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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to wrap up today's show with your calls on food at sports stadiums and concert venues. Listeners, have you been to a concert or game recently? What did you eat? 212-433-WNYC. I asked this because last week USA Today released their awards for Best Stadium Foods across the country, and Citi Field, Home of the Mets, received first place. The stadium does offer quite a diverse selection of vendors. Gone are the days of only hot dogs and beer. Right now you can enjoy different flavors of arancini and empanadas, a burger from Shake Shack, or a chicken and waffles from Sweet Chick. If you're in the mood for seafood, they've got you covered with a variety of sushi, as well as lobster rolls. If you're vegan, there's a vendor specifically catering to your dietary needs. Even if the Mets disappoint you, which they did this year, you're bound to get a great meal at City Field. Listeners, have you visited City Field recently? Did your meal live up to the expectations one might have for the winner of Best Stadium Food in the country? 212-433-9692. This is not a commercial for going to City Field, this had us thinking larger thoughts. Has venue food evolved across the board? What about at MetLife Stadium where Beyonce and Taylor Swift held their massive concerts this year and football is about to happen? Do Taylor Swifties and New York Jetsies eat the same vendor foods? Or, maybe you visited Madison Square Garden, or the Prudential Center, or Barclays recently. What kinds of refreshments were provided there, and how does it compare to your visits in previous decades if you've been going to such sites for a long time? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Does the caliber of the event influence the venue's offering? If City Field is serving lobster rolls, what are the fancier folks enjoying the US open down the street eating? Are vendors still walking around chanting, "Beer here, get your beer here," like they once did at Shea Stadium and City Field and the old Yankee Stadium? Do you miss those days of just popcorn, peanuts, and cotton candy, or do you enjoy the opportunity and take advantage of the opportunity to get a great meal even at a wildly inflated price with your bowl game? Heck, do you come for the food and stay for the game? I have heard that said about City Field, people are coming for the food and staying for the game, especially this year. Call or text us at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. One more fun or not-so-fun fact. We may be used to vendors barking beer here and cracker jacks or whatever at sporting events, which have a lot of inherent crowd noise, but they're doing it now at music shows too. Someone told me recently of being at a Fish concert and being annoyed by food vendors shouting out their wares and blocking their views. Anyone else had this experience or anyone else on the evolution of stadium or concert food? Where is it the best, and do you actually lean toward finer dining to see music as well as sports these days than decades ago? 212-433-WNYC, call us or text us, or tweet @BrianLehrer and we'll see what you have to say right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to take your calls now on the best stadium or concert venue food and whether it's worth the price to eat well when you go to see sports or go to see music rather than just getting that beer or popcorn or whatever it is. The hook, if you missed the beginning of the intro, is that City Field where the Mets play in Queens just won an award. USA Today released their awards for Best Stadium Foods across the country, and City Field received first place. A number of people are calling in to reinforce that judgment. Let's take Andy in Morristown, who I think has a colorful comparison to start this off. Hi, Andy, you're on WNYC.

Andy: Hi, Brian. I got to say, the lobster roll at City Field is unbelievable. It's $25, they give you chips along with it, and it's a good or better than anything you have in Maine, especially when they want like $16 or $18 for a beer and the lobster roll is $25. It is outstanding.

Brian Lehrer: There you go. A comparison you never thought you'd hear. The lobster roll at City Field is better than the one he got in Maine. Here's another one, Patrick in Midtown, you're on WNYC. Hi, Patrick.

Patrick: Hey, I wan't to give a shout-out to the Goya booth at City Field. You can get a bowl of nachos, vegan or with meat, for under $20. It's the best thing at City Field.

Brian Lehrer: Patrick, thank you very much. Oh, it looks like we have a very connected caller here. Marysol in Westport, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marysol.

Marysol: Brian Lehrer, as I live and breathe. Yes, I am the PA announcer for your New York Mets, so I have a completely non-objective opinion about this.

Brian Lehrer: No, wait. Just so people know what that means, when they come to the stadium and hear the PA, "Batting first, Brandon Nimmo," that kind of thing, that's you?

Marysol: [laughs] You know the lineup. Yes, it's the public address announcer, and I am the voice that you hear introducing all of the ball players as they come up to bat. So yes, leading off for your New York Mets, the center fielder number nine, Brandon Nimmo.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Do you want to talk about--

Marysol: I know you're a Met fan.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, you caught me knowing the lineup, but talk about the food.

Marysol: I first have to give a shout-out to the people who work at the Ballpark. The media center, we have our own, I affectionately call it the commissary, and only people who work for the Ballpark can eat there. When they have pork chops, they're actually delicious. We also have a carving station, so that's a good pre-game snack. Also, shout out to the tacos there. I'm going to tell you something right now. I am a connoisseur of tacos. I am a merchant of cuisine. Those tacos are delicious. Those are my go-to's. I've had the chicken and waffles. They're good for a Sunday game. You want to go to Cook Corner right now, Avela has a delicious Cuban sandwich. Those are my favorites. The food is yummy.

Brian Lehrer: There we go. Go to City Field to eat, to listen to Marysol now that you know who she is, and go runny Mauricio.

Marysol: [laughs] [unintelligible 00:07:41] number 10. Fantastic. Thank you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Marysol. Nicole in Kew Gardens is going to continue this thread of love for City Field. Nicole, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Nicole: Hey, well, it's not just me, it's me and one of my four rowdy sprouts. Cordelia is my daughter. She's here to corroborate the cuisine at City Field. Say hello.

Cordelia: Hello.

Nicole: What did you had there,-

Brian: Hello.

Nicole: -the vegetarian, we're all vegetarians, so what have you had that you can-- the California roll. Okay, really good. We also have had the tacos there-- Oh no, I'm sorry. The vegetarian nachos are good, but I can also tell you that the sausage and peppers, the vegan sausage and peppers, divine, delicious. It price-wise is about the same as you can get at any vegan joint if you're going into Manhattan or if you're getting something here in a city outside of the stadium. We were also at Jones Beach listening to the one and only James Taylor on Saturday night, and my husband and I got vegan tacos from Trejo Tacos. It's from the actor Danny Trejo. We got three vegan tacos for $12. I don't think you can go wrong with tacos and tequila and James Taylor at Jones Beach Stadium, and good music, good food, good for the planet. Plus I'm on with Brian Lehrer. It's a good day. Plus the kids all go back to school tomorrow, so I mean we're talking-

Brian Lehrer: You can exhale.

Nicole: - trifecta, baby.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Nicole and daughter, thank you for your call. All right, let's keep dotting around to some other venues now that she moved on from City Field to Jones Beach. Joel in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Joel.

Joe: Hey, Brian. How's it going?

Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got?

Joel: I went to the US Open for the first time last Friday and was really excited to see the smorgasbord of food vendors. I went by best-looking advertisement, which was David Chang's spicy chicken sandwich, which kind of tasted like spicy cardboard, unfortunately.

Brian Lehrer: So [crosstalk]--

Joel: The Open was fun and drinks were superb.

Brian Lehrer: Joel, thank you very much. Paul in Brooklyn with a very different kind of venue than we've been talking about so far. Hi, Paul. You're on WNYC.

Paul: Hey, Brian. What I find interesting is I go to a lot of Broadway shows, and what I'm finding now is that they've taken the model of the young person walking around with the candy and the wine and these other things, actually walking around the venue offering all of these different things, and I'm like, wait a minute, they took this from the stadiums and now it's inside the actual Broadway theater. The St. James, the Lyceum, the shows I've gone to recently, I've seen this, and I'm really shocked, and the next step might be sending out great food.

Brian Lehrer: At Broadway different from a ball game, you can't sit in your seat and eat the food, so when do you eat?

Paul: Oh, people sit there, they drink the wine, they eat their candy, they eat their popcorn during the show.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, well, there you go. I didn't even know they allowed you to take it to your seat at a Broadway theater.

Paul: Yes. They actually come around and they hand it to you while you're sitting in the seat before the show and at intermission.

Brian Lehrer: All right, Paul, thank you very much. Whole different kind of venue. Tom in the East Village, you're on WNYC. Hi, Tom.

Tom: Yes, thank you, Brian. On Sunday at MetLife, I was in the concourse section for Springsteen, and they had a wonderful variety. I had a really nice burrito, reasonably priced. Unfortunately, I overpaid for my warm beer at the US Open last night, but I will say the best food selection is the West Indian Day parade. Thanks so much.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Thank you very much. Yes, I guess it's not a venue like you pay admission to go sit in a seat, but I'm sure there was amazing food every year at the West Indian Day Parade. Kate in Basking Ridge wants to compare I think the two baseball stadiums in New York on the food scale. Hi, Kate, you're on WNYC.

Kate: Hi, thanks for taking my call. My husband's a huge baseball fan. I go along for the experience. We've been to see the Yankees in Detroit. We've been to see the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. I will say, hands down, the food in Detroit is 1,000 times better. Great beer, shawarma nachos, all amazing. Whereas when I go to Yankee Stadium, I overpay for a sad hot dog and a warm beer, and I feel like it's the caliber of the team that dictates the value and the variety of the food.

Brian Lehrer: Wait, no, the Detroit Tigers are terrible.

Kate: Yes, exactly, so you have to have the food and beer to bring the people in.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, it's an inverse relationship. [laughs]

Kate: Exactly, yes. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: That's really funny. Thank you, Kate. Yes, I thought she was going to compare Yankee Stadium and City Field, but she compared Yankee Stadium and the stadium in Detroit. That's hilarious. A few coming in via text message. Listener writes, "I often joke went to City Field for dinner or went to Barclays for dinner. When I go to sporting events or a concert, the food at both are such a highlight and a great way to get a taste of New York. My favorite thing at City Field are the Mama's of Corona's Italian Sandwiches, Classic Queen's Grub, plus City Field has dole whip, and you don't have to travel to Disney or Hawaii for it," Vanessa in Washington Heights writes. How about Anne in Franklin Park to get our last word with a suggestion for making it all even better. Anne, you're on WNYC, we have 20 seconds.

Anne: Hi. Yes, thank you. Take a cue from Disney. Have pre-ordering electronically and then we don't have these long lines. Also, water refill stations. Water's a basic human right. We got to keep people hydrated and not charge them an arm and a leg for water.

Brian Lehrer: Two good ones and getting the last word, but City Field definitely getting the most love. People backing up USA Today's award to City Field as the number one sports venue for food. That's the Brian Lehrer Show for today. Produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen produces our Daily Politics podcast. We had Milton Ruiz at the audio controls. Time for lunch, even if you're not at the ballpark, stay tuned for all of it.

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