The Yankees have always made it a priority to bring in some of the best players in the world, but they’ve also become a premiere destination for some of the brightest minds in the food industry today as well. Hosting their annual taste testing event at Yankee Stadium, media were invited to sample their new offerings for the 2025 season, with some new vendors joining the fray alongside some familiar faces creating new dishes as well. Fans will have the opportunity to try out all of their new offerings throughout the 2025 season at various concession stands, and there are some fun additions.
While I didn’t get to try every dish, feeling rather full by the end of my experience, I did get more than just some tasty bites, as you could feel the passion for cuisine from vendors who embody their New York background.
Local Vendors Bring Diverse and Flavorful Punch For Yankees’ Fans in 2025
I began my morning feast with Lobel’s Pastrami Sandwich, a New York institution that brings an iconic dish to Yankee Stadium for fans to enjoy. If you’re into pastrami sandwiches, there isn’t a reason you won’t like this, as it’s both simple and delicious. Tender pastrami meat, good high-quality mustard, and soft slices of rye bread round the sandwich out. It may not be the headline-grabbing kind of dish with a concoction of unthinkable ingredients, but it gives Yankees fans the ability to have a classic dish that is as New York as the Yankees themselves.
The next dish I tried was completely on the other side of the culinary spectrum, it took the classic ballpark dog to a whole new level as StreetBird’s Bird Dog is a hot dog topped with kickin’ tenders, pickles, garlic aioli, and cheese sauce. It’s as insane to taste as it was to hear described to us at the Audi Club, and while the combination of flavors is pretty obscure, the experience was pretty unique and the dish is really creative. Their chicken is really good, and who doesn’t love a hot dog at the ballpark? Just maybe have one or split this with a friend.
I was able to sample (after some water and a little bit of a walk-around) a stuffed Jamaican beef patty from Caribbean Food Delights, who spoke on the opportunity to bring their delicious dish to Yankee Stadium:
“We originated in the Bronx so this is our home base, and we are so happy and so proud to be able to serve this to Yankee Stadium and their fans.”
Originally started on Dyre Avenue in the Bronx, the company was founded by Vincent and Jeanette HoSang, with their humble beginnings just half an hour away from Yankee Stadium. This is a must-have dish.
The next dish I had? We’re going back to the crazy chicken concoction well with Fuku’s Cuban Chicken Sandwich, which is pretty self-explanatory. Take a Cubano, add some crispy chicken, and you’ve got a sandwich that will both taste great and also make you want to take a nap afterward. It’s truly a great sandwich and a flavor one as well, and this is one of those dishes that, like the Bird Dog, is just so crazy that you have to try it at least once in your lifetime.
You’re supposed to save dessert for last, but in between these wonderful dishes I was surveying around to just get a feel of the Audi Club and the outside patio when I stumbled upon perhaps the most vibrant character at the event; Christian Petroni. He isn’t new to Yankee Stadium, he’s been making some of their best sweet treats over the last couple of years, but the release of Petroni’s Mister Softee sundae could be one of the best things I’ve ever had.
When he saw me he said that the sundae served in a Yankee helmet bowl had my name on it, and I’m glad it did. Soft but not melty ice cream, a vanilla panna that’s to die for, incredible hazel hot fudge, and cannoli praline crunch for texture and added flavor combined to make a dessert you have to try when you get to Yankee Stadium. Christian Petroni is a lifelong Yankees fan, whose passion for both food and baseball bleeds through the dishes he makes and his energetic personality:
“I grew up coming to the stadium having the highlight being the ice cream in the helmet…to be here now not just doing this tiramasu in the helmet but doing this sundae special with Mr. Softee is unreal. Everytime I drive down to the Stadium I do something my eyes well up and everytime I leave my eyes well up… to be at Yankee Stadium with Mr. Softee, collabing in a helmet? What planet is this? Very grateful.”
Continuing my honest assessment of each dish, the sundae just knocks it out of the ballpark for me, it’s one of those dishes that if you have it you’ll understand why I’m being this aggressive in talking about how good it is. This almost feels like a write-up of the best prospect in the game, there are so many tools that stand out and so few reasons to be the pessimist on where it should rank.
Christian Petroni lives, breathes, eats, drinks, and dies for his work in his adult life after years of doing so as a child growing up with the Yankees as a huge part of his life. Now? He’s just able to marry those two things into one, connecting those early memories with the career he’s carved out for himself as a New York City cook who can make a dessert that knocks your socks off.
There’s a sense of pride in the New Yorkers I spoke to who brought new dishes into the mix this year, whether they were returning vendors with a new wrinkle or new faces who hope to endear themselves to fans this season. Yankees’ Executive Sous Chef Nicholas Karoly not only takes pride in that local aspect but also in the diversity they can provide from a culinary standpoint.
“As chefs, we’re always looking to provide new items for guests as well as diverse items, we’ve partnered with a lot of local companies in New York and New Jersey to promote a small business or a great product…we have such a diverse fanbase whether you’re sitting in the bleachers or behind home plate everyone has the accessibility to try all of these delicious new options at the stadium.”
I couldn’t let Chef Karoly go without asking him a truly impossible question; what would he recommend a fan to get when they walk into the ballpark on Opening Day next week?
“We have so many great new options, I think my personal favorites would be a Jamaican Beef Patty and a Ice Cream Sundae or Tiramisu”
I’m treating the recommendation of Petroni’s Mister Softee sundae the same way that I would treat hearing Pitching Coach Matt Blake rave about a prospect I rate highly; you need to try it if you head to the ballpark folks.