Colts fans may not know who will play quarterback for their team opening week at Lucas Oil Stadium, but they can count on some good food to eat while watching whomever it is.
The Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday held their annual Culinary Showcase, offering a glimpse at the new concessions and suite items that will be sold at home games during the 2025-26 season. Here’s a rundown of eight dishes, designed by Sodexo Live! executive chef David Dyrek and his team, that will hit the concourses starting Aug. 16 for the Colts’ preseason matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
Chef Tony’s smoked chicken wings
The fullback dive of gameday food, a straightforward smack of flavor virtually guaranteed to deliver what you want from it. Colts culinary veteran Tony Miles’ trademark wings have a mild, sweet flavor and the almost glassy exterior made possible by smoking. The wings come with a few palate-cleansing celery stalks and carrot sticks, plus a handful of ring-shaped tater tots to complete the stadium’s “meat and fried starch” motif.
BBQ pork rib sandwich
A sturdy eight-inch hoagy roll cradles two pork rib patties that are about as soft as the bread itself, plus a generous coating of barbecue sauce and a scattering of pickles and red onion slivers. The not-too-sweet condiment does most of the heavy lifting flavor-wise, but what are ribs if not a delivery mechanism for sauce? Meanwhile, the pickles bring some welcome pop, rounding out a commendable handheld dish that’s a huge win for the demographic of people who get really amped when they see a “McRib is back” billboard.
Brat sandwich
This sandwich is, to borrow a technical culinary term, essentially the burger-fication of a bratwurst. A malty pretzel bun totes a Fischer Farms sausage patty topped with sauerkraut and cloaked in beer cheese. One could argue this dish could just be a standard brat on a hot dog bun, but I’d argue the point of concessions isn’t to ask “should we” but rather “can we.”
Pizza box nachos
A jumble of white and blue corn tortilla chips cradles pleasantly chewy grilled flank steak, black beans, queso, sour cream, salsa and pickled jalapeños that pack a nice briny sting. While there’s definitely a certain nostalgic charm to the prototypical stadium nachos doused in unnaturally smooth, highlighter-yellow cheese, the Colts’ pizza box varietal presents a substantial uptick in craftsmanship.
Buffalo chicken Caesar meatball sub
Even though the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana and Buffalo sauce famously originated in upstate New York, there’s something beautifully Middle American about this sandwich, served on an 8-inch hoagy roll. The combination of our nation’s favorite salad and wing sauce is hyper-savory, plenty salty, a little spicy and probably exactly as delicious or off-putting as it sounds to you.
Touchdown tacos
These straightforward tacos come with a choice of pork al pastor, steak, chicken or barbecue jackfruit with diced onion, salsa and cilantro. The jackfruit iteration has plenty of heft despite the lack of meat and a respectable degree of barbecue smokiness, making it a life raft for the vegan or vegetarian Colts fan afloat in a sea of grilled meat and melted cheese.
Hot dog of the season (to be determined by vote)
With all due respect to dueling quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, the Colts offseason battle I’m most invested in is between the Korean BBQ and Pico Dogs. The former features a sausage topped with slow-cooked pork, jalapeño coleslaw and crema, while the latter includes a frankfurter laden with pulled pork, crisp cabbage slaw, chipotle aioli, pickled red onion and scallions. While both contenders deserve a roster spot, in my opinion the Korean dog’s blend of meat, heat and tang make it worthy of first-team reps.
Blue’s churro fry pie
This deep-fried delicacy, named for the Colts’ beloved anthropomorphic horse mascot, features churros smothered in whipped cream, chocolate sauce and miniature M&Ms. It tastes exactly how it sounds, which is to say, insanely sweet. You can alternatively order the crunchy sugar-studded churros a la carte with dipping sauces, which is almost certainly the right call as the unadulterated fry pie delivers a sugar rush that could seemingly KO an actual horse.
Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin and stay up to date with Indy dining news by signing up for the Indylicious newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts announce new concessions at Lucas Oil Stadium ahead of 2025-26 NFL season
Reporting by Bradley Hohulin, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
