Yankee Stadium (V)

[New for 2018 season! Please see most recent report on vegan offerings at Yankee Stadium here.]

The last time I was at a New York Yankees game was 11 years ago in the old stadium. And though sports rivalry can raise the stakes in an enjoyable way, this Mets fan doesn’t project repressed and misplaced anger upon sports franchises…or their fans.  I was, in fact, excited to join a longtime Yankees fan/longtime friend to finally check out the “new” stadium and its surprisingly varied vegan offerings. Also: admitedly, the Home Run Derby also had me appreciating rookie Aaron Judge. But this is all about food right here…

So yes, vegan options at Yankees Stadium. I was pretty taken aback by how many options I would have to choose from. Starting at the most satisfying… top-notch seitan-ist Field Roast supplies Yankees Stadium with veggie burgers and veggie frankfurters. I was so pleased to find this out. For one, the Seattle-based company is definitely not “big food,” unlike Citi Field veggie dog/burger purveyor Yves Veggie Cuisine who is owned by Hain Celestial Group, big food company disguised as 1,001 small, independent brands. For another, I find their products more tasty than Yves’s stuff. I’ll take Citi Field’s fixin’s bar with Yankees Stadium’s Field Roast, please. You can find them at Section 115 at the Triple Play Grill. The 2017 Yankees Stadium Dining Guide also says they’re available at  Sections 205 and 334, but I didn’t check this personally.
My Field Roast burger in the bleachers. Though I wish it had some garnishes, I am not taking it for granted. It is new for this season, so perhaps it has been what I’ve been waiting for this past 11 years?  Burger romanticism.  Anyway, I hope there continues to be a need and it continues to be offered.

My friend got the Field Roast frankfurter (and pretzel braid from NY Pretzel, also vegan) but I didn’t try it. He didn’t put anything on it and was ripping pieces off with his hands. 

So those basic veggie dog and burger options are likely all you may need, but there is plenty more to choose from if you don’t mind forking over obscene amounts of money.  Like the stadium’s Asian options located in the Food Court area in Section 127. There you will find typically pretty much vegan options edamame, avocado salad, seaweed salad, and Veggie sushi rolls that the friendly counter guy confirmed were only cucumber and avocado. Now these options are usually vegan at any and all Japanese places, so I can’t see that they’d stray from traditional methods of preparation if they are hoping to offer the familiar hometown eats. But leave a comment if you find out otherwise when you go to Yankees Stadium for vegan feasting.

Next to the Japanese was the Chinese offerings. The Tofu Pan Fried Noodle Bowl and the Tofu Noodle Bowl are not listed in the Dining Guide as vegan options, but I am pretty darn sure they are vegan. At home, I had grand ideas of I ordering everything that was vegan to sample. But standing in front of the menu boards, unhungry after my burger  and looking at the pricing, I didn’t think it was a good use of my discretionary funds. And I also needed to save room for beer because I was, after all, at a baseball game. Beer and baseball: yes. Hot tofu noodle bowl to baseball: not really.

Another option in the Food Court: the Three Lentil Chili at Hale & Hearty Soups. This would be perfect for play-off or Post season play…  Sitting in the stadium watching a high stakes game in October with a cup of vegan chili in my lap, that would be nice.  Like the tofu noodle bowl, not in July. And yes, another Garden Salad option at Hale & Hearty. I may trust this Garden Salad the most.

Ok, before I move on from the Food Court it is important to mention that the Fresh Cut Fries place in the Food Court, which exclusively sells French fries, might be the only place in the stadium to get fries whose oil is not shared with Chicken fingers.  And that the Ben & Jerry’s there does not offer the almond milk-based non-dairy flavors as of now.  But considering their popularity, I wouldn’t be surprised if next season they do!

I did get a fruit salad at the Melissa’s Farmers Market section by 121B. Fruit was 2 for $3.00, but I got the $7.00 cut fruit salad. It was a lot of fruit! And the good kinds too, not just the boring cantaloupe and honeydew. The heavy container had mixed berries, pineapple, grapes, etc. It was the best value in the park, likely.  Melissa’s also had a small variety of salads that were labelled “vegan,” too.  Like pilafs and your tradition unappetizing Garden Salad,”

Want a different vegan burger? I’m happy to see that Bareburger offers their all-vegan Guadalupe burger: a black bean & roasted corn patty, guacamole, pickled red onions, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts on a sprout bun. Like Hale & Hearty, Bareburger is a chain that embraces vegan choices and, most appreciatedly, embraces clearly labeling their options. (V) means vegan. Bareburger is near Section 132.

Onward to the Toyota Terrace where you can get Bao for 2 for $8.00, a pretty good value. They offer a vegetarian Buffalo Cauliflower Bao that has the cauliflower and a Blue Cheese celery slaw.  The Blue Cheese is in the slaw, so you’d have to ask for it with only the cauliflower.  I didn’t wind up getting one, though the friendly counter people would likely have no problem with preparing it with only the rice bun and the cauliflower.  I had a change of heart after the 7th inning but they had already closed. So, alas, another thing for next time. 

So that was eating vegan at Yankees Stadium! They trump Citi Field with v-bomb drops. It was great to see. Yadda yadda yadda, the Yankees won and I got to enjoy a Field Roast burger with my Bronx Brewery beer within a mob of rabble rousers and old timers in the bleachers at Yankees Stadium. Done & done.