Monday Munchies: Birdcage offers next-level concessions

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - More than just hotdogs and home runs, the Sioux Falls Canaries take concessions to the next level.

“We decided last year when we decided to bring concessions in-house that we wanted to make concessions here kind of like the fair, where everyone goes to the fair for the rides and everything else, but they also go for the food — that’s one of the big attractions,” said Jesse Blodgett, Canaries chef. “You don’t just go for one reason. You go for multiple reasons. So that was the attitude that we took in bringing concessions in-house, and it’s been this really fun evolution of finding out what people like, what they don’t like, what they’re excited about, what they’re not excited about.”

Chef Jess elevates stadium food favorites.

“We have street corn, which is one of my personal favorites from my time in Central America. The other thing that we do that people are really excited about is our wraps. We have three different wraps that are never wrapped,” Blodgett said.

Last year, they brought back Big Bertha to smoke meat.

“Without any hurrah, I just smoked a bunch of meats one day, and we put out some tables, and we’re like, ‘Try this,’” said Blodgett. “It was insane the reception that we got from the get-go. Everybody loved it. Everybody loved what Bertha was offering, and they enjoyed sitting at a picnic table eating some barbecue, and it’s all you can eat. It’s a pretty good deal for all you’re getting. It was just a crazy idea that I had, and it worked, and then those are some of the funnest happy accidents.”

Jess says the nostalgia of the ballpark is just one of the reasons to come out to the Birdcage.

“Well it isn’t just about the game, which is fantastic, which is so much fun, but it’s about being with your local community,” Blodgett said. “It’s about sharing experiences together and that crowd feeling that you get that you don’t get anywhere else. It’s just so much fun when everybody’s singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ or ‘YMCA,’ and we’re all just having a grand old time. It’s important to get out and just experience it. You don’t have to be a baseball fan.”

The Canaries hit it out of the park with the perfect summer concessions.

Copyright 2023 KSFY. All rights reserved.