This season, dinner at a Brewers game could look like an enchilada dog, a chicken cordon “brew” sandwich with “beer butter” onions, or birria tacos with parmesan truffle fries.
American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, ranked seventh in a recent USA Today list of the baseball stadiums with the best food. Tom Hecht, Brewers VP of consumer experience, wasn’t surprised.
“This is the third year in a row that we have been voted a top 10 destination for food,” Hecht said. “We’ve done so much (with) food ... to make this ballpark one of the best.”
One of four menu options at Chucho’s Red Tacos is their quesitacos, a corn taco with melted cheese dipped in chili oil. Patrons will have the choice of chicken, steak or beef for the filling.
The Brewers played their home opener on March 31, going up against the Kansas City Royals. The culinary team has unveiled new food options throughout the stadium, including The Alley, a food truck park on the Loge level toward left field.
The Brewers have worked with Delaware North and Milwaukee-based Black Shoe Hospitality over the last few years on "enhancing our core foods in the concession stands," Hecht said.
Hecht said The Alley builds on the success of the stadium’s 3rd Street Market Hall Annex, bringing in local vendors from the downtown Milwaukee food hall. The Annex opened in 2024 on the right side of the field.
“Our fans really loved the idea of having local foods brought into the ballpark, and we wanted to figure out what could be next,” Hecht said. “But there are great restaurants in Milwaukee — some of them just happened to be on four wheels.”
Take a stroll down The Alley
The Alley opened with three Milwaukee-based food truck businesses: Nadi Plates, an Italian food truck featuring parmesan truffle fries ($9.00) and pepperoni and vegan calzones; Hidden Kitchen MKE, making steak sandwiches ($15.99) and Reuben rolls ($8.99); and Chucho’s Red Tacos, serving birria tacos dipped in a chili sauce ($11.49).
The Alley is a food truck park located on the Loge level on the left side of American Family Field.
Sheboygan-based Baron’s Gelato also has a stand with gelato flavors like Door County cherry, mint stracciatella (an Italian take on cookies and cream) and pistachio.
Chucho’s Red Tacos owner Thamie Nanez said being part of a sports stadium has been on her “vision board” since 2021. The Brewers food team approached Chucho’s to join The Alley at the beginning of January.
“I think they spent a lot of time finding delicious food and things that people liked,” she said. “We’re blessed locally that people love the birria tacos.”
With 81 home games (and hopefully a long post-season run), Nanez said she and her team anticipate serving thousands of diners.
Baron Gottsacker fills a mini-Brewers cap with Door County cherry gelato.
Nadia Santaniello Bucholtz is the owner and head chef of Nadi Plates (pronounced “naughty”), a food truck business that opened in 2022, serving Italian food inspired by Santaniello Bucholtz’s upbringing.
She said a member of the Brewers team approached her son Zachary while working at one of their two trucks while it was parked at Lion’s Tail Brewery in Milwaukee.
“They just said to my son, ‘We’re from the Brewers,’ and told us what they were doing with The Alley, and said, ‘We want you to be one of the trailers,’” Santaniello Bucholtz said. She and Zachary were immediately on board.
“It’s just crazy that they picked us,” she added. “There are so many great food trucks out there, but I think what they were looking for was something that you couldn’t find at the ballpark already ... I think we fit that.”
Nadia Santaniello Bucholtz of Nadi Plates said they designed a new menu option, a fried fettuccine ball, for the Brewers ballpark. Santaniello Bucholtz said she wanted something on the menu that resembled a baseball.
Santaniello Bucholtz said the Brewers team suggested two items on their food truck menu — the truffle fries and the calzone — would do well at the stadium. They designed a new menu option, a deep-fried fettuccine ball, especially for American Family Field to look like “a baseball.”
The Alley was a “team-funded project,” Hecht said. They constructed food trucks within the stadium (there was talk of bringing in vendors’ trucks, but Hecht said the team “realized there’s no way to do it”). Vendors pay a percentage of sales to the stadium.
Santaniello Bucholtz said the Brewers team has been “truly amazing to work with ... getting us equipment that we need.” And the opportunity to have a space in The Alley couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We are in the process of opening a brick and mortar,” she said. “The exposure is going to be absolutely phenomenal.”
Coming up to the plate
The Alley isn’t the only space at American Family Field that’s had a food update.
There will be new food options throughout the ballpark, including throughout the concession stands and at J. Leinenkugel's Barrel Yard, the stadium’s sit down restaurant.
Concession stands have new options like an enchilada dog, a hot dog served in a salsa roja-dipped tortilla and topped with cheese, sour cream and onions. The loaded potato dog comes topped with tater tots, and there are two new chicken sandwiches: a chicken cordon “brew” with shaved ham and Swiss cheese, and a spicy Southern chicken sandwich.
Brewers executive chef Alex Beronja said he’s always monitoring what food options are popular. He worked in consultation with chef Joe Muench of Black Shoe Hospitality to choose new options for this year’s concessions.
The enchilada dog, a hot dog served in a salsa roja-dipped tortilla and topped with cheese, sour cream, onions and cilantro is a new menu option available in the concession stands at American Family Field.
“It’s become really a social thing at the ballpark, where people want to travel around and find new items. That’s why we are always bringing new concepts to concessions,” he said.
Executive chef Kate Southcott at J. Leinenkugel’s Barrel Yard aims to create a menu that gets folks excited to come in before games start — or even on days when the Brewers aren’t playing.
The Barrel Yard is a sit-down restaurant open year-round within the stadium. New items on the Barrel Yard menu include a turkey Reuben ($17), a smashburger with cheese spread and a root beer BBQ aioli ($16) and fig and prosciutto flatbread ($16).
Southcott wants fans in to try new things. “I think having variety all over the ballpark serves that purpose,” she said. “Everywhere you go, you’re going to find new items.”
The turkey Reuben is a new menu offering at J. Leinenkugel's Barrel Yard, a sit down restaurant within American Family Field.
She designed the menu at the Barrel Yard to be inclusive of people with dietary restrictions and allergies (the Brewers website lists concession stands that offer vegetarian and gluten-free options).
Beronja and Southcott aim to push their menus beyond classic Wisconsin foods like cheese curds and brats.
“When we’re building menus, obviously you have to have the staples,” Beronja said. “But sometimes it’s kind of like taking the staples and then putting your own twist on it.”
Southcott draws inspiration from local farmers’ markets. “Part of our goal is to keep our footprint small and keep using things locally.”
When American Family Field received that seventh-place ranking from USA Today, it felt “huge” to Southcott. “I mean, that’s everybody’s goal — to make sure that we are up there with everybody in the culinary world and just trying to show off what we can do.”
One of their menu options at Hidden Kitchen MKE is a steak sandwich with onions and a blue cheese spread.
All of these new choices mean the best way to enjoy food at the Brewers' stadium is to give yourself time. Arrive early, vendors say. Walk around and try food from multiple spots.
“There are just so many fun things in the ballpark,” Beronja said. “You won’t be disappointed.”
