Hot dogs used to be the most popular food at baseball games. Now the hottest item on the list is a 4-ounce cup of toasted grasshoppers that costs $4. People stand in line up to 30 minutes to get their orders filled. The snack is so popular at the concession stand that they have been selling out early at the Seattle Mariners games.
Recently, the concession stand has been making sure it has enough on hand especially on Friday nights and other special occasions when a big crowd is expected. At the Mariners' home opener, approximately 310 cups of toasted grasshoppers were sold.
The Mariners might not always win their games, but toasted grasshoppers are always a winner.
Move over hot dogs
According to reports about the snack, grasshoppers are cooked in a chili lime salt at just the right temperature. They can be eaten with the fingers right from the cup or inside tacos. Safeco Field concessionaire and Mexican restaurant Poquitos call the dish chapulines. Toasted grasshoppers are a very popular item to eat in some areas of Mexico and at ballparks.
Toasted grasshoppers have become such a hit that people arrive at baseball games earlier than usual just to make sure they get their order. It is not unusual for 15 to 20 people to be waiting in line for the popular item before the insects are sold out.
That is exactly what happened at the Mariners' home opener and the second and third game of the season at Safeco Field.
Concession stand
The concession stand at Mariners games is now stocking up with what they call an "emergency supply" of toasted grasshoppers so they can be available for fans, according to ESPN. The grasshoppers are said to be gluten free for those who are concerned about the foods they eat.
Since the Mariners began selling the popular items, over 18,000 grasshoppers have been sold in about 901 orders, according to spokeswoman Rebecca Hale. She added that the amount sold at the ballpark is more than Poquitos restaurant sells in a year.
There is just something about the taste of food at a ball game. Even hot dogs taste better to some folks when they eat them in the open air at a ball game.
Perhaps that's the reason more toasted grasshoppers have been sold at the ballpark than at the restaurant that supplies them to the concession stand.
Would you eat toasted grasshoppers? One person on social media said there is not enough beer in the world for him to eat them. However, he might be the exception. Somebody is buying and eating them.
