Camden Yards

May 4, 2021

Views 5.48k

““The great thing about new friends is that they bring energy to your soul.”
― Shanna Rodriguez.

Charm City. Baltimore, MD. The birthplace of George Herman “Babe” Ruth and home to more baseball legends than I can fit into a single sentence. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is one of the most iconic places in America to watch baseball and soak in history. Baltimore is baseball. Located on the outskirts of the Inner Harbor and overlooking the skyline, this cathedral doesn’t have a bad seat or bad eat in the place.

The perfect mix of traditional food and local favorites sprinkled from the gates at Eutaw Street to the RF foul pole there isn’t a tummy in the world who couldn’t find happiness here. They have one of the most diverse and delicious menus of any ballpark I have ever been too – and I’ve seen a few.

Tweets by Michael Torres

Wow. You’re just going to come out swinging on the food today. Bold.

It’s what we do, right? We adventure, we eat, and we report back to the people. We are literally putting our hearts (and stomachs) on the line week after week in search of the best view, the best food and most importantly nine innings of baseball.

Unless it’s a Manfred sanctioned seven inning double header.

I deserve that, but you know what I mean. I’ve already said more than I typically do about the food but honestly, I just can’t seem to get the words to paper this week. I imagine it happens to all the good writers so for an “average at best” (ed. Note: he ain’t this humble) guy like me this problem should have reared its ugly head way before today. I’ve been at this for over a couple of years, and you’d think it’s just part of the game like a hitting slump or the y**ps.

You could just tell everyone about your co-star and guest editor this week.

You just did and I did think about that too, but this is a baseball column and not a diary, but since you brought it up, I should give them a little snip it of what to expect. This week I had the honor of sharing the screen and the stadium with my friend Jose. This wasn’t our first game either as you’ve seen him pop up in Dunedin and send an audition earlier in the season from Yankee Stadium. He’s a great kid, tons of talent and I was excited to work with him this week as we filmed BTD. Most importantly, he can eat too. We hit Shake Shack 2 hours before the gates opened and then did three rounds of food in the stadium. What did we eat?

We know, We know…..”You’ll have to click below.”

#staytuned #stayhungry #thefoodguy (and #thehairguy)

Oriole Park at Camden Yards: 333 W Camden St. Baltimore, MD 21201

Rating: The Babe Buffet – Everything you need and a bunch of things you didn’t. This is the end all be all of stadium food. Limitless options and so much food, even George Herman Ruth would tap out. Truth be told, I thought the food selection was awesome, diverse, and most importantly – delicious.

We could do a second episode with the food we just never got to try. (We will)

Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles

Minor League Teams: Gulf Coast League Orioles, Bowie Bay Sox, Fredrick Keys and Deimarya Shorebirds all play in Maryland. The Aberdeen Iron Birds are the closest MiLB team to Baltimore City.

Other Baseball: The Birthplace of Babe Ruth (Museum) The Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards and the Hubery V. Simmons, Museum of Negro League Baseball

Shout Out: Jose Villeneuve-Saez, guest star and editor of this week’s episode of “Behind the Dish.” @noowaayjose on Twitter and Chris Vitali for letting me do my thing. Oh and my wife Sarah who hasn’t seen me in weeks.

(Ed. Note Again: Sorry Sarah, but thank you!)

Come on. This looks great.

Stay tuned and Stay Hungry. #thefoodguy

TD Ballpark: 373 Douglas Ave. Dunedin, FL 34698

Rating: “Take me Out” Second visit didn’t move the needle. Average ballpark food at best.

Major League Teams: The Tampa Bay Rays and technically The Toronto Blue Jays

Minor League Teams: Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburg Pirates) Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays) and Tampa Tarpons (NY Yankees)

Other Baseball: Spring Training for the Philadelphia Phillies is a few blocks up the street.

The “Stadium Food Scale” for ballparks in 2021 (from worst to first):

Dumpster Fire – On the menu or in the bowl- this shit stinks.
School Fair – Everything is greasy, everything is fried — Limited options.
The “Take me Out” – Traditional food, but nothing special.
Fancy Pants – Sushi, Steaks and monocle wearing worthy menu options. Fancy.
The Babe Buffet — Everything you need and a bunch of things you didn’t. This is the end all be all of stadium food. Limitless options and so much food, even George Herman Ruth would tap out.