Underground Eats at the San Francisco Giants Ballpark

So earlier this week I talked about eating around AT&T Park, the home of the 2010 World Series Champions Giants. But today I go back into the ballpark to give you guys another look at more eats found in tucked away places.

I’m not talking about secret food menus. That’s not what I mean about underground. I literally mean you find these food on the lower levels of the ballpark.

I start with the Field Clubhouse, which is limited to ticketholders who sit on the field level behind home plate. I kind of hate how certain areas of the ballpark are off limits to everyone, like the Giants are creating its on little caste system. (Another area that’s off limits only to particular ticketholders is the “club level” that’s above “field” but below “view reserve.”)

But one game this summer I ended up spending the bucks to buy a field clubhouse seat because it was the only one available. (Thank you Visa.) So during the fourth inning, I went behind home plate, walking through the same corridors the players go through to get to the locker rooms, and made a left into the Clubhouse.

The Field Clubhouse definitely has a restaurant feel because of its ambient lighting and baseball mural on a giant wall. Looking around, there was the basic ballpark fare like hot dogs and hamburgers, but there were also stations for roast beef sandwiches, one station selling Mexican food, and a few beer stations.

They also have a sweet section selling these cute Giants themed cupcakes.

The Field Clubhouse is also where the Edsel Fong’s Chinese food station can be found. They used to have a stand up on the promenade level but I haven’t seen it there lately. I noticed they had a pad thai dish, so I ordered it. It actually wasn’t that bad, and a lot of noodles for $8.50. It might not have that authentic pad thai flavors, but at least the ingredients seemed fresh.

Another time I went to check out what was a new food stand this season, and it was the BBQ counter under the bleachers. It’s so new they don’t even have the permanent sign up yet. (I guess the former BBQ vendor lost his lease.)

The offerings seemed pretty typical of BBQ items, such as pulled pork sandwiches and tri-tip. But it also had a BBQ turkey sandwich, which I’ve never heard of so I thought I’d try that just because turkey also sounded healthier being a lean meat. I also got a side of potato salad.

The sandwich looked so sad when it arrived. It was basically turkey slices on a roll with BBQ sauce poured on top. And the BBQ sauce wasn’t even any more distinctive than store-bought BBQ sauce. The turkey was what you’d expect from a deli, and the bun wasn’t anything spectacular. I felt kind of cheated. (The potato salad was OK, not a lot of mayonnaise but it had bits of raw red onion, which I’m not a fan of.)

I still have a few more games to go to now that we’re in the second half. (In fact, I’ll be at the Sunday game.) I can’t say I’ve found anything exciting this season at the ballpark in terms of food, so I’ll probably just stick with my Hebrew National dogs.

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