Opening Day is finally here. As the St. Louis Cardinals prepare to take on the Minnesota Twins, Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium are also gearing up for a new season, with fresh food and drink options, entertainment, and more. Here’s what to know before you go.
BPV’S NEW DRINK & DINING OPTIONS
A number of Ballpark Village venues have added fresh offerings to their menus:
The popular barbecue chain recently introduced a few new and updated items. Among the additions: a Buffalo chicken Caesar wrap (with the chicken smoked over cherry wood and brined for 48 hours), a brisket grilled cheese (with seared, lean brisket, white cheddar, American cheese, and pickled red onions), and white chicken chili. The Oklahoma bacon cheeseburger is also now topped with white American cheese, grilled onions, and “Oh, Hey!” sauce (its take on Thousand Island). “We grill those to order and then smash the burger into the onions, so it kind of melts into it,” says Salt + Smoke owner Tom Schmidt. “A lot of times, people will be like, ‘I didn’t even know there were onions on this burger.’”
Schmidt says baseball season presents a different challenge compared to Salt + Smoke’s other locations. “We’ll serve 800 people in the two-and-a-half hours before first pitch. To try and get that many people through with food that’s made from scratch is a massive undertaking,” he says. “There’s no cutting any corners whatsoever.” At the same time, Schmidt adds, the BPV location is now Salt + Smoke’s busiest restaurant, with baseball being only part of that story. During lunch the day before Opening Day, the restaurant was packed with 130 customers, many in town for a convention. “It’s just exceptionally vibrant down here,” Schmidt says.
Cardinals Nation has also overhauled its menu, with 15 new items added ahead of the 2025 MLB season. “Forty-two percent of the menu is a brand new offering,” says Nate Green, senior director of hospitality for the Cardinals. There’s now a whole sub-menu dedicated to mac and cheese: the Alfredo Mac (with broccoli, Parmesan, and parsley), a Buffalo chicken option (with Monterey Jack sauce), the Turkey Bourbon Mac (featuring turkey burnt ends, beer cheese sauce, and a bourbon BBQ glaze), and a veggie mac (with the option to add protein).
Anther addition at Cardinals Nation is an all-beef hot dog made with beef from Kenrick’s Meats & Catering. “We didn’t have hot dogs on this menu for the longest time, just because you can get them anywhere,” says Green. Customer demand eventually proved irresistible, but this is a dog with a difference. “We went big with it,” Green says. “It’s a big dog, all-beef—it’s a really good hot dog.” On game days, Cardinals Nation will set up a grill and bar outside the restaurant, so fans can grab a hot dog and a beer on the go.
Cardinals Nation has also beefed up its burger selection, which now includes a bacon jam burger and a take on a French dip: a smash burger in a ciabatta bun with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, rosemary-horseradish aioli, and au jus for dipping. “It’s fantastic,” Green says. “All of our burgers are fresh, never frozen. They come in as a fresh puck, and we smash them on the flat top—they never see a freezer.”
The dessert menu has also been given a makeover, with a house-made banana pudding with a bourbon-caramel sauce a new arrival in that department. And it’s not all change at Cardinals Nation, as staples like the restaurant’s nachos and Buffalo wings remain. For anyone exploring all-inclusive game day packages at Busch Stadium or Ballpark Village, the Hoffmann Brothers Rooftop at Cardinals Nation has offerings including entrees, salads, ballpark fare, a carving station and a panini station, with prices starting from around $75-80, according to Green.
Work is underway on a $5 million renovation of Budweiser Brew House. Three new concepts are slated to roll out at the venue over the coming months. More details will follow soon, but Ballpark Village chief operating officer Mike LaMartina offered a few teasers.
On the first floor, Crown Hall will feature a “Southern-inspired menu” along with live music seven nights a week. “It’ll encompass the whole former first level of the Budweiser Brew House restaurant,” says LaMartina, describing the concept as a “downtown music joint.” The venue’s beer garden is being transformed into AVA Garden Bar, an “urban oasis” with a Mediterranean-inspired menu and feel. The bar will offer signature cocktails, and LaMartina says AVA Garden Bar will be “like nothing they’ve ever had there.” The second-floor Crown Room has been reworked to offer expanded capacity for private events. They’ve removed a bar and opened up the space so it can accommodate up to 500 people.
Meanwhile, Ballpark Village has retooled the third-floor Bud Deck with a view to attract a crowd outside of game days. LaMartina says customers will see improvements to “AV infrastructure, great investment in technology, lighting, a menu program for more game-day fare, and furniture.” The hope is that it will create “more regular day-to-day operating up there, not just for games.”
THE ENTERTAINMENT
One of the goals at Ballpark Village is to give customers reasons to spend more time downtown, LaMartina says. That means coming to Ballpark Village earlier on game days, staying later after games, and visiting when there’s not a Cardinals game.
While Opening Day is always busy, LaMartina also has his eye on future dates: The St. Louis Battlehawks’ season opener is March 28. There are several “super sports weekends,” when all four of the city’s sports franchises are playing at home. And the Savannah Bananas visit on April 4 and 5.
Adding more live music to the programming is another priority. This season will see the introduction of post-game concerts: The first two concerts are Cole Swindell (June 20) and Flo Rida (July 25). “Your ticket [for the game] also gets you a concert,” says LaMartina. “It’s very exciting, and it allows an opportunity for fans to stay longer seeing artists they love. There are people who would be attracted to the concert aspect and not the sports aspect or the sports aspect and then get exposed to the concert aspect. All of those people are also our customers.”
Post Malone and Jelly Roll will also perform at Busch Stadium on May 13.
And beyond the big-name ballpark acts, BPV is hosting live country shows, with the Hot Country Nights series recently completing a successful off-season run. Wyatt Flores is also slated to play atTogether Credit Union Plaza on May 30.
BUSCH STADIUM’S NEW DINING OPTIONS
Busch Stadium recently added more food and beverage options as well:
- Mayo Ketchup: After being a hit at Energizer Park, the local dining brand will serve its Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican flavors at Busch Stadium.
- Crumbl will serve cookies at Busch Stadium—the chain’s first location at an MLB stadium–including a custom cookie created for the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Intentional Wok will offer rice or noodle bowls.
- Outfield Grill will offer a selection of hot dogs.
- Freddy’s Frozen Custard will bring concretes and sundaes to the ballpark.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
