Snake, grits, egg rolls on new ballpark menu

ARLINGTON -- You won’t have any problems knowing you’re in the Southwest if you want to try any of the new foods at Globe Life Field when the stadium opens for baseball later this month.

The Texas Rangers on Wednesday unveiled their new concession items for 2020, and there’s a definite regional flair to them.

Looking for a sausage dog? Well, the Rattler has you covered right down to the grilled rattlesnake sausage that’s the staple of the item. Looking for a little kick? How about trying the Grit Dog, a footlong hot dog that’s topped with jalapeno cheese grits?

Want something truly Texan from the organization that introduced the world to the nachos in the 1970s? Try the Stack -- a huge stack of tostadas that are layered on top of one another with pulled pork and chili and can be disassembled for easier sharing. And, of course, there’s brisket in Texas, too. The Rangers are introducing brisket egg rolls that are deep fried and served with barbecue sauce.

There’s a method to the madness in everything the club is introducing.

“We’ve always put menu items out there that our fans are accustomed to,” said Casey Rapp, the general manager of the team’s concessionaire, Delaware North. “We’re always looking for items that have some flair to them. We’re known for having great concession items, and we think we do a great job finding things that appeal to our fans regionally.”

Rapp’s personal favorite this year is the Rattler, which is on a hoagie roll and is drizzled with “venom sauce.” There’s nothing poisonous about the Rattler, but a good rattlesnake sausage wasn’t an easy find. Rapp said it took around three months to find the right sausage vendor, and they found one locally. And for those who are leery of trying a game sausage, Rapp and executive chef Cris Vazquez both said the Rattler tastes similar to chicken.

Vazquez, who has the keys to the creative castle, believes the Stack will be the talker this year. It falls in line with such Ranger staples as the Boomstick (a two-foot-long hot dog) and the Fowl Pole (a two-foot-long chicken tender).

The Stack isn’t two feet long, but it does have the other sharable items beat in height. That’s because in addition to the piles of tostadas and meat, there are also chips and nacho cheese sauce that add to the Stack. There are some who will try to take down the Stack alone, but that’s not the intention, as it’s served with extra plates for sharing.

“It’s very good,” Vazquez said. “It’s something we came up with last year. We’re always looking for that item that has a wow factor, and we think this is it. We’re really proud of everything we’ve put out there.”

The Rangers had an open house for the public Wednesday so they could tour the stadium and try the new concession foods. The first event at Globe Life Field is a Chris Stapleton/Willie Nelson concert Saturday.