A Concession Stand Preview at Globe Life Field: Nacho Stacks and Brisket Egg Rolls

The Texas Rangers’ hospitality group, Delaware North Sportservice, opened their kitchen yesterday for a media preview of the fine foods that sports fans and concert goers will be able to enjoy in the new Globe Life Field.

Chris Stapleton and Willie Nelson were supposed to be the first concert this weekend, until we heard of yet another cancellation. And the Rangers’ first exhibition game there was slated for March 23, with the regular-season home opener to be March 31. Those are likely to get pushed back a couple of weeks. But once we're on the other side of the coronavirus, we'll have baseball games and ballpark food to look forward to.

This Wednesday I got to see the inside of the mostly-finished building and, personally, I got all good vibes. A good time or two will most certainly be had. 

Here are a few fun facts on the new hatted stadium. It took a total of 31 months to build, there are 13 escalators, 24 elevators and seating capacity is approximately 40,300. More than 11,000 people helped build Globe Life Field. The entire site encompasses 13 acres, and the projected total cost for the 1.8 million-square-foot facility is $1.2 billion.

Now, on to the good stuff: the food. 

At the media preview, they were handing out bite-size samples, but had some full-size dishes displayed.

The Rattler is a sausage on a hoagie with “venom sauce.”  (Photo above.) It's just your basic sausage dog with grilled onions.


The Stack is a Jenga-esque tower of nachos made with tostadas and tortilla chips, pulled pork, Rico’s nacho sauce and jalapeños along with drizzles of stadium chili. The technical skill required to get these back to your seat without toppling over is just below Mary Lou Retton on a balance beam. But, you can do it. I believe in you.


The Grit Dog is an all-beef Nolan Ryan hot dog topped with creamy jalapeño-cheese grits, stadium chili, Rico’s nacho sauce and pico de gallo. 



The brisket egg roll is a recipe from fan Jennie Loy, and was winner of the fan vote. Shredded brisket is rolled in an egg roll wrapper and deep fried. It’s served over a small scoop of rice and topped with Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce. 


Then, there’s the vegan mac and cheese, which is made with a creamy cashew and vegan cheese sauce. This was not something I’d want to eat a lot of; being vegan should not be punishment. It just really needs some spice — salt, pepper, Tony’s or something like that. 

A Karbach Sky Ale — a strawberry blonde with notes of strawberries, honey, lemongrass and noble hop aroma — was featured as the beer that's “perfect for Globe Life Field." There's also a Karbach Sky Porch. So, a beer from Houston is the featured beer at the Rangers' ballpark. OK.

Other fare that wasn’t available yesterday includes a Philly cheesesteak, Philly fries, a Reuben and an ice cream sandwich with freshly baked cookies and Blue Bell ice cream. 

The end of the highlight reel includes "carvery sandwiches,” State Fare funnel cakes, smothered biscuit sliders topped with crispy chicken tenders and a white gravy and served on a bed of waffle fries. I think this is via Chicken Express.

When visiting stadiums, there’s always a quintessential concession food to try, such as the lobster roll at Fenway Park or the crab sandwich at the San Francisco Giants' stadium. I think in the final years of the Rangers' Globe Life Park it was the Boomstick, which is the mega dog they will have again at the new stadium. Not sure what Globe Life Field will be known for; maybe it will evolve over time.