My favorite day of the year! At least from a blogger/content creator perspective. Because my other favorite day of the year is probably Thanksgiving. Any day where it’s acceptable to put gravy on everything is a great day in my book. But I digress.
When I started my silly little food blog in 2008, this was a bucket list item for me (after all, I’m a Mets fan and Citi Field is truly one of my favorite ballparks). A few years ago, I got my first invite and it’s still probably one of the few events I look forward to every year. We get to hear about all the exciting new things happening at the stadium, and obviously we get to try all the food. And I mean ALL.
I spend the majority of my time running around grabbing said food for a giant flatlay photo, and this time it happened to catch the attention of Mr and Mrs Met. All those years of arranging food in an aesthetically pleasing way has finally paid off. Proud of me! And enlisting the help of a few friends never hurts because as you can see, there was a lot.
I included the list of food vendors below for you, but I was especially excited to see Empanada Mama on the list! I LOVE them so much and don’t get over there nearly enough. There was also Takumi Taco, Sweet Chick, and Emma’s Torch amongst the newcomers. Citi introduced their partnership with some big Food Network names too, so keep your eyes out for Porchetta Sandwich Shop from Chef Marc Murphy, Sunny Anderson’s All American Kitchen, and Jacques Torres (famous chocolatier). The Mets aint playin around this season (at least when it comes to the food).
Another thing I was happy to see? A new partnership called Taste of Queens! That’s where I grew up, and my mom still lives in Queens (though she’s a Yankees fan, I don’t want to talk about it). They brought a few local Queens spots to Citi Field – Fresco’s Grand Cantina (the ropa vieja quesadilla was so good) and The Nourish Spot (for some health)!
Some of my favorites/go-to’s at the park are Pat LaFrieda (steak sandwich), Patsy’s Pizzeria, and Pig Beach. The three P’s of championship ballpark eating, ya might say.
On my way out, I grabbed a swag bag (a really nice New Balance backpack!) and it was filled with a bunch of things, one of which was a little bottle of HÃjole (pronounced (ee-ho-leh) tequila. They’re the official tequila of the NY Mets and will be sponsoring two new HÃjole! branded bars, set to open at Citi Field this spring (coinciding with the Mets’ Opening Day). Located at The Porch Presented by HÃjole!, as well as behind section 311, the two brand footprints feature custom New York City-inspired murals and spacious bars. Cheers to that!
Here is the full list of new vendors (and some old ones) as well as the list of promotional games for 2023! Here’s their schedule too. #LGM
