The debut also marked the launch of new concessions being sold all around the stadium.
Over the summer, Arizona State University announced that its long-time on-campus dining partner would run concessions at all Sun Devil athletics stadiums starting this fall.
Aramark operates all of the dining halls, most restaurants in the student union and other quick-service eateries around campus. As a part of this expanded partnership, Armark plans to update many of the dining halls as well as expand across campus and provide catering at ASU’s historic University club.
For the first time in their two-decade relationship, Aramark now operates food service at Mountain America Stadium.
In the July announcement, they promised to “modernize the food and beverage programs with new food concepts” at the stadium. The new partnership also has an added benefit for ASU students, who can now use their on-campus dining plan at certain stadium concession stands.
The new food program debuted on Aug. 30, when the Sun Devils took on Northern Arizona.
What’s on the menu at Sun Devil Stadium?
The stadium now has specialty food concessions, grab-and-go self-serve options and “item of the game” food specials.New stands specialize in barbecue, burgers, nachos and more. Some fan favorites have returned, such as Chick-fil-A and Someburros.
We waited in the long lines to order some of the new eats. Here’s what to get and what to skip.
A small food stand resembling a food truck called Fork EM BBQ sits above the north endzone. Their staple item is a barbecue pulled pork sandwich. It was a large portion of pulled pork on a Hawaiian roll served with chips and cole slaw thrown in a styrofoam to-go box.
While reminiscent of real Southern barbecue, it ultimately left a lot to be desired. The pulled pork was very dry, even when loaded up with the self-serve barbecue sauces, to the point it was pretty difficult to eat. The sauces were balanced between sweet and heat. The cole slaw was creamy with large chunks of veggies. It was pretty run-of-the-mill, but nothing to write home about.
However, the chips were incredible. They were homemade kettle chips tossed in barbecue seasoning. The chips felt fresh and the seasoning was the perfect amount of sweet and smoky.
A surprisingly good option among the new stadium food was the Hot Honey Chicken tenders. Sold at a concession stand called Sun Devil Burgers & Tenders, these were classic ballpark chicken strips smothered in hot honey and served with fries. It may sound pretty straightforward, but the heat from honey transforms what would be a mediocre dish to something quite special.
If you are looking for a quick snack between play, there are some solid food options on offer, but don’t go to the stadium hungry. If you want a bite to eat or drink before you head into or out of the game, there are plenty of stellar options to fork up and chow down.
