Amsoil Arena's New Food Items Reviewed

Let's face it - an important part of the experience in attending an entertainment event (music, sports, etc) is the concession food. Once upon a day, event concessions were simple fare: hot dogs, nachos, maybe a burger. These days though, the bar has been set high for the food items available at arena concession stands.

It's no different at Amsoil Arena. Duluth's premier entertainment center debuted a large variety of "upscale" food items last year to rave reviews. This year - in advance of the hockey and convention season, Amsoil is debuting seven new food items to their menu. The focus is once again on fresh ingredients and locally-sourced ingredients.

Ahead of their debut to the general public, Amsoil invited members of the media here in the Twin Ports to a sampling session. I had the privilege to attend and try the variety of foods they had to offer. My favorite? It's a toss up between the Philly Cheesesteak (a regular stand-by for me) and their Wild Rice Burger. Interestingly enough, a "meatless" burger isn't something that I would normally gravitate to; my diet doesn't require me to avoid meat and I love a good beefy hamburger. However - I do like wild rice and I have to say that the wild rice patty - paired with roasted red peppers, spinach, and melted fontina cheese was a pleaser. (And, the wild rice is sourced locally from Bovey).

I can also recommend the White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Candied Bacon. And - I'm usually not a mac and cheese fan. But, this dish got rave reviews from everyone there (me included) for it's use of white cheddar; the candied bacon was a nice touch as well and tasted definitely high-end.

There's also a Buffalo Chicken Pizza that's new on the menu. I've had similar pizzas and usually they were presented on a thicker, bread-dough crust. This Buffalo Chicken Pizza came from the oven on a Minnesota-born "cracker-style" crust that was a nice pairing.

New, too are the Fish Tacos. With a beer-battered cod filet, it's hard to go wrong and the slaw, tomatoes, and avocado poblano sauce was a nice partnership.

The only two items that I didn't get to sample were the Hand-Dipped Corn Dogs paired with a creamy raspberry pepper jam sauce. Those that were able to try them had good things to say. I also didn't get in on the Ice Cream Floats - which pairs either root beer or orange soda with Amsoil's Cedar Crest ice cream.

Here is the list of the seven new items for 2019: