Butter-dipped ice cream and pierogi sandwiches: NHL arena food goes wild
Hockey season is back, and this year the most dangerous thing in NHL arenas might not be a defenseman — it's the concessions. A new lineup of game-day food is rolling out across North America, and the dishes range from indulgent to genuinely unhinged.
The crown jewel comes from Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. The Ultimate Penguinator is a sandwich built for a full crew: turkey, roast beef, ham, provolone, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and roasted garlic ranch — then loaded with pierogies, mozzarella sticks and waffle fries, all crammed onto herbed Italian bread.
Over in Minnesota, Grand Casino Arena (home of the Wild) is serving a dessert that has people lining up. The Butter Dipped Ice Cream Cone is vanilla ice cream dipped in actual butter, finished with salt in a waffle cone. It's exactly what it sounds like, and fans can't stop ordering it.
The dishes that make you double-check the menu
Edmonton's Rogers Place took poutine and coated it in cheddar dust — crispy fries dusted in cheese powder, then buried under cheese curds, gravy and green onions. San Jose's SAP Center swung for the fences with the K-Chomp Dog: spicy Louisiana sausage, pepper jack, Korean BBQ sauce and bright blue Takis.
Washington's Capital One Arena upgraded the classic with the Joia Burger — a double Wagyu patty with American cheese and house sauce. Chicago's United Center added chicken and beef tortas on soft telera rolls in the Corona Beach section, while St. Louis's Enterprise Center pushed fries and nachos aside for Loaded Potato Wedges with cheese sauce, sour cream, bacon and chives.
Even the popcorn got weird. The New Jersey Devils' Prudential Center is selling a Playable Popcorn Bucket — a refillable tub topped with a mini-hockey lid you can actually flick around. It's equal parts snack and toy.
As Delish put it, hockey games have always been as much about the food as the action — you need something to keep your hands busy if a fight breaks out on the ice. With dishes like braised bison burgers in Ottawa and birria eggrolls in Cleveland, this season's menu finally matches the intensity of the game.