Stadium Food

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GoldenGuts

GoldenGuts

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It sounds like the chances of local food establishments getting spots in the new stadium to sell their food isn't looking very good. I talked to a couple owners of local establishments last night and they said they have been trying very hard to get food services in the new stadium but the U of M sold all of the vending rights to Aramark who is inturn asking for an arm and leg from the local businesses just to sell their product in the stadium. They said it is not even worth the time and effort it would take for the price they are asking. They also said the U of M picked possibly the worst vendor in terms of both service for fans and other businesses who would like to sell their product.

I asked them if they tought about getting permits to set up little stands outside the stadium. They said they tried to go that route as well but the city will not allow it. I think that is unfortunate because I have had some good food from the little stands set up outside other college stadiums such as Oklahoma, USC, and Nebraska.

I plan on doing my cooking and eating in the tailgating lots though so I guess I don't have much to worry about. Just thought I would pass on what I heard to those of you who were talking about this subject a little while back.
 

It's too bad we won't have 1st class food (local flavor) and drink (beer) options to go along with our 1st class stadium. The Twins are spending a lot of time looking at food/drink options at Target Field. Hopefully TCF won't be like any other stadium's food options.

Sounds like the U won't be getting anything but the price of my tickets from me. Oh well, hopefully the quality of football will be great along with being outside!
 

Food!

Hope TCF Bank has some good pizza stands that sell the authentic stuff.
ALSO, they better have good hotdogs there. Not that junk sold at the Dome. YUK!!:mad:
 

It's really a shame. The new stadium will be a first class facility, but concessions will not be first-rate. Competition would lead to people putting out good products to attract customers. Instead of choosing from multiple good options, we get Hobson's Choice: That or nothing. And when you're offering Hobson's choice, your quality only has to be good enough to be better than nothing. On game day, TCF will be the 18th largest city in the state, why should choices be so limited for such a large number of people!
 

Food!

Forgot to mention earlier, but I heard that a Famous Dave's is going to in the TCF.
Now THAT is very good food! I am sure it will be expensive!:eek:
 


How long is that Aramark contract? When it runs out, I'd like to see it opened up for some real competition.
 

froggopher said:
Forgot to mention earlier, but I heard that a Famous Dave's is going to in the TCF.
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How reliable is this information you "heard"? I haven't seen or heard anything about a Famous Dave's being in TCF. Just yesterday they announced that Caribou Coffee will be sold inside so I'd be surprised if Famous Dave's is and yet they haven't announced it. Plus, allowing Famous Dave's in would kind of go against the Aramark contact, wouldn't it?

Does anyone has information or able to confirm this Famous Dave's rumor?
 

Even if the Famous Dave's rumor is true, it's like TCF just transferred the vending options (minus beer) straight over from the dome. How disappointing!:cry:
 

A bartender at Stub & Herb's told me that a few days ago.
Real nice if it was true.
 



swmngo4 said:
How reliable is this information you "heard"? I haven't seen or heard anything about a Famous Dave's being in TCF. Just yesterday they announced that Caribou Coffee will be sold inside so I'd be surprised if Famous Dave's is and yet they haven't announced it. Plus, allowing Famous Dave's in would kind of go against the Aramark contact, wouldn't it?

Does anyone has information or able to confirm this Famous Dave's rumor?
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Can't confirm TCF....but Famous Dave's has been in Williams Arena for several years....just like Papa John's was until they were replaced by some frozen pizza...cant think of the name. Hopefully that fresh popcorn stand in Williams makes it across the street.
 

Just going to throw this out there, but maybe Aramark threw the most money at the U to have the honor of provider their so-so offerings?
 

froggopher said:
Hope TCF Bank has some good pizza stands that sell the authentic stuff.
ALSO, they better have good hotdogs there. Not that junk sold at the Dome. YUK!!:mad:
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I thought the dogs at the dome were way better than the crappy dogs Aramark provides at Williams and am assuming they will provide at TCF. I am hopeful however that they might improve the quality.
 

GopherGod said:
I thought the dogs at the dome were way better than the crappy dogs Aramark provides at Williams and am assuming they will provide at TCF. I am hopeful however that they might improve the quality.
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Dogs? We need hot subs! Bratwurst w/ kraut! And pizza! I will put $10 on a bratwurst or $20 on a hot steak&cheese sub w/ fixies before I'll put $6 on a measly hot dog.
 



two cents.....

how about we actually wait to see what type of food options (local or otherwise) end up in the stadium/around the perimeter of the stadium before we all go "jumping off the bridge" and assuming everything that someone hears from a guy on the street is 100% fact. :eek:
 

swmngo4 said:
How reliable is this information you "heard"? I haven't seen or heard anything about a Famous Dave's being in TCF. Just yesterday they announced that Caribou Coffee will be sold inside so I'd be surprised if Famous Dave's is and yet they haven't announced it. Plus, allowing Famous Dave's in would kind of go against the Aramark contact, wouldn't it?

Does anyone has information or able to confirm this Famous Dave's rumor?
Click to expand...


It was straight from the mouth of 2 different owners from local establishments.

Famous Dave's, Caribou, and places like that will be able to afford taking on the big fees Aramark is charging because their businesses are so big. There are many smaller places in the dinkytown/mpls area that could provide some great options in the stadium but because they are small and family owned they can't afford to put in the time and effort for the small return.

Also some of these local small owned businesses provide meals for the teams before and after games in which they get all the profit from the sales. If these small businesses sign on with Aramark to provide food in the stadiums they also will now have to pay fees to Aramark to provide the services they already provide to the U of M teams which just takes more money of the the local establishments pockets.
 

If I were a business owner of per say, Matt's Bar, and could sell probably 5,000 PLUS juicy's every Saturday, wouldn't that be a great opportunity to get the word out about how great your food is?. might not get much profit if Aramark is charging ridiculous prices, but it would attract people there on non-game days, thus increasing business. just a thought.
 

Aramark got a long-term (12 years) University-wide contract for food service just last year. The contract is worth an estimated $96 million to the University. This was a massive project to review competitive bids from a variety of food service providers and was based on a combination of cost, quality, variety, and more. I'm not a big Aramark fan, but let's not assume the food is going to be bad before we even know what's going to be in the place.

Aramark has contracted with other restaurants in the past, including on campus at the U as referenced about Williams and Mariucci, but also in Coffman Union. This generally involves Aramark basically operating a franchise of the restaurant involved.

Related articles:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS143899+15-Apr-2008+BW20080415
http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature...contracts_with_food_and_beverage_vendors.html

Incidentally, the Coke contract was renewed at the same time for 10 years and approximately $38 million. http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/17279929.html
 


Aramark= crap, high mark-ups etc.

This is one bridge I don't mind jumping off. The legislature missed the boat when they didn't add either a "local only products" rider or a "30 mile radius" price control to the stadium bill. Aramark's track record of horrible business practices make me ever confident of the high priced,terrible food they are famous for. Being a captive audience takes away all concern for quality and reasonable prices. Rip me if you want, but all of us have been asked to pay 5 buck for a Brat of questionable quality. Do you really believe that is going to change?
 

year of the gopher said:
I'm not a big Aramark fan, but let's not assume the food is going to be bad before we even know what's going to be in the place.
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But can't we assume the food will be bad since it's bad in Williams and Mariucci? I don't know the process, but wouldn't it be a mirror image of what they do at other U sporting events? I'm still an optimist though.
 

Maximus said:
But can't we assume the food will be bad since it's bad in Williams and Mariucci? I don't know the process, but wouldn't it be a mirror image of what they do at other U sporting events? I'm still an optimist though.
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Not necessarily. It's a new stadium with new concession facilities (and more of them), new equipment, and was part of the new contract with Aramark. Again, I won't assume it's going to be a ton better, but I also won't assume it will be the same.

If the food sucks in the stadium, will that really change your excitement about being back on campus? Not for me.

By the way, there are things I really like in Mariucci for food: the Kemps ice cream stand and Dino's Gyros to name a couple. Even the scaled down Famous Dave's is pretty good.
 

Noticed in the pictures some of the concession signs.....Goalline Pizza and Gopher Grill (burgers?)
 

RE: Famous Dave's

I had a tour about a month ago and asked about food options. My tour guide, who was from the sales/ticketing side not facilities management, told me his understanding was that they were confident that they would reach an agreement with Famous Dave’s to have a presence at TCF, but that last he heard there was no signed deal and there was a possibility that nothing would get done in that regard until 2010. Take it for what it’s worth.
 

I've said this before but Williams Arena is HORRIBLE for food options. Outside the Dino's Gyro's and the 'fresh' popcorn stand there is nothing to get there. The popcorn at the normal stand doesn't even have butter or salt. Come on.
I don't know if I can even get a burger at Williams?
 

GoGophers2005 said:
I've said this before but Williams Arena is HORRIBLE for food options. Outside the Dino's Gyro's and the 'fresh' popcorn stand there is nothing to get there. The popcorn at the normal stand doesn't even have butter or salt. Come on.
I don't know if I can even get a burger at Williams?
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While they could make better use of Williams facilities, there isn't a lot of space in the building to add/expand concessions. Now, if they get a practice facility attached to the building, there might be an opportunity to add some space for more amenities.
 

I'm not to sure of this...

year of the gopher said:
While they could make better use of Williams facilities, there isn't a lot of space in the building to add/expand concessions. Now, if they get a practice facility attached to the building, there might be an opportunity to add some space for more amenities.
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The DECC was bulit in the late '50's, with no ability to change the size of the stands, but has changed the food options frequently, adding pizza and ice cream and the such.
 

What about DQ?

They have signage all over, but no vendor deal in place?
 

go4rube said:
They have signage all over, but no vendor deal in place?
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They, naturally, have a presence in their own DQ club lounge. You can get dilley bars, etc in there. Dont know about anywhere else though.
 

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