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Why Does the BBQ at Reliant Stadium Look Like Alpo?

Written by Texans_Chick

Friday, 20 April 2007

In "Ask TC," you can ask me any question about the Texans and I will try to find out the answers for you. If you have a question you would liked answered, go to the message board and PM me.

Today's question is about food quality at Reliant Stadium. I don't know about y'all, but I prefer the franchised food options (Papa Johns, Breyers) at Reliant versus some of the ARAMARK offerings. There used to be Luthers and Taco Arandas, which were great stadium food options, but they weren't there last year and were replaced by worse BBQ and some orange nacho, insult-to-Mexico abomnation at the Cuervo Cantina.

So what's up with that? I asked the Texans, and this is their answer:

"The Texans do work with Aramark quite closely on the food and beverage offerings available to our fans. We are constantly working on ways to improve the variety of offerings and have one of the best Point of Sale ratios for a stadium in the United States (a point of sale ratio measures the number of places to buy food or beverage in relation to the number of fans). Where many stadiums offer only Hamburgers, Pizza, Nachos, Coke and Bud or Miller, we also offer sushi, fresh salads, Panini’s, cheese steak sandwiches, ice cream with freshly made waffle cones, roasted peanuts, funnel cakes, Shinerbock, Fat Tire, Microbrews, Maui Wowi, Starbucks coffee, etc.

The decision to offer a branded concept can be a complex one. There are multiple issues for a franchisee to consider when making the decision to sell their products at Texans games. Unfortunately it can be challenging to find franchisees that can make the set-up investment, staffing and product delivery economically feasible for ten Texans games. We are always working with branded food and beverage providers though to identify future opportunities. We recognize that our fans want and deserve the most variety possible.

This season there will be food and beverage changes as we look at what products were popular last season, what products were not so popular and what new products are out there. I apologize that I can’t provide more specific information right now - most of the changes are in the works or are still being discussed - but in the next few months look for an email or announcement regarding some changed and added products."

Well, I have to say I learned something, and that's what this is all about. I'd like to thank the team for answering me. Given that they are still discussing changes, do you have any suggestions for the Texans of what's good and what is not-so-much? Please leave a comment, and I will make sure they get the link.

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Comments (12)

1. 21-04-2007 09:18

Food at Reliant Stadium

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a particularly picky eater. With that said, most of the food that I have tried at the stadium is disgusting. The "fajita" meat and BBQ have the texture and taste of low-grade dogfood. The nachos are often a pile of stale chips topped with some sort of orange-colored petroleum byproduct. The hotdogs are possibly made from Nutria for all we know. I'm still hanging in there as a fan of the team, but they have lost my business forever at their food Point of Sale.

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2. 21-04-2007 10:09

More comments...

So Benn, what you are saying is that by comparing the BBQ to Alpo, I am being too kind???

It may be difficult to do branded foods, but I think having one location of something franchised and really good at the Cuervo Cantina couldn't be that difficult.

I like that they added the beer stand behind the Bullpen, but wish it had more bartenders as the line got pretty long. It would be great if they put something good on that side of the building like the Cuervo Cantina.

Oh, and didn't they used to have chili for the hotdogs??? I haven't eaten a hotdog since year one--they had chili dogs then, and then they got rid of the chili--is it still gone??

Any other comments or suggestions?

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3. 21-04-2007 10:51

More comments...

Wow, didn\'t know they had sushi at the stadium.

Must hunt that down and find it.

Written by TEXANS84 (Guest)

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4. 21-04-2007 13:51

Sushi????

I believe the sushi is in the club section.

Personally, I think eating ARAMARK sushi might be a sign of a death wish. I love sushi, but at a football stadium?

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5. 21-04-2007 20:41

Sushi????

I've never seen catfish sushi before

http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/index.php

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6. 25-04-2007 10:31

Hard to find

All food is not on all levals, so upper deck etc. cannot get to them and enjoy. Why not put them on all levals, not just on one or two.

http://food

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7. 28-04-2007 22:39

Quantity vs. Quality

"We are constantly working on ways to improve the variety of offerings and have one of the best Point of Sale ratios for a stadium in the United States"

Ummmm, so *shrugs shoulders*

Who cares if you have a bunch of choices, if you don't put out a product someone wants to eat. Sometimes trying to do too much is a bad thing. I hate to compare food to cars but Honda only has a few options but they build great cars. GM has a ton of options and they cars barely last 100k miles. One company is florishing, and the other has to have massive layoffs to stay aflout.

Written by Hagar (Guest)

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8. 01-05-2007 11:31

Quantity vs. Quality

Being in Austin I was not able to attend a game last year, but not having chili for hotdogs is a sin in the state of Texas.

Hagar I agree that the reply TC got did not answer the question but instead it redirected it. this is how things are done now a days. You can't call a company and get true customer service unless you know someone ... i.e. TC (who has a lot of great contacts), do you think they would take my call or answer my questions?

This is Texas for pete's sake, having bad BBQ is just wrong as wrong can get, (so is sushi at a ball game)!

Written by Specnatz (Registered)

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9. 03-05-2007 11:03

Stadium "food"

Houston is a food city. One of the first things that comes to mind when thinking about houston is food, more specifically, tex-mex, steaks, (just meat in general). to have a stadium with food as awful as reliant stadum has is shameful. hell, houston was number six on forbes traveller's list of best restaurant cities... http://www.forbestraveler.com/2007/04/07041701_slide_6.html?partner=playlist&thisSpeed=15000

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10. 04-05-2007 13:31

Derek's comments

Honda makes a great car? Really? And Benn...have you ever TASTED low-grade dogfood to compare?

I'm just kidding, of course. But seriously - I don't give a rat's rear about the food there. That's why I tailgate, and why everyone else should too. The team all but admitted that it's all about money when they said the brand names back out if it's not economically feasible. How do you force them to make changes? Stop spending money on it. It would never happen, but if everyone in the stadium refused to buy $7.50 beer, $5 Cokes, and $4 water, what do you think would happen? They'd be forced to drop their prices. If they weren't so greedy, the chain restaurants could afford to come in and offer space. But if it costs them a fortune to lease the space (and it will, because the Texans know they make a whole lot more if they sell their OWN food in that space), they won't move in.

All said, though, how nice would it be to have a McDonald's and Taco Bell in there?

Written by DerekLee1 (Registered)

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11. 06-05-2007 11:23

Aramark and Luthers/Pappas

I’m too disappointed by the disappearance of Luther’s BBQ and its replacement by that Aramark “stuff” alleged to be BBQ. But Luther’s BBQ was acquired by the Pappas Restaurant group last year. One thing that the Texans representative was correct about is that it does take a large economic investment for branded restaurants to open outlets at Reliant. The fees charged them by Aramark, who owns the concession rights for the stadium, is astronomical and significantly cuts down the profit margin compared to their regular outlets.

I certainly hope there are changes with both the product offerings as well as the quality of service provided by the Aramark staff. Some of the concession workers seem to try to go as slow as possible in filling orders.

Written by Koolaid Time (Registered)

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12. 09-05-2007 10:51

Aramark and Luthers/Pappas

As a weekly tailgater, I rarely eat at the stadium. If I do it is peanuts. But the few times I have eaten in the stadium I have been disappointed in stale chips for nachos, brisket sandwiches that have absolutely no taste, though I did dig the hot dogs. I am there for football and not much else, but when I do get hungryI would like good food.

Written by dskillz (Registered)

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Last Updated ( Monday, 23 April 2007 )

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