Meet Ford Field’s new food options: Footlong beer cheese hot dogs, crack fries, more

One of the most overlooked parts of the Detroit Lions’ $100 million worth of renovations to Ford Field is the concession additions to gameday. On Wednesday, the Lions held an event unveiling a bunch of new food and drink items that will be available to fans on gameday.

If you want a look at the foods yourself, Detroit Lions’ Tori Petry did a virtual tour of some of the new food offerings via Facebook Live:

Here’s a brief recap of what stands out among this year’s menu.

Hopcat “crack” fries

Price (via Justin Rogers): $13 for “Loaded” version

Hopcat is a national chain of gastropubs that originated in Grand Rapids. The restaurant has become well known for craft beers and what they call “crack fries.” These fries were named to Food Network’s “America’s 10 Best French Fries” list. Here’s how they describe them:

“HopCat's founders settled on the final recipe for their crack fries (named for how addictive they are) while sitting around a table drinking beer — which could explain why the fries are battered in light beer before they're sprinkled with black pepper seasoning. Some people order extra toppings, like cheese sauce, jalapenos and onion”

Hopcat is also offering what they call Pretzel Nugs, which Petry insists are more than pretzel bites, but they look a lot like pretzel bites.

This is the first time Hopcat has offered food inside Ford Field.

The #Leinydog

As Petry describes it, this is 2017s version of the Big Blue Donut, which debuted last year and was donned with its own hashtag.

The Leinydog is a footlong hot dog stuffed with beer cheese made from Leinenkugel beer, all wrapped in a pretzel. Here’s a look at the behemoth:

Price (via Justin Rogers): $15

Flowers of Vietnam wings

Price (via Justin Rogers): 4 for $14

Wings are a classic sports food and these look to be highly dressed in all sorts of sauces and spices.

Flowers of Vietnam is a new local business that was named the No. 3 best new restaurant by the Detroit Free Press. Their traditional menu offers “Korean-fried caramel chicken wings” along with more traditional Vietnamese options.

We tried to reach out to currently-vacationing, self-appointed president of “Team Wings Over Everything,” Ryan Mathews, for comment on this new addition to Ford Field. He only offered this statement:

“We at Team Wings Over Everything (WOE) believe in tasting before judgement. We do not discriminate or jump to conclusions based on title of dish or appearance of said dish. We withhold further comment until we're able to taste the cuisine. Also, hot dogs need not be injected with cheese. What is wrong with you people?"

If you’re sold on the wings, Petry says the Flowers of Vietnam restaurant is located in the North Club section, meaning you’ll have to have Club Level access for a shot at the food.

The Long Snapper (alcoholic drink)

Price (via Justin Rogers): $11.50

First of all, shame on whoever is responsible for not calling this a “Moscow Muhlbach.” Secondly, don’t step on our toes with the whole Honolulu Blue drink. That’s our game.

The drink has similar makings of a Mule, with vodka as the base liquor and Mist Twist to give it a citrus kick. But instead of ginger beer, they use Blue Curacao to give it that Honolulu Blue tint.

The Lions are also offering Bloody Marys—dubbed the Michigan Mary—as seen below:

Detroit is also offering some local restaurants the chance to compete in the concession market this year. Restaurants like Bigalora, El Asador, Slows (which just opened a fourth location in Ford Field) and Corridor Sausage Company don’t come with the gimmicks of overly-sized, pseudo-fusion comfort foods, but they come highly regarded by local Detroiters.

Unfortunately, a lot of these food and drink items are exclusive to Club Level ticketholders, but if you’re looking to splurge on a day of food and Lions football, there are now a bunch of new, intriguing options.