Warriors pick 5 local restaurants for arena
When Bakesale Betty owner Alison Barakat got a call from Bon Appetit Management Co. asking her if she’d be interested in participating in a vague partnership project, the blue-wig-sporting Oakland chef said she was willing to expand her popular fried chicken business.
She did not realize that mysterious first conversation would lead to Bakesale Betty being part of the Golden State Warriors’ $1 billion Chase Center arena scheduled to open in San Francisco in 2019.
“I never imagined this. It’s definitely a surprise,” Barakat said. “It feels good to know we have recognition in the Bay Area.”
Bakesale Betty is one of five Bay Area food businesses recently selected to anchor the Mission Bay arena’s concessions.
All of the businesses are relatively small, and most are
family-owned.
In addition to Bakesale Betty, the selections include Tacolicious, a Mexican restaurant with several Bay Area locations; Sam’s Chowder House of Half Moon Bay; Hot Dog Bill’s, the family-run stand at the exclusive Olympic Club that sells burger dogs; and a new incarnation of Big Nate’s BBQ, the now-closed Folsom Street barbecue restaurant from late Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond. All will be operated in partnership with Bon Appetit and Levy Restaurants.
According to Rick Welts, the Warriors’ chief operating officer, the franchise wanted food businesses that offer “only in the Bay Area” experiences.
“The decisions had nothing to do with analytics,” said Welts. “This was much more of how do we make sure we signal right from the beginning to everyone at Chase Center that this is going to be the best of what’s offered locally in San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area.”
Familiar concessions — hot dogs, chicken strips, nachos and the like — will still be available in the arena alongside the five local restaurants.
Bon Appetit also crafts the food selections at AT&T Park, a stadium known for its culinary diversity and emphasis on local vendors. Levy, which currently works with the Warriors at Oracle Arena, will focus on the functionality of the Chase Center services.
There’s a learning curve for the small businesses, Levy CEO and President Andy Lansing said, when it comes to re-creating their image in a space meant to serve hundreds to thousands on a nightly basis.
“No matter what any of these companies have seen, this is a different experience and exciting opportunity to bring their brands forward in an environment they haven’t been in,” Lansing said.
The restaurants signed over rights for their recipes and insignia to allow for replication in the arena, and the spaces will be staffed and run by Bon Appetit and Levy. The owners are all working with Levy to ensure the concepts are identical to the originals, including Barakat.
“We’ve made one sandwich for 12 years and believe me, you have to be on top of that. There’s no room for error,” she said. “We use the highest-quality ingredients and are constantly doing quality control. The fact that they’re going to stay committed made me feel good about this.”
The public plaza surrounding the arena has 100,000 square feet of open, leasable restaurant and retail space that will be open every day of the year. Warriors representatives said there isn’t a specific number available for how many restaurants will open on the arena grounds, and no tenants have been selected.
Fedele Bauccio, CEO of Bon Appetit, led the Chase Center’s search for sustainably and locally sourced food. Instead of data crunching, Bauccio said, he followed his stomach. Extending the offer to Bakesale Betty, which Barakat founded with her husband Michael Camp in 2005, was as simple as ordering a chicken sandwich from the restaurant.
“I thought, what a great sandwich for someone to go to a sporting event. All fresh and wonderful. Very sustainable,” he said. “I just fell in love with her.”
The offer to Tacolicious followed the same pattern. Bauccio loved the mini-chain’s food and understood its popularity. The same went for Hotdog Bill’s and its hot dog-hamburger, which Bauccio said was also ideal arena food.
The conversation to bring Big Nate’s BBQ on board began before Thurmond’s death in July 2016, Baucciou said.
“Before he passed away, he thought the idea would be terrific,” Baucciou said.
“The reason people to come to San Francisco is to experience something very different than what they have at home,” said the Warriors’ Welts. “Everything about the experience should reflect the Bay Area.”