Going to a football game is about more than just watching the game and cheering for a favorite team. It’s about joining a community, enjoying time with friends and family, and spending time outside on crisp autumn days. It’s also about food. What would a football game be without a beer and a hot dog? For those looking for not just a great game but a great bite, here are the six NFL stadiums with the best food.
Cleveland Browns
FirstEnergy Stadium
Three celebrity chefs have recently put down roots in FirstEnergy Stadium, making halftime in Cleveland a foodie’s dream. Rocco Whalen, famous for his restaurant Fahrenheit and for his stint on Food Network’s “Fat Chef,” offers up Italian staples at Rosie & Rocco’s, as well as a cheesesteak that could stand up next to any from Philly.
Hungry fans can find excellent burgers at B Spot, an outpost of Food Network’s Michael Symon. The most famous offering is the Fat Doug ($10.49), a thick patty overlaid with pastrami, coleslaw, and Swiss cheese. For dessert, indulge in the sweet-savory combination of the Apple Pie Bacon Shake. It sounds odd, but it’s oh-so-good.
Jonathon Sawyer, the 2015 James Beard winner in the Great Lakes region, is also represented in the stadium at Sawyer’s Street Fries. The seasonings range from a classic Salt and Vinegar combination to a more adventurous mozzarella curd and brown veal gravy, which unite in a gooey, oozy, heavenly mess.
Green Bay Packers
Lambeau Field
Unsurprisingly, cheese is the star ingredient in the offerings at Lambeau Field. There are fried curds of course, as well as beer and cheese soup and the ever-popular Beer Mac and Cheese, made with beer, cream cheese, and Wisconsin cheddar. The more adventurous can also add jalapeños or buffalo chicken and bleu cheese.
According to Levy Restaurants, who supply the stadium’s cheesy delights, Lambeau Field is the only NFL stadium that sells more bratwurst than hot dogs. Try one of these famously excellent brats with a traditional sauerkraut topping, or upgrade to the Horse Collar, which is topped with beer cheese and comes on a horseshoe-shaped roll.
Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City is famous for BBQ, and Arrowhead Stadium is no exception. It comes in many forms and it’s hard to go wrong. There’s brisket that’s smoked in house and homemade barbeque sauce. There are Triple Meat Nachos with brisket, chili, and pulled chicken. And finally and perhaps most brilliantly, there’s the Tailgate Stack ($13): burnt ends of brisket with cheddar cheese, malted beer grain syrup, bacon and a fried egg, on top of fried bread. It doesn’t get better than that.
Seattle Seahawks
CenturyLink Field
Seahawks fans CenturyLink Field will find a surprising variety of options available for halftime snacking. Alongside more traditional offerings such as bucket nachos and kielbasa with caramelized onions is the Salmon BLT, topped with smoked bacon and a dijon sauce, as well as the Dungeness Crab Roll with celery and citrus aioli, a fresh and interesting twist on the classic lobster roll.
Some might think that cupcakes are too dainty for an NFL stadium, but the awesome offerings at Trophy Cupcakes will soon remove their doubts. The The Beastmode Cupcake ($4.25) is intended as a tribute to Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (aka The Beast), and feature the team colors as well as Skittles, Lynch’s favorite candy. The Chocolate Bourbon Bacon Brittle Cupcake is also an inspired concoction worth trying.
Houston Texans
NRG Stadium
Houston’s NRG Stadium straddles the line between highbrow and lowbrow cuisine. The popular Slider Hot Dog Trio dresses up the traditional snack with options such as Haute Queso or crispy SPAM hash. And the humble chicken sandwich is elevated to new heights in Toro's Chicken Stack, which includes candied bacon, jack cheese, and cranberry mayo as toppings for smoked chicken on a jalapeño roll.
Chris Shepherd, a 2014 James Beard award winner for Best Chef in the Southwest, also offers some highlights from his popular Underbelly restaurant on the club level. Those looking for fine dining can find such fare as Korean-style Braised Goat and Dumplings.
Philadelphia Eagles
Lincoln Financial Field
The home of the cheesesteak does not disappoint. While out of town football fans may opt for the classic, locals may be in search of something a little out of the ordinary. In that case, they may want to try the Quick and Carmichael, named after the legendary Eagles players, that features both pulled pork and pulled chicken. Both Eagles fans and visitors alike should definitely seek out the Crab Fries (around $6) at Chickie’s & Pete’s: crinkle-cut fries with the famous crab seasoning and Philadelphia cheese sauce. With nine locations in the stadium, it’ll be easy to find some without missing much game play. (Although these are so good, they might be worth missing a quarter.)
