Cactus League ballparks up their food game for spring training

Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Salt River Fields in Scottsdale along with Camelback Ranch and American Family Fields in west Phoenix all have a handful of unique offerings, including rattlesnake sausages, walking tacos, Tosti eloté and stir fry.

“We’re looking for balance,” said Robert Brackett, the Oak View Group Hospitality District Manager. “Every ballpark has its traditional staples, but there’s some things our company isn’t going to be experts at, so that’s where we look to partner with outside companies.”

Hohokam Stadium and Salt River Fields partnered this season with Rusty Taco, Mustache Pretzels and Island Noodle. Brackett said that the noodles, cooked over 12-foot flames, are a showstopper.

In addition to the new partners, Oak View Group Hospitality also added a new burger, and a hot dog topped with pulled pork and fried jalapeños.

Similarly, Matt Slatus, president and general manager at Camelback Ranch, was excited to introduce walking tacos, eloté (a Mexican-style grilled corn-on-the-cob) with warm butter, mayo and Mexican hot sauce, and a mac-and-cheese dish topped with pulled pork.

For Milwaukee Brewers fans, there are typically new items but Andrew Daugherty, the Brewers’ vice president of affiliate business operations, said the priority will always be beer, brats and midwestern classics like cheese curds for Brew Crew fans.

“We have a lot of folks from Wisconsin, and the first thing that they’re looking for is that good old brat and cold beer,” Daugherty said. “There’s going to be some things that you can find around the ballpark that are new and exciting, but at the end of the day, we want this to be Wisconsin west.”

That includes the offerings of Miller Lite and Coors Light – longtime partners of the Brewers.

“Baseball is still a hot dog-and-beer sport,” Slatus said.

While the Brewers are serving up the domestics, craft beers are another highlight of Cactus League venues. Camelback Ranch, where the White Sox and Dodgers train, has partnered with Goose Island and Golden Road breweries based in Chicago and Los Angeles and also brought in Four Peaks Brewery, based in Tempe, for local flavor.

On tap for Athletics fans at HoHoKam Stadium are beers from Drake Brewing, a Bay Area-based brewer.

Daugherty, Slatus and Brackett said the stadiums attempt to keep beer and food prices fan-friendly while also evaluating the current market and prices across the Valley.

Slatus added that he works to balance the quality of products with prices, but over the last couple of years, food prices generally have gone up, forcing Camelback Ranch’s menu prices to do the same.

Despite the rising tab, Daugherty, Slatus and Brackett hope fans will come to games and sample what the ballparks have to offer after three straight years of spring training baseball altered by the pandemic and then a MLB lockout.

“We’re really excited to have a normal spring training and have folks out,” Daugherty said.