You can almost hear it now: The sound of a ball cracking against a solid wooden bat as the Charleston RiverDogs showdown against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Opening Day, April 4. Around you, a vast array of enticing smells wafts around from the team’s food and beverage program. It nails great baseball food every time.
Chef Josh Shea has built a program with the city’s reputation in its fibers — adding creative elements to traditional ballpark food but also keeping a sense of place in mind.
This year will see the introduction of Charlie’s Passport Stand, which showcases the park’s diverse offerings from barbacoa tacos, Nashville and hot tacos to rice bowls, ramen and the relaunch of pizzas. The stand will have a customizable component during homestands that will allow fans to choose an item and turn it into a pizza, taco or rice bowl.
Additionally, the park will introduce a Lowcountry boil to join its po’boys.
“What better way to eat watching a baseball game than to get this box with wax paper and potatoes and corn and sausage and shrimp in it, and sit down?” Shea said. “ [So] you’re eating a Lowcountry boil in the Lowcountry.”
The park will also expand one of last year’s home runs — Cheeto dust — allowing audiences to add it to ice cream, popcorn or wings.
“I don’t know what they put in Cheetos but it makes you want to buy them,” he joked.
The “Comeback” year
Following a three-year streak of winning the Carolina League championship that didn’t pan out last season, Shea and his team of chefs and marketing director Stephanie Keller have labeled this season the “Comeback Year” and they are bringing throwback bites to match that energy.
“There’s a lot of great food items that we’ve done over the years that we’ve gotten requests to see if we can bring it back,” Shea said. “Maybe that’s what this year is about. Maybe it’s about bringing some strong comebacks in here, revamping them.”
One of the items that Shea and team chefs — Michael Clark, Ryan Ehlinger, Sarah Dawson, Matt Franklin and Amber Hotelling — are revamping is the Homewrecker Dog by “beefing up” everything about it. It’s a bigger dog with more toppings. Think: Roughly two pounds of toppings instead of its usual one pound — plus it comes with a customizable box.
The team will bring back the Beer Shakes, pairing craft beers with ice creams that create unique flavor profiles spotlighting its partnership with Asheville’s Wicked Weed Brewing for its broad range of fruit-forward IPA selections.
And here’s something related: the ballpark is also offering a Homewrecker Brat in a Lowcountry format by adding pimento cheese and collards to be available at Wicked Sausage World. 2025 will also see the return of blended margaritas.
For anything else the park can’t provide in its floor-level range of eateries, there’s always the baseball stadium’s special event space, the Segra Club. For tickets to the Charleston RiverDogs games, visit milb.com/charleston.
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