LEO/LHB: The Yankees' loss is our ... hey!

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes

Centerplate Inc., the South Carolina-based arena and ballpark catering company, has been getting a rough ride lately, with the New York Yankees dumping the company as Yankee Stadium concessionaire after a 40-year ride, and its shares plunging on Wall Street in the wake of blows ranging from financial bad news to a discrimination lawsuit by a Yankees' bartender.

But Centerplate still rides high in the Derby City, where it not only sells us our hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jack in Slugger Field and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium but is slated to be concessionaire in the controversial downtown sports arena, and also recently emerged as operator of the new Wolfgang Puck Express, an upscale fast-food emporium in downtown's Kentucky International Convention Center.

Does New York know something that Louisville is missing? We're great fans of the Louisville Bats and thoroughly smitten by Slugger Field, but I've found ballpark food service consistently disappointing on Centerplate's watch.

Like a never-say-die Cubs fan, I come back every spring with renewed hope in my heart. But after a couple of rounds of Slugger Field's grill stations and concession stands this year, I don't find much to alter my impression recorded at the start of last season: "Slugger Field remains one of the most pleasant places in the city to spend a summer evening, but it may help to bear in mind that, frankly, it's a ball game, not a restaurant. The team is owned by bankers, and it shows: Food service is as functional, and as unimaginative, as a slow-moving teller line."

Full report in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.

We are season ticket holders for the Bats. We go often and have a wonderful time. Great park, great people, great fun.

My husband loves the cheeseburgers. Yes, they are good, but I am more health conscious (and my digestive system appreciates that). So, I go for the grilled chicken sandwich. It is so dry, so over cooked. Bleagh. But not many other choices. AND you used to be able to load on as much lettuce and tomato as you wished, but now they have that behind the counter and you ask for it. I got two small tomato slices. (Hey, I needed something to dress it up a bit).

In the past, (last year) I would get that giant baked potato, and then pile on tomato slices to help it go down easier. But I guess that choice is gone too.

I think the solution is to eat first, and perhaps snack there. And again, I know that I shouldn't be so rigid, but when you go as often as we do......and I like to support our local stuff....it is just hard.

AND before people start yelling that it is not a restaurant....we all know that. But I just wish I could find a semi-healthy option.

[Robin Garr]

We are season ticket holders for the Bats. We go often and have a wonderful time. Great park, great people, great fun. ...

I think the solution is to eat first, and perhaps snack there. And again, I know that I shouldn't be so rigid, but when you go as often as we do......and I like to support our local stuff....it is just hard.

AND before people start yelling that it is not a restaurant....we all know that. But I just wish I could find a semi-healthy option.

Agreed on all counts, Lori! Frankly, I've never accepted the argument "it's not a restaurant" to excuse crappy food at sports venues. It's too easy to remember back in the early '80s when A. Ray Smith brought AAA baseball back to Louisville with the Redbirds. The stadium - Cardinal Stadium at the fairgrounds - was kind of iffy, but A. Ray understood that keeping the fans happy made for success. There were good eats at the stadium, and games were fun.

I've always supported the teams - a group of us at The Louisville Times shared season tickets to the Redbirds all through the '80s, and Mary and I started doing it again about 10 years ago, mainly because we wanted to be a part of the excitement of the new stadium. But we find ourselves crabby and irritable about the team's management more and more, from the food to the general attitude that's exemplified by all the lawyer-like warnings they now feel it necessary to announce at the start of every game. If it reaches the point where it's just not fun any more, I guess we'll drop our Diamond Club/Club Level seats ... but it's not there yet.

It's been awhile since I've been to the park and I didn't see it mentioned in the review .... can you still get a fried bologna sandwich? I have a soft spot for those.

[Robin Garr]

It's been awhile since I've been to the park and I didn't see it mentioned in the review .... can you still get a fried bologna sandwich? I have a soft spot for those.

You can indeed! I'm sorry I don't have the price here, but it's one of the less expensive options. Maybe $3, $3.50 at a guess.