Check out new food items coming to Fiserv Forum
Goals are ‘raise the bar’ and move lines faster
Fiserv Forum is prepping for its second year as the Milwaukee Bucks’ home. In the short amount of time that the arena has been open, things have evolved.
That includes food options, with nearly 20 new locally crafted items coming to Fiserv Forum this year though a Bucks program dubbed MKEat.
“We heard the guest feedback ... and wanted to make sure this year we were elevating and continue to push ourselves to answer and understand feedback,” said Senior Executive Chef Kenneth Hardiman.
Input from guests influenced the new Ardent food stand, which will have a foot-long hot dog, topped with haystack onion rings, along with two burger options.
Treat Street Popcorn will sell $15 popcorn buckets that can be refilled unlimited times on the day of purchase. The bucket can be refilled with caramel, white cheddar and/or buttered flavored popcorn. Plus, the white cheddar will be colored Bucks green.
“People here eat a ton of popcorn, and we said, ‘How do we make that of more value to our guests,’ ” said Bucks Vice President of Hospitality Justin Green. “You can go and get a refill and eat that all night.”
About half of the new food items are vegetarian, including a vegetable pizza from Canal Street Pizza and a gyro made with vegetarian meat by Gyro Step.
Having an option for chicken instead
of raw fish in a poke bowl was another thing Bucks learned from guests. This year, FreshFin Poke will provide a curry chicken bowl.
“The 2020 season is going to be all about raising the bar, elevating the experience and making sure that every guest who walks in here is absolutely blown away,” Green said.
As the Bucks continue to expand their food menu, keeping it local is still a key focus.
“The way that we feature, highlight, the local food and beverage in our arena, no one else does it like that,” Bucks General Manager Jon Horst said. “Our basic entire offering in the arena is local, which I think is really unique and really special and really cool for us.” Here’s a list of the new foods:
❚ Fried pickle chips with ranch by Sobelman’s
❚ MKE brat by Klement’s
❚ Gyro dog by Klement’s
❚ Vegetable pizza by Canal Street Pizza
❚ Brisket plate by Iron Grate
❚ Rojas con queso taco by Laughing Taco
❚ Pork carnitas torta by El Rey
❚ Guacamole by El Rey
❚ Chips and salsa by El Rey
❚ Curry chicken bowl by FreshFin Poke
❚ Beyond gyro by Gyro Step
❚ Italian grilled cheese by Say Cheese ❚ Pork belly burnt end mac by Mac Shack
❚ Gino’s meatball sub by Calderone
❚ Ardent burger by Ardent
❚ Tiger dog by Ardent
❚ Happy chicken by DanDan Food aside, there will be small tweaks to enhance the overall experience at Fiserv Forum. Bucks representatives traveled around the world, from the West Coast to Disney World to Wimbledon, to see how other venues provide food service.
“We spent time and money to do that, and you’ll see that as you get through queuing and lines, and line speed is the thing you’ll see it’s much faster,” Green said. “We’re putting people through lines 10 to 15 seconds faster.”
Jordyn Noennig covers pop culture and entertainment in Milwaukee. Follow her on Instagram @JordynTaylor_n . Find her on Twitter @JordynTNoennig. Call her at 262-446-6601 or email Jordyn.Noennig@jrn.com.