Cheeto hot dogs and pineapple sausages: It’s the home opener for new Durham Bulls foods
Durham Bulls fans are toasting the return of baseball with a fresh roster of concession items, including a new hot dog brand.
Like the blooms and buds flowering around Durham, Bulls games are a rite of spring, bringing the crack of the bat, cold beer and warm nacho cheese.
Perhaps rivaled only by the North Carolina State Fair, each year the Bulls games feature new captivating culinary creations, from Eggo waffle buns to Tetris-shaped tater tots.
Here are the concession highlights to look for around the Durham Baseball Athletic Park this season:
Hot dogs with Cheetos and more
▪ Boom Boom hot dog: This flashy new hot dog includes slaw, Boom Boom sauce, bacon and is topped with crunchy Cheetos.
▪ Pig Kahuna sausage: Using pineapple teriyaki sausages from Lowes Foods, this sausage on a bun is topped with pineapple slaw and a sweet and spicy Boom Boom sauce.
▪ Carolina Cue Dog: You could call this one pork two ways. A ballpark favorite returns, where a hot dog is topped with pork barbecue and slaw.
▪ Sweet Potato Tots with BBQ: Here a plate of sweet potato tots are topped with pork barbecue and melty nacho cheese.
▪ Spicy Fried Cauliflower: Billed as a vegetarian alternative for wings, these florets of cauliflower are fried and tossed in Buffalo sauce and sold exclusively at the chicken wing window behind home plate.
The best of local vendors
Pizza vendor Pie Pushers and ice cream shop Two Roosters are returning to Bulls games for another year.
Joining them will be new local vendor El Jefecito, a popular Durham taco truck making its DBAP debut.
El Jefecito moves into the space near left field once occupied by Gonza Tacos & Tequila, which left the ballpark when it closed its Durham location in 2020. El Jefecito will serve street tacos, plates of nachos, chips and guacamole and elote on a stick.
Fans of Boricua Soul can still find their Cuban sandwiches and mac and cheese Pernil before the games across the street on the American Tobacco Campus.
A new brand of hot dogs
The Durham Bulls have brought in a new hot dog vendor for 2022, switching to the Buffalo-based Sahlen’s, ending a 10-year run with Smithfield-based Bright Leaf.
Dave Levey, director of food and beverage at the DBAP, said Sahlen’s is a longtime hot dog vendor at minor league baseball stadiums.
“Sahlen’s has been in this market for a while at (WakeMed Soccer Park) and in Charlotte (Knights games),” Levey said. “It looked like the right partnership for us right now.”
The new Sahlen’s hot dogs come pre-grilled, Levey said, and are a combination of pork and beef.
“It’s a new product, I don’t know how they do it, but I think people are going to enjoy it,” Levey said.
Bright Leaf is known for its red hot dogs, but its brown hot dogs were also served at the ballpark. Kurt Byrd, CFO at Carolina Packers, which makes the Brightleaf hot dogs, said there are no hurt feelings between the two local brands.
“We want to make it clear that we have no bad blood with the Bulls,” Byrd said. “We had a decade-long relationship. We’re both iconic brands. There’s a lot of deep (North Carolina agricultural) heritage between us.”
Byrd speculated that the red hot dog was unfamiliar to Bulls fans who weren’t from Eastern North Carolina and could have factored in the change.
“At Carolina Packers we make red hot dogs and were pleased to share that unique experience with Bulls fans,” Byrd said.
The Bulls wouldn’t comment on the red factor of the hot dog change, but wished Brightleaf well.
“Carolina Packers was a wonderful partner for the Durham Bulls, providing tasty Bright Leaf Hot Dogs to our fans over the last decade,” Bulls marketing director Michael Ward said in an email. “We appreciate the partnership and wish them all the best in the future.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 3:47 PM.
