Busch Stadium Food Menu Guide | St. Louis Cardinals

The Busch Stadium food menu is something of an enigma. It’s certainly got its share of worthwhile selections and even a couple of local favorites. But I did not see toasted ravioli, gooey buttercake, or even St. Louis style pizza.

That said, you can eat well here, especially if you love hot dogs and nachos; the Cardinals definitely step up their offerings with that. There’s no shortage of sweet tooth items too.

So since you’re interested in the Cardinals food scene enough to find this, I’m here to help with this very thorough analysis of the Busch Stadium food menu.

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To make it simple, I’ve broken down the menu into sections:

Hot Dogs and Sausages
Other Sandwiches
Finger Foods and Munchies
Foods From Foreign Lands
Cardinals Game Desserts
Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten-Free
Some Cardinals Game Food Tips

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Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 1) Hot Dogs and Sausages.

The Cardinals offer some truly imaginative twists on baseball’s ultimate food, and if you like a well-dressed Smithfield hot dog, Busch Stadium doesn’t disappoint.

Out of sheer respect, I’m prioritizing the bacon-wrapped jumbo dog, behind Sections 147 and 168. It’s a wiener wrapped in applewood smoked bacon on a jumbo bun. Pile on baked beans, pico de gallo, spicy aioli and crispy fried onions. Or just have it on its own. I can’t believe Jim Gaffigan hasn’t covered this.

 

If you’re looking for a truly customizable dog or nursing a hangover, Top Dog at Section 132 is your destination. Try that STL Slinger Dog the Cards introduced in 2025: it’s a 1/3 pound all beef jumbo dog with hash browns, nacho cheese, taco meat and two fried eggs.

Two things to know about the Slinger Dog from forum dwellers: it takes some time to make, and it’s very messy. Maybe have extra napkins on hand.

 

Aside from the inimitable Slinger, you have a variety of other options at Top Dog. Top your jumbo dog or brat with (deep breath) grilled onions, julienne peppers, sauerkraut, nacho cheese, pico de gallo, shredded pepper jack, diced onions, cole slaw, pickle slices and/or giardiniera.

The only limit is how much you want to risk a stain on your Cardinals jersey. Is it me, or does all that sound a bit healthy? I will say it makes Cardinals baseball better.

 

We’re far from done with unusual dogs and sausages at Busch. The aptly named Outfield Grill at Section 102 opens up a world of encased meat possibilities, and Ballpark E-Guides is here for it.

Choose from the Brisket Dog (a jumbo dog with chipped brisket, BBQ sauce and toasted onions); the Bacon Cheddar Brat with sauerkraut and crispy onions; or a Jumbo All-Beef Bratwurst. And yes, just plain Jumbo Dogs too. On Fazio buns, if such things matter to you.

 

Also at the Outfield Grill, but worthy of its own paragraph is the Red Hot Sausage, also new in 2025. It’s a beef-infused sausage with hot spices, covered with crispy onions and sauerkraut if you want. I mean, if you don’t have toasted ravioli, at least have something Cardinals red.

 

If you look a bit, you can find even more hot dog and sausage options, even at stands where you wouldn’t expect to.

The Session Taco stand (more about them in a minute) serves up a SoCal Street Dog. This number is a bacon-wrapped dog with the extra win of grilled peppers and onions, and Rosa Blanca sauce, which is like a creamy Mexican dip. Again, messy but probably amazing.

 

The Coney Island Deli at Section 147 is generally a place for Jewish-style deli sandwiches, but there’s some encased meat findings here, like Stuie’s pastrami dog and Stuie’s kosher knockwurst. I presume they’re kosher, but don’t hold me to that.

Stuie isn’t a brand or a person, it’s just a nickname; more about that here.

 

Finally, if you just want a basic dog, they’re everywhere. You can find jumbo grab and go dogs at the generic stands like Dizzy’s Diner, the Gashouse Grill, and the cryptically named Ballpark Favorites stands. They’re not quite as jumbo as the other jumbo dogs, but they’re cheaper.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 2) Other Sandwiches

Okay, so uh, I wouldn’t get too excited about burgers here. I’ll get to that. But there are definitely other worthwhile sandwich choices at Busch.

We all know Shaquille O’Neal knows good food. I mean shilling for Papa John’s (?) and all. I kid; his popular national Big Chicken chain has a prominent presence at the Cardinals ballpark. Big Chicken, according to their website, “fuses Shaq’s home-cooked childhood favorites with today’s trending flavors”. And a good fried chicken sandwich is always a trending flavor.

 

At Busch Stadium Big Chicken offers noteworthy crispy chicken sandwiches (among other delights). Try the Original, the Nashville Hot, or the “314” (the St. Louis area code), a Nashville hot chicken sandwich with Shaq’s special sauce and with a Cardinal red maple bacon donut serving as the bun. That’ll sit well.

 

This being Missouri, of course there’s sufficient BBQ sandwiches. At the Broadway BBQ stand behind Section 109, you have a choice of a house-smoked beef or pulled pork brisket sandwich with chips included.

It gets better at Broadway BBQ (and of course there’s Salt-n-Smoke at Ballpark Village), but I’ll get to that.

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Deli lunch meats are a thing at ballparks these days, and Busch is no exception. At the Redbird Carvery behind Section 148, and at the Great Sandwich Showdown in the Redbird Club, there’s numerous deli sandwiches, including a turkey BLT and a fine-looking corned beef Reuben.

Both places offer a sandwich plate that includes chips and a salad. The Carvery, I should note, is a hidden gem among some fans.

 

Speaking of deli sandwiches, if you’re going New York Jewish style, the Coney Island Deli behind Section 147 has what they call Stuie’s Killer Pastrami Sandwich. (Remember Stuie?) As seen here, it does look pretty killer.

 

Okay, I did mention there are burgers, but other than the basic burgers at the generic stands, which, no offense Cards, don’t look very impressive, the only burger choice I found was from Freddy’s Frozen Custard at Section 432 (upper concourse).

In fairness, maybe that’s not too bad. You probably know Freddy’s, there’s over 500 of their restaurants and they’re very popular in the Midwest. The Busch Stadium outpost has their bacon and cheese double steakburger, with pressed-thin patties and Freddy’s seasoning.

You can also order their new grilled chicken breast sandwich, with bacon, Swiss cheese and pickles. A slightly healthier option than that 314 fried maple donut thing.

 

Finally, if you’ve long thought that every ballpark menu should have a Cuban sandwich (and I agree), the Cardinals won’t disappoint you. At the new Mayo Ketchup stand behind Section 168, the Cubano Sandwich features “the flavors of Tampa Bay”, with ham, pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles on pressed Cuban bread.

I can hear your sigh of relief. Mayo Ketchup (by Plantain Girl) has other cool stuff too, we’ll talk about that.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 3) Finger Foods and Munchies

There’s nothing wrong with the sizable bags of popcorn here, but if you’re looking to get your Cardinals game finger foods on, there’s a lot to work with at Busch.

The Cardinals fans that I asked about the matter considered the nachos the best food item in the ballpark. But, says I, can you be more specific? There are in fact multiple choices for lovers of chips and cheese with extra stuff.

 

The favorite spot for chips and cheese seems to be El Birdos, named for the World Champion 1967 squad of many Hispanic Cardinals. El Birdos stands are throughout the ballpark; there’s four on the lower concourse and one on the upper deck.

The bonus of El Birdos nachos, other than being able to add smoked pulled pork or seasoned taco beef for a fee, is the customization options. You can pile on diced onions, black olives, sour cream, pepperoncini and/or jalapeno peppers, BBQ sauce and salsa. As much as you want, just don’t sneeze on everything.

You might not be popular with anyone you’re sleeping with that night, but we all have to make sacrifices.

 

If you’d like something fancier for your ballpark nachos investment, Broadway BBQ (109) offers that St. Louis-style alternative: nachos topped with house smoked pulled pork, BBQ sauce, nacho cheese, banana peppers and BBQ spice in case the sauce isn’t enough.

Since it’s also in the finger food department, Broadway BBQ also features the new-in-2025 Triple Play BBQ Box. It’s all three of smoked brisket, turkey and pulled pork with BBQ seasoning and sauce. They even throw in corn bread loafs, potato salad and jalapeno garnish.

Baseball and BBQ. All you need now is to sit on a Clydesdale to eat it for the full St. Louis experience.

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By the way, re nachos, you don’t have to settle for chips. New in 2025 are the Ultimate Stadium Nacho Tater Tots. And it lives up to the lengthy name. It’s a pile of tots with Monterey cheese sauce, queso franco, jalapenos, pico de gallo, green onions, and sour cream. Add beef or pork for a bit extra.

It’s quite the sizeable plate, so you can certainly share to make new friends. Gets high marks from fans too. You can find these at Crowd The Plate behind Section 148. (Crowd The Plate also has customizable jumbo dogs.)

I know you think you don’t need to read any further after nacho tots, but stay with me, it’s worth it.

 

Love potatoes but not in tater tot form? The Session Taco people offer West Coast Nacho Fries. These are chile crusted fries, topped with queso, crema, pico de gallo and jalapenos. One thing I love about French fries is that you can pile almost anything on them, but this is extra thoughtful of the Cards.

Session Taco is behind Section 150 at home plate (and no, it’s not “Mission Taco” which the Cardinals still call it on the Ballpark app.

 

The chains represented in the ballpark offer up their own finger foods. Big Chicken (135, 458) started offering hand-dipped chicken tenders in 2025, and you get enough of them to almost make it a meal in itself. Big Chicken has crinkle-cut fries as well.

 

Freddy’s Frozen Custard (432) isn’t a bad spot for sides, with their fries and cheese curds. Freddy’s cheese curds are “white cheddar cheese curds lightly covered with butter crumbs and fried to a gooey golden perfection”, according to their website. I can’t oppose that.

Their fries are shoestring-style, with their famous fry seasoning. Something different.

 

Finally, the various generic stands (Dizzy’s Diner, The Gashouse Grill, and Ballpark Favorites) all feature fries, chicken tenders, and nachos, and they’re grab and go for that short wait. I don’t see any reason why you can’t pile on toppings at one of those impressive nacho condiment stands. The chicken tenders are pretty sizable too.

Incidentally, the Gashouse Grill nachos are no slouch. They have a Nacho Supreme and Supreme Nacho Fries, which while unimaginatively named, do offer a sharable meal with your baseball. They’re both topped with cheese, taco meat, salsa, jalapenos and sour cream.

You can order the supreme fries and nachos in a large souvenir helmet (I generally wash the helmet before I wear it, but you do you).

 

Finally, the Bavarian soft pretzels found everywhere are basically the Superpretzels at most ballparks (they’re made by Superpretzel in fact); they just have a different name.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 4) Foods From Foreign Lands

Every big city features people from all over, so it makes sense that ballparks show off their ethnicity too.

Pizza is still Italian, right? Since they call it “Italian Oven Pizza”, I’m gonna go with it. The pizza in this picture is served at the Redbird Club; I believe the same brand is served at various generic stands (Sections 139, 162, 264B and 437). As you can see it looks pretty good, even if it’s not St. Louis style (scratches head).

You can order it with pepperoni and/or sausage in the Redbird Club, but only pepperoni everywhere else. Sausage for your pizza is just one of many perks of the Redbird Club seats.

 

There are two outpost for Asian noodles; there’s the Asian stir-fry in the Redbird Club, where you can choose pork or beef along with veggies and other ingredients with your noodles. They’ll even throw in a fortune cookie for you.

Next to the Outfield Grill is the Intentional Wok stand at Section 103. Intentional Wok offers all of the Asian cuisine you need at a game, including chicken egg rolls, steamed pork pot stickers, and a Wok Bowl. And yes, they have fortune cookies too.

 

The Wok Bowl offers many choices: choose beef, chicken or tempura chicken; choose from multiple sauces including General Tso’s, teriyaki or Korean BBQ; choose your veggies such as broccoli, mixed peppers, or snow peas, and even choose white or fried rice.

Yeesh, it’s almost like you’re preparing the thing yourself. But I’m all about the customization.

 

I mentioned Session Taco (150) before but I neglected to actually mention the tacos. Session Taco is a popular local food joint with a half dozen locations in the area; they’re known for Cali-Mex cuisine and unusual drinks (but unfortunately only a margarita here).

They have four types of tacos: the aptly named Regular Taco (beef, lettuce, queso, taco sauce and pico), the Hot Corner Chicken Taco (shredded chicken with Buffalo sauce and celery seed ranch), the Vegan Soft Tacos with vegan “meat”, and the Mango Shrimp Tacos (fried shrimp, habanero aioli, cabbage and mango salsa).

I personally tried the mango shrimp tacos pictured above; they were delicious. Not too terribly pricey too. Kudos to the Cards for bringing in a local joint.

 

Last but most certainly not least, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Mayo Ketchup by Plantain Girl, behind Section 169 in left field. Plantain Girl is chef Mandy Estrella, a popular St. Louis area chef who believes rightly in sharing Latin cuisine with baseball fans.

At Mayo Ketchup you can find the aforementioned Cubano sandwich, but also beef and chicken empanadas, a grilled cheese arepa (a corn flour patty filled with cheese), and Maduros (fried ripe plantains).

 

If you like the offerings enough to try Plantain Girl’s restaurant, you can find it at 3135 Olive Street downtown. I wouldn’t walk it from Busch unless I’d had two 314 sandwiches though.

You saved room for dessert, right? What? The Triple Play BBQ Box was enough? Clearly you’re a newbie to Busch Stadium food. Live a little, you’ll walk it off.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 5) Cardinals Game Desserts

Yes, sweet ballpark treat fans, the Cardinals know how to rock a ballgame dessert. The Busch Stadium dessert menu has a wide variety of tasty confections:

 

I’m thinking I should start with Dinger’s Donuts behind Section 151, and their homemade bag o’mini donuts. These are donuts made fresh and warm, while you wait even, and you can top them with chocolate or vanilla glaze or cinnamon sugar for a small fee. You can also fill a Cardinals souvenir helmet with them for sharing. Or not sharing.

Dinger’s isn’t a brand itself, just a nickname for a home run, but don’t let that stop you.

 

And Dinger’s Donuts doesn’t stop at fresh donuts. With no concern for potential distraction, they also as of 2025 have what they call “Wachos”. Wachos are waffle chips with two scoops of their custard, chocolate and strawberry sauce, crushed Oreos (for the W!), sprinkles and whipped cream.

Wachos are basically an ice cream cone sundae with the cone broken up, but it’s a cute name.

 

Cookies are making their way into ballpark snackdom, and the Cardinals went for the gold by signing on the fine folks at Crumbl Cookies® (Section 136 and 1st Base Concourse). If you’ve never tried Crumbl, get yourself to a Cardinals game stat and do it. Or try them at over 1,000 bakeries in the world.

At Busch Stadium, the Crumbl stands offer peanut butter, chocolate cake batter, and milk chocolate chip cookies. But the highlight is the exclusive “Game Day Cookie”: their classic cookie rolled in vanilla cookies and cream pieces, and topped with red and white cream cheese frosting, and dusted with vanilla cookies and cream crumbs. Yep, it’s game time.

 

If you’d like a large cookie, the Big Chicken stands have that for you, as you would expect from Shaq. Yes, it’s a chocolate chip cookie the size of a basketball (get it?). This is definitely a share item, but I’m told it’s tasty and nicely chewy.

 

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We’ve talked about Freddy’s Frozen Custard at Section 101 and their sandwiches and sides, but the name indicates a focus on dessert. And in fact this is where Freddy’s shines at Busch Stadium. They have concretes, sundaes and milkshakes in multiple iterations.

Choose from the Cookie Dough Sundae (vanilla ice cream with cookie dough pieces), the Oreo® Double Trouble Sundae (vanilla custard with Oreo cookie pieces and a cherry garnish), or the Signature Turtle Sundae (vanilla ice cream with caramel, fudge, and toasted pecans).

Or keep life simple with classic milkshakes, in vanilla, chocolate or strawberry.

 

We talked about Session Taco (150) offering tacos and unusual fries, but there here for your dessert too, with your package of two fried churros served with Mexican chocolate sauce. Maybe not the easiest thing to eat at a game, but it’s an off the beaten path ballpark dessert.

 

As if your dessert decision at Busch wasn’t tough enough, you can also find Ben & Jerry’s ice cream here, at eight locations throughout the ballpark. I’m sure you know who they are; the purveyors of amazing ice cream in entertaining flavors, in a souvenir helmet cup if you like.

At Busch you can indeed order Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey, and multiple other B&J favorites too. Nice for people looking to go beyond a sundae.

 

Like at most ballparks, you can find Dippin’ Dots here, in a cup or a souvenir helmet. No Cardinals-themed flavors, sorry to say, but they do have cookie dough, cookies and cream, and banana split.

You can also skimp with a smaller Prairie Farms Ice Cream treat; I received a free one in my Sunday visit.

 

And finally, frozen non-alcoholic slushies near the kids play area. For when you can’t find a 7-11 and need a brain freeze on a hot St. Louis day.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 6) Vegetarian, Vegan + Gluten-Free

Feel free to @ me if you want for including this after the desserts, but we are at the ballgame after all, where dietary restrictions can seem optional.

That said, some folks like my wife and daughter need to be gluten-free, so I’ll list here what the Cardinals claim is safe for celiacs:

 

At the generic stands (Dizzy’s Diner, Gashouse Grill, Ballpark Favorites), you can order a gluten-free bun for your hot dog, sausage or burger. The nachos are gluten-free here and at El Birdos as well, although they do mention not to add pulled pork. Freddy’s has gluten-free buns for their burgers and chicken sandwiches

Remember those Ultimate Stadium Nacho Tater Tots? They’re supposedly gluten-free as well, again, avoid the pulled pork.

The Cardinals do specify that food is prepared in areas containing gluten, so I would venture that the nachos are the safest bet.

 

For vegetarians, people whom I have great sympathy for in my ballpark travels, Busch has some viable options.

There’s the Asian stir fry at the Redbird Club and Wok Bowl at Intentional Wok, so long as you don’t add meat. Same with nachos and pizza, and the numerous types of fries everywhere. Remember the condiment stands to adorn your dogs or nachos.

Session Taco’s West Coast Nacho Fries would be my favorite for vegetarian food at Busch. But I’m sure the cheese arepa from Mayo Ketchup is fine too. Most all of the desserts are obviously vegetarian (but not vegan except maybe the churros).

 

If you are going full vegan, you don’t have to starve after all. I mentioned Session Taco’s vegan soft taco, and Mayo Ketchup’s Maduros are vegan too. You can order a bucket of fries if you’re still hungry after that.

 

It’s admittedly challenging to find healthier options in a ballpark that features a fried chicken sandwich in a maple donut bun. But it’s not impossible; there are grab and go market outposts in the lower concourse, like the Schnuck’s market at Section 158 and in the Redbird Club. Schnuck’s has a (cold) vending machine with Farmer’s Fridge salads; you might find something vegan in there.

Hopefully I’ve covered what you need to know, but here is the list of dietary restrictive foods from the Cardinals if it helps.

Busch Stadium Food Menu, Part 7) Some Cardinals Game Food Tips

As I think I have well-detailed here, the Cardinals game food menu is fantastic for hot dogs and nachos lovers (which is most baseball fans), but it’s got a decent selection of other items for a change of pace too. Just a few more words about this:

 

You can bring in your own food into Busch Stadium. The Cardinals don’t allow a large bag like they once did, but you can bring in a pizza and they probably won’t mind. Bags can’t be larger than 10” * 10” * 8”, which isn’t huge but enough to hold a couple hot dogs and drinks.

Take advantage of this if you want to save a few bucks. My favorite spot outside is T-Dawg’s across the street from Gate 1. He’s a cool guy. You can buy large cold water bottles too, and this being St. Louis, I probably don’t need to tell you to stock up on fluids in July.

The Cardinals don’t allow outside food in all-inclusive or suite areas.

 

Busch Stadium is the first ballpark I’ve visited since starting this venture that does not feature a sit-down restaurant. I’m not sure why this is, but my guess is that they’re encouraging people to visit the multiple eateries in Ballpark Village like Salt-N-Smoke, Katie’s Pizza, and the numerous drinking establishments.

In any event, that’s probably your best sit down restaurant option at Busch. If you’re concerned about the limitations of gluten-free or vegan options, Ballpark Village before or after the game might work better for you.

 

Like with most ballparks, the best food selection is in the lower concourse; if you’re looking for a Stuie’s knockwurst or mango shrimp tacos, I would get those in advance before heading to the upper level.

 

Cardinals season ticket holders get a 10% discount at any concession stand in the ballpark, which I presume works if you buy your own ticket from a season plan holder. They have instructions here on how to work the system, if you’re with a season ticket holder maybe you can borrow their phone.

 

Finally, the Cardinals offer a pretty impressive selection of seating options with all-inclusive food and drinks, including beer and alcohol. You can learn about each of these in my super comprehensive Busch Stadium seating guide. (See what I did there?)

 

There you have it folks, your thorough analysis of the Busch Stadium food menu that you just won’t get anywhere else on the web. Hope this helps with your food decision at your next Cardinals game or Busch Stadium event.

It the meantime, be sure to be in the know with other Busch Stadium tips! Check out my complete guide to St. Louis Cardinals game seating, this thorough primer for Busch Stadium parking, and even this complete list of Busch Stadium shuttles.

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Thanks for visiting, and I’ll see you at the Yard!