Revealed: The best and worst new foods at U.S. Bank Stadium for Vikings season

Brisket Mac and Cheese

Rating: 5/5

Mac and cheese bowls are having a moment at the U.S. Bank Stadium this season. The best is served at Old Southern BBQ, where the mac and housemade cheese is topped with moist brisket, jalapeño, breadcrumbs, and pickled onions. It doesn't matter where you're sitting; it's worth a trip to Section 122 for this one. 

Location: Old Southern BBQ, Section 122

Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Rating: 4.5/5

Roon's Savory Cones serves hearty dishes inside waffle cones. If you haven't had their wares before, it sounds wild, but it works. At U.S. Bank Stadium, it'll serve three cones: Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, Chicken Tinga, and Curry Chicken Salad, the latter of which is served cold. 

They're all worthwhile, but the hero of the trio is the mac and cheese. It's bursting with flavor. Even if you can't get into the cone idea, grab a fork and use the cone as a convenient but oddly shaped dish. You won't regret it.

Location: Roon's Savory Cones, Section 214

The Kirk Cousins years (aka good but not heading to the Super Bowl)

Burt's Smash Burger / Parlour Burger

Rating: 4/5

We're grading on the stadium curve. Sometimes, vendors aren't trying to innovate but just make standard stadium fare a little better. 

There are burgers all over, but Burt's Smash Burger is taking the fieldside burger to new heights. It features two crispy-edged burgers with pickles and a sauce that offers a little heat.

Elsewhere, Parlour is bringing its MN-famous burger to the game. You know it, it's beloved, now you can take bites of it between Skol claps. 

Location: Birch's on the Lake, Sections 111 and 328; Parlour, Sections 118 and 344

BBQ Pork Sandwich

Rating: 4/5

Again, it's a stadium curve. Surly isn't reinventing the wheel or trying to concoct some kind of State Fair monstrosity. 

The Turtle Bread bun is packed with smoked pork and crunchy, bright coleslaw with a touch of hot sauce. It has rich tenderness and freshness, making it exactly what you want from a backyard-style pork sandwich.

Location: Surly Smokehouse, Section 336

Hippo Pockets

Rating: 3.5/5

Hippo Pockets, a concept that sprang out of a limited-time menu item at Centro, is making its stadium debut this season. It'll have two pockets on the menu, including The Original: a fried tortilla pocket packed with seasoned beef, queso, lettuce, tomato, lime crema, and even more cheese. It's portable, a boon for stadium food, and tastes like an upgraded Taco Bell item. 

But don't sleep on the Cinnamon Crunch Bar. It nails the texture of a Rice Krispies Treat, but with cinnamon crunch cereal, a buttery richness, and colorful marshmallows. Also, it's enormous.

Location: Hippo Pockets, Section 349

Cheesesteaks

Rating: 3.5/5

It's a big portion featuring a crusty hoagie filled with cheesesteak, mushrooms, onion, and peppers. It's a little light on the cheese, but it's good, even before you remember that it's being served in a stadium in Minnesota.

Location: Deez Philly's, Section 325

Dill Pickle Cheese Curds

Rating: 3/5

These are not just a curd with a hint of dill. They're bursting at the deep-fried seams with dill. There's a dill-flavored curd in the breading, as well as pickles and dill weed. 

Curds & Cakes has three outposts in the stadium, but only one will be carrying the new curds to start the season.

Location: Curds & Cakes, Section 114

Apple Fries

Rating: 3/5

I entered skeptical, but left thinking I'd come back for seconds. Apple sticks are lightly deep-fried, coated in cinnamon and sugar, and served with a caramel dip. 

You know what? It works. There's a little fried crunch on the outside, but the inside still tastes fresh. They taste like an apple-y churro. I'm not yet sure if I could eat an entire order, but I'm willing to find out. 

The same vendor is also serving up corn dogs that have a bratwurst in the middle. The brats are good, but I might just stick with corn dogs. 

Location: Minnesota's Original Brat Dogs, Sections 143, 444, and 347

Rush Hour 4 Chicken and Rice

Rating: 3/5

Tender Lovin' Chix makes some good chicken at its Lyndale Avenue home. The combination of fried chicken and fried rice is its signature, and that's what it's bringing to the stadium. 

It's hard to argue against the idea that its tenders with fried rice and housemade Yum Yum sauce are an upgrade over standard stadium tenders.

Location: Tender Lovin' Chix, Section 121

Spam Egg Sandwich

Rating: 3/5

It's a step up from a standard breakfast sandwich with thick toast, eggs, Spam, and cheese. It's probably not surprising that Eggflip knows its way around a breakfast sandwich.

Location: Eggflip, Sections 208 and 304

Dirty Sodas

Rating: 2.5/5

An in-house-created concept, Dirty Soda Shoppe has three options: A cherry-forward drink called Starry Night, one that tastes like a melted root beer float (that hasn't gone flat, of course) called Rootbeer Mayhem, and Toffee Surprise.

These are not the best dirty sodas you'll find around the Twin Cities. But Starry Night and Rootbeer Mayhem are solid and offer something a little different during a game, especially if you're looking for non-alcoholic options.

Location: Dirty Soda Shoppe, Section 118

Jerk Bowl

Rating: 2.5/5

Soul Bowl has two new bowls for the season. There's a Jerk Chicken Bowl and a Hot Honey Mac and Cheese Bowl. Both feature chicken and bacon served over mac and cheese.

The restaurant has a track record of making some pleasing, hearty dishes. Maybe it's the limitations of the way media tasted the new items — this isn't the same as getting a bowl when they're slinging hundreds, hand over fist, during a game — but the mac and cheese was a bit bland. The chicken, however, was peppery and tender.

Location: Soul Bowl, Sections 214 and 317

OFC Original Sandwich

Rating: 2.5/5

This fried chicken sandwich is a solid serving size with a lot of chicken packed between its buns, along with a good helping of pickles. It fits into that category of dishes that rise above standard stadium expectations but don't soar above them.

Location: Official Fried Chicken, Sections 132 and 313

The Christian Ponder Years (aka the rest)

Beef Bulgogi Nachos

Rating: 2/5

These nachos from Eggflip aren't bad, but they're kind of an offbeat item to eat in stadium seats. The chips are covered in beef bulgogi, scrambled eggs, and cheese. The bulgogi is rich and a great topping for nachos, but the whole dish is very eggy, and that makes it a strange one to order mid-game.

Location: Eggflip, Sections 208 and 304

Walleye Fingers

Rating: 2/5

They're like chicken tenders made with walleye. There's a little kick to the sauce it comes with, but the whole thing comes across a bit mushy between the breading and the fish.

Location: Lord Fletcher's, Section 101

The Big Pretzel

Rating: 2/5

It's hard to give a rating to the big pretzel. It's just kind of a pretzel served with cheese sauce. Oh, I should add that it's also quite big, as the name implies. It's got a little crunch to it and a doughy interior, but it does rise above other quick-serve pretzels.

Location: The Rabbit Hole, Section 129

Graceful Beef Nachos

Rating: 1/5

These are a new item, but they come across as fairly standard stadium nachos. Chips are covered in a cheese sauce, beef, jalapeño, sour cream, and tomatoes. They aren't particularly exciting.

Location: Be Graceful, Sections 143 and 348