Hungry? BYU football fans enjoy succulent variety of food options at LaVell Edwards Stadium
BYU students Shanoah Ulibarri, Cooper Furgeson, Jenna Koford and Christian Santiago try out a Brat Tail from BYU Concessions during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
A Brat Tail from BYU Concessions is presented to students during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Paul Crowley and Ashley Byre make Irish tacos at O'Crowley's Irish Tacos during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Cooper Furgeson, Shanoah Ulibarri, Jenna Koford and Christian Santiago try out Philly cheesesteaks during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Cooper Furgeson and Christian Santiago try out an Irish street taco from O'Crowley's Irish Tacos during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Christian Santiago tries out a Philly cheesesteak during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Shanoah Ulibarri and Jenna Koford try out an Irish street taco from O'Crowley's Irish Tacos during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Shanoah Ulibarri and Jenna Koford try out an Irish street taco from O'Crowley's Irish Tacos during a food review at LaVell Edward Stadium before a football game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
BYU students Cooper Furgeson and Jenna Koford go to work on a Cougar Tail at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Oct. 24, 2015.
Game day arrives with certain expectations — first, that your team will win and second, that you will have the right food snacks to celebrate or ease any game outcome.
The Daily Herald went to LaVell Edwards Stadium with four Brigham Young University students to get their take on the eats before taking their seats.
The stadium serves up creative twists on several menu items – items like the classic Cougar Tail, sweet Irish tacos, Philly cheesesteaks, the Brat Tail, Oreo churros or the rich, gourmet hot chocolate served at the southwest entrance.
“Here, it’s like a twist on all the stadium foods. From the churro to the hot dog to the taco, it’s just like, things I didn’t even know were here,” said Christian Santiago, a 22-year-old photography major. “I’ve been going to BYU games my whole life and it’s good to see the different twists that are here.”
During each home game, the stadium can sell up to 2,000 Cougar Tails, an almost 16-inch long bar donut covered with maple frosting. After soda and bottled water, it’s the stadium’s most popular game food.
Another hand-held snack ups the game of the classic fan favorite and sandwiches a peppered bratwurst between two halves of a Cougar Tail, giving us the savory Brat Tail.
Santiago, communications major Jenna Koford, business major Shanoah Ulibarri and 18-year-old Cooper Furgeson were introduced to the odd combination of the innovative treat for the first time as food servers brought out the brat for them to try.
Surprised, the first words out of Santiago’s mouth were, “Is that a maple donut?”
But after taking his first bite, the skeptical BYU student switched from defense to offense and dug in — it happens that he had served a proselyting mission in Germany for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I served in Germany, so we had brats all the time, and this brat is actually nice,” he said. “It has a nice pop to it and it’s really nice and soft on the inside, but I’ve honestly never had it paired with something sweet like this before and it’s really good.”
Think of a sausage link rolled up in a fluffy pancake that was covered with maple syrup, and you’ll have an idea of what to expect. Meat and a donut – it’s certainly not what 21-year-old Koford expected.
“It’s like a baseball game where you have the hotdog, but my mind is being blown right now where you put it with something sweet,” she said after taking a bite, “because this is the classic favorite Cougar Tail, you know, so it’s like two favorites together that makes it even better.”
Our next stop was in Ireland to sample what’s billed as “A Wee Bit O’ Heaven” at O’Crowley’s Irish Tacos, which has a main storefront in Lindon and has served up its secret family recipe at Lavell Edwards Stadium for more than five years.
What makes an Irish taco an Irish taco? Add potatoes, of course.
Thin slices of diced potatoes are slow-simmered in a spiced tomato sauce with ground beef, onions and chopped jalapeños, all served on small corn tortillas. Each serving dishes out two tacos topped with grated cheese, fresh veggies, and cilantro splashed with lime juice.
“You taste guacamole right when you bite into it — that slice of avocado,” Koford said, “but it still has that authenticity of being a taco. It’s messy, the food is messy; but I think that means it’s good, though, when it’s messy.”
Visitors may catch business owner Grandpa Paul sporting a green Leprechaun bowler hat behind the counter. Aside from selling more than 900 servings of this healthy take on the taco each game, O’Crowley’s Pot O’Gold fruit salad takes you to the end of the rainbow – jackpot!
Five different berries including strawberries, blackberries and blueberries are just the beginning. Then you notice the crunch of apples and pears mixing together with peaches, kiwi, oranges, apricots and bananas. The fruit bowl is smothered with whipped cream and tossed together with pure Mexican vanilla for good measure.
While many stadium foods easily categorize into “comfort foods,” the next food item is a no-brainer.
The Philly Cheesesteak vendor booth goes for extra points with the cheese it uses. Premium white cheese sauce is drizzled over chopped streak seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning that’s mixed with fajita veggies on a good-and-solid hoagie roll.
The key to any sandwich-type entree is the bread, and this dish plans for the juicy, messy delight that accompanies most any cheesesteak construct.
Now, put aside your main meal and cheesy side dishes and move on to dessert.
BYU Signature Products distributes caramel corn, Cougar Tails and other popular treats, but another blue sign grabbed our attention:
Oreo churros? Never heard of those before.
“It’s nice and crunchy. You have that warm really creamy filling. It’s so good; I’m gonna lick my fingers and I’m gonna love it,” Ulibarri said, with a laugh.
Santiago suggested it’s even better than the real Oreo filling, and said one might still expect tasting cinnamon as you bite into an Oreo churro. But it’s nothing like a regular churro. The warm, gooey filling can dribble down your chin if you’re not careful, but once it gets on your blue face paint – better leave it alone and wear it like a badge of fandom.
Weather for BYU’s final home game on Saturday is forecast to be the brisk autumn temperatures fans can expect in November, but knowing about the gourmet hot chocolate stand at the southwest entrance will take care of that.
Duchess Luxury Hot Chocolate offers the perfect cup of cocoa topped with plenty of canned whipped cream and sprinkled with dark chocolate dust.
“It’s fancier, for sure,” Koford said.
“It’s like, I wouldn’t expect it at a stadium,” Santiago added.
The hot beverage is said to give the drinker a “tummy cuddle” and is served with an English cookie bar for dunking. But one sip from Duchess’ hot chocolate alone is like tasting rich fudge, chocolate, sweet cookies all at once and otherwise practically perfect in every way.
“It’s not too hot. It’s like the perfect temperature. I don’t have to wait forever to drink it,” Furgeson said.
Wrapping up the arena of food at the football stadium wouldn’t be complete without sampling the classic Cougar Tail, which is basically three regular sized bar donuts baked into one.
Koford, now in her final semester at BYU, took a big bite of the sweet treat and fell back into a sort of nostalgia, she said.
“This is my last semester at BYU so it’s like when I take a bite into the Cougar Tail, all my memories come back of my whole time at BYU,” Koford said. “I know it sounds cheesy, but that first bite is so sweet it gets me excited for the game that we’re about to go to.”
Having the right food in front of you can do that to a fan.
Be sure to prepare for the game with a little pregame tailgating — then top it off with the goodies that lie in wait at the dozens of food vendors, and one food truck, that are ready to kick-off your game day experience.