Buy me some pulled pork and Jai Alai

I thought I'd start the blog by sharing a couple of the articles I wrote as a contributor for Creative Loafing. Here's one about some of the great new food and beverage choices you can find at Tropicana Field that started opening day a season ago. 

"Take Me out to the Ball Game" is still a great song, but if you're heading to a ballpark in 2011 you can do a hell of a lot better than peanuts and Cracker Jacks. This Friday, Opening Day of the Major league Baseball season, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL, will feature a line-up that looks a lot different than what it had on opening day a year ago. The ballpark has seen some major changes in our few months away from baseball as well. Everything from new astro turf, to great new food and beer selections. Rays fans won't just get new selections when it comes to their pallets, but the memorabilia in the pro shops will get a boost with the arrival of game used items.

Wednesday the Rays invited the local media to the Trop to try some of the new concessions that fans will be stuffing their baseball-loving faces with starting Friday night when the Baltimore Orioles come to town on opening day. I went out because I thought that Rays fans deserved to know exactly what they'll be spending their hard-earned money on when attending a ball game, not at all because they were serving free lunch. For the record, I'm not a food critic. I am, however, a fat guy, and that after all should hold some damn weight when it comes to talking about ways to stuff your face at a ballpark. Don't you think? Fat guy, weight... Get it?

The Everglades BBQ Company (pictured above): You can find the Everglades BBQ in the former Batter's Eye restaurant, as well as in the First Base Food Court and Right Field Street. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. That's how I feel about this addition to the Trop. I wasn't sure how they'd pull off barbecue at a ballpark and whether it would be as good as I was hoping it was. I had the pulled pork sandwich as well as the pulled pork BBQ nachos. If, like me, you've never had the pleasure of tasting the combination of BBQ pulled pork and nacho cheese then buy these on your first trip to the Trop this year and thank me later. The only way to describe the duo which is piled atop some nachos from the Everglades would be magic! The Everglades BBQ Smokehouse (formerly The Batter's Eye) will feature pulled pork, ribs, chicken, wings, corn on the cob, potato wedges and a salad bar. You can reserve a table at the Everglades BBQ Smokehouse if you've got a party of six or more by calling (727) 825-3378.

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Burger Up: I won't pretend to be as excited about burgers as I am about some amazing barbecue, but Burger Up is a fantastic choice if you're craving a burger while watching David Price strike out some fools. I tried the Cuban Burger Wednesday and despite being absolutely stuffed full of pulled pork I almost finished the burger I planned on only taking a bite of. The ESPN Club in Orlando makes a burger with ham and Swiss cheese that they call a Cuban burger. The ESPN Club burger couldn't hold the little hamburger jock of the Burger Up version. It was delicious and piled high with meat on top of the burger. Meat on a burger, really, how do you beat that? Burger Up has four signature burgers. The Cuban, The Mushroom Swiss, The Bacon Blue, and The Old Fashioned. The best part about Burger up is the burgers aren't what you're expecting. I know what you're thinking, a burger at a ball game has to resemble something yanked out of a bag you pulled through your window at McDonald's or Burger King. Well the beef at Burger Up is fresh ground beef and the burgers look like what your mom used to slap together and toss on the grill. No processed garbage in these burgers.

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Wings Around the World and GF (Gluten-Free): There weren't any things for us to try from the Gluten-Free location, but you can find them on Center Field Street. One in every 133 Americans is allergic to gluten. Yes, I did steal that nugget from the Rays press release. Anyhow, if you're one of those who is allergic to gluten, or just likes to eat gluten free stuff, you can now find gluten-free pretzels, hot dogs and even beer! Wings around the World did have some buffalo wings for us to try but I couldn't find room after all the pulled pork and the Cuban Burger. Honestly they looked like they were probably delicious, but I think the way that they are served (in a tall plastic cup) isn't very

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appealing. I think they should find a better way to serve the boneless buffalo wings. The boneless wings will have a variety of sauces including buffalo, golden barbecue, sweet red chili and Cajun.

The Brewhouse: The Brewhouse isn't new, but the look is. They've removed some of the seating to make it more roomy and they've done something that is perhaps my favorite change yet. The Rays made a decision to not just serve some high end beer, but rather to invest back into the community by installing taps of local craft beer. They will have different local beers coming in and out of the Brewhouse. Right now they have two Cigar City Brewing beers flowing at the Trop. The two Cigar City staples their Maduro brown ale and their India pale ale Jai Alai. I don't care how much more they cost than any other beer they sell at the Trop, but do yourself a favor and pay the difference and enjoy great beer with your baseball.

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Oh, I almost forgot: Cheesecake on a stick! Yup, you heard me right.

So, as you can see, there are many more exciting and delicious choices for you to fill your eating, drinking and memorabilia buying desires this year when you come down to the Trop. See you there on Friday! Enjoy the food, the beer, and of course, the game!