Levy Restaurants, the concessionaire for Marlins Park, has introduced some new elements for this week’s MLB All-Star Game events, including a self-serve food and beverage station on the main concourse and a Cuban sandwich-hot dog mashup. Both elements were soft-launched late last month in advance of the All-Star Game, and Levy execs said they were particularly enthused by the possibilities of the self-serve stand. The location contains many traditional ballpark favorites such as popcorn, pretzels, nachos and beverages, takes only credit cards and is designed to reduce wait times compared to traditional stands. The self-serve concept after several false starts over the past decade is now spreading rapidly across the sports industry. “I really see this as the future of our business,” said Lou Borga, Levy Restaurants regional manager. “This is an entry point to a lot of other long-term strategic areas for us such as data and cashless transactions” (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). In Miami, George Richards writes the Cuban sandwich-hot dog item is "just one of many Miami twists" Marlins executive chef Vince Navarrete has "placed on American classics." The Marlins will have braised chicken street tacos at Miami Mex along the first-base line at the ASG. Next door, the Latin Cafe "offers a light and tasty yellowtail snapper in a rice bowl as well as a decadent oven-roasted plantain wrapped in bacon." The MIA BBQ stand down the third-base line offers a "platter of house smoked barbecue" that "comes with cinnamon apples, savory macaroni and cheese as well as a sweet wedge of corn bread." Richards notes Navarrete "brought out a burger with pickled red onions and cilantro lime jalapeno aioli" at BGR Deck. But the "star of this show" is the bun, which is "made out of rich Venezuelan cheese and corn arepas" (MIAMI HERALD, 7/10).
