Blue Smoke's Pulled Pork Sandwich at CitiField

This past weekend, Shaun and I took the trip out to Citifield for a little Mets-Astros action. Though you may recall that Shaun and I call different sports teams our own, when in New York, I'm always rooting for New York, even if it's the Mets and not my beloved Yankees. It should come as little surprise that my favorite part of the ball park are the eats. In fact, I did a whole post about ball park eats last spring. And while my favorite ballpark fare typically revolves around soft serve vanilla ice cream in a souvenir helmet cup, when Shaun surprised me with a pulled pork sandwich from the Blue Smoke stand, I couldn't resist getting a shot of it in all its barbecued glory.

Tender pulled pork, smokey barbecue sauce and a thick brioche bun made this a sandwich for the record books. Who says ball park fare can't be gourmet? Oh, and the dill pickles didn't hurt either.

But what I really want to know is, what do you eat at the ball park? Do you stick to traditional fare, like hot dogs and beer? Or would you be willing to brave the extensive Shake Shack line just for an artisinal burger?

Spring Date Series: Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

The two shiny new baseball stadiums are rejuvenating the ballpark experience for city dwellers. Our Date of the Week (DOW) is grabbing your hat and jerseys and heading out to the new Citifield for a Mets game. Leave behind your team prejudices in favor of having a fun night outdoors. After all, I always prefer Yanks over Mets, but I’m in a split team household and quite frankly I haven’t been to the new Yankee Stadium yet (and yes, that review will be coming next week).   This week, the Mets play at home from May 6 through May 13 against Philly, Pittsburgh and Atlanta and we recommend taking advantage of the long home stretch (I’ll be there May 6!). Hop on the 7 train out to Citifield, take a peek at the new stadium, and spend the evening yelling your head off and doing the wave (come on, you know you want to). About 1000% better than Shea Stadium, Citifield has an old, rustic baseball park aura, where I felt as though I was walking into a game from baseball’s past. Don’t skip out on exploring the stadium, especially the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.     

Of course, the new pricing scheme is that different quality games go for a different quality price. So, when the Mets play the Yanks (I mean, who DOESN’T want to go to that game?) even the ‘cheap’ seats could run up to $30 a ticket, and that’s if you can score them. However, this week the Mets play the Phillies (last year’s World Series Champs. Ack.), you can score $19 seats. Perhaps not the most glamorous seat in the house, don’t fret as the new stadium doesn’t really have a ‘bad’ seat. I was there in the 500 section on April 24th, and here’s the view from our seats:    

Going after work? Bring a couple of Red Bulls and bag o’chips to share for the ride out to Citifield. After all, you MUST get hot dogs once at the game. While there’s only one Shake Shack and Blue Smoke location, Nathan’s hot dogs and fries are available throughout the stadium, even from your seat! Hurrah! A word to the wise: ditch the uber long lines at Shake Shack and Blue Smoke for the real thing in back in Manhattan.   

Budget Breakdown: 

Approximate Ticket Cost: $35 total 

Subway Ride: $4 per person, roundtrip (but ‘free’ with a monthly Metrocard!) 

Bud or Bud Light Beer: $6 

Nathan’s Hot Dog: $4.75 

Nathan’s Fries (to share): $4.75 

Ice Cream in Helmet Cup (my personal favorite, also to share): $6 

Total Date cost: Under $100