There are few things more quintessentially Chicago than a hot dog at a football game. So when Northwestern opened its new Ryan Field, it made sense that the stadium would try to bring some of the city’s most famous food with it.
Across the 100 and 200 concourses, the stadium’s “Best of Chicago Eats” lineup features Vienna Beef Chicago-style hot dogs, Al’s Italian Beef, Pat’s tavern-style pizza, Chicago Steakhouse burgers and Garrett Popcorn. They give Northwestern football something more distinctive than the standard lineup of generic stadium food, making it feel attached to the city around it. I mean, Northwestern is Chicago’s Big Ten team after all!
And the food operation gets even bigger outside the stadium. The Village, Ryan Field’s surrounding 11-acre culinary district, features custom stadium residencies from some of Chicago’s biggest culinary names: Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard and Gibsons to name a few.
With such a wide range of options, the new Ryan Field provides fans with some unique, and not so unique, options of what to eat on game day. Going in, I too had questions about where to satisfy my game day cravings, so I did what any other foodie would, and spent my time trying anything and everything I could. Mini lobster rolls from Gibson’s new concept restaurant are certainly not my preferred game day meal, so here are the quick options the concourses have to offer.
All of these reviews were done during either the first or second game day. And for those of you asking “who are you to judge the food?” Well, it’s a pretty good question. While I certainly am not a Gordon Ramsey or Anthony Bourdain, I do have years of highly sophisticated experience eating food, a history of eating escargot in France because my dad dared me, finishing a family-serving of fondue in Switzerland, and, most importantly, an extensive Beli list of highly curated reviews.
Standing on the Wildcat Wall, surrounded by thousands of screaming purple-and-white fans, here are the foods I would recommend, and the ones I would stay away from.
Chicago-style hot dog (rating: 7/10)
The Chicago dog feels almost mandatory. Ryan Field’s version uses Vienna Beef and comes with the familiar Chicago toppings: poppy seed bun, yellow mustard, bright neon-green relish, chopped onions, tomatoes, pickled sport peppers and a dill pickle spear. The result is exactly what you want from a Chicago dog: straightforward, familiar and unmistakably Chicago. The problem is the $12.99 price tag. The hot dog is good. It just isn’t $12.99 good. That assessment may be slightly unfair because I am admittedly biased toward Portillo’s, where a Chicago dog can be found for under $5. However, if you’re already inside Ryan Field and want something that feels distinctly Chicago, this is one of the better choices.
Chicken tenders (rating: 3/10 → 7/10)
Game One (Oct. 2): It’s almost comical that the most disappointing food I tried was something as universally beloved as chicken tenders and fries. Ryan Field’s $16.99 version was not exactly a touchdown. The chicken was rubbery and cardboardy. There was also a strange aftertaste that stuck around longer than I would have liked. Chicken tenders aren’t supposed to be complicated. They’re fried chicken and breaded. However, when they miss, they really miss. But, some of this was chalked up to opening-game chaos.
Game Two (Oct. 10): When I arrived at the Wildcat Wall for Northwestern’s game against Ball State, I was shocked to find so many of my friends eating the chicken tenders. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were not the same tenders I had encountered at the first game. The opening game’s tenders featured the familiar mass-produced breading found in college dining halls and stadiums: a uniform golden-brown coating with a firm, moderately crunchy exterior that lacked the light, flaky texture of freshly hand-breaded chicken. This time, however, the tenders were an entirely different beast. They appeared to be double-fried, with a thicker, extra-crispy crust and a rugged, craggy exterior that delivered a far more satisfying crunch. The difference was remarkable. The second batch had the kind of substantial crunch that makes a chicken tender worth eating in the first place. While the breading occasionally risked veering into hard territory, the overall texture was a significant improvement over the first game’s disappointing, cardboard-like coating. This was certainly an encouraging development.
The tenders went from an afterthought to something I could actually understand my friends lining up to eat. I do still believe that $16.99 is a little steep for non-restaurant chicken tenders, but I came to expect nothing less from Ryan Field prices, so I would recommend. These chicken tenders had their comeback!
French fries (rating: 5/10)
The fries that came with the chicken tenders weren’t anything particularly special. At $7.99 on their own, they are perfectly edible fries – but almost $8 for okay stadium fries feels like a penalty. They are, however, included with the chicken fingers, so you aren’t necessarily paying for the fries on their own. They certainly weren’t special, but fries are fries.
Burger (rating: 8/10)
The Chicago Steakhouse Prime Beef Burger was probably the biggest surprise of the day. I wasn’t expecting a stadium burger to be something I would think about afterward. The patty was thick and packed with flavor, and it felt substantially better than an average concession-stand burger. But, it was also, unsurprisingly, expensive at $17.99. My only real complaint was that the burger was extremely well done. I understand why a stadium kitchen would want to err on the side of caution when cooking for thousands of people, but I would have preferred a little more pink in the middle. Even so, the flavor was, for the most part, there. If you’re willing to spend the money, this is one of the concessions I would actually recommend.
Soft pretzel (rating: 8/10)
Soft pretzels are one of those foods that are almost impossible to mess up and somehow, stadiums manage to do it all the time. Yet, Ryan Field didn’t. At $6.99, the pretzel is one of the few concessions where I thought the price was justified. I’m a sucker for a soft pretzel, especially when it’s warm and doughy, and this one hit the mark. The texture was right, and there was the perfect amount of kosher salt on top. Combined with your classic, mass-produced cheese sauce, it turned out to actually be pretty good. It certainly isn’t groundbreaking, but I don’t think it needs to be. Sometimes you just want a warm pretzel while watching football, and Ryan Field delivers.
Nachos (rating: 5/10)
While I am certainly not surprised, the nachos at Ryan Field were nothing short of basic. The dish consisted of a handful of classic Tostitos-esque round tortilla chips, the kind you could just as easily find sitting in a bowl at a casual get-together, accompanied by a small cup of cheese. At first glance, there was nothing particularly exciting about the presentation. The chips were unassuming, the portion was modest, and the overall dish lacked any toppings or additional ingredients that might elevate it.
Where I was pleasantly surprised, however, was the cheese. Rather than the run-of-the-mill, mass-produced, neon-orange cheese sauce that has become practically synonymous with stadium food, the nachos came with a much lighter, queso blanco-style cheese. Its pale color and creamy consistency immediately set it apart from the artificial-looking alternative I had anticipated. Even better, it actually tasted quite nice. The queso was smooth, rich, and flavorful, with a mild cheesiness that felt considerably more authentic than the usual processed sauce. It even reminded me of Chipotle’s queso blanco, which, in the world of fast-casual dining, is certainly a respectable comparison.
Gameplay Advice
The app deals may be the smartest food decision the stadium made. Through the Ryan Field app, students can get select “Willie’s” items for just $5 each. Willie’s is named for Willie the Wildcat and, appropriately, is supposed to feature his favorite foods. The $5 lineup includes: Willie’s hot dog, burger, soda, pretzels, nachos and popcorn. For the burger and hot dog, those are slightly different then the ones reviewed here!
The biggest catch is that you need the Ryan Field app. But since students already need the Ticketmaster-controlled app to access their game tickets, this is less of an inconvenience than it might initially sound. For students, the message is pretty simple: don’t walk into Ryan Field and start buying things at random. Find Willie’s first.
So, is Ryan Field food worth it? If you’re paying full price? Sometimes. If you’re using the deals? Much more often.The deals are what make the difference. Ryan Field may still have some work to do in the food department, but the foundation is there and it’s clear they’re taking feedback. The Chicago classics are a good start. The student pricing is even better. Just download the app, find Willie’s and spend your money there first.
