Joliet Slammers announce new menu items

JOLIET – If anything tempts the taste buds more than a hot dog at the ballpark, maybe it’s a half-pound hot dog on a pretzel bun with cheese.

That’s one of the new items on the Joliet Slammers menu this year, starting with the May 18 home opener at Silver Cross Field.

Striving to serve the dietary inclinations of all fans, Joliet’s minor league baseball club also will have a gluten-free hot dog on a gluten-free bun.

“We really diversified the stands so we give the fans more choices,” Food and Beverage Director Tom Fremarek said.

He said the Slammers also listened to fans.

“A lot of people were looking for a gluten-free hot dog,” Fremarek said. “They will get a gluten-free bun, too. Or a gluten-free bratwurst. Organic snacks, as well.”

But don’t get the wrong idea. A night at Silver Cross Field need not be an exercise in self-discipline.

Not at a place that will offer a sloppy Joe on a glazed doughnut.

“It tastes really good,” promised Fremarek. “It’s got that kind of sweet and sour mix with a little cheddar added.”

Also new on the menu are snow cones flavored with alcoholic beverages.

“We’ll have snow cones for kids, too,” Fremarek said.

This is the second year the Slammers have complete control of the menu. In previous seasons, the menu was mostly determined by an outside food service, and fans called for something a little different.

Some items that aren’t your usual ballpark fare include chicken apple sausage, warmed chocolate lava cake and a pesto chicken sandwich on a focaccia bun from Joliet’s own Milano bakery.

The “Jilly” will be a Joliet twist on a Philly cheese steak sandwich.

For fun this year, the seventh inning will include a milk-and-cookie stretch featuring a milkman on the concourse selling baked chocolate chunk cookies and milk.

“It’s like the old milkman,” Fremarek said. “I bought the costume with the white pants and the white hat and the white shirt and the black tie, too.”

The beer garden this year will include waitresses, creating more of a restaurant mood for fans who watch the game from there.

“All the [food] stands are pretty much different. From that standpoint, I think it will be unique,” Fremarek said. “I think it will offer some diversity, especially for our season ticket holders.”