Beyond Hot Dogs:
Unique & Simple Menu Ideas to Stand Out from the Crowd
When it comes to concession stand menus, hot dogs, nachos, and ice cream are fan favorites for a reason - they’re convenient, easy to prepare, and satisfy the diverse cravings of a hungry crowd. But in today’s Instagram-able foodie landscape, fans are looking for more than just the usual options.
Adding unique and exciting menu items is something that makes me feel like a Mad Scientist in The Home Plate’s “test kitchen.” This has helped to attract more attention as well as boost our profits.
While I ❤️ L U U U V V V V ❤️ an extended fast-paced lunch rush during big events, I do look forward to the downtime of our smaller tournaments because I get to play around, be creative with what’s on hand, and create some new menu items.
☞ If you happen to be playing in one of our smaller events, there’s a high likelihood that you might get a free taste of whatever I’m creating. Just mention this blog post to anyone in the kitchen and ask if Miss Jen’s playing Frankenstein that weekend. Note of caution ⚠️ We have plenty of teenagers on staff and they grab up the experiments pretty quickly, so act fast.
➡️ Here are some fresh ideas to help boost your menu.
1. Loaded Fries
French fries are a classic, but why stop at just salt?
Offering loaded fries with toppings like cheese, bacon, sour cream, chili, or even international flavors like curry sauce or kimchi can be a simple adjustment. Loaded fries are customizable, social-media-worthy, and irresistible.
On our regular menu, we offer plain fries, cheese fries, and chili cheese fries. They’re classic best-sellers and are ballpark staples that we will likely never take away.
Every so often, we’ll have a one-off French Fry Bar Special - we’ll make room in the kitchen for fry toppings like gravy, pulled pork, bacon mac and cheese, or hot chicken bacon ranch to top an order of fries. It's a fun addition to our regular offerings and people will usually come back (or word-of-mouth made it to someone else) during another tournament weekend looking for the French Fry Bar Special. If we have most or all of the parts, I’m happy to whip up their custom request. If they made the effort to remember, return, and specifically ask about it, I’ll definitely make my best effort to deliver it again. 🍟
2. Add Some Unexpected Condiments
The unexpected is, well... pleasantly unexpected.
A few times a season, I’ll make this Mexican pickled onion recipe that is a huge hit with our umpires and fans alike. (Seriously - I’m hounded in the winter by a few of our regular umpires asking for a few jars.)
The addition of this one condiment is sometimes the game-changer for the experience of our staple menu items and is a compliment to everything from burgers to loaded nachos.
☞ Some other condiment options to consider:
Mule Sauce or a local small-batch hot sauce
Honey Mustard or a specialty cheese sauce - great to pair with the pretzels, chicken tenders, and French fries
Small batch or locally made pickles or hot peppers
3. Pretzel Variations
You can hardly ever go wrong with a soft pretzel.
Soft pretzels are always a ballpark favorite, but you can elevate them by offering creative options. Think pretzel bites with specialty cheese, cinnamon sugar pretzels with icing, or stuffed pretzels filled with savory options like pepperoni and cheese.
At The Home Plate, we offer deep fried pretzel bites coated in salt - paired with our regular cheddar cheese sauce - or cinnamon sugar - paired with a small batch cream cheese frosting recipe that I hand make every weekend.
Initially in the workflow, we were just microwaving frozen soft pretzels, dusting them with the provided salt then sending them out as a final product. They tasted good, but weren’t really anything that was a big seller or something that people specifically returned for. At some point, though, we weren’t able to separate the frozen pretzels without breaking most of them. Incidentally, I had also been toying with the idea of deep frying whole pretzels to jazz them up a bit.
Eventually, our kitchen manager Heather suggested that we just sell the pretzel bites (because we had been deep frying the broken ones and eating them ourselves anyway) and now we have both savory and sweet options that are serious fan-favorites that people come back for over and over.
4. Frito Pie
If you’re familiar with the Walking Taco, then let me introduce you to the Frito Pie!
When I was in middle school, my family lived in the Houston, TX area for a few years. It was there that I was introduced to the Frito Pie, a traditional concession staple in the Great State of Texas. This little treat was filed away in the depths of my memories until last summer when, on a whim, I added it to our menu because we had all the parts. What the heck; why not?
Being a Southwestern Pennsylvania based organization, I found myself explaining to everyone what a Frito Pie was. Then it occurred to me: Am I introducing the CLASSIC Frito Pie to a whole region of Southwestern Pennsylvania?
My own Delusions of Grandeur aside, I prefer the Frito Pie over the Walking Taco for a few reasons:
- There are fewer ingredients for the Frito Pie.
- I don’t feel compelled or guilty for not having fresh lettuce and tomato every single weekend.
- It helps me get through a big box of Fritos that sell well enough to keep getting our normal supply - otherwise, we’ve got lots of Fritos stockpiled around sell-by date time.
☞ This fun and easy-to-eat option is perfect for on-the-go tournament players and fans.
Serve chili in a single-serve bag of Fritos and top with cheese, onions, jalapenos, and salsa. (Make sure to hold the bottom of the bag with a napkin BEFORE filling with hot chili and cheese so no one gets hurt or surprised and drops their delectable Frito Pie.) Stab a fork right in the bag and send it on its way to a hungry belly.
5. Dessert Innovations
There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love dessert and those who just love frosting.
Go beyond the usual candy and ice cream with desserts like our cinnamon pretzel bites with cream cheese frosting, deep-fried Oreos, or themed ice cream sundae creations topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, and candy. The more over-the-top, the better!
During our Christmas in July weekends, we offered a Santa’s Poolside Milk and Cookies ice cream sundae. In clear plastic cups with lids, we prepped scooped vanilla ice cream, layered with chocolate chip cookie pieces on the bottom and top, topped the whole sundae with red and green gummy rings that were “pool floats”, and stuck a cocktail umbrella in the top. My only regret was not getting Teddy Grahams to float in the floaties.
6. Healthy Options
Sometimes the belly just needs something simple.
Not everyone wants indulgent foods, so offering lighter options like fresh fruit, granola bars, or oatmeal cups for breakfast is a small win. These items offer choices for diet-specific customers or picky eaters while still being flavorful and appealing. Many times, we’ll get a statement of appreciation from that person for having it available because so few other places have alternative options.
As regular menu staples, we always grab a fresh order of bananas, oranges, and local apples and pears, if they are in season. We hardly ever finish a weekend with any left.
7. Re-Brand Something
Plot Twist? Remix? Re-gifting? Call it what you want. None of our umpires are EVER hangry.
We have a young umpire, Anthony, that’s been with us for a long time. When he was in high school, he played rec-ball with us until he aged out. Now that he’s about to graduate from college, he’s been umpiring almost every weekend and I’m pretty sure there are weekends that he banks more money than I do.
Anyway, we want our umpires to not be 😡 hangry and we happily feed and hydrate all of them while they are with us each weekend. Anthony’s preferred go-to meal from The Home Plate is a double bacon cheeseburger with BBQ sauce, fries, and an order of deep fried Oreos with cream cheese frosting to take home for his girlfriend.
After him asking for one of these for a few weeks in a row, I realized that other people might just want that same exact burger. So, I added it to the menu and branded it as the Beitko Burger (during Halloween Havoc - it's the Beastly Beitko Burger).
I love this because it's a fun way to connect the players and fans to our umpires and event team because, eventually someone will ask “What’s a Beitko?” and a little MBT legend lives another day.
8. Invite Some Quirky Food Trucks
Don’t forget about outsourcing! We’ve formed great relationships with some locally owned, independent food entrepreneurs.
Seems counter-productive? The owners generously donate a percentage of their daily sales back to our organization. If you can find food truck operators that are willing to work with you in a similar way, its a win-win for both parties; your organization provides the crowd, the food truck gets exposure to a new demographic.
My suggestion - Compare your concession menu to the food truck menus ahead of time to ensure that you aren’t in “competition” with each other for offerings, adjust your menu as needed or as able, and encourage customers to check out the other menus.
This also helps to expand your event amenities, cater to a wider range of food preferences, try some new food yourself (there are some really AMAZING food trucks out there that I wouldn’t have ever tried otherwise), and it’s a fun novelty for everyone that also doubles as some passive income.
☞ Tips for Success
- Test and Rotate: Start small by introducing one or two new items to gauge their popularity. Rotate seasonal or themed options to keep your menu fresh and exciting.
- Embrace Customization: Let customers personalize their food with a variety of toppings or flavor options, without impeding on Tip #3. This not only adds value but also promotes customer satisfaction.
- Don’t Overload Your Storage Space: Use your storage space wisely - try not to add something to the menu that you’d have to incorporate completely from scratch. It’s best to play around with new combinations of things you already have on the menu to build variations on.
- Keep It Simple: While creativity is key, ensure that your menu items are easy to prepare and fit within your kitchen’s capabilities. Efficiency matters during busy times.
Have Fun Creating A Fresh, Memorable Menu!
Adding unique menu items to your concession stand can transform it into a must-visit destination for customers. By offering innovative options, you’ll keep your menu exciting and your customers coming back for more. So, go ahead—think beyond hot dogs and give your menu a level-up!
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