By this point you’ve, hopefully, seen my video from Bridgestone Arena. Consider this your subtle reminder to go back and watch and try to place yourself inside the arena with me—I try to recreate the experience to the best of my ability whether I’m at a stadium or a restaurant. Even for my videos at my kitchen table, my goal is to make you feel as if you’re sitting across from me, eating amongst friends.

Nonetheless, I want to breakdown the night in more detail here, including the process of how it all comes to fruition. It’s a glimpse of how the sausage gets made.

Why Nashville?

A few reasons. For starters, why not? Nashville is awesome. As an added bonus to continuing the Stadium Food Tour, I’ve now got an excuse to have a blast in one of the most fun cities in America. And I got to do so with my fiancé. Hard to beat that. Another friend of mine joined us as well for the food tour. The more the merrier when you’re heading to a feast.

More importantly, I keep close tabs on what stadiums and arenas are serving up to fans. And some of the new items at Bridgestone Arena caught my eye. I’m trying to hit as many stadiums as possible, but this was on my short list of NHL arenas to check off. Not only that, but their concessions are run by Delaware North. That name likely means nothing to you, but for me that’s massive. Most stadiums don’t actually run the concessions and food/bev programs themselves—majority of the time they’re operated by outside vendors, and more often than not, they’re properties of companies like Delaware North, Aramark (probably the most popular), and Levy.

I have relationships with folks at all of them through past stadium experiences, but my closest are with Delaware North. They’ve been massively gracious and generous with providing access and introducing me to decision makers at their respective stadiums. All that to say, it didn’t take more than a few emails to get connected with the very person who would be walking around the stadium with us. More to come on this. I’ll spare you some of the details but here’s a quick timeline:

Tuesday 1/6 @ 10:49am- initial email with Delaware North rep at Bridgestone Arena
Tuesday 1/6 @ 4:30pm - quick phone call with her
Tuesday 1/13 @ 1:07pm - quick text to confirm timing, etc. for later
Tuesday 1/13 @ 5:34pm - meet inside the arena / begin tour
7pm - done. I can sit and enjoy the game

That phone call is super important to me. I find great value in chatting for 10-15 minutes with the people who I’m gonna be with inside the stadium so that we can get to know each other and get on the same page. As fun as it is, this is work for me and I want to set expectations so that we can all get the most out of our time together and be as efficient as possible. It took a few stadium visits to realize this was a necessary step to my process.

Sorry to have bored you with all of that fluff. I don’t get to share that granularity very often, and not many people know what work is done leading up to the stadium tour. Let’s get to the food. And by the way, I always show up as hungry as possible. The day of I generally eat very light—salads, nothing fried, limited carbs—and I drink a ton of water. In this particular case, I needed water anyway as a result of a 9-hour bar hop on Broadway the night prior. Classic Nashville. I had a single bite of a breakfast wrap around 10am and half a salad and a few bites of a sandwich around 3pm.

Nashville Hot Tenders & Fries

Very fitting for a first bite. Hand-breaded and fried every single night so you know you’re getting something far superior to the average frozen stadium chicken tender (nothing wrong with those by the way). I’d say they were closer to a buffalo chicken tender than true Nashville hot, but there was definitely some spice. I guess when you’re filling the building with 20,000 people, many of whom are visiting town, you need to tone the spice down to an approachable level. Nonetheless, these were delicious. Fries were also better than most stadium fries

Price: $14.99
Section: 109

Broadway Honey Glazed Stack

I’m looking for the best stadium food in the country. But when you’ve got something totally ridiculous like this, I can’t not try it. It’s a bacon cheeseburger with BBQ sauce between a glazed donut and a honey bun as the two buns. I’ll say this, it was easier to eat than I anticipated. With that said, it’s probably a fork and knife situation. Also, it’s one of those things where, if you feel compelled to try it, one or two bites will suffice. I’ve seen some wild creations and combinations, and this is among the wildest without a doubt. But I’d be lying if I said the few bites I took weren’t delicious.

Price: $17.99
Section: 102

BBQ Burrito

By the looks of it, I had fairly low expectations. And it turned out to be my favorite bite of the night. There’s plenty that I didn’t try around the arena but I’d confidently say this is one of the best options. Personally I’d label it as a wrap, not a burrito, but ‘Burrito’ has bigger marketing power. It comes from local vendor Puckett’s BBQ, which I got a ton of recommendations to check out in the city. Pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw—boom. And a side of kettle chips. Excellent stuff.

Price $14.99
Section: 101, 112, 323

BBQ Platter

I got to try a sample of three Puckett’s BBQ meats: pulled chicken, pulled pork, and brisket. Perks of the food tour I suppose. But other fans can elect one as part of their full platter that comes with sides and cornbread. The brisket didn’t do it for me so I’d go with the chicken or pulled pork. I didn’t get a chance to see the full selection so there could be other options as well. I did catch a glimpse of a fan’s Pulled Pork Nachos that looked awesome, however.

Price $14.99
Section: 101, 112, 323

Carne Asada Loaded Fries

There’s a popular, and apparently often rowdy, standing room-only area in the upper concourse called Smashville State Fair. Three kinds of loaded fries, fried pickles, a Raspberry Cheesecake Chimichanga, and other decadent state fair fare (hey now). I opted for Carne Asada but strongly considered the Cheeseburger Loaded Fries. Chili Cheese Loaded Fries briefly caught my attention too. The steak itself was slightly questionable (read: chewy), but everything together provided a terrific bite. The fries themselves were quite good, I seriously enjoyed the white queso, and the portion is crazy. They fill a souvenir goalie helmet to the brim and charge a very reasonable price for it—this would cost double at most stadiums.

Price: $14.99
Section: 317 (Smashville State Fair)

Gong Show Nachos

If you want something that’s gonna catch eyes from passersby, this is it. If you want something tasty that will feed your group of 10-12, this is it. Two feet of nachos, fully customizable. Rice, beans, choice of two proteins (I chose chicken and steak but saw chorizo as an option), and unlimited toppings. To give you an idea of how you can spruce em up: sweet potatoes, queso, corn, pico, tortilla strips (tortilla strips on tortilla chips!), jalapeños, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream. There were probably another 8-10 that I’m forgetting. They serve em up in a cardboard boat with a handle but implored me to “hold it like a baby” because of how heavy it is.

Price: $24.99
Section: 100

Jevo Jello Shots

Of course you can get jello shots at a stadium in Nashville. It makes perfect sense. I believe they have one option per spirit. I’m not a jello shot lover but it’s kind of a no brainer. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve seen a price tag put on a jello shot so I can’t say if it’s a good value but when you have the opportunity to have a jello shot in Nashville, you don’t hesitate.

Price: $4.99
Section: Jevo Bar 114 + other bars around the arena

Frozen Cocktail Boot

Seems that every stadium has a full suite of souvenir hats, drinks, etc. I’ve seen some great ones. This is by far my favorite. It’s so incredibly perfect for Nashville. The bartender ran through a bunch of options, all frozen drinks. Jack & Coke, Margarita, a few others, but it was Vodka Lemonade for me, and yes I’ll take the “cherry topper” on it. It was freaking delicious. And I rarely take souvenirs home from games, even when it’s local, but this made the journey back to Jersey.

Price: $29.99
Section: 103, 105, 113, 118, 119, 209, 309, 313, 330

Dierks Lemonade

For Dierks Bentley Bobblehead Night, bars around the arena were making a special commemorative cocktail in a slightly smaller but pretty much just as awesome souvenir boot. Row 94 Whiskey + Lemonade + splash of Club Soda. And there you have a Dierks Lemonade. And by the way, it was terrific.

Price: $22.99
Section: select bars around the arena

And there’s your bonus/premium/written version of the Stadium Food Tour’s stop at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators. Overall the experience delivered in a big way—I felt like I got a true taste of Nashville in every way from the food to the environment to the music. In a city that attracts people from all over the world, Bridgestone Arena succeeds in embodying that melting pot through their food and bev program.

Did I find the best stadium food in the country here? No, not in my opinion. In terms of every stadium I’ve visited, it probably falls somewhere in the middle, but it’s tough to compare different sports. This is, to date, the 4th NHL arena I’ve been to. Here’s how they stack up:

Lots more to come. Stay tuned.