The Cubs are returning to the North Side Friday to open their 110th season at Wrigley Field.
And while there are some new faces on the field, fans will also find plenty of new stuff in the concession stands, retail stores, and in the ballpark seating.
While you’ll still be able to find hot dogs, pizza, and nachos at Wrigley Field, Friday’s opener will expand the palette of what we consider ballpark food.
New on the menu this year are short rib sliders, dill pickle tater tots, ranch bombs, puffy tacos, and smoked prime rib sandwich.
“It’s always a challenge within the ballpark when you’re feeding 42,000 people,” said Levy Executive Chef Mary Ann Culleton. “But I think that’s the excitement of it and we want to be able to offer our fans more.”
Also debuting this year is the Marquee Classics stand in the concourse right by the Clark and Addison entrance. The concession stand will feature a menu that changes with each homestand and feature foods relating to the visiting team.
For instance, there will be lobster rolls for the Boston Red Sox and sticky pork bao buns for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team loaded with Japanese stars.
“It’s fun to try new things,” said Senior Executive Chef David Burns. “You don’t know which of these items is really going to take off and actually make a permanent spot. But it’s also for the fans that are coming. We want to have a variety.”
Wrigley Field, which longtime fans remember once had the Yum-Yum Donuts stand in its parking lot, will also feature a white iced donut shaped like a baseball in a plastic baseball case—and you get to inject the filling.
“You take it and you can stick it into the donut and they can fill it up with their choice of flavoring,” Burns said.
The golf store in Gallagher Way has been transformed into a new retail outlet called “Landmark Records” featuring blues records, a live performance stage for blues artists, and the new baby blue uniforms the Cubs will wear on selected dates during the summer.
“Once we knew we wanted to bring back baby blue, we thought blue… blues…Chicago,” said Cubs VP of Marketing Jennifer Martindale. “What’s more iconic than the Chicago blues music that was born here and has influenced generations of music?”
As for the ballpark itself, the biggest change fans are going to see is in the bleachers, where the Cubs have turned part of the batter’s eye into what’s being called the Yeti Yard.
“So it’s going to be like being in your own backyard at home,” said Cubs Senior VP of Ticketing Cale Vennum. “We’ll have groups of four to eight people that will sit in the Yeti Yard together. We’ll have coolers of drinks, food brought to them, an all-inclusive experience right in the middle of the Budweiser Bleachers.”
