The Cubs don’t usually hold stadium food previews. While food around the ballpark has seen serious upgrades in recent years, fans rarely share nostalgic stories about the Friendly Confines that center around food. Perhaps that’s part of the park’s charm, wanting to bring fans to a simpler time when hot dogs, shelled peanuts, and Old Style were all that mattered.
But this is 2025, when ballparks vie for the most appealing — and often over-the-top — menu items of the season. Something has to give. Media and a few influencers were invited to Wrigley Field in advance of Opening Day to try out a few new items.
Unfortunately, there were no sandwiches served on torpedo rolls or giant beers served from a torpedo-shaped souvenir mug — the Yankees’ new secret weapon. Cubs’ executive chef Mary Ann Culleton tells Eater that’s plenty of time to brainstorm ideas with 81 home games this season — especially if a Cubs player starts using the torpedo lumber and goes on a homer tear.
One overall observation: The menu lacks heat, which is funny as fans will see signage outside the stadium for an upcoming restaurant. Hattie B’s, famous for its Nashville hot chicken, is coming to Gallagher Way in early 2026. Heat’s a good thing in baseball; the Cubs’ bullpen arms should start bringing it, and soon.
Here’s to a spicy October for the team. Check out this rundown of the new food at Wrigley Field. And yes, Hot Doug’s is still holding it down in the bleachers. This is the vendor’s 10th anniversary at the ballpark.
Rotating Menus, Marquee Classics, Near Section 117
This year, Wrigley Field chefs will dip into a library of more than 50 dishes, featuring four new dishes every homestand. The dishes will often depend on the opponent. When the Boston Red Sox arrive in July, they’ll see lobster rolls in the stands, a nod to New England.
Both Culleton and senior executive chef David Burns say they don’t want to step on their colleagues’ toes at other stadiums. The Cubs will never serve a Dodger Dog, for example. While the chefs still need to navigate sponsorships (Home Run Inn remains the official pizza of Wrigley — despite a rash of closures, for example), the rotating menus are a way to spice things up. The idea was inspired by Wrigley’s chef series, which rotated food from some of Chicago’s most popular restaurants.
Burns and Culleton are keeping their future menus secret. They’re not even starting a Signal thread to talk about them. Eater did manage to get them to admit the existence of a special burrito for when the Miami Marlins are in town, a nod to South Beach’s Latin community.
Teams are breaking out of the box and looking for civic inspiration. The White Sox showcased that this year with new Korean and Chinese items; Chinatown is just one CTA Red Line stop from Rate Field. The Cubs found inspiration from Humboldt Park, the center of the city’s Puerto Rican community. Wrigley Field is the only stadium where fans will find a jibarito, the sandwich with a disputed origin story, though Chicagoans take credit. The sandwich omits bread in favor of fried plantains, making it gluten-free and delicious. The Cubs are stuffing their sandwich with roast beef, garlic aioli, garlic butter, lettuce, and tomato.
Cooking outdoors is always an adventure. During colder months, Culleton explains that they’ll fry food more often in smaller batches to ensure food reaches its crispy peak. That might not be rocket science, but it’s one of the many variables food vendors deal with at an open-air stadium.
Here are some other items that will pop up periodically during the season.
Friday, April 4 to Wednesday, April 9
Pork Bao
Chile Lime Fries (McCain SureCrisp fries with Tajin, cotija cheese, and corn crema)
Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 27
Puffy Taco (puffed flour tortilla filled with carne asada, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheddar jack cheese, and cilantro)
Tuesday, July 1 to Sunday, July 6
Short Rib Sliders (18-hour smoked beef short rib with barbecue sauce, pickle chips, and coleslaw on mini brioche buns)
Smoked Prime Rib Sandwich (smoked prime rib topped with horseradish cream, fontina cheese, and crispy onions on a French roll
Friday, July 18 to Wednesday, July 23
Lobster Roll (toasted New England split-top bun filled with fresh lobster, lemon aioli)
Monday, September 1 to Sunday, September 7
BLT Fries (fries topped with crispy pork belly, cheddar cheese, tomato, ranch dressing, shredded lettuce)
If fans respond well to a particular item, the food could be called up to the Big Leagues permanently.
New Fixtures
Baseball-Shaped Doughnuts, Marquee Classics, near Section 117
These doughnuts could become the “it” item of 2025. Packaged in transparent plastic boxes (which makes them great souvenirs and the envy of doughnut-less fans), these cake doughnuts are drenched in white vanilla frosting and decorated with red frosting that looks like stitching.
They also come with a pipette filled with blueberry or strawberry frosting so fans can “juice” the baseball to their liking. Perhaps the culinary team is dancing too close to the sun, as “juicing” is a controversial term in baseball circles, referring to supposedly bouncier baseballs discreetly introduced so fans could see more home runs. But, hey — at least they didn’t refer to the pipettes as syringes. Keep PEDs out of the kitchen.
Fried Ranch Bombs, Addison Street Grill, near Section 126
Burns says the key is to drizzle this morsel with spicy honey. These are glorified hush puppies (this is not a bad thing) with a Midwestern twist, thanks to the ranch flavoring embedded into the breading. This a rare item that packed a little heat.
Dill Pickle Tater Tots, Third Base Classics, near Section 110
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