CHANGING THE COURSE OF THE TIDE or:

IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET DECENT FOOD AT THE COW PALACE?

I LOVE going to Bulls games. I anticipate the games days ahead of time, thinking about the sounds of metal skates on ice, the music, the crowds, the announcer. I love it all! Well, not all. There is one thing that could be greatly improved at the Cow Palace. And that is the food.

The Barn was built in a different era and has been home to rodeos, professional wrestling and circuses, but it hasn’t had a regular audience since it was the temporary home of the San Jose Sharks. And the food, unfortunately, hasn’t been updated or changed since I was a kid, or so it seems. And that was a long, long time ago.

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse parts of the country. We have people here from all walks of life and the San Francisco Bulls fans reflect this. Just one scan through the crowd will show that we’re not all one type of person. I think the food selection should show this even a little bit. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the food is pretty much the standard 60s baseball fair: hotdogs, overly salty popcorn, cold French fries, pretzels, Churros, cotton candy, nachos with some weird gloopy cheese-stuff and the like. There are some meet sandwiches carved out per order in one area, but that’s about all for diversity.

I’m a vegetarian which isn’t that different for San Francisco. There are lots of us here. And a lot of people who are not vegetarian still don’t like to eat fatty, processed meat by-products. So, it would be great to be able to have a decent meal at the Barn instead of having to plan before I get there. Sometimes I’m rushing from work to a game so having to think about eating first is a hassle. No food is allowed in, or I’d bring in my own like I can at AT&T Park. But that’s not possible.

I’m not asking for the whole system to be changed, I’m a reasonable person, but couldn’t the concessioners provide fans with ONE booth where they could get maybe a salad or a veggie burger? Or how about this…why not open a Build Your Own Burrito Booth? Fans could ask for whatever they want in the burrito: chicken, beef or maybe just rice and beans. I would BET this booth would have a line all night!

Understand that the Bulls have no control of what the concessions company provides. In my effort to get to the source of how to change things, I got the name and information of the concessions company from the Bulls program. They are called Centerplate. I called their number, (which I will give shortly), and got a very nice young lady named Sophia who took my ideas and concerns and said she would pass them on.

I don’t know how much one person can do. I DO KNOW that if many of us call the number below, we can make a difference. So, if you want BETTER FOOD at the Cow Palace, if you want something not bursting with salt or sugar, if you would like to get even ONE CHOICE of something decent to eat, call them!!! You will get a Customer Service Rep. Give them your ideas, your name and phone number and if enough of us call and complain about the food, then they have to listen to us!

So here’s the info:

Centerplate Concessions

1-800-578-7378

Be nice, be constructive but CALL!!!!!

GO BULLS!!!