food vendors and offered them money to lower the prices of their food, they would. (e.g. “We’ll give you $5 million dollars to price hot dogs at $2 regularly, and also have beer for $3,” they would.)
But at that point, would it be in Safeco’s best interest? Would they get $5 million in profit back through customer loyalty? I would imagine that would be extremely difficult to quantify.
It would be very difficult to quantify. I suspect that's why we all have to sort of take shots in the dark asking these sorts of questions.
I wonder what scholarly literature has to say about this. I know there are baseball fans among practitioners of the dismal science.
Interesting point. I think you are right about that.
The Mariners core competency is not in food service. Their core competency lies in fielding and promoting a professional baseball team (well, their core competency relative to other things).
But outsourcing those services comes with a cost, and the cut the vendor takes is perhaps not the least among them. Certainly they surrender the ability to further other organizational goals (branding, market development, customer satisfaction) when they let someone else take care of this for them.
The #1 reason why they are so expensive is that Safeco is basically a captive audience.
Even given the fact that you can now bring in your own food, it’s still a PITA to leave the stadium once you’re there, go across the street, buy a couple hot dogs, and bring them back in. It’s basically the same principle why a bag of popped corn costs $7 at Lincoln Square when you can go to Costco and buy 10 gallons of the stuff for a couple bucks.
by Johnny Slick on Jan 27, 2011 9:02 AM PST up reply actions
The big difference between food at stadia and food at movie theatres:
Movie theatres don’t make any money off of ticket sales. For the majority of a movie’s run the theatre gets maybe 20% (in the best-case) of the price of the ticket. To maintain any sort of sustainable business model, concession prices have to be ridiculously inflated.
That’s not so much the case with sports stadia.
by Aaron Campeau on Jan 27, 2011 9:10 AM PST up reply actions
If owners or the 3rd party food service companies
Feel like they’re maximizing their profit at the prices they are currently charging, why should they change? Out of the goodness of their heart?
That would be totally awesome, but I just don’t see most businesses valuing the individual customer and his potential long-term profitability versus short term gains.
Not saying they should, but the analogy above isn't necessarily applicable.
Vendors at Safeco do it because they can, whereas theatres do it because they have to.
by Aaron Campeau on Jan 27, 2011 9:16 AM PST up reply actions
Definitely not.
And if I was a 3rd party food service company, I would probably be more even more cutthroat. I likes me my monies, too. So yeah, what they do totally makes sense. But from the team’s standpoint, I wonder if there is a model of doing things that would have tangible benefits outside of straight profit from concessions.
Well, minor league teams seem to do okay with charging less.
Though the recent trend (at least being popularly reported) is the shift to more extreme foods like the Krispy Kreme burger, which must be pretty profitable for them.
Well yeah, because they don't have a choice.
The more attractive the product the more you can charge. A Major League Baseball game is a significantly more attractive product than a Minor League Baseball game.
by Aaron Campeau on Jan 27, 2011 11:44 AM PST up reply actions
I was stunned last year when I went to a Sacramento RiverCats game
to find the prices for beer and dogs be just as high as they were for major league games. I hope that’s not a trend.
I experienced this too at a Bowie Baysox game.
It wasn’t quite as high, but it was still pretty surprising. They did have a giant dill pickle on a stick for a dollar though.
Almost every minor league team imaginable has a $1 or $2 beer night once in a while.
It's the same for the Eugene Emeralds.
Hello, press pass.
Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.
by thehemogoblin on Jan 27, 2011 2:07 PM PST up reply actions
There's always the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes!
PK Park is really nice though, if you road trip all the way down.
Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.
by thehemogoblin on Jan 27, 2011 2:38 PM PST up reply actions
We'll be hitting both parks at least once this summer
I don’t know if I’ll do this for Eugene, but once every summer a friend and I ride our bikes from Portland to Keizer, where we are met at the ballpark by our lovely wives, with whom we then take in a game, throw the bikes on the bike rack and head home. Eugene might be a fun ride too, now that I think about it…
I miss living in Florida and seeing Spring Training games just for the fact that I could get a large beer for 2 bucks
Would hit Al Lang Stadium in St. Pete and you could get a herkin’ huge bag of peanuts for a buck. I have no idea how this contributes to the thread. I just like beer and peanuts.
Hunterfan laid out the response I was going to make, basically.
The fact that theatres don’t make any money off the box office (which isn’t entirely true; IIRC what they tend to do is pay a bunch up front for the reels and then the box office is generally only expected to make that money back – not exactly the same thing as someone actually taking that money out of the coffers and walking away with it) makes them more incentivized to reap maximum profit at the concession stand, not price things so high that nobody can buy anything. What they do instead is disallow anyone from bringing their own food in and then mark the prices of their product up accordingly. The fact that a 44 ounce soft drink costs something like 2 cents more to make than a 20 ounce drink gives them added incentive to give people giant tubs of sugar water and popcorn for their money.
Cost only correlates to price in the sense that a company which doesn’t make a large enough margin won’t stay in business for long. That’s not as heavy a correlation as you might think.
by Johnny Slick on Jan 27, 2011 9:41 AM PST up reply actions
The Mariners, as well as most parks have a "Budget" section you just have to know where it is.
They have $3 hot dogs and cheap other food. You can always get the kids meal which is 5.50 and comes with a small dog a small soda/milk and a small soft pretzel/Cracker Jack. It’s not huge but a good deal especially if you have to spend the money for getting Kid Food. There are deals out there,
Then there is always an Everett Aquasox game. The Food prices are better, but the Baseball is not (well… maybe compared to years other than 2010) They won the Championship and the games usually have less than 1500 people there.
by ambrosia2112 on Jan 27, 2011 5:40 PM PST up reply actions
Ahh.
I’m in probably $50-80 every time I go depending where I sit.
by Scruffy Lefty on Jan 27, 2011 8:59 AM PST up reply actions
We actually managed to do a two person Safeco visit last year for $50. Parking, food, and tickets.
We had a coupon for buy one get one free tickets which really helped. $20 for tickets, $20 for food, $10 for parking. Watching Felix shred the hell out of the Rangers? Priceless. God I used to hate those commercials. Funny thing was we were in town for the UW/Nebraska game, but the Mariners turned out to be more entertaining.
GET OFF ME!!!
by the other side on Jan 27, 2011 11:05 AM PST up reply actions
Bluecollar or starving student style just requires buying tickets on sale (or scalpers etc.)
bringing in all your food and sneaking in as much booze as possible.
by Edgar for Pres on Jan 27, 2011 8:54 AM PST up reply actions
Oh for sure it can be done.
There are specials, sale days, not buying anything at the stadium… But that’s not what Im talking about
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Jan 27, 2011 9:17 AM PST up reply actions
Right. I can go to many games if I do it right. Businesses is business, I get that.
But there is like a decency aspect to it, you know? I’m not going to foster a ton of loyalty to any company that constantly tries to nickel and dime me.
I would appreciate it if Safeco had one or two concession stands that sold super cheap stuff
I think I remember one place at Sonics games you could get $1 hot dogs (they may have been for little kids but whatever maybe I’m a horrible person).
by Edgar for Pres on Jan 27, 2011 10:02 AM PST up reply actions
They Do.
The Kids area over by the fountain sells kids meals and the concession stand by the entrance (between center and right field, right before you go down the siairs) both are the “budget” areas in Safeco.
by ambrosia2112 on Jan 27, 2011 5:45 PM PST up reply actions
I am excited to try this "Apizza".
My usual game day food: hot dog during batting practice, then fruit/veggies from home. I know, it is super exciting.
Apizza Scholls in Portland is the best pizza I've ever had
And all of the Ethan Stowell restaurants are great. I’ve had 2 of the top 10 meals of my life at his places. This is very exciting.
Hey that's a pretty good title for your article, but you know what works better?
“Fresh Meat In The Bullpen Market” Get it? Get it? Better, amirite?
by Kermit. on Jan 27, 2011 7:50 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Remember the days when "we're improving the food" meant "we hope to not have as many health code violations as last year"?
Ah, Ogden Foods.
Also, crepes are kind of weird. I don’t think I’ve ever said “you know what, I really feel in the mood for a crepe today”, but at the same time I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a crepe either.
I will accept meat but I refuse to eat Nutella ever since Kobe endorsed them.
I realize that my anti-Nutella reasoning is neither logical nor current.
by Johnny Slick on Jan 27, 2011 8:34 AM PST up reply actions
I understand, you're just waiting for him to give you a giant ring.
Still, the stuff is wonderful. I’m surprised there isn’t more generic hazelnut chocolate spread being made.
Word still hasn't gotten out to most of the US that Nutella is nectar of the gods.
Perhaps we should keep it that way…
You! Cake or death?
Yeah man. Crepes. Like an alien birth or Liza Liza Minnelli's ex-husband.
No one knows what they are made of or why they exist and there’s clearly no way any one person can pin down the etiology. Better to just leave those things alone since they are so freaky.
I am looking forward to this.
We’ve come a long way from the fare the Kingdome offered.
I think they're ~$5 or something.
I remember being shocked at how cheap they were.
by Aaron Campeau on Jan 27, 2011 8:39 AM PST up reply actions
Gyros, especially lamb gyros, are another food best eaten and not thought about.
If you are ever in England, by the way, do NOT buy a doner kebab. It may look like a gyro but believe me, it is a cursed -2 gyro of disappointment.
by Johnny Slick on Jan 27, 2011 8:41 AM PST up reply actions
I make gyros myself at home
They are one of the most delicious things I make, and they last for lunches all week.
They're not any better in Germany. Or Qatar, or the UAE, now if
they made some schwarmas, they’ve got my business!
by hairofthedawg on Jan 27, 2011 8:51 AM PST up reply actions
Whenever I'm in England, I order many doner kebabs.
They’re tasty.
wait what no you're wrong
doner kebabs are awesome and waaaaay better than the ones I get here.
by pdb on Jan 27, 2011 9:52 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Oh man I forgot about those gyros.
Considering the price, that was the best food option at Safeco last year.
They have gyros at Safeco?
Where?
"I've seen prison breaks with more organization and cooperation than this"
by Thingray on Jan 27, 2011 9:21 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
And probably the most disgusting magazine you could eat
You have no idea what could be on that thing.
by Edgar for Pres on Jan 27, 2011 10:04 AM PST up reply actions
No double entendre?
I just went from a 3 tool poster to a pinch hit specialist. (That’s not a double entendre is it?)
Don't feel bad; the only thing I ride is the bench.
Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.
by thehemogoblin on Jan 27, 2011 2:09 PM PST up reply actions
I sure hope the Mexican restaurant will have soft-shell-tacos
Because those would be fucking delicious
I would like Safeco to perfect cooking a simple hotdog. It isn't grilled or cooked on the fucking roller thingys. You've got to boil that cock in some beer and some brown mustard, none of this yellow shit.
Get me a beer cooked wiener with some brown mustard and hot kraut before you decide to have your queer anchovy pizza.
Concessions are funny
I have a little experience in it and am amused when regular customers believe they are more important and think they should have a say in products sold and pricing. When setting my prices the regulars are the last people I think of. Customers who come less frequently and view it as a special occasion are more likely to spend more money and question the prices less.
I live next to my local hospital.
So for my own safety your order would be right every time. Besides it’s an nhl practice facility i don’t expect to see you anytime soon.
Santibañez?
What is he? The patron saint of bad angles
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