Fenway Park stretches its menu all the way to table service and cocktails

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 28, 2004

BY LAURA MEADE KIRK
Journal Staff Writer

BOSTON -- Brian Lally and his buddy, Mike Calder, recently sat at a quaint little rooftop table in the deep right field corner of Fenway Park. They enjoyed tender baby back ribs and a half-pound burger delivered by a waiter who never let their plastic beer cups run dry.

Barbecued ribs? Grilled burgers? Table service? At Fenway Park?

Forget Fenway Franks.

The new owners of the Boston Red Sox are offering a greater variety of food and drink from beyond Fenway to appeal to all types of fans. So they're now selling everything from Legal Sea Foods' clam chowder to Hilltop Steak House's steak tip subs to Kowloon's vegetable lo mein and chicken teriyaki, served in rice cups.

They're even offering margaritas and frozen strawberry daiquiris, as well as frappes, frozen lemonade, root beer floats and even nonalcoholic beer.

Sacrilege, you say.

No. Service, said Julie Jordan, general manager of food services for Aramark. "It's about offering a variety of food to the fans," she said.

But don't expect all these foods and drinks to be delivered to your seat. The waiter and waitress service is reserved for fans in the $250 to $300 seats in the dugout along the field and in the new $75 to $100 rooftop seats in far right field.

Everyone else will have to hunt down their favorites in the expanded food concourses under the grandstands along the first- and third-base lines -- complete with picnic tables in right field.

And not all foods will be available to all fans.

The Boar's Head barbecued ribs, for example, are a menu item available only to patrons seated in the new seats atop the roof in deep right field. You can't even buy them if you've got standing-room-only tickets up there.

That's one of the perks that comes with buying tickets for those new seats -- which have to be bought in groups of four, but include table service and a $100 voucher to be used toward the food and drink on the menu there.

That voucher can come in handy, since many of these new foods don't come cheap. The barbecued ribs, for example, cost $19.95. But that includes a full meal, Jordan said, including fries and cole slaw.

The beer, of course, is extra, at $5.50 to $6.50 a cup.

But it's still a great deal, said Lally, who lives in Dorchester. He said his rack of ribs was delicious. And everyone in the new right field rooftop section -- including the hundreds of standing-room-only customers -- can enjoy lobster or clam roll platters ($13.95), or fish and chips ($12.95), or seasoned Italian beef au jus, with a spicy mix of cauliflower, carrots and other vegetables ($11.95). Or then again, they can just hang out at the new bar up there. They won't see much of the action on the field, unless they're watching the monitors strategically placed around the bar. But they've got a terrific view of the Prudential Building and the rest of the Back Bay.

That doesn't mean the rest of the Fenway Faithful have to settle for hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks. They've got dozens of food items to choose from, in a variety of sizes and combinations, in and out of the park.

Rich Roper, vice president of concession operations for Aramark, said his company took over concession stand sales from Harry & Stevens in 1995 and they've been increasing the variety of food and drink offerings since.

"We had 102 [menu] changes in 1995 alone," he said.

"Each year, we kept adding different things, different menu items, and a couple of years ago, when they [the new owners, John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino] took over and started to expand Fenway Park, that's when we were able to add even more variety."

"They've also added more space," Roper said, noting that they're now able to offer a greater number of concessions in a greater number of areas.

Consider all the street-side bistros created outside the park, along Yawkey Way, which is shut down before and during games, to provide added room for fans to hang out. There, fans can buy everything from Fenway Franks and sausage sandwiches to tacos and burritos to Cuban sandwiches at El Tiante, which is frequented by former Red Sox star pitcher Luis Tiant. There's also the Linwood Grille, which sells everything from barbecue platters to individual ears of corn on the cob.

A variety of concession stands are sprinkled throughout the park where fans can buy everything from traditional Fenway Franks ($3.75) and bottles of soda wrapped in a mini Red Sox shirt ($5.50) to peanuts and popcorn -- known in the business as GC, or "general concessions."

And there's a wide variety to choose from, Roper said, adding that his company offers seven types of hotdogs -- from Hebrew National, Best Kosher and Fenway Franks in sizes ranging from foot-long hotdogs that weigh one-third of a pound to the half-pound Monster Dogs, to traditional Fenway Franks, which weigh one-sixth of a pound. There are also three types of burgers, including one-third pound burgers, one-half pound burgers and new White Castle mini burgers.

Some foods are offered in limited locations, such as the half-pound burgers and the Monster Dogs, at $6.75 a piece, which are found in the new Green Monster seats, the right field rooftop seats and on Yawkey Way.

But for the greatest number of choices, head to the new Big Concourse created last year under the grandstand and bleachers in right field. Here's where you'll find a variety of specialty booths, including the Hilltop Steak House, which sells steak and turkey tip sandwiches for $8.75 each, and Legal Sea Foods, which sells its signature clam chowder for $5.50, and Kowloon's, which offers beef with lobster sauce, chicken teriyaki and vegetable lo mein in rice bowls for $8.50. There's a Boar's Head deli stand, which features hot and cold deli sandwiches for $7.75 for ham, roast beef or turkey.

The other concession stand selections range from standard Fenway Franks ($3.75) to Italian sausage sandwiches ($5.50) to gourmet chicken Caesar salads ($10.75). There are garlic fries ($4.50) and chicken tenders with fries ($7) and chicken wings ($8.50). There are even pretzels ($3.25) and fresh fruit cups ($5), Roper said.

Fans also can buy junior-size Papa Gino's pizzas ($5.75 for cheese or $6 for pepperoni) from stands throughout the park, or they can head to the Big Concourse in right field and buy pizza by the slice ($4) or entire pizzas ($22).

Some Red Sox purists say the menu has gone too far.

"It's unorthodox," especially for Fenway, said Mary Sewchuk of Glocester, who attended a recent game with her friend, Tom Izzo, of Johnston. But when the lines were too long for Fenway Franks, she opted for the shorter line for turkey tips at Hilltop instead.

Kevin Quinn of Glastonbury, Conn., was desperately searching for an Italian sausage and even tried Kowloon's, without any luck. He wasn't going to settle for Chinese food, though.

"That's Friday-night-at-home stuff -- not going-to-the-ballpark food."

But others, such as Megan and Jeff McCue of Woburn, said they liked the variety.

"The more the better," Megan McCue said. Her husband said the junior-size pizza in his hand was just "an appetizer" before going for the traditional Fenway Franks and sausages. After all, he reasoned, "You've got to start somewhere."

Sisters Debbie and Michelle Cusack, of Framingham, who shared the rooftop seats in right field with their friends, Calder and Lally, said the menu there was a little over the top. In fact, Debbie Cusack said, the team had gone a bit too far in straying from traditional baseball foods. The fancy foods, she said, "are not Fenway."

The true Fenway experience, she said, "is about the hotdogs, the beers and the great seats."

So while Calder and Lally munched on their burgers and ribs, the Cusacks were sticking to beer during the game. Their favorite Fenway food would come on their way home -- from the sausage vendors outside the park.

More on Fenway

Coming in Lifestyles on Sunday, a profile of Janet Marie Smith, premiere urban ballpark designer and the woman behind the changes at Fenway Park.