While the Chicago White Sox baseball operations department is preaching patience in 2025, the marketing team is doing everything possible to draw fans independent of the baseball. They have already introduced a slate of giveaways to celebrate the many eras of White Sox baseball to celebrate their 125th year. This morning, they introduced new concessions items in the remodeled team store. The hope is that some combination of promotions, commerce and gastronomy will inspire paying customers to find cheap tickets on third-party sites.
General Concession Food Offerings
What generates the most excitement on social media? The food. While keeping the mainstays of hot dogs, polish sausages, and the Cuban Comet, the White Sox will have a new food stand in Section 154 called Lucky’s. With Korean Dogs, Bubble Waffles, and Chili Crunch Noodles, the White Sox are hoping to integrate another growing part of the South Side by recognizing the food hotbed that’s Chinatown. While Chinese cuisine still reigns supreme, an increasing number of Korean street food and ramen shops are popping up in Chinatown and Bridgeport.
Lucky’s offerings:
- All American Korean Dog: Vienna Beef hot dog coated with corn flakes, and a drizzle of ketchup and mustard
- El Diablo: A mozzarella Korean Dog covered with Flaming Hot Cheetos, sambal mayo, and Fu Sauce.
- Papas Freedom: Vienna Beef hot dog coated with hash browns and a drizzle of barbecue sauce
- Stadium Nacho: Vienna Beef hot dog coated with Tostito’s tortilla chips drizzled with stadium nacho cheese and pickled jalapenos
- Unicorn: A deep-fried marshmallow coated with Fruity Pebbles and sweet condensed milk
- Changeup Bubble Waffle: Filled with vanilla ice cream, black sugar boba, ginger, mocha syrup and Pirouline cookie
- Gojujang Bubble Waffle: Crispy chicken tossed in a Gojujang sauce with toasted sesame seeds
- Heater Bubble Waffle: Filled with vanilla ice cream, miso chili, caramel, peanuts, and crushed Oreos
- Sweet Chili Bubble Waffle: Crispy chicken tossed in a sweet chili sauce and peanuts
- Chili Crunch Noodles: Knife-cut noodles with green onions, cilantro, and peanuts
For Section 110, Delaware North reached out to Fuku, a New York-based restaurant owned by celebrity chef David Chang, to revamp chicken offerings. The Fuku OG Sando and OG Tenders will be coming to Rate Field. Like most fried chicken offerings, the OG Sando is a crispy chicken sandwich that’s habanero-brined, bringing an extra kick of heat. Fans who order the OG Tenders will get three pieces of crispy chicken with a choice of Fuku mayo or miso scallion ranch sauce.
Premium Food Offerings (Stadium Club or 300-Level)
Levy Restaurants will have a new array of sandwiches for the Stadium Club, 300-Level Club, and Rate Club.
- 35th Street Reuben: Standard Reuben sandwich
- Patty Melt: Two all-beef smash patties brings the diner classic to Rate Field
- The All-Pro: Pit ham, swiss cheese, and mustard butter on a pretzel roll
- The Chi-Talian: Genoa salami, spicy capicola, ham, and giardiniera relish on an italian roll
Along with the sandwiches will be lighter fare with the Lemon & Dill Cucumber Salad and Roasted Vegetable Couscous Salad. But for those who love big ballpark food offerings, the Loaded Brisket Curds is up your alley. The White Sox will pile house-smoked brisket, pickled jalapenos, and coleslaw on the cheese curds. For dessert, Strawberry Cream Nachos are on the menu. Crispy cinnamon sugar tortilla chips loaded with strawberry salsa and whipped cream.
Last year, the Campfire Milkshake stole the show, and the White Sox have a new offering that will try to replicate the magic. The Celebration Cake Shake is birthday cake ice cream blended with confetti cake and paired with a cookie that looks like one of the famous pinwheels in the center field.
Food Review
Like previous Food Day reviews, the following scale will be used:
- Single: Solid, but not spectacular
- Double: Has potential to be great
- Triple: Item added to the rotation for frequent visitors
- Home Run: Must try on your next visit
Gojujang Bubble Waffle
DOUBLE
I like the sweet heat from the Gojujang sauce, and the bubble waffle is on point. This is a savory option that’s a fun play on chicken and waffles.
The OG Sando
TRIPLE
David Chang makes a mean chicken sandwich. The heat from habanero-brine is noticeable, and even though I don’t deal with spicy food well, the Fuku sauce is excellent. Imagine a more high-end offering of a spicy Popeye’s chicken sandwich.
Chili Crunch Noodles: Double
I imagine I’ll grab a box of Chili Crunch Noodles for dinner for the weeknight 6:10 PM games. More baseball stadiums should have Asian food offerings in a to-go box. It makes it easy to eat, and Lucky’s noodles are very flavorful.
Loaded Brisket Curds
TRIPLE
As a cheese curd stan, I pretty much love all offerings involving them. Getting a fork full of brisket with the deep-fried cheese curd is bliss. But I do not care for the creamy coleslaw and would ask that to be removed in my next order.
Patty Melt: Triple
I’m a sucker for patty melts, my usual go-to when eating lunch at a diner, or even the Culver’s version. The White Sox offering is not skimping out on the beef. It’s a bigger burger than expected, but it still hits on all the notes of a classic patty melt.
The Chi-Talian: Single
It’s hard to screw up an Italian sandwich, and while this version is good, I’m not sure what’s the difference between this and what the White Sox have been offering outside Section 108 at the deli stand.
Celebration Cake Shake
SINGLE
After one sip, you’ll call your friend Charlie and start prancing like unicorns to Candy Mountain. I imagine this shake has the sugar content of three Dr Peppers and might push close to 1500 calories. Your kids will love the glucose spike that kicks in the fifth inning as they start running through the 500-level seats and begin to crash around the eighth inning. It is not recommended for those who are pre-diabetic.
New Team Store
Fanatics already controls Major League Baseball’s online merchandise sales but is now shifting into the retail front. The Chicago White Sox will be one of a handful of teams working with Fanatics, and part of the deal will include stadium-exclusive gear. Self-checkout stands are available, and the White Sox, continuing the 125-year celebration, will feature merchandise that represents the many eras.
The team store will also be the first to sell the new City Connect uniforms by Nike, which will be introduced in April.
New Alcohol Offerings
Beer and hard liquor come in handy watching a 121-loss team, and Delaware North has partnered with more local breweries while introducing a new cocktail menu. The biggest beer news in Chicago recently is that Yuengling is readily available and will be on draft at White Sox games in 2025. Tagging along will be Sapporo, but there is no word yet on whether Sake Bombs will be a thing.
New breweries added to the Leinenkugel’s Craft Lodge
- Crispin Cider Company: Crispin Original
- Golden Road Brewing: Mango Cart
- Moody Tongue Brewing: Orange Blossom Belgian Blonde
- Moor’s Brewing Company: Session Ale and Moor’s IPA
- Roadhouse Brewing Company: Family vacation Light Lager and Plasma Hazy IPA
- Saugatuck Brewing Company: Blueberry Lemonade Shandy
Delaware North is also working closely with Pilot Project Brewing, the brewery incubator in Logan Square, and a helpful friend of donating beer for the Milwaukee Tailgate party we hosted last year. Also working with the White Sox again will be Hopbutcher for the World, Goldfinger Brewing, Marz Brewing, Funkytown Brewery, and Pipeworks Brewing.
