20-03-2025
Exclusive: The Nationals reveal new local food and drink vendors for 2025 season
Tacos. Banh mi. Boozy slushies. Exciting eats and drinks are popping up at Nationals Park this season and 11 local businesses are joining the vendor lineup.
Why it matters: Nats Park has won awards for its standout stadium food, and the team is upping their game to keep hungry fans returning.
The starting lineup: New eats and drinks among 30+ local vendors at the park.
Food
Kam & 46 (Section 105): The food truck-turned-vendor makes fun riffs on Hawaiian and Filipino street fare (e.g. tuna tartare or sisig nachos).
Taqueria Picoso (Section 117): Mexico City natives branch out from their Alexandria restaurant with home-style tacos and tortas.
Mush (Section 137): Look for veggie sandwiches, bowls and sides.
Phowheels (Section 140): Vietnamese street eats from the OG food truck include banh mi, egg rolls and Vietnamese tacos.
Lucky Danger (Section 238): Chef Tim Ma 's popular American-Chinese takeout gets its place at the park for dumplings, lo mein and orange chicken bites.
Cocktails
Cotton & Reed (Section 109): The Union Market rum distillery will mix tropical cocktails like strawberry daiquiris and dark n' stormies.
Electric Cool-Aid (Sections 102 and 147): Boozy slushies, courtesy of Shaw's "frozen bar."
Little treats
Grab-and-go items from the stadium's new marketplace stands include sweet treats from veteran-owned Dog Tag Bakery, Moore Crunch flavor-dusted mini-pretzels, and Party Of Popcorn 's Thai-flavored pops.
Also, a Maracas Ice Pops bicycle for delicious Mexican fruit and cream popsicles.
How it works
The intrigue: This season's new vendors were chosen in a Shark Tank-style "Pitch Your Product" competition, where 23 DMV businesses presented their specialty fare and ballpark dreams to a panel of judges, including yours truly, who got a behind-the-scenes look for Axios.
It's the second time they've done it. The first in 2015 yielded a bunch of cool new vendors including Haute Dogs & Fries, which you can still snag at the ballpark today.
The mix of contenders mirrored D.C.'s food scene — decades-old businesses and young startups, global chefs creating everything from West African street eats to German schnitzel. Everyone's eager to get their products in front of thousands of people and grow.
The ultimate question: Can small businesses go big? Serving fans at a 41,000-seat stadium is like its own endurance sport. Vendors are expected to supply top-quality fare over 81 games — kudos if it's Insta-worthy for those ballpark shots — plus during post-game concerts and events. All while running their established businesses.
A lot of the specialty prep by local providers has to be done offsite, like when Medium Rare brewed its top-secret steak sauce for sandwiches.
Behind the scenes: Assembling the vendor roster is a lot like putting together a restaurant menu — my fellow judges and I looked for consistency, approachability, dietary needs, and of course, deliciousness (knowing there's the added obstacle of outdoor temps). Dishes also need to be equally enticing spring through fall.
Scalability is the big question. Beef suya skewers or spaetzle bowls are delicious, but can a chef turn out thousands per game? Also, what are fans into right now? Cue more "plant-based" vendors at the park, and specialty cocktails alongside non-alcoholic options.
What they're saying:"We're 100% paying attention to what D.C. is reacting to," Lisa Marie Czop, senior VP of ballpark operations, tells Axios. The mix has become as global as the city itself — Venezuelan arepas and Salvadoran pupusas alongside hot dogs and ice cream.
The big picture: Nats Park is increasingly about more than baseball, especially during the team's recent rebuilding years. Popular theme nights, post-game concerts and festivals are all designed to appeal to a broad audience. Same for the food.
"We want to win a World Series every year, but we can't control that," says Czop. "We can make sure people come to D.C. and fall in love with the ballpark, regardless of what's happening."
