State Farm Stadium adds dozens of new foods. Here are 6 to try this season

Even with dim hopes for the Arizona Cardinals, who NFL pundits project to face a tough season, fans still have a few reasons to get excited. A new head coach has taken the helm. The quarterback room looks encouraging. And, when the first home preseason game kicks off on Saturday, the chefs who feed thousands of fans at every State Farm Stadium game will roll out more than two dozen new foods to try.

The lineup of new dishes features flavors from Korea to the American South, and plenty of places in between. Executive chef Sean Kavanaugh didn’t leave the Southwest out.

“We wanted to do an Arizona flavor on a lot of the items,” Kavanaugh said while showing off the bounty of new offerings at the stadium on Tuesday. 

Stadium burgers will get upgraded with organic beef from Arizona’s K4 Ranch and brioche buns. Chefs will bring the heat to dishes with chiltepin, chipotle, spicy soppressata and more. Viral dishes abound, including a two-foot-long machete filled with beef birria and Dubai chocolate mousse.

Phoenix chef and restaurateur Mark Tarbell, who debuted a club-level tapas and wine bar last year, will bring pizza to the upper-crust stands. 

“We decided to collaborate on that,” Tarbell says of bringing his pizzas to State Farm. “We’ve been doing pizza at Tarbell’s for 32 years, so we’ve had a lot of fun with it for a long time.”

Even if you’re in the cheap seats, you can eat well. There are fresh diet-inclusive dishes, and new stadium stands including Wetzel’s Pretzels, Cold Stone Creamery and The Yard Milkshake Bar joining the concourse this season.

For the second season, fans can save time — and won’t miss big plays — by ordering food from their seats and picking it up from dedicated spots around the stadium.

Here are seven new foods to try at State Farm Stadium as you cheer on the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona Chiltepin Honey Hot Chicken Breast Sandwich

Section 124
Fried chicken sandwiches are seemingly everywhere. The drive-thru staple gets a local spicy twist at State Farm Stadium. Chefs top a brioche bun with a fried chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, pickles, Tanker Sauce and zingy chiltepin-infused honey.

Rez Dog Indian Frybread Dog

Sections 107, 129, 235, 247, 408, and 420
Chefs trade in a typical hot dog bun for puffy frybread for this new spin on a stadium staple. They’ll fill each frybread bun with a Big City Reds hot dog topped with chili, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, crema and a roasted jalapeño sauce. 

Chicken & Waffle Wings

Sections 107, 129, 247, 408 and 420
Chicken and waffles are a popular brunch staple. What better way to toast an early Cardinals game than with these inventive bone-in chicken wings? Instead of serving these wings with waffles, stadium chefs fry them, toss the wings in a maple Bourbon glaze and top them with a “waffle dust” of crispy waffle crumbs. An order of six wings comes with fries. 

Walkin’ Tacos

Sections 126 and 434
Walkin’ Tacos, or Frito Pie, are a portable staple of minor league baseball games and football tailgates. State Farm Stadium cooks will serve a few options, including a vegetarian and gluten-free version with cheese sauce, elote street corn, vegetarian chili and plenty of fixings like salsa, sour cream and jalapeños, all perfectly portable in a bag of Fritos.

Soppressata Pizza

Sections 209 and 240
Tarbell’s two stadium pizzerias will offer five cheffed-up pies. One of the more classic-leaning options is what the chef calls “fancy pepperoni,” topped with marinara, mozzarella and thin, crisp slices of the spicy Italian salami, soppressata. Other pies include a classic margarita and a vegan chorizo.

Beef Birria & Chihuahua Cheese Milk Toast Sandwich

Section 229
Club-level diners can order three sandwiches made on Japanese-style milk bread. Among those is a Mexican-fusion bite featuring shredded beef birria, Chihuahua cheese, diced red onion, cilantro and a chipotle crema. Each sandwich comes with consomé and housemade kettle chips. This international-leaning food stall also features a Dubai chocolate mousse topped with candied pistachios, toasted kataifi and fresh strawberries.