New ballpark food ranks high with reporter's family

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Saturday, April 05, 2008 |

Quad-City Times reporter Jennifer DeWitt, along with her 'typical family of four' -- sons Casey and Alex and her husband, John -- enjoy the variety of food at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport during the Quad-Cities River Bandits season opener Friday night. (John Schultz/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

When I came home a couple days ago and asked my sons if they would like to go eat their way through the River Bandits season opener, I got a resounding, “We’re there!”

So provided with four tickets and $25 in cash for concessions, I headed with my husband, John, and sons, Casey, 12, and Alex, 7, to the newly renamed Modern Woodmen Park for a beautiful, but chilly, night of baseball along the Mississippi River.

Our assignment: play “typical family of four” (typical? yeah, right) and sample some of the new menu items pitched up for the new season.

While you can still find hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn, we were tasked to check out the Italian dishes, the Mexican fare and the new healthier, lighter choices. About that last one, boss, when I suggested we look over the healthy menu, I got a “Gross!” out of Casey and a “Yeah, right,” out of John.

But the concessions staff told me the stuffed tortilla wraps were going OK, salads — not so much. “But we have high hopes,” one said.

The meatball sandwich, now, that was a huge hit. Since we had to taste a variety of the new items, we shared a sandwich and a heaping dish of farfalle (better known as bowtie pasta), which Alex snarfed up.

I asked Casey if a whole meatball sandwich would have filled him up and he said, “Three or four might have.” Then he changed his answer to “yeah, one would” when he realized I was writing down what he said. (That’s what your Mom does.)

From Italy, we moved on to south of the border and got loaded chicken nachos and a hefty serving at that. Although we skipped the steak tacos and steak nachos, those apparently were the most popular, according to the staff.

We skipped the Bandit Dog because we’ll have hot dogs when we’re paying with our own money. But we tried the new Angus burger and fries and, of course, had to have a few sodas to wash it all down. No beer for us — although at two of the four concession stands I asked about the best seller and in unison all the employees answered, “Beer!”

Of course, no trip to the ballpark is complete without going to the Kids Zone!

Evening’s total cost (including an upgrade to better seats): $41.50.

The chance to go out for a family night mostly on the Quad-City Times’ dollar? Priceless.

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.