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Fans forgive high prices for fabulous foodBy Chris Sherman © St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 1998 Price didn't seem to matter much. "Everything's $4.75," although you heard the same joke priced from $4.25 to $5. If there were new price points in ballpark food, there was also a new level in big league fare to match the sport. If there were lines, most people would rather talk about how long they had waited for baseball. So a big hot dog was $4. "They're ballpark prices. Welcome to the '90s," said Billy Erhardt of Seminole. Local fans and out-of-towners scored the food at Tropicana higher than at other stadiums around the country or at Bucs and Lightning games. "I could never get this at a Cubs or White Sox game," said Mike Sullivan, pointing at the chefs tossing skillets of linguine and carving fresh roasted beef on the mezzanine level close to Tropicana's priciest seats. "It's like you're in a resort hotel." After sampling a chardonnay poured outside the mezzanine wine cellar, Tom Hedger of Largo said: "My wife is going to love this." Throughout the building, fans delighted in a full concourse menu of concessions from local ethnic favorites to major brand names. The streets along the outfield had the greatest variety, so much that Terry Breit and Michelle Degennaro couldn't quite keep track. They'd had pizza from Fortunato's, eggrolls from Arigato, beignets from Alessi, macaroni and cheese from Atwater's, "and we've only been in here 10 minutes," Degennaro said, laughing. "I don't care about the the prices as long as the quality's good." Outback's signature blooming onion was only 50 cents more than it costs in the chain's restaurants, and Susan Weymouth said it was just as good: "We're loving it." Phil Hayford praised the brand-name quality: "Baseball and Outback; can't beat it." John Ryals paid $6.75 for a lobster roll, a hot-dog size roll with more than a hot dog's worth of real red lobster meat. "It looked so good, I had to get it." In the upper deck, where the menu was slimmer, the food still won applause. "This brat? On a scale of 1 to 10, an 11!" said Larry Twyford of Sarasota. The biggest lines and choke points were in the main corridors of the upper deck, where the wait for hand-tossed pizza stretched to 15 minutes in the early innings. Sizable lines also formed at ATMs, but even people taking out cash to buy more food and souvenirs were upbeat. "'Beers, ice cream, sandwiches. We've got a long list," said Tina Bohannon, who brought her 10-year-old daughter, Alexa. "They're high, but that's what you expect." "I've been through $80," guessed Rade Radosevich, but he was smiling, not complaining. The biggest crowd may have been at the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar, where fans lined up all through the game to buy cigars, drink single-malt Scotch and sit in overstuffed armchairs next to overflowing ashtrays. It was the one place without a whiff of complaint about price. Beer and hot dogs might be a little high, but Todd Latimer of St. Petersburg had fired up an Arturo Fuente 858 and stocked up on more expensive Opus X stogies, too: "Cigars are cheaper than I've seen them anywhere." "When your team's behind 11-0, you might as well come up have a good cigar and drink a beer," said Richard Seigel.
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T. PETERSBURG -- Even before the Devil Rays took the field, Opening Day fans cheered the lineup in the concession stands, singing the praises of buying themselves peanuts and popcorn and Cracker Jacks -- and sushi, penne pasta, fresh shrimp, chicken tacos and $15 cigars.
