At Comerica Park, instead of “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,” fans this season may be singing “buy me some bacon cheeseburger sliders, Sonoran hot dogs, Hani pita sandwiches and some of the best barbecue in Detroit.”
The Detroit Tigers home opener is Thursday at Comerica Park, and those are just a few of the many new food offerings from local businesses.
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Last Friday, the Detroit Tigers hosted their annual “what’s new” at the ballpark’s MotorCity Casino Tiger Club, which included food tastings, new merchandise, game day specials and authentic Tigers items.
This season, the emphasis is on local offerings from new and longtime Detroit-based restaurants. Some will have permanent spots and others bring their fare to the ballpark on a rotating basis.
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Newcomers to the ballpark include Detroit 75 Kitchen, Green Dot Stables, National Coney and Taqueria El Rey. Returning for Comerica Park’s rotating pop-up series are Breadless and Yum Village along with newcomer, the Lobster Food Truck.
Along with my sports writer colleague Carlos Monarrez, last Friday we had the tough assignment of sampling the new foods. In honor of Miguel Cabrera’s final season, Monarrez, with some of my input, rated the items he tasted on a scale of 1-4 Miggys.
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A couple of my favorite standouts from the tasting included:
- Sonoran hot dog from Taqueria El Rey’s. If you’ve ever had one, this is the real deal. It’s a hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with beans, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.
- The bacon cheeseburger sliders from Green Dot Stables were also a hit. Pair them with Green Dot Stables’ signature truffle and herb fries and kale salad.
- Seafood lovers can’t go wrong with the crab and shrimp mac and cheese from the Lobster Food Truck. It’s creamy, the shrimp is tender and the crab is a good pair.
- The Shawarma Fry, offered at the Comerica Big Cat Court, is a meal in itself. The fries are topped with marinated chicken, garlic sauce, lettuce, pickles, tomato and hummus.
The push for more Detroit-based and minority-owned concession partnerships began last season and is back, said Brett McWethy, Ilitch Sports Entertainment’s director of marketing communications.
Bert’s Marketplace, operating by the Dearing family for more than five decades, is one of those businesses. Last season’s debut as a single-weekend pop-up was a hit and turned into a permanent spot on weekends in August.
Bert’s was the first Black-owned barbecue concession stand at Comerica Park. Other Black-owned businesses last season, Breadless with gluten-free options and Yum Village with Afro-Caribbean flavors are returning on a rotating basis.
Taqueria El Rey, a southwest Detroit favorite that suffered severe damage from an early 2022 fire, is rebuilding its brand at different locations. They will be at Comerica Park for the whole season.
“It’s like a dream come true to have our name at Comerica Park,” said Daniel Fuentes of the family-owned Taqueria El Rey.
New food at Comerica Park
Green Dot Stables (Section 143)
Known for its selection of sliders for more than a decade, Green Dot Stables will offer some of its top sellers, including:
- Sliders: Cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger and buffalo chicken sliders. There’s also the Hot Brown slider with grilled chicken breast topped with bacon and a Mornay sauce.
- Sides: Regular fries, truffle fries and kale salad with a lemon vinaigrette.
Taqueria El Rey (Section 149)
More than a year ago, this beloved southwest Detroit eatery was severely damaged by a fire. The family-owned business expects to operate a food truck soon and open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Lincoln Park. In a nod to the classic ballpark hot dog, Taqueria El Rey’s Sonoran Dog is a standout.
- Classic street tacos: steak, chorizo or bean topped with onions, cilantro and jalapeno salsa.
- Sonoran hot dog: Bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with beans, pico de gallo, cotija cheese and jalapeno salsa.
- Charcoal grilled chicken: Half-chicken with adobo rub and red salsa on the side.
Bert’s Marketplace (Section 133)
After a last-season stint, Bert’s Marketplace has a permanent spot offering several of its barbecue favorites.
- Spicy red hot topped with sauce and onions and served on a fresh bun.
- Barbecue nachos feature tortilla chips with nacho cheese, barbecue sauce, chives sour cream and a choice of chicken or pulled pork (a favorite).
- Half-slab of Bert’s ribs served with coleslaw and mac-and-cheese.
Comerica Big Cat Court food features
National Coney Island
Signature “Snap Dog” coney and grilled chicken Hani. The Hani is a pita filled with grilled chicken breast, Swiss and American cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo.
Detroit 75 Kitchen
This food truck on Fort Street near Clark and I-75 will have cheesesteak eggrolls and shawarma eggrolls.
Rotating pop-up series (Section 116)
The Lobster Food Truck
The Lobster Food Truck has been around metro Detroit for four years. In late 2021, the owners opened the Lobster Pitstop, a storefront on Ford Road and Wyoming Avenue (across from Ford-Wyoming Drive-in) in Dearborn opened.
Seafood mac and cheese with both crab and shrimp
Breadless
This sandwich shop on East Jefferson opened in spring 2022. Its sandwiches are gluten-free because they are wrapped in greens such as Swiss chard and collards instead of bread.
- Buckwild: This new sandwich is a “healthier take on chicken bacon ranch,” said Breadless co-founder Marc Collins. It’s roasted chicken served with truffle buttermilk ranch, hot sauce, white cheddar, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet pickles and arugula wrapped in a Swiss Chard leaf.
- Spicy Chickpea: Filled with chickpeas, smashed falafel, pickled turnips, Arabic pickles, tomatoes and onions with a spicy vegan aioli. The sandwich is wrapped in turnips and collard green leaves.
Yum Village
Afro-Caribbean food and flavors in the form of nachos and tacos. Yum Village founder and owner Godwin Ihentugue said these are “not your average nachos and tacos.”
Jerk-seasoned and wood-smoked chicken is served on naan bread or as nachos topped with an Afro-Caribbean cheese sauce of pureed apricot and peaches with cheddar and peppers.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.