The stadium will feature NYC’s third Shake Shack location as well as a “Catch a Day” fish shack and many more treats.  I won’t say much more. Serious Eat’s Robyn Lee took the photo above, as well as photos of all the food she tried at the stadium, and her pictures are FANTASTIC. You absolutely must head over to Serious Eats to get the full scoop on Citi Field’s eats.

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This food creation joins the ever expanding list of unique ballpark offerings from the Grizzlies. They were the team that in 2006 created “Baseball’s Best Burger.” The burger consisted of a thick and juicy burger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon. The burger is then placed in between each side of a Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut.

In addition to their “Baseball’s Best” line of foods, they have some specialty foods which are only offered for 3-7 days at various points during the season. Other interesting things on their menu include:

Bratchos: A diced bratwurst marinated in tangy buffalo sauce placed on top a boat of tortilla chips and nacho cheese sauce.

Porksteak and Sweet Tea: A grilled porksteak smothered in barbecue sauce and served with a cup of sweet tea.

Twinkie Dog: A deep fried Twinkie is cut open and a Farmland 8:1 hot dog is deep fried then placed in the middle.

Taco Dog: A deep fried Farmland 8:1 hot dog is placed in a crispy taco shell and topped with your choice of shredded cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce.

Crazy Corn: Popcorn mixed with Peanut Butter M&M’s.

H/T to Deadspin.

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Huh? A hot dog vending machine? On the one hand I’m sure you’re thinking that sounds disgusting, but c’mon, is a hot dog really any less processed and full of preservatives than anything else you’d get out of a vending machine? So how does this new fangled contraption work?

The Hot Nosh vending machine will be under the supervision of the KOF-K kosher certification agency. It sears and cooks the refrigerated hot dogs using a special infrared heating element and warms the buns before dropping them into a Styrofoam container.

Styrofoam? Really? Really? So this company is all about helping people adhere to a strict dietary code, but they can’t be bothered to stop using a material that puts holes in the ozone layer?

Seriously though, a vending machine hot dog? I implore each and every Boston based So Good reader: please, please head over to Fenway and send me some pictures/reports about this vending machine. How does an infrared heated kosher hot dog from a vending machine taste? How does the machine work? Is it a machine devoted totally to hot dogs, or does it look like the machine above, with a variety of foods? Can you see the hot dog being made in front of you? Or does it just pop out of a slot at the bottom?

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Before the season began, I outlined some of the popular local eating establishments that joined up with the Nationals to provide food for the game. The food at this ballpark is insanely good. Lots of good variety everywhere, and it all appears to be of really high quality. The park features Ben’s Chili Bowl, Five Guys, Red, Hot & Blue, among other DC institutions. As you might expect, the lines for these well known spots were far longer than for other vendors.

My Ben’s half-smoke, “all the way” with chili, onions and mustard. Picture taken just moments before this tasty treat entered my stomach.

This is probably the point in time where I should admit that I have never had a half-smoke before. This is despite the fact that it is an entirely unique to DC food. If you’ve never heard of one before, it’s slightly larger than than a regular hot dog, spicier and with more coarsely ground meat. It is usually cooked on a grill rather than steamed, and it’s usually made with both beef and pork, although Ben’s are made with all-beef. Anyways…I knew for sure that I needed to try one. Fortunately, I quickly discovered that the “Ben’s half-smoke” was available at all the food stands, not just the Ben’s Chili Bowl stand.

Mark my words, the Ben’s half-smoke is going to be THE signature food for Nationals Park. Fenway has Fenway Franks, Dodgers have Dodger Dogs, we now have Ben’s half-smokes. Delicious.

One semi complaint. The food stands don’t each have their own signs. Everyplace has the name of their food stand in similar style glowing neon letters. If each food place had their own unique signs, it would make the inside tunnel areas where you get food feel a little bit less strip-mallish and give a little more character to each establishment.

Beer at the park appeared to be decent selection, including Stella on tap, and what appeared to be 20 or 22 oz cups at certain locations. The restaurant in Centerfield, called “Red Porch” is quite large, as is the “Red Loft” bar above it. It is a fully functioning bar, with bar stools, TV’s, a full cadre of liquor, and easy to view sight lines to the field, as it is located high up in left center.

Needless to say, I’m excited for many more future games, and many future hot dogs, burgers and sausages at the new park.

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Conor Jackson, first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks, loves Dr Pepper. “So good,” he mused over the phone the other day.

He drank four or five a day, relishing the drinks many flavors. And during the offseason, he cut Dr. Pepper from his diet. He had always trained hard, took his preparation seriously, but this time around, he got really serious, improving his diet by drinking less soda.

So Good indeed. Conor Jackson LOVES Dr. Pepper. Yeah he does. He loves it. Best wishes on a good season Conor. When you roll in to town to play the Nationals, I’ll be sure to hold up cans of Dr. Pepper to taunt you with!

(H/T to Slanch Report) (Photo of Jackson from Arizona Central)

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