When it comes to ballpark bites, I’m as frugal as it gets.
Any trip to a baseball game starts at a deli so I can grab a sandwich to bring into the stadium. If I’m going to be paying a markup I’d rather buy a $15 beer than a $7 hot dog.
But when I was at the New York Mets home opener last month — with my chicken cutlet hero in hand — I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: One of the stands was advertising a gluttonous-looking sandwich piled high with steak and lobster.
It wasn’t the ingredients that caught my eye, though. It was the sandwich’s $40.55 price tag.
Listen, I’m well aware that Citi Field is known for its food. With a built-in Shake Shack and countless options for every type of cuisine you could want, it’s a great time to be a foodie in Flushing, Queens.
But $40 for a sandwich? Come on.
With the enormous sandwich sitting in front of me, I had to agree. In Midtown Manhattan where CNBC Make It’s offices are, a lobster roll will cost you close to $30. And that’s without the steak, cheese and onions.
“If you go to a stand or a fast casual restaurant you’ll get a quarter-pounder burger,” Horowitz says. “Here, you’re getting 10 ounces of protein.”
Eating the Surf and Turf, I realized I might not be as cheap as I thought. What rubs me the wrong way isn’t paying a lot, but instead feeling like I got ripped off. For a sandwich that I could easily split with a friend, it’s a good value.
Still, $40 is probably more than I’d want to spend on dinner at the game. And if I’m going to spend that much, I’ll probably get there with two beers and a corn dog instead.
But if I’m feeling fancy and have a big appetite, I’ll walk on over to the right field concourse and order the Surf and Turf knowing I’ll get my money’s worth.
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