At this point I hope I’ve succeeded in highlighting that stadiums are offering way more than hot dogs and peanuts and beer. And I’d argue that ice cream is on the same tier or at least pressed right up beneath it. It’s synonymous with baseball, for people of all ages, regardless of weather or time of day. And this evolution of stadium concessions is not limited to the savory. The sweets game is highly advanced. I lean savory over sweet, and the sweets selection itself is not as abundant, but if you have a sweet tooth then you should be chomping at the bit at what these stadiums and arenas are slinging these days. In many cases, these food + bev programs are going completely off script with these dessert concoctions.

So with that, I shine onto thee a spotlight for my favorite sweet bites in baseball from last year. Can’t wait for the 2026 season…

I’ll tackle the ice cream category first because duh. And let me say this, you cannot beat soft serve ice cream in the mini souvenir baseball helmet. You simply cannot. It’s iconic. But these ballparks are certainly raising the bar.

It’s impossible to fail when you top fresh (read: hot) donuts with ice cream. Busch Stadium loads up mini, fried Dingers Donuts with two scoops of Freddy’s signature vanilla custard, plus vanilla and chocolate frosting. I could argue this is the best bite in the entire stadium. If the conditions are perfect, meaning if you’ve got a hot summer day, you’re doing yourself a disservice to omit these from your Cardinals gameday experience. And the souvenir baseball helmet is a nice, proverbial cherry on top. Or in this case the bottom.

Stadium: Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals
*Price: $16.99
*Section: 151

*Note for the rest of the newsletter: this info is from 2025. If any stadiums changes the price or location or pulls the item entirely, sorry.

The Ghirardelli Sundae at Oracle Park is a staple. If you’re in San Francisco, indulging in something Ghirardelli feels like a right of passage—I say that as someone who has visited the Bay a grand total of three (3) times in my life. But nonetheless, this is a must at Giants games in my humble opinion. Vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, chopped peanuts, and signature Ghirardelli chocolate caramel square. That’s ice cream sundae simplicity at its finest, and it’s wonderful.

Stadium: Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants
Price: $16.50
Section: 139, 223, 322

Why aren’t Ice Cream Nachos more of a thing? The city of Seattle is known for a diverse cultural and culinary range, and yet I may be most impressed with their decision to combine two ballpark favorites and encourage Mariners fans to play with their food. It’s whimsical, it’s interactive, it’s a little messy but not in an offputting way, and it’s also brilliant and obviously delicious. Soft serve ice cream (W) with thick, crunchy waffle chips, sprinkles, and caramel sauce. Hell yes.

Stadium: T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners
Price: $13.99
Section: 118, 132, 185, 214, 329

Of course Petco Park has an elite ice cream gelato offering. An’s Gelato is not only highly sought after in San Diego, but it’s nationally acclaimed. The face that it’s available at Padres games is incredible. I tried a flavor called Full Grain Leather: brookie + brown butter. It’s one of the best gelatos I’ve ever had. I also recall seeing options like Nutella + Brownies, Caramel + Salt + Chocolate, Strawberry Sorbet, Mango + Passionfruit. Look, vanilla soft serve never fails to scratch the itch at a baseball game, but if you’ve got muscles, flex em, An!

Stadium: Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres
Price: $8.99-$12.49
Section: 104

Busch Stadium probably had the best dessert spread of any ballpark I hit last year. It was like 99 degrees so the ice cream was hitting every single spot in the right way. From Dinger’s Donuts you’ve got tot donuts with Freddy’s vanilla custard (above) as well as Waffle Chip Nachos aka Wachos. Mini waffle chips buried under three scoops of ice cream, crushed Oreos, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. Brilliant. And with such a big presence in the ballpark, I have to show respect to the Freddy’s Sundae. They’re also doing shakes and concretes (no I don’t know the difference), but the sundae is the perfect shareable refreshing snack. Last season the flavor options were: turtle, Oreo, cookie dough, strawberry. Sign me up.

Stadium: Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals
Price: $17.99 (Wachos), $7.49 (sundae)
Section: 151 (Wachos), 101 (sundae)

Citi Field is always known for their incredible concessions. The Wok N Roll egg roll stand has earned the most headlines over the last few years. In 2024, their Rainbow Cookie Egg Roll stole the show. And in 2025 they one upped it with the Cinnamon Bun Egg Roll. It’s exactly what it sounds like in the best way. The only thing that could make it better is if they served some kind of vanilla glaze dip on the side. And best believe Citi Field is gonna have some tricks up their sleeve for 2026…

Stadium: Citi Field, home of the New York Mets
Price: $8.89
Section: 131, 417

Life as a Pirates fan has to be rough. It’s nice to know they’ve got a beautiful ballpark, for now they’ve got Paul Skenes, but beyond that I can’t think of much else. With that said, they debuted a Fried Almond Torte last season that is undeniably delicious. They take an almond sponge cake, coat it in a thick funnel cake batter, deep fry it, glaze it with vanilla icing and raspberry sauce, and finish it off with burnt slivered almonds. It’s fantastic.

Stadium: PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Price: $13.99
Section: 146

Kauffman Stadium is a wild place. It feels like a gigantic minor league stadium and it has that charm in many ways. There’s a mini golf course, I saw multiple playgrounds, there’s an ice cream parlor (speaking of sweets). But once you leave the never ending outfield concourse and make your way towards the action, there are some legit bites. One of which is the ridiculous in every way Back to Blueberry. They take basque cheesecake, top it with caramelized bananas and blueberry compote, sandwich it between two liege waffles and hit them with powdered sugar and Fruity freaking Pebbles. It’s a chore to eat, you’re gonna have to fork and knife it, and a few bites will suffice, but I can’t say it’s not delicious. And somehow it’s not too sweet.

Stadium: Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals
Price: $15.99
Section: Craft & Draft

I’ve waxed poetic plenty about Petco Park. I’m gonna continue to do so. The latest addition to their elite food selection was the Banana Pudding. It got so popular that fans legitimately come into the ballpark early to increase their odds of securing one. The Executive Chef told me they’re completely wiped out by the 4th inning. They’re using fresh bananas (massively important IMO) and I like that they add a hazelnut-pecan crumble to the top. It’s great stuff. And the iconic Western Metal Supply Co. container is a nice touch.

Stadium: Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres
Price: $11.99
Section: 105, 208

Daikin Park is not getting the recognition it deserves relative to other MLB stadiums when it comes to food. I’ll keep banging that drum. Mostly savory stuff but there’s one dessert that particularly stood out to me. They call them Horchachos: deep fried horchata creme balls, coated in cinnamon-sugar, topped with caramel and white chocolate sauce, garnished with chocolate chips and toasted coconut, and served with sweet plantains. If that doesn’t get you a little excited in the pants, we can’t be friends, respectfully speaking.

Stadium: Daikin Park, home of the Houston Astros
Price: $10.99
Section: 116

S’mores are a cheat code flavor profile. Very hard to screw up. When they something has a high floor, s’mores are the poster child. Philly does a S’mores Quesadilla that’s equal parts unnecessary and tasty. There are no surprises here, it’s s’mores inside a tortilla. Had they served it straight up, it may not crack this list. I’m trying to give you the best. But the chocolate dipping sauce on the side pulls the whole thing together.

Stadium: Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies
Price: $11.49
Section: LF Plaza

Going to back to Citi Field for two more treats that are seriously slept on. The Bucket of Cookies may be the ballpark’s best kept secret. I couldn’t tell you how many cookies you get, but it’s a lot. And they’re perfectly warm and gooey and you’re gonna need someone to rip the bucket from your paws. Tremendous value by the way. And the Chocolate Covered Strawberries also deserve a shout out. Nothing fancy here and I know this trend is kinda played out, but I haven’t seen another stadium doing this. Gimme these on a warm summer afternoon where the berries stay cold and the chocolate sauce stays warm enough where it doesn’t harden completely. The range that Citi Field has is why I have them ranked #3 overall.

Stadium: Citi Field, home of the New York Mets
Price: $16.89 (cookies), $15.95 (berries)
Section: 131, 417 (cookies), Mr. & Mrs. Met’s Candy Shop (berries)

There was no way I was going to Kauffman Stadium and not trying the Blue Velvet Whoopie Pie. Aside from the blue fingers and lips and teeth, it’s tasty, man. I have to imagine it’s a big seller with children, and I’m sure plenty of adults want a piece of the action as well. It was a new item in 2025 and I’d bet it’ll return this season with nothing other than instinct and common sense to drive that claim.

Stadium: Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals
Price: $9.55
Section: Rivals Sports Bar (RF)

I don’t have a sweet tooth normally but I love a few bites at the ballpark. They know people want ice cream and sweets and take it as seriously as they do the rest of the food offerings. I’ve got some great stadiums on the calendar for this season. Can’t wait to update this list and share it with you all. If you have any questions about any stadium or the stadium food tour in general, DM me on IG. And as per uuuuze, thanks for being here and thanks for reading.

And in case you need some refreshers on stadium recaps…
Top 15 Bites from 2025
Top 25 Bites Overall (in case 15 isn’t enough)
Behind the scenes
Full playlist of stadium videos