When Aramark Sports + Entertainment took over as the Memorial Stadium food and beverage provider prior to last season, they quickly showed a flair for stepping up the game day chow game while keeping all of the traditional game day faves like Runzas and Frank’s Hot Dogs on the menu.
Well, 2026 brings a new slew of choices along with the old, so let’s waste no time getting to it! Heart issues and diabetes be damned – we can always work it off on Sunday!
Anyway – let’s have a gander:
Breathe Easy – All the Old Favorites Remain
Your Fairbury Red
Hots, Val’s and Runzas are all back. Because of course they are. The Aramark folks aren’t complete lunatics; they understand the assignment.
As a matter of fact, I was told nothing has been eliminated from the last years offerings – old or new. If you saw it last year and enjoyed, you should see it this year.
All Items New in 2025 Are back as Well!
Sure, I’m repeating myself, but we found ourselves asking, “Really?” as well. It seems as if the center can’t really hold, as far as the menu size, to keep adding stuff without dropping anything, but let’s just appreciate it while we can.
Anyhow, if you were wondering what was new last season, here is a link to that article.
Seven hells, I am now truly a once a year food critic. And just a reminder – that foot-long hot dog in the middle slathered in red-hot white aioli sauce with corn was the king of 2025 in my personal ranking.
And Finally – New for 2026!
Here is a listing of new items, including where to find them, and a quick review of items made available to sample. If the picture quality is a little off, it’s only because I was too lazy to type it all out. I apologize to no one.
Footlong Ribwich – Delicious, although I freely admit to pulling the pickles and eating them separately. The meat was extremely tender, the bread fresh and I enjoyed this very much.
Boneyard Dry Rub Wings – This was a bit of stunner. Most attempts at dry rub wings come off as just that to me – dry. The rub was cooked very well into the skin and the chicken itself was juicy giving the overall bites a perfect texture. Warning to those who don’t enjoy spicy food: this is spicy; they didn’t wimp out. But the spicy is at a nice level with plenty of flavor.
Prime Time Ribeye Sandwich – Tender meat, fresh bread, and horseradish sauce gives it an overall excellent flavor. Thumbs up.
Big Red Shortcake Nachos – I did not try these, but a couple of ladies who, like me, were shoveling chow in their gullets like a pelican devouring fish whole were sampling the offerings with me, pronounced the odd-sounding combination a big winner.
Big Red Cookie – Just half of one of these big boys – a red velvet cookie crammed with light and dark chocolate chips was like eating one or more regular-sized cookies. It was time to run some stadium stairs. Oh shit, it’s 93 degrees – perhaps another time.
Finally, here’s a couple of videos of all of it – see you in the lines.
