TEXANS STARTERS

Ken Hoffman: Texans unveil super lineup of new stadium food for 2018 season

Ken Hoffman
Aug 17, 2018, 3:52 pm
Find Chris Shepherd’s Georgia James Carved Roast Beef Sandwich with Wedge Slaw at the Club Level. Photo by Brandon Strange

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.

The Houston Texans have announced their lineup of starters — and entrees, sandwiches, and snacks —for the upcoming season at NRG Stadium.

As the Texans enter their 17th year, two rookies have made the team: Antone’s Famous Po’Boys and the Original Ninfa’s on Navigation. Two superstars are returning: award-winning Chris Shepherd with a menu from his new restaurant, Georgia James, and barbecue wizard Ronnie Killen waving beef ribs that would tip over Fred Flintstone’s car.

Texans president Jamey Rootes and Aramark district bossman Joel Nash recently revealed the new food items at the big stadium on Kirby. Rootes calls Houston the “most diverse city in the U.S.” and “culinary capital of the South.” He also says that “Texans love to eat.”

If Hotels.com ever needs a new Captain Obvious, Rootes is their guy. (I kid — because I love.)

How are the Texans doing? Rootes noted that the waiting list to buy Texans season tickets is comparable to the current number of Houston Rockets and Houston Astros season ticket holders — combined. Yeah, Houston is a football town.

Football and...lobster rolls?
As the media grazes tables showcasing high-falutin’ concession items, I ask Nash: “Even with all this haute cuisine (lobster rolls and quinoa salad at a football game?), what percentage of fans will buy a couple of hot dogs and a beer and be happy?” He says, “between 60 and 70 percent.” So take that, Korean Barbecue Eggroll Lettuce Wraps with rice wine vinaigrette, which will be available in suites, where they belong — and better stay there. 

Hot dogs at NRG Stadium are from Holmes Smokehouse, so they’re legit franks, not generic, no-name mystery franks.

Flintstones food
By the way, those two-pound monster beef ribs from Killen are $40 each — the highest priced single food item in Houston Texans history. They’re incredibly fantastic and worth the money — if you have that kind of money.

Texans exhibition season at NRG Stadium begins August 18 against the San Francisco 49ers. And much like the action on the field, concession stands will feature a lot of newcomers and rookies. In my best Marc Vandermeer "rock 'n' roll" voice, here are the players and their numbers.

Video: See what's cooking at NRG Stadium

Continue reading on CultureMap.

Most Popular

Houston now focused on postseason

Altuve and Correa homer, Astros drop final regular-season game

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With no playoff impact at stake if the Astros won or lost the game, Houston took Sunday's final regular-season game as a chance to get their lineup a few more at-bats before shifting focus to Tuesday's first game of the post-season. Here is a quick recap of the game against the Rangers:

Final Score: Rangers 8, Astros 4.

Record: 29-31, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Wes Benjamin (2-1, 4.84 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Chase De Jong (0-1, 14.73 ERA).

Houston's main bats get a final tune-up

Knowing they'd only have a couple of at-bats to work with, some of Houston's big bats took advantage, starting with Jose Altuve. He crushed a pitch in the top of the first, a solo homer to put the Astros in front 1-0. After the Rangers tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second, Altuve started the third with a walk before moving to third base on a Michael Brantley single, which improved Brantley's season average to .300.

Aledmys Diaz would pick up the RBI on a groundout to score Altuve, putting Houston back in front 2-1. In Correa's last at-bat in the top of the fourth, he extended the lead to 3-1 with a solo home run of his own.

Rangers hand Astros a loss to end the regular season

After getting the early run against Chase De Jong, the Rangers would put together a big inning against him in the fourth. After two one-out singles, Rougned Odor would give Texas their first lead of the day on a three-run homer to make it 4-3.

De Jong would continue to struggle in the inning, getting just one more out while loading the bases, prompting a move to the bullpen to bring in Nivaldo Rodriguez to try and eat up more innings. The Rangers greeted him with a two-RBI single to extend their lead to 6-3 before ending the fourth. Odor would hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, a solo shot to make it a four-run lead at 7-3.

Rodriguez allowed another run in the bottom of the seventh, making it 8-3. Diaz, who drove in a run earlier, would account for another RBI in the top of the eighth, getting Houston's third solo homer of the day. That would make it an 8-4 game, which would go final as the Rangers would win the regular season's last game.

Up Next: Houston's first game of the playoffs will be on Tuesday, with the start time and opponent TBD while the rest of today's games wrap up, and the schedule is announced. Regardless, the Astros are expected to begin that best-of-three series with Zack Greinke (3-3, 4.03 ERA).

astros recap astros score astros vs rangers mlb mlb recap astros

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live