Crew offers elevated classics and bold tastes as food options to fans this season

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Fans of a championship winning team deserve a meal worthy of a champion. And coming off their MLS Cup victory last December, the Columbus Crew look to elevate fans' taste buds this season at Lower.com field.

Long before the Crew lifted their third MLS Cup, the kitchen was already thinking of what to cook up for 2024.

"We started very early, midway through last season, when we were still going through the playoffs and stuff like that," executive chef John DiGiovanni said. "We knew that the season was coming right around the corner so the team and myself said, 'What are we looking at doing?'."

The result is a menu that elevates concession stand classics like burgers and hot dogs while offering bold tastes in creative ways.

"The ones that made it obviously are the ones that were good," DiGiovanni said. "We had a couple times where we would try something out  and then either make some minor tweaks to it or just go completely back to the drawing board and try something new."

Alongside footlong chili dogs and smashburgers, fans will have options like brisket egg rolls and barbeque platters.

One of the Crew's standout menu items this season is the Korean BBQ Puffle. In a twist on the classic "chicken and waffles", the puffle is made with a special waffle maker and folded like a sandwich with Korean fried chicken, kimchi slaw and sriracha aioli.

"Every puffle that we've seen has been more the sweet version as far as with the ice cream and the Nutella and stuff like that. So it was like, what could we do with that on the savory end."

DiGiovanni says the Crew will also offer the puffle with gyro meat as well as falafel for those with vegetarian preferences.

"The name of the game is having fun while we're doing it," DiGiovanni said.

The Crew open the season at home against Atlanta United at 2 p.m. Saturday.