The Barclays Center Seeks Brooklyn Eateries for Vendor Consideration

 

Our new fangled NBA, sports and events arena wants to keep things real by featuring Brooklyn food and bevs in an attempt to pay homage to the borough. In other words, they want to offer up vending spots to local joints that can offer things a bit more unique than $32 nachos.

Having visited a significant number of sports arenas around the country, the food and bev choices often suck and are disgustingly overpriced.  That said, many sporting venues have been upping their game when it comes to food (drum roll, please):

The Arizona Diamondbacks offer their take on tubed meat, offering a hot dog smothered in chorizo, nacho cheese and tortilla chips. In Milwaukee, it’s bratwurst between the buns while in Baltimore, former Oriole Boog Powell cranks out BBQ at his joint inside Camden Yards.  Cub fans keep Chicago cardiologists wealthy by downing North Side Twists, a giant pretzel that would intimidate Adam Richman. Meanwhile Bulls fans can savor lobster mac and cheese.  In Denver, fans have balls. Literally. Coors Field serves up Rocky Mountain Oysters, otherwise known as deep fried bull testicles.    

St. Louis Cardinal fans, on the other hand, down toasted ravioli. In Minnesota, local restaurant Murray’s sets up shop in Target Field to serve up steak sandwiches on garlic bread, while Twins fans can snack on battered walleye (on a stick). The Phillies offer their take on beef/buns and cheese: The Schmitter, while the Wells Fargo Center offers up crab fries at Chickie and Pete’s. Florida’s Sun Life stadium pays homage to Latin influences by serving paella. At Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, it’s hard to determine the Weight Watchers point value for Primanti meat sandwiches, which are stuffed with veggies, slaw and fries between the buns.

In Houston, fans – unlike Park Slopers - can order custom made leafy concoctions at Crunch Time Salads .  Up in Seattle, salmon hoagies are on the menu (as well as Starbucks). Over in Dallas, Mavs fans enjoy fajita nachos and brisket-stuffed baked potatoes.  But if you really want to pig out, the Sacrament Kings offer Skyline, a buffet restaurant -- or get a suite at the Staples Center in L.A. and wait for the dessert cart to make a visit.  Of course there are many more unique foods at ballparks, arenas and stadiums around the country… this is just a sampling.

Perhaps the king of sports-branded foods is the Dodger Dog.  It wasn’t enough that Los Angeles swooned and stole Brooklyn’s baseball team, but they also “adopted” one of our signature foods as their own.

So what Brooklyn-related food and bevs should be offered at The Barc?  And are there any Park Slope purveyors who should give it a shot? If you own a restaurant and you want to throw your name in the hat, you can do so HERE. Deadline for consideration is March 26.

[Via NY Daily News]