CWS 2023: What’s on the menu for this year’s College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It’s become a tradition for College World Series food offerings to go far beyond the traditional peanuts and Crackerjacks, and this year is no exception.

6 News was out at the ballpark Wednesday to check out this year’s menu — Executive Chef Alec Woockman has some new stadium snacks to show off this year.

“One of the things we’re really excited about is we have some new sharable options,” he said.

Chef Alec set up platters of food for hungry fans. The barbecue platter is a combined pound of sliced brisket, rib tips, smoked chicken with housemade barbecue sauce, cornbread, tater tots, baked beans, and slaw. The Home Plate Meatball Slider has four meatball sliders with marinara, pesto, mozzarella, garlic parm fries, and fried ravioli.

“Those can easily feed two people — if you’re crazy, you can do it yourself, I don’t know,” Woockman said. “But I would say they’re very sharable.”

There’s also a new burger this year for the fan looking for a more traditional baseball treat.

“So this is the Bada Bing Burger,” Woockman said. “So this is an Omaha Steaks beef patty. We have shredded pepper, banana peppers. But what’s cool about this burger: It has three mozzarella sticks on top.”

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Two new hot dogs — the Belly Dog and The Jerk — and all the food here features really colorful names that the chef comes up with.

“You know, I just think I’m trying to think of baseball puns really, that’s all it is,” he said. “Some of these items’ names come first and what goes on these things comes next; so I try to think of something that makes me laugh or at least works, and then build an item.

Asked about his vision behind the naming of “The Jerk,” he said it was “a lot of jerk seasoning — Caribbean spice — nothing to do with me.”

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

If you want to buy some of those stadium treats, remember your money is no good at concession stands here. It’s the third year the stadium has been cashless.

Reverse ATMs are located thought out the concourse. The machines turn cash into cards. That started during the COVID outbreak to prevent the handling of money — but now it’s an industry trend.

“Arenas, convention centers, stadiums across the country — it’s just easier,” said Roger Dixon, president and CEO of MECA Omaha. “It expedites sales. People think cash is quicker — that’s not true.”

Officials advise getting to the stadium early to get through security and to expect long lines if you want to get your hands on some of these newly created baseball stadium snacks or meals.

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